RE: Border Worlds SHF - Personal Concept - Pet Project Tracker

[Durandal]

Alrighty. So I slapped this together today, because I've been putting it off. The link below is where my random modeling ended up. It's Version .000001, and my questions are as follows:

• How hard is it going to be for me to hitbox this thing?

This depends entirely upon the modeling program you are using and your proficiency in it. In 3ds max, this model would take me under 20 minutes to hitbox.

Will FL Hook allow this to have the following:

1. x4 Fighter Class 9 Guns (Hardpoints are Hexagons Below (Gun) and on engines
   
2. x2 Fighter Class 6 Guns (Nose fin thingy hexagons)
   
3. x1 Class 4 or Class 5 Gunboat / Transport turret (Preferably for a Missile Turret) (Big Hexagon on Underbelly)
   
4. x1 CM Dropper (Hexagon / Circle Thing between 4 circles on underbelly)
   
5. x1 Thruster (Hopefully to be able to mount between 4 main engines, center aft, in receded Rectangle.
   
6. x1 Gunboat or Transport Shield
   
7. 600 -750 Cargo space
   

Inspiration for this came from my old Spatial crap models from .85, and a dromedary.

FLHook has nothing to do with the kind of hardpoints a ship possesses, that is defined in shiparch.ini. However, if you are asking whether or not the balance team would accept such a ship, that would be a resounding no. What you are requesting would be far too powerful for its size, particularly the gunboat/transport shield.

So basically the idea behind this thing is Long-Burn, Border World / Edge World SHF / Freighter where ideally you're running cap 6 armor, and are dealing with nomads, and other unsavory characters. The premise or notion is, this ship is for those true independent's that explore, survive, and fight in the most remote regions of space.

While the lore premise isn't a bad one, keep in mind that we balance according to how ships interact with each other in the game. We aren't going to give a ship better stats simply because it is meant to be flown in a certain scenario within the context of the lore.

Model link: Errant.Venture's Border World SHF - Freighter Hybrid
Model Info:
Approx. 15 M long nose to aft.
Approx. 12.5 M wide wingtip to wing tip.

From a technical standpoint:

You have a lot of intersecting geometry that could be cleaned up here. There is no reason for the hardpoint hexagons to be attached to the hull of the model. There are also sections of this model which are using far too many polygons on small curved surfaces, an effect which could easily be emulated by smoothgroups and far less polies. The biggest offending areas are the engine exhausts, the inset rings on the bottom of the ship, and the cylindrical protrusions extending from the wings.

From an aesthetic standpoint:

You are largely using intersecting shapes referred to as primitives, which are basic geometry such as cubes and cylinders. You have almost nothing in the way of actual human interaction with the model, and as such it feels very artificial. I strongly suggest cutting out custom shapes, moving vertices around manually, and utilizing bevels. It will give your model a much more natural feel. As it stands now, this is not something I would implement into the game.