This, old ships should be clunky and simple. The design is practically ancient, anachronistic almost.
Anaconda updates
- Thread starter Saool
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This, old ships should be clunky and simple. The design is practically ancient, anachronistic almost.
Bob Lighthouse
Banned
Of course it has the very latest sensors, shields, weapons etc.
Those don't change the exterior.
Much like your B-52 example, the exterior is virtually unchanged.
You know I passed a mirror on the way back from browsing that link.
As well as “scale and drama” greebles or cruft give a sense of age and use and authenticity - like wrinkles.
I have no problems with the exterior. My comment was mainly for the folks talking about the cockpit.
I have to agree with some of the comments already posted: while a general overhaul of the detail and textures wouldn't go amiss, I'd hate to see anything changed about the ventral hull other than maybe a few more details on the ductwork and spiky things. The Anaconda is an old and venerable multi-purpose design based on a cargo ship, and that's exactly what she looks like. She's already kinda sleek and yacht-like above the equator, and I like the functional contrast that the lower hull gives. She's built to do a job, not impress the neighbours.
I'm not convinced about widening the aft either. Too many Elite ships already get disparaged for their "cheese wedge" looks. The Anaconda at least has that narrow section before the slight flare of the "winglets". (I temporarily fitted the ship kit that fills in the gap there and I thought it looked awful). Make the aft too wide and it risks her looking like a long narrow wedge of cheese as opposed to the short wide wedges of cheese we already have with the Cobra, Sidewinder, Viper, Vulture, Krait...
I guess FD could always provide a pseudo-Mk II Anaconda in the form of a second ship kit that covers some of the more industrial looking components underneath, for those who desire a sleeker look. But that might look odd on combat builds because the kits don't modify the hit boxes.
I'm not convinced about widening the aft either. Too many Elite ships already get disparaged for their "cheese wedge" looks. The Anaconda at least has that narrow section before the slight flare of the "winglets". (I temporarily fitted the ship kit that fills in the gap there and I thought it looked awful). Make the aft too wide and it risks her looking like a long narrow wedge of cheese as opposed to the short wide wedges of cheese we already have with the Cobra, Sidewinder, Viper, Vulture, Krait...
I guess FD could always provide a pseudo-Mk II Anaconda in the form of a second ship kit that covers some of the more industrial looking components underneath, for those who desire a sleeker look. But that might look odd on combat builds because the kits don't modify the hit boxes.
Agree with this, in particular.
When I first started using the Annie properly I thought I should probably buy the ship-kit but I genuinely couldn't see a single part in the ship-kit that improves on the way the base-ship looks.
The parts are, at best, unnoticeable or, at worst, ugly mutations.
Obviously this stuff is completely subjective but, to me, the Annie just looks "finished" as it is.
In an ideal world, perhaps there'd be a more flexible system for applying ship-kit parts (and decals) and then FDev could just sell kits of greebles and we'd be able to add them to our ships however we wanted?
I'd really like to be able to, for example, add things like external tanks and antennas to my exploration ships.
And I'd like to be able to add a big radar dish to the top of my Keelback, the "Millennium Sparrow".
I'm kinda partial to the Raider ship kit Anaconda. I love seeing those spikes form the cockpit. It just feels like a space hulk / dreadnought.
This sums up my position also – I’d just like to the the quality of the asset brought in line with more recent ships, not a change in the fundamental design. I’m not sure that appeals to the ship’s position in the lore has much of a place in the debate, we’re talking about the quality of an ageing game asset pure and simple (in my view). Imagine how out of place the Anaconda will look if the game is still being actively developed in 10 years time.
Minor perhaps, but not pointless. In the game with the longevity and development life of ED, these updates are important to keep the game world consistent and believable. If ED remains active for another 10 years, the Anaconda will be a 14+ year old asset - that's an age in game development terms.
I ended up using one of the spoilers, which kind of adds to the yacht aesthetic (feels as though there should be a marine radar on top of there), and the tail bit that fills in between the engines. But if I'm being honest I only really fit that because it was the least worst option and I felt I wouldn't be getting my money's worth if I didn't fit at least two bits.
I couldn't get on with any of the wing or nose ornamentation (what on earth were they thinking with that beak?). I tried every combination using the external camera and there wasn't a single one that didn't in some way ruin the beautiful lines of the stock Anaconda.
My Anaconda is an exploration build though. I guess there might be an argument for a more robust-looking prow or a more continuous flank in a combat ship, but they're not for me.
Bob Lighthouse
Banned
Well that's just blasphemy!
Seriously though, you ever seen the inside of say, a Chinook helicopter?
Lol...
The Anaconda is the Sistine Chapel by comparison!
Same here and, frankly, I love it that way!
I always feel like an Annie is at least 100 years old (the actual ships, rather than the design) whereas a Cutter might have come out of a Gutamaya shipyard last week.
If we ever get to walk around our ships, the Annie needs to look like the Nostromo inside while the Cutter should look like the Enterprise D.
Unfortunately, the ship looks like a WW 1 four-piper destroyer, converted into a yacht...
Heh,
Oddly enough, that was exactly the analogy I originally considered using.
It's like DeLacy took an old WW1 frigate and tried to tart it up so they could sell it as something fancy in the 1950's.
I like that vibe though.
That sentence is a perfect summation of the Anaconda in every way except the first word.
That sentence is a perfect summation of the Anaconda in every way except the first word.
The movie "The Caine Mutiny" took place on one, converted into a mine sweeper....
They were not well loved ships.