Hello guys.
Most of you may be aware about the two bretonian projects for new gunship and carrier. The carrier prototype version that is currently in Southampton Shipyard was MK1 version, teaser of what may come next.
Thanks to the old post where players could give opinions about this MK1 model and the bretonian community that is showing great interest about this ship - Jinx have managed to build 2 new models in order to make the ship to look better:
- Mk1, the prototype, was inspired by the original concept of the bret carrier from the bonus disk content. Nevertheless the model took some negativty against that chin so it had to be reworked.
- Mk2, was never revealed but it was following the civilian line - the idea was to maintain the ship structure and change a little the mine body and the head, similar to a modified liner which would make sense considering the desperate situation. Nevertheless, the model was not giving a bretonian "feeling"due to the head, which is something very important for the bret caps.
- Mk3, the current finished version is still following the concept (which was primary guidence) but with some changes - to the head, main body, engines and the old winged-hangars. The current model is representing a standart bretonian design for a capital ship like the dunkirk, which is following...the dunkirk line, call it a modified one similar to the comparison between RM BS and RM Carrier. In that way its fitting best in the lore - representing that bretonian engineers are using ship parts from what they have, modifying them in order to build something new. Totaly new design, inspired by the modern naval space battles during the Kusari war and current Gallic war - was NOT possible. Such a ship could be done in very very late stage in the distant .90 ...maybe, acting as heavy battleship but that is another thing which wont require attention right now.
-Thats the newest information about the carrier.
About the gunship, Jinx have also land us a hand and fixed the old model by following some ideas from the opinion thread. The "chin"/ platform's length was really too much and had to be reduced. The ship main body is slightly changed but overall - the design is again following the inspiration from the original concept for the bretonia gunship - from the bonus FL disk.
Overall, the results are something which no other mod currently may/will have: Actual models, inspired by the concept art of the real Freelancer creators. For unknown reason, the creators left 2 concepts of 2 different capital ships with bretonian design - carrier and heavy battleship. It is strange that the other concepts of the Houses DONT have so many caps.
Can we see these Bretonian design concepts the FL developers left hidden in the game ie Heavy Battleship and Carrier I would be very interested to see those?
A heavier Bretonian Battleship is something that has been needed to continue the Bretonia tradition of having some of the heaviest class of ships. Considering that during both the Kusari and Gallic wars the medium Dunkrik was outgunned by their heavier classes counterparts this is a logical next step for ship designers. No doubt it's carrier feature will help open up some options for game, where the popular but combat limited Royal liner has been trying to fill the void. It's good to see that the general Bretonian design has been kept while still having it own unique design features.
On behalf of the BPA I'll say that having a gunship class in Bretonia is something long desired, where the 'Brick' has often seemed overkill for police patrols. It's good to see the changes in the design, the longer chin did seem to give it a look of being off balance but I find this new design to be much better, looks more like something that nips around the place and still holds strong to Bretonian designs. If this thing ends up with decent maneuverability then I'll be a very happy little BPA.
Excellent work for both models, I look forward to seeing them in action.
A heavier Battleship we do need and its about time ! Our Dunkirks are good , but they are very outclassed by the Gallics Valor ! Could we get some more information, maybe a sneak peak of the proposed Heavier Battleship?
And i do like the proposed models for the Carrier and the Gunship, good work!
Well RP-wise we simply don't have the resources or time to build any significant number of heavy battleships, which are generally only useful in large groups as either a standing defence (which isn't particularly required now that the gates were destroyed) or an invasion force (our defensive role in this war doesn't really work too well with this). With the focus instead shifting towards smaller and cheaper ships (mostly bombers), a Carrier to service those ships on and beyond the defensive lines is more effective.
The lighter gunship is also much cheaper to produce than the heavy gunboat we currently have, which also suffers against snubs, while also being less of an easy target for the GRN heavies.
As for the models, I did like the chin on the Carrier and would have preferred the Mk III to still keep a bit of it (now it has less than the Dunkirk), I still think it is an improvement overall (and nice to see it textured).
The gunship I'm still not a fan of, although the lack of a textured screen may be a little to do with that. Still better than the "larger ring" version that was first proposed though.
What about Upgrading the Dunkirks that we already have ? maybe an extra turret or two, boost the power core abit and give them a stronger hull . They are a good size and shape , they just neeed that little bit extra punch to give us a fighting chance against a valor !
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