By Captain Starkiller for BlackOps Station, 2001-02-08

Lord Delekhan's SFC models

(Interview conducted over ICQ)

Derek- 
You definitely have a unique angle when it comes to making models, can you describe your "style" and motivation for you ship design?

Lord Delekhan- 
Well, I can try.. What I do is try to get inside the head of  the race I am doing the design for, kind of like become a Klingon then  design the Klingon ships... that sort of thing...

Derek- 
What do you do to get into each race's character? How do you think like a Klingon, or Hydran?

Lord Delekhan- Oh well, that is easier for some races, and much harder for  others.. I know the history and personalities of each race, if you read  enough about them you can begin to understand their mindset..  once you know what goes on in the mind of a Hydran for example,  then you just think that way.. look at what you have, what you know your  enemies have, and try to fill in the noticeable voids

Derek- 
One thing you do that is truly amazing, imo, is the added effort of designing specs for each ship also.  Why do you do that? What do you use for spec reference?

Lord Delekhan-
I try to keep the ships in line with what the original specs were from the game for that class.. I also try to keep them in character.. example: old Rommies have poor power, heavy firepower, and pitiful speed.

Why I do it? Well, anyone can just make a model, I try to make ships,  give them a history, a reason for existing.. why would you make a Novahawk  for example, if you were the Romulans?

Derek- 
How do you feel about "universal" or "community-wide" specs?

Lord Delekhan-
I think it's a great idea in principle, I am not sure  that it is something that can easily be accomplished.. there are a lot  of variables that come into play, and eventually individuality overrides uniformity and there is no longer a standard

Derek-
I know that you have already partially touched on this, but you have really got some incredible ship  designs, now even more incredible thanks to the illumination maps, where do get your ideas?

Lord Delekhan-
I look at what I have, put myself in the place of say the Praetor, I know I have this ship,  and that ship, and I want to expand... I know they have ships that will make this a very costly  venture so I try to find a way to overcome this by creating a new ship that has features that  will give me an edge.. I obviously could easily do this with any given model, so I also mix in  the reality of it all.. the best laid plans as they say.. so inevitably I decide that this one  will have that flaw.. as for the shapes (forms) that I just try to hold true to what I perceive  the races ships to have in common the trade mark feature of any given race as it were

Derek-
You recently changed to a new host for your website, Lord Delekhan's Realm...why?  And are you happy with the new hosting?

Lord Delekhan-
I moved because the cost of free hosting was just getting to high... I always wanted to have a  registered domain, but was honestly just to cheap to get it :) 
I picked the site I am at now because they had a great price, and offered what I needed with room to spare.

Derek-
How often do you play SFC? Do you like the second installment? 

Lord Delekhan-
SFC I eventually got to a point where I was just testing models, not really playing..  the new version has much better graphics, and I love the whole dynaverse concept..  it is not like the first version where you continually have to do the same thing over and over..  I just wish they had given us more ability to customize it.. I would have loved to be able to create  my own UI graphic, and layout the hardpoints where they would best fit the hull I designed, not  try to fit my design into their available layouts.. a little adjustability on the weapons would have  been cool too, like add a weapon, redefine a weapon etc.. 

Derek-
How hard is it to make the quality models you are known for, and maintain the website?

Lord Delekhan-
it is a lot easier then one might think, first off I am retired so I have a lot of free time..  (no I am not that old, I just made some smart investments and can enjoy them now)  as for the models, they don't really take me a lot of time to do.. If I spend more then 5 hours  on a model from concept to completion then I must have been goofing off.. I have done this sort of  thing my whole life (3d modeling and designing) 

Derek-
Really? What is your resume in a nutshell?

Lord Delekhan-
Well, I am an Architect/Professor of Architecture (retired of course) I have degrees in Architecture, Engineering, and Mathematics. Over the years I have designed many things ranging from real world structures to Sci-Fi sets, ship interiors and exteriors, and even the occasional space ship. The bulk of these things I have done as a freelance sub contractor to various industry agencies and companies.

Derek-
Did you play SFB, or other Board games?

Lord Delekhan-
I never even heard of SFB until I got the game, I never heard of FASA until I got into modeling for the game.

Derek-
Delekhan, is that Romulan?

Lord Delekhan-
No, it is a D&D related name not a Star Trek related name. Delekhan was the first lord of the Dark Elves (Sylvan elves) of course there is an interesting parallel between these two though, the Dark Elves and the Romulan..

Derek-
Play many "custom" missions?

Lord Delekhan-
I have tried a few, they are mostly skirmish things and I do play that some but I prefer the whole campaign approach over the quickly battle thing. I do play in a custom universe.


Derek-
How do you like the way that Taldren has setup the "Dynaverse"? Do you like the individual designs/weapons load outs for the ships?

Lord Delekhan-
The Dynaverse is a fantastic approach, a dynamic interactive universe filled with individual players all trying to make their mark. It is at least as powerful a notion as EverQuest, and they choose to make it free which is all the better. Weapons load outs, hahaha ok... As I said I play in a custom universe here. In my universe there are no missles on Federation or Klingon ships, the advent of the Mirak has brought missles into my universe on none other then pirate ships. Not all of us come here with a SFB background, some of us come here with a Star Trek background. I have always loved Star Trek, it was this that prompted me to try SFC in the first place. I would have played it through once for each race and then retired it had I not discovered the sfbspc13.txt file. In terms of weapons systems, load outs, and functionality I actually prefer KA over SFC. For me the perfect game would incorporate the playability of SFC2 and the Dynaverse, and the weapons systems and ship specs of KA.


Derek-
Speaking of Taldren... as a gamer, and a modeler supporting a game and enhancing the experience for everyone, how do you feel about Taldren?

Lord Delekhan-
I think they made some incredible improvement in the overall appearance of the game, especially the graphics. The ability to add ships, the fact that the recognized that people wanted to do this and made it easier to accomplish is a clear indicator that they actually paid attention to what people wanted in the game, and to that I say Bravo!!! I only wish they had made it more customizable. As a modeler I already stated that I wished I could have more control over all the aspects of the addition of a model. As a player I wish I could create my own weapons. I would love to be able to have an entire series of disruptors for the Klingon, a completely different one for the Romulan, and a series of phasers for the Federation, to be able to define Fusion to work as a point defense weapon, to make the act of launching a plasma torpedo mean dropping power to 0 as you vent the plasma conduits.


Derek-
What do you think of the Forum environments? Do you like them?

Lord Delekhan-
I think that they can be very inspirational and cruel all at once. There have been recently a few modelers that have posted their frustration over the apparent lack of interest in their work. It is a combination of things I imagine that are behind the apparent inequity. The problem as I see it is the inequity. There are a one or two modelers that seem to get an overwhelming amount of attention which makes it very hard to convince oneself that it is just that people don't really reply to release messages. I think that unless people
want to see a lot of modelers stop modeling they need to find a balance in their show of interest. Unless of course they would be happy with only these one or two people making models in which case continue to treat them like stars and the rest of us like supporting cast and extras and they will eventually get their wish and have only the stars left.


Derek-
How has the community treated you?

Lord Delekhan-
Very manic, I have received a series of emails that were insulting and offensive, and I have received some recently (after I made it clear I was virtually done with the whole thing) that were kind and grateful for the work involved. I never asked, or expected to be praised. I don't think that my work is like totally sub standard when compared to this guy or that. I don't think people realize that we have little to judge by other then their feedback. I am sure that a lot of us feel we can bow out right now and nobody would notice unless we made a public proclamation that we were.


Derek-
Favorite Modeler/Texture artist??

Lord Delekhan-
I don't have a favorite, I think everyone that does this does it well. Each of us brings in something different and you can't really weigh one vs. the other. If I were to lean in any way at all it would be in the direction of those that stretch the limits, try to create not duplicate. People like Lord Bile and Wicked Zombie, they are willing to push the envelope
and not make the cloneish suto-typical we already have 12gazillion of them kind of thing.

Derek-
Favorite ship design?

Lord Delekhan-
My personal favorite from my own designs is my Tal Shi'ar Shrike Scout Cruiser. I am not sure that anyone else shares my opinion, but it is my favorite. My favorite Federation design is the Steamrunner and my favorite Klingon design has to be the classic D7.

Derek-
Any good SFC Experiences?

Lord Delekhan-
Of course, I have met some fantastic people, and I have enjoyed myself working away on these ship designs.

Derek-
Do you play other computer/non computer games?

Lord Delekhan-
Oh lord.. heh, I have and play or have played all the Might & Magic series, all the Wizardry series, BG, BG2, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, Wizards & Warriors, KA, Armada, Fallout 1 & 2, Age of Empires 1 & 2, Pools of radiance (can't wait for the new version) the Eye of the beholder series, Diablo 1 & 2, Vampire the Masquerade Redemption, Revenant, Birth of the Federation, and Nox on the computer.
I also play D&D, Vampires (pencil and paper), Magic the Gathering, heh I could keep going but I think you get the point.

Derek-
Any other cool tidbits of info to share?

Lord Delekhan-
There were one or two other things I had thought about mentioning, I think you know what I mean, but after thinking about it I decided that some things are best left unsaid. I mean I must try to retain at least an air of mystery. :)

Derek-
Thanks man! Appreciate the opportunity!

Lord Delekhan-
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my rambling. Hopefully I have not offended anyone, at least not to much, it was never my intent to anyway.

Lord Delekhan's website, Lord Delekhan's Realm, is host to some very excellent models for most of the Races in Star Fleet Command.  In addition to the models, he also includes the Ship Edit spec files for easy import and consistency.  Be sure to drop by!

Lord Delekhan also has a Baldur's Gate site, well worth checking out.