Eve Online Art Contest! : Design a Starship!

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Eve Online is holding a contest: http://news.deviantart.com/article/128272/
- to design a starship FOR THE GAME! The winner also gets an Ipad, a Drawing Tablet and a bunch of other loot.

Will you enter?

Concept Doodles: (My sketching ability is not great. I'll be working in Maya for the final draft.)

Bigger: http://crossovercomic.com/media/extras/ ... es2_rx.jpg

The size limit for the contest is 1000 meters. Does that look bigger than 1000 meters to you?

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I also need to decide which faction this vessel is for before I start modeling, as it will determine which methods I use.

Right now I'm thinking "Gallente", perhaps modeled with Sub-Ds.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I'm thinking it's a command ship, with an emphasis on fleet support (repair, electronic warfare, group shielding, countermeasures) and a subsequent lack of heavy fire power.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Looking at the distinctions between the Eve factions a bit more, the Amarr seem to be the only ones who use rounded or spherical design elements...

[Fuzzy_Modem]

This ship:

-is 1km long, but mine, while the same length, is much larger by volume.

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

Yours looks more like a section from a flying city than the usual starship design. Certainly it looks like a portion of a spherical whole, at any rate, and looks a damn sight bigger than 1km. I suppose it just depends on how you detail it

[Fuzzy_Modem]

After studying Amarr ship design, I'm made some rather extreme alterations:

Bigger: http://crossovercomic.com/media/extras/ ... 658_rx.jpg

[Fuzzy_Modem]

WiPs:






Now sleep...

[Fuzzy_Modem]

For anyone wondering, I'm starting with Sub-Ds, then converting to NURBS and tweaking, then converting to polys and "whittling" with booleans. This is just for the outer "shell" of the ships's hull. Everything else will be made with simple poly extrusion modeling.

Not sure weather I want to try texturing on the fly, or wait until I'm done modeling... Either way, I ought to start studying Amarr textures so I can reproduce them... I need to get my window size right from the start to establish the proper scale. I'm still shooting for the contest max= 1km.

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

It's going to be quite a detailed model at that scale, lots of work to do there. Are you going to model most of it, or rely on textures for the surface details?

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Are you going to model most of it, or rely on textures for the surface details?

I'm going to try to find a happy medium. I won't bother with transparency maps for antennas, rigging and scaffolding, I'll model all the 3D details (planar details aren't visible in all orthos, and sprites always align with the viewer's perspective, which obviously is not conducive to accuracy), but for minor variations in deck protrusion I'll use bump maps. I'll use boolean subtraction to cut away the breaks that define the separation of the hull plates, through which you can see windows and... aw hell I'll just show you:

(image from Eve concept art)

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Looking at the other submissions up on DA right now, it's obvious that many people have taken existing designs for other projects and submitted them. With DA judging the contest down to the last three finalists, I worry that these designs, and others that don't fit the Eve Universe, will make it passed inspection...

After the failure of the StarCraft 2 contest though, I almost expect another completely broken competition. >shrug< It's all outside my control anyway.

...I'm still trying to think of a name for mine...

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Looking at other Amarr ships, I see NO asymmetrical designs!

So... I really don't know what to do now... Do I mirror the wing? Redesign for a different race? Hope they will overlook this design discrepancy?

[edit] They have only one asymmetrical ship, the Sentinel: http://www.eve-wiki.net/index.php?title ... ntinel.jpg

It's not much, but it sets a precedent.

[edit] Now that I've considered mirroring the wing... I think the idea may have merit. Maybe mirroring AND flipping?

Like this:

L-0-7

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I think I'm sticking with Amarr, and following the religious theme, I've selected the name "Azrael." As far as I can tell, it's a name not used in Eve's lore thus far, but if you know otherwise, please correct me.

Azrael is the angel of death. Seems fitting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azrael

I'm tentatively planning on mirroring the wing over, then upside down L-0-7 It won't be truly symmetrical, but it will feel more balanced.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Some place-holder shapes added while I consider the second wing...

[Nephtys]

Looking at other Amarr ships, I see NO asymmetrical designs!

So... I really don't know what to do now... Do I mirror the wing? Redesign for a different race? Hope they will overlook this design discrepancy?

[edit] They have only one asymmetrical ship, the Sentinel: http://www.eve-wiki.net/index.php?title ... ntinel.jpg

It's not much, but it sets a precedent.

[edit] Now that I've considered mirroring the wing... I think the idea may have merit. Maybe mirroring AND flipping?

Like this:

L-0-7

Amarr has several slightly Assymetrical ships. For example, the Omen/Zealot spaceframe has that module sticking out one side. The Carrier/MS are as well. But they're largely symmetric.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Basic fake GI lighting:

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I've been studying this ship:


It has a similar pipe-joined-to-a-cylinder shape (though the proportions are obviously much different), and is a good example of Amarr armor segmentation.

It's also only 25% longer than mine, though perhaps 50% more massive by volume.

I will rely on it heavily as I move forward...

[edit] Note the variations in texture specularity between the different armor materials.
http://photo.1280.com/images/80r/4WH919FV/Abaddon2.jpeg
(Most obvious on the nose)

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

The ship should be pretty interesting looking with the separate armour layer like that. Are there obvious weapn emplacement types that you have to copy? I've never played Eve so dont know what the actal standard parts are on the game universe ships.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Are there obvious weapn emplacement types that you have to copy?

There are little turrets, a half dome with a barrel:
http://pub.ne.jp/EVEONLINE/image/user/1180385423.jpg
(look on the far right)

But this one has a HUGE turret for some reason:
http://i490.photobucket.com/albums/rr26 ... nation.jpg

I think I'll do some medium sized turrets. One on the dorsal port side of the central fuselage, and two along the curvature of each "wing" as well as some little turrets here and there.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Progress:

[Sinewmire]

I was skeptical of the design, but having seen it even basically coloured in, that's not actually half bad. Not bad at all!

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I was skeptical of the design, but having seen it even basically coloured in, that's not actually half bad. Not bad at all!

There are some things about it that still don't sit right with me. Primarily the asymmetry, which is very rare to this extent for this faction, but I'm hoping it won't hurt my chances too much.

Also the shape of the ventral port wing is rather muddled from all the perspectives I've tried thus far.

What bothered you specifically?

[edit]
I'm planning for some variation in the color and specularity of the armor. Some armor plates will be closer to copper, other closer to silver, and some gold with swirly engravings, like this: http://www.eveonlineships.com/eve-onlin ... ItMS5qcGc=

[edit]
I really want to get that primary light positioned perfectly, so that it gleams off the nose, but also casts the shadow of the starboard wing directly across the circular chink in the armor on the dorsal port side of the fuselage.

[Kenny_10_Bellys]

Asymmetry is always a hot one in things like this, it's not to most peoples taste. A little variation on the port and starboard sides of a large ship can be seen as interesting, but completely non symmetrical designs instantly alienate a lot of people as they 'dont look right'. You've almost got around that by giving it a kind of rotational symmetry, but it's still niggles at peoples brains when they look at these kind of things. While it may make your design stand out and draw the judges attention, it is also its biggest drawback.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Minimal progress. Is this a better angle from which to determine the shape of the bottom wing?