Bridge Commander Universe

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 07-30-2005 05:05 PM

Here is a shot of the first work on the Defender. As you can see, it will be a big ship hehe.

Imperial_Destroyer · **Posted**: 07-30-2005 06:52 PM

it looks like its got a DBC on the back for a head

**Nebula** · **Posted**: 07-30-2005 07:05 PM

lol... It looks like a Cardassian ship, if you look at it from back to front.

**gamesfunk** · **Posted**: 07-30-2005 08:09 PM

lol true.

Raven, to be honest, and i know you respect one's honesty Razz

. It is a bit... how do you say this... totally not Dominion, it's more Cardie, as Neb said. Lose the arms, or make 'm shorter. Maybe a little more bulky. Anymore side pics and such?

G.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 07-30-2005 10:03 PM

Yea, that pic makes it look a bit dorky, but it wont look even close to Cardassian when I am done. Remember, forward swept wings and strong fangs are the aspects of the battlecruisier, but this ship builds DOWN, not up, as you can see from the pics.

lost_jedi · **Posted**: 07-30-2005 11:10 PM

She's a beast! I really like her
She is just so HUGE!! lol

Is it meant to be so flat profile from the front and side views?

Phaser · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 03:09 AM

Whoa! This looks freakin' awesome, Raven Night. I love those huge protruding grills, too.

If I saw this ship warp in in the middle of a battle, I'd just give up right then and there:
"... Surprised

...That's it, I'm outta here!"

**Armondikov** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 10:49 AM

Wow, you have got good at this. Good detail around the back.

UPD Equinox · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 11:43 AM

Yeah i agree with Armond. Raven has gotten good. Btw where did you learn how to get that good raven?

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 03:05 PM

Just over time, working on concept meshes. I had to improve for a few reasons...one, the modelers were pulling their hair out with all the changes I was making to their meshes. Much easier if I make the concept mesh correct in the first place. Ask Armondikov about the nightmare that is the Infinity lol.

Second, it is easier for me to make meshes then it is to make up schematics. I had to get better so my designs would be properly presented.

Hopefully at some point I get decent at texturing so it will be a simple matter for a mechanic to make the in-game meshes.

I will be posting improvements soon, I reshaped the wings to get them away from the swoopy cardassian look. Now they look much more blocky/dominion. I also added the nacelle shuttlebay and some other minute details.

BTW, I have to rebuild the sep ship, have to reduce the poly count as this would be too much on a computer. Most of the details on the sep will be textures, unlike the game mesh.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 04:09 PM

Alright, here is the latest. Just a quick shot, the bottom still needs lots of work. I changed the wings, making them less swoopy, the nacelles, made them more angular, as well as the front extensions, to make them more "dominion-like". I still have alot more detail to add, and the rework of the sep sep to do. Tell me if this looks more Dominion to you...

**Armondikov** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 05:21 PM

You should just keep this and send it to a good texturer.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 05:53 PM

Well, I'm still box modeling and poly heavy. It is better to pass it off to a mechanic.

I will say, however, that making an error-free mesh does allow the mesh to be used to build the model with some tweaks.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 09:26 PM

Ok, newest pics. Changed the nose and front deflector plates a bit, added alot more detail in the forward pod struts (split them as you can see) and so on. Still lots more to do.

I hope you guys agree now this looks nothing like a Cardassian ship. I had to move away from the concept more than I wanted, but I do like how it turned out.

**Nebula** · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 09:53 PM

looks great Raven

Phaser · **Posted**: 07-31-2005 10:41 PM

Agreed. This looks awesome.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 08-01-2005 08:16 PM

I'm glad you like it. I am beginning to like it more as I go along. It still has less detail then I would like...I may add physical gun batteries to it here and there. But for the most part, aside from the error fix, the mesh is done....so here are a few shots. I changed the color scheme...as you know Jem ships have three distinct color schemes. I think this darker scheme works better.

A few things to keep in mind...this ship is massive, on the order of 4500 to 4800 meters. It is extremely lethargic...we are talking no more than warp 2 with a sep ship attached, warp 1.5 without one. Maximum impulse is 1/4 the speed of light, so this ship wont be intercepting anything...a shuttle could outrun it.

And it was not designed to be an interceptor...it is an enforcer. The name says it all...Dominion Defender. The idea is that the ship is menuvered into position, set in a static orbit, and becomes a battle platform to defend a planet. Though the ship has a regular crew and a forward bridge, the ship rarely operates without a command sep ship docked, and often one command ship operates 2 or more platforms.

Consider this Star Trek's answer to the Star Destroyer.

Of course, it is well defended, filled with interceptors, and has massive offensive weaponry. This ship spells death for almost all capital ships, including being a match for a Borg Cube.

But, if you wanted to turn this ship around in a full circle, you had better be patient...it would take a full 5 minutes.

Tell me what you think of the octagon impulse modules. I may change them, I'm not wild about how they turned out.

**gamesfunk** · **Posted**: 08-01-2005 08:20 PM

It still looks very detailed. Impulse engines looks fine, like the brown-gray hull plating. How about a name and some weapons specifics...

G.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 08-01-2005 08:32 PM

Not sure about the weapons yet. They will be very powerful however, on par with a Starbase.

As far as the name, Dominion ships do not have names. They are simply called by why role they play....this is a Dominion Defender. The other ships are as follows, in order of magnatude from largest to smallest.

Command ship (sep ship)/Dreadnought
Battleship
Heavy Battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Heavy attack cruiser
Attack cruiser
Scout
Fighter
Shuttle

...and that is it. I have designs for all but the Attack cruiser down.

**gamesfunk** · **Posted**: 08-01-2005 08:35 PM

Ok thanks.

G.

**Nebula** · **Posted**: 08-01-2005 08:56 PM

looks great raven

I like everything about this ship

USS Houstoun-A · **Posted**: 08-01-2005 11:56 PM

it goes slower with the ship not attached?

UPD Equinox · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 01:16 AM

i have to say that definatley looks awesomely awesome. However one thing always puzzled me about the star trek ships. No matter how big a ship gets thet always seem to use the same design.

Dont get me wrong the ship looks brilliant and i dont have any critisism for it but it seems to my mind that a mobile defense platform would have more in the way of surface area with which to mount weapons on rather than artistic design.

Other than that brilliant work!! BTW why would having a large ship mean it would move slower? Sure the acceleration rate would be slower but assuming that the ship had the same power ratio as the smaller ships then the top speed should be the same. Borg ships dont move slower but they are huge.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 03:28 AM

Good point, but borg ships use a special propulsion system. Most races propulsion systems are pretty standard fare, meaning they have to move mass...the more mass, the longer it takes to move.

This ship is a brick in jello. So it takes a while to get up to speed...a long while lol.

As far as the shape, the problem is warp dynamics. Different types of warp engines require different shapes for optimal efficiency.

Phaser · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 04:11 AM

Major A Payne · Cadet 3rd Class Joined: 02 May 2002 Posts: 38

Interesting design Raven. Interesting indeed.

Phaser. The Dominion are well known for not making colourful and pretty-to-look-at ships.

**Raven Night** · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 07:32 PM

Working on minor tweaking, shaping and errors now, as well as the low poly version of the sep ship, and it should be ready for smiley. The main problem is it is poly heavy right now, coming in at around 7050 polys, but that is before I reduce polys on the sep ship. I need to get it down around 5000 max, 4000 preferred.

Mike Holt · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 09:30 PM

Ugh. I liked your original concept better man, this is too blocky.

UPD Equinox · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 11:21 PM

Yeah thats true. Looks like youve got a job on your hands trying to reduce that poly count. Good luck! I think you could probably get rid of the plating and use texturing...?

USS Houstoun-A · **Posted**: 08-02-2005 11:40 PM

if it is in BC2, will it be mvam? like the ship can seperate from the battlestation.