Screet wrote:Captain Hesperus wrote:My guess for the 'mystery ship' is it highlight...
That was my initial guess, too...due to the placement of the plates.
And "Constrictor" is correct. The ship sillouette is closest of all of them to the classic, and the color scheme is the same - but it's not a ship people see much of - and not for long.
I would have had trouble with other models, though, as they are quite different from the original.
This sort of observation is why I put the classic model against the neolite concept in the top-left corner of some of those pics.
Adder, Sidewinder, Mamba and Asp could be named, which doesn't say though, that I do not like those models. I do like them! The overall design seems to be providing a flatter face - if true, this would be an enhancement, as it makes ships more difficult to hit! Anyway, they do look more mean this way.
Sidewinder departs most from the classic. The fighters are not ships you'd normally get a good look at: I was surprised to discover the actual shape of some of them.
Mostly, these ships differ in their paint-jobs.
For the asp it's that the old design with it's plates marks "the asp" for me, and this identification is practically gone in the newer version.
Don't be fooled - the neolite concept has the same profile side-on and only has slightly flattened sides.
The pentagonal shapes are still there - though not as obvious. They were very difficult to keep. But look at the rear view - I think you'd recognize that.
For the other models, it's similar but less heavy, least with Sidewinder and Mamba. The sidewinder would most probably easier kick in as Sidewinder instead of Salamander if the "wings" would use a single line, instead of buckling to the outside. Surely the same thing distracts me a little from initial mamba-association for the neo-mamba, but the craft is larger, thus more easily matches overall the original model, and the changed wings just look great!
I was trying to figure out what the "original ship" would have been that the classic models were approximating... then try to come closer to it.
I thought "flatter" for the sidewinder too. It's hard to know what to do about that blunt nose and that it is about the same top and bottom. If I go with the fighter-plane style, then, I guess that would become a blunt delta-wing centered on the body. We'll see.
What saved the model you see above is the rear profile.
The mamba fits into the classic models wireframe and is very close from the side and the top. Note - the classic does not actually have wings at all - so I'm taking a bit more liberty there than with the others.
You are right that the overall x-sections of the fighters is smaller - this is due to the narrow wings.
There
is a problem with the screenshots - oolite will render the textures differently for a start ... I expect the models will get lighter. The textures are mostly flat - or minimally shaded if I remembered to do it. The lighting angle is tricky for the views I've chosen ... which is why some of the pics have an in-flight view as well.
An example - the asp bottom view strongly emphasises the bottom vents - which are very small otherwise. There is an optical illusion in that model: in the side profile, the bottom looks (to some) like it has a kink in it. It's not there.
I've been trying to limit these effects - but some, like the bump-mapped grills, are deliberate.
About the old postings, I'm quite happy to see that I was not the only one who had a little trouble with that viper interceptor in the initial version, and that things have been solved already before I saw them. I would have had much difficulty explaining it ;)
Sure - articulating an opinion, positive or otherwise, is always tricky. It's easy to identify which you like, the trouble comes when you try to explain why: what is it about the <thing> that you like (or not). Good skill to acquire.
In general, modellers have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude to the results. It's
their oxp after all.
For Neolites I want to be different - the result, I hope, is not to be "my" oxp at all, but "ours".
Not everyone will be equally happy with everything - I'm sure there are classic ships you don't like(?) - hopefully the resulting discussion will help further define the style of the game. FOSS projects are an ongoing negotiation - nothing is set in stone - a constant exchange of ideas is essential. So I want to thank you and the others for taking part.