Shipbuilding thread

[AcePalarum]

i really love this thread! its sad that it gets buried all the time...

i needed some practice with imperial parts, so i did a station.

... i guess the problem is that i always start at the front of the ship and when i get to the rear, i have no idea on what to do...

That's why on the stations I've been building, I've been starting at the middle and building outward. Except for the Order, who have a bizarre design aesthetic anyway.

Remember, a station doesn't have to have a recognizable "front". And it can still work surprisingly well in GSB's mechanical paradigm.

[Lonestar]

Once more I bring back this thread, threads like this should be stickyed so others can find them and share there own ships.

Anyways i was messing around and came up with this nifty little ship.

New Fedship.jpg (92.79 KiB) Viewed 848 times

Not quite sure WHAT this is but I put it together while messing around with another ship that has like 30 layers of ship parts and I mix and match em to make things. This is one that I thought I'd share.

[Praetors]

I think that it fits perfectly for some kind of small dreadnought, or maybe a big destroyer, however i would like to have a .psd or .dds copy of it to fix some errors ^^

It looks nice, but i think that you need to practice more with symmetry, search tools like "mirror left side over right side" and similar ones, or do it by hand ;)
Also the left and right edges are really needing a touch, they are too straight, very easy to notice that they are a cut of another thing.

[Lonestar]

Yea I was afraid that the cut was going to be too noticeable of it, but is this mirror tool for paint(dot)net or it that for another program? I can attempt to work the edge out, I was thinking it was a large destroyer, or maybe it can be reworked to be a carrier, but I already have one for my mod. As for the pdn file I no longer have it as I copy and pasted the parts into a new file merged and then make this picture. I think i can redo it once more but might need some time.

Above all i am glad that you like it I hope others like it too.

[Praetors]

yeah, the tool is for Paintdotnet, just google it and you will surely find the same page than me, were i downloaded some great additions for paintdotnet ^^

I've already fixed the hull, bit i will have to delete some white pixels first, i may share it tomorrow ^^

[Lonestar]

yeah, the tool is for Paintdotnet, just google it and you will surely find the same page than me, were i downloaded some great additions for paintdotnet ^^

I've already fixed the hull, bit i will have to delete some white pixels first, i may share it tomorrow ^^

Wow you work fast, anywho I'll take a look, this will help me a lot as i'll only have to make one side of a ship and then mirror it over. Cya

[Praetors]

Wow you work fast, anywho I'll take a look, this will help me a lot as i'll only have to make one side of a ship and then mirror it over. Cya

Nah, its just a minor touch :P

[laws215]

Just to add a different opinion, ever notice how mirrored shipbuilding can look pretty dull? Even hard to look at.

If you look closely, some of the GSB ships aren't mirrored (not talking about the obvious ones like Empire). For example the Fed Gazelle, on the left.

No doubt, it's an easy trick, but not a rule. Why not adjust the light source a little? Not sure if Paint.net can do that, but even try adding asymmetrical doodads (like ship on the right). IMO, it makes them more interesting.

ship_symmetry.jpg (48.33 KiB) Viewed 828 times

[Kemp]

The reason the GSB ships aren't completely symmetrical is because they were rendered from actual 3D models, so all the lighting is correct. The problem with mirroring (and with mix-and-match building as well) is that the lighting is never quite right in the end. It might not be noticeable consciously, but we pick up that something is wrong. Not much we can do about that without building 3D ships ourselves ;)

On the other hand, asymmetry on a bigger scale, such as adding parts to one side but not the other, can be a wonderful thing. I always appreciate a design that has managed to pull off some asymmetry.

[laws215]

Agree 100%. And we all know how time consuming (& difficult) actual 3D modeling can be.

Since GSB is somewhat simplified because its only top down, I was wondering if anyone has had any luck using Photoshop's 3D Repoussé tool? It allows for dimensions, textures and enough lighting control to create those subtle shadow nuances mentioned in Kemp's post. I know it's incredibly slow.

[Praetors]

Just to add a different opinion, ever notice how mirrored shipbuilding can look pretty dull? Even hard to look at.

well, that depends of several variables, i like asymetry, but only the one that adds beauty to the hull. In the pics above, the asymetry is an human error caused for trying to make the ship symetrycal by hand.

Asymetry is awesome, when applied correctly. But sometimes, symetry fits better with the ships graphics.

If you look closely, some of the GSB ships aren't mirrored (not talking about the obvious ones like Empire). For example the Fed Gazelle, on the left.

yeah, i noticed that after my third month of playing GSB, because is not easy to notice those tiny asymetric sections in a hull that looks symetrycal.

No doubt, it's an easy trick, but not a rule. Why not adjust the light source a little? Not sure if Paint.net can do that, but even try adding asymmetrical doodads (like ship on the right). IMO, it makes them more interesting.

Nope, Paintdotnet cannot use 3D tools, it is something between Paint and GIMP. BUT with a bit of experience, you can get a similar result using the correct combination of tools.

About the ship at the right, i love it =D

[Lonestar]

Nope, Paintdotnet cannot use 3D tools, it is something between Paint and GIMP. BUT with a bit of experience, you can get a similar result using the correct combination of tools.

About the ship at the right, i love it =D

Correction paint(dot)net CAN use 3d effects Look for shape3d plugin Your able to move a light around over the model.

2nd ship.jpg (92.55 KiB) Viewed 800 times

this is another ship that i made and used the light thingy on to make it look better.

[laws215]

awesome!!!

[Archduke Astro]

Correction paint(dot)net CAN use 3d effects Look for shape3d plugin Your able to move a light around over the model.

Excellent discovery!!! Thank you for sharing it. I guess praetors was just handed a very potent "i told you so" to throw back at Randy. Perhaps Randy might know if GIMP has a similar function for achieving these 3D lighting effects?

If anyone ever finds something similar for folks working in Apple's OS X, for God's sake please post it here. :)

[laws215]

lol... probably best to keep an open mind about all ideas and opinions, cuz you just never know.

For OSX, Photoshop (3D Repoussé), but you probably meant less pricey. The App store has a billion specialty apps for a few bucks each, I'd also be curious if anyone found one similar to Lonestar's Shape3D effect.

Not in the App store is http://www.cristallight.com/HomeImageEffects/ ($12). I can't recommend it because I don't own it, but it seems to have the necessary features. Just a shot in the dark request if someone on this board has tried it.