two-dimensional ship designs

[Windscreen Smudge]

Given atmospheric travel, it's easy to see why a flying wing would be a standard design.

However, that doesn't exclude all other designs, and vertical hulls can still be aerodynamically correct with plenty of positive lift. Among other interesting geometries.

I've always thought that the Elite ships made the most sense if you look at them from a game design perspective. Chasing or being chased you present the smallest possible profile to your enemy, but if you don't shake your enemy before turning to fight him you present a much broader target for them to shoot as punishment for your lazy U-turn.

I wonder what kind of interesting gameplay choices would result in having vertical hulls that yaw faster than they pitch, the exact opposite of what we now have in our horizontally aligned hulls?

 

[Gwyvern]

Please never use Sansha ships as examples when trying to push for good design qualities, thank you.

Also, i see the vertical crowd finally oozed its way out of the SC forums and over here.

 

[Thomas Jefferson Jones]

So what you're saying is that ED should abide by the technical limitations of the original Elite's era? They couldn't make much more complicated silhouettes because they had VERY little to work with. Frontier doesn't have to copy the old Elite straight off, they can add things to it as well as modify things that need improving.

No what he's saying is that FD *chose* to maintain continuity with the original ship designs that have their roots in the wireframes.

Its about embracing the legacy of the series, and its hard to argue they haven't sufficiently updated the ships.

The simple profiles have a lot of character, and there is a ton of incidental detail and nice animated bits built into the models, which is pretty awesome when you think about it.

You see, a Cobra still looks like a Cobra, but it also looks like a model fit for a 2014 game engine. Best of both worlds.

 

[Anne Otherplayer]

Given atmospheric travel, it's easy to see why a flying wing would be a standard design.

However, that doesn't exclude all other designs, and vertical hulls can still be aerodynamically correct with plenty of positive lift. Among other interesting geometries.

I've always thought that the Elite ships made the most sense if you look at them from a game design perspective. Chasing or being chased you present the smallest possible profile to your enemy, but if you don't shake your enemy before turning to fight him you present a much broader target for them to shoot as punishment for your lazy U-turn.

I wonder what kind of interesting gameplay choices would result in having vertical hulls that yaw faster than they pitch, the exact opposite of what we now have in our horizontally aligned hulls?

The shape of the hull has nothing to do with the yaw speed in space, a cube will move the same as a cylinder or cone in space given the same propulsion.
It all comes down to thrusters, just like a large yacht needs bow thrusters to get in and out of a port more efficiently.

 

[Gortron]

There, fixed it for you

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lol, I was about to suggest the OP just rotate the existing ships through 180 degrees...

hmm or is that 90 degrees... maths is failing me

 

[Rolands]

Please never use Sansha ships as examples when trying to push for good design qualities, thank you.

Also, i see the vertical crowd finally oozed its way out of the SC forums and over here.

if you would actually read the thread before posting

 

[Borgkube]

There are plenty of artist conceptions for new ships that were shown very early on. The Federation and the other organizations all have their trademark ship designs. However currently, the only ships in the game are all from the originals from Elite 1,2, & 3. They haven't put the new ships in yet. I think you'll be happy when those ships appear, but it probably won't be until the Gamma.

 

[Gwyvern]

if you would actually read the thread before posting

Sounds like something a dirty Sansha supporter would say!

 

[Anne Otherplayer]

I like the ships used by the 'aquatics' on Enterprise in the Xindi episodes.

 

[bummer6]

Nah, it wouldn't work in Elite, everyone would complain that it's got tailfins.

The people here seem to argue that all the ships need to be built for atmospheric flight, so they should really be complaining that all the current ships don't already have tailfins.

I'm not saying the current designs are bad, okay? I'm saying I want more variety. I'm not talking about taking anything away, I'm talking about adding. As has been stated by others, original ships are in the works, so I see no reason why the new ships couldn't take on a shape that we haven't seen before in the Elite universe. You can keep the aesthetic that we know and love, but still add something unexpected. A really long, sleek ship would be just as cool as seeing a vertical design, tbh.

something like this maybe:

 

[Anne Otherplayer]

yeah, lets all go bobsledding!

The people here seem to argue that all the ships need to be built for atmospheric flight, so they should really be complaining that all the current ships don't already have tailfins.
[/IMG]

With thrusters, you won't need tailfins.
But the old Cadillacs had awesome tailfins.

 

[Monk]

Well not all ships in elite will be utilitarian.

Just to remind people of peek of the week 53

Spoiler

Oh my, yes

 

[Monk]

Blergh, double post

 

[Asp Explorer]

A really long, sleek ship would be just as cool as seeing a vertical design, tbh.

If you want to sit in a torpedo - I'm sure there are many Anaconda pilots who would hire you

Torpedo pilot doesn't really offer much in way of promotion prospects though. The career ladder is rather short.

 

[bummer6]

Wow, you guys seem to really hate anything that doesn't come directly from Elite. I don't know if you're just super-defensive about a game you don't want to change or if you're actually so close-minded that you think Elite ships are the only well-designed ships in history. Some replies are objective and bring up some good points for both sides, but most are just die-hard Elite fans who will shoot down anything that might change the game they hold so dear, regardless if it's a good idea or not. I guess that's the community you get when you revive a series that's been around for so long.

Personally I think the eagle is ugly, I think the Lakon is ugly, I think the viper is butt ugly, but these are my OPINIONS, and doesn't make them badly designed ships. Not to mention I'm a graphics artist myself, so I should know a thing or two about these things. I'm looking at the game objectively and simply noted a lack of variety in silhouettes, I didn't expect this community to be so protective of this one design aspect.

EDIT: I should also note that the Asp is probably one of my favourite ship designs ever.

 

[Parabellum]

It wouldn't hurt if the Devs allowed some fan creations to creep into the mix one day.

In the meantime, here's Concept Ships for some inspiration. (Some amazing stuff on the front page today).

 

[Cosmo Bozo]

The vertical ships might ad a bit of cool variety, but it would mean a major redesign of stuff like going down into the hangar, unless it did land on it's side, which is a bit odd.
Maybe for some capital ship that is too big to dock or land anyway.

I love the ship design in the game so far, a couple of ships I'm not over keen on, and I don't like the fins on the asp, but I can't complain.

 

[Hermit]

Wow, you guys seem to really hate anything that doesn't come directly from Elite. I don't know if you're just super-defensive about a game you don't want to change or if you're actually so close-minded that you think Elite ships are the only well-designed ships in history. Some replies are objective and bring up some good points for both sides, but most are just die-hard Elite fans who will shoot down anything that might change the game they hold so dear, regardless if it's a good idea or not. I guess that's the community you get when you revive a series that's been around for so long.

We are die-hard Elite fans, that is true. Most of whom have played the game since 1984 and are quite puritanical about the look of the game. It has to keep it's signature image, and the ships within it's universe are a big part of that. As a graphic artist, you'll probably understand the importance of image and branding. You change it at your peril.

But, it's not to say that at some point after it's release that we'll start seeing more elaborate ship designs. Especially when alien civilizations are introduced into the mix.

But, I think, not just yet

Personally I think the eagle is ugly, I think the Lakon is ugly, I think the viper is butt ugly, but these are my OPINIONS

Be careful with such opinions, or you may find you'll lose the crowd with them!

 

[wstephenson]

You can tell immediately that they are Elite ships.

This is the crux of it for me. Elite has its visual language, most of the ships are flattish, symmetrical arrowheads inspired by what passed for futuristic jet designs in the 60s, and that's fine. There are lots of great and distinctive spaceship design archetypes out there (half of which were probably designed with the brief to not look like Elite), but to appropriate everything for Elite would just be confusing.

@OP: here's a design challenge for you: what would a vertical ship in the Elite visual language look like? Maybe its verticality is motivated by gas giant resource extraction?

 

[Philip Coutts]

Rotating cockpit! How cool would that be

I'm waiting to see some of the more "elegant" ship designs. Not to be nasty but these Federation workhorses will never compare to a beautiful curvy Imperial vessel. Just look at the Imperial Courier concept for proof.