some time ago - the angels asked for a ship that was both - aesthetical and most of all ... easily recognizable ( so they re not shot for fun )
now - some words of explanation. ....
this ship / model is NOT supposed to "fit into freelancer" too much... due to the fact that the angels are guides that exist outside of the roleplaying enviroment, too. - so the ship is not supposed to look like anything that is derived from vanilla models.
furthermore - i planted the ship onto an artificial background ( i haven t used it ingame yet ) - cause i had to somehow illustrate how the engines and light effects are supposed to look like.
the ship has no conventional engine - it is basicly a vertical spike of roughly small gunboat size ( but very easy to dodge with, cause its both narrow and extremely short )
it features solar-wings for mostly aesthetical reasons - and an arrangement of rings that feature the six engine effects - which will manifest as glowing balls around the ship - like a halo of light.
the idea is to create something that people can recognize from afar and without any doubt won t mistake as a potential enemy of any kind. - the finished ship would get gunboat stats stats ( when it comes to hitpoints and shields ) - and heavy fighter stats ( when it comes to agility and turn rate ) - so that the ship can easily avoid combat situations and is not instant killed by anything.
in order to allow the angels to demonstrate certain game mechanics like combat and mining - it will also receive two small fighter guns up to level 10
however - that thread is mostly about discussing if such a design concept works for a "guide faction" or not.
I wouldn't mind it being a bit more silvery in texture, nothing too much (as it would be too bland because of the matching lights), but a bit more fluffy, as Sprolf said.
It's not anything obligatory, though, I like the ship enough just how it is right now, and don't think I don't appreciate the work you put into it.:)
I disagree with Sprolfy in one thing, though - love the halo idea.
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<span style="color:#000000">All morons hate it when you call them a moron.
in order to maintain a high distance visibility and recognizability - engines are a good thing to mount - their trails are visible beyond even the scanner range.
while i understand that the liberty wings are kind of nice ... i was under the impression that the angels were no liberty faction ( even if they operate there mostly ) but a sirius wide organization - so you d find them in gallia, too.
these wings are kusari-ish - yes.... but i can dye them blue - then there won t be any association with kusari.
cargohold is no problem - its just a number in the cargohold.
I like the alien look, actually. Makes them seem like a different species altogether, some ancient and wise group that helps out people... reminds me of the ancients from stargate for some reason, even though they have no physical form.
Quote:I like the alien look, actually. Makes them seem like a different species altogether, some ancient and wise group that helps out people... reminds me of the ancients from stargate for some reason, even though they have no physical form.
Except that the Angels aren't Aliens. And they DO exist in RP (read Newark Station's infocard) as sort of a space version of the Salvation Army.
As such, while this fancy model is nice looking, it's still a bit intimidating and too far beyond most human designs to be viable for the Angels.
An Angel-specific ship would ideally bear a more conventional design, probably with influence from the vanilla Civilian/Libertonian ship designs. It'd be a medium sized transport (2000 cargo), swift and manuverable, with mining lasers and sufficient defenses to fight off NPCs, and high versatility (to help take new players on trade runs, mine, and do missions if nessescary).
Quote:this ship / model is NOT supposed to "fit into freelancer" too much... due to the fact that the angels are guides that exist outside of the roleplaying enviroment, too.
The simple fact of the matter is the Angels DO have to 'fit into' the Roleplaying environment (see above) and lead by example. But generally exist as an entity nobody is going to harm (e.g. Like the Red Cross).
The model above is nice, but would serve better as either an Admin ship, or a generic UFO or somesuch available Via SRP or under circumstances like the AI ships for anyone RPing a random Alien who needs a weird looking ship.
Also, there lies the issue that the Angels don't necessarily exist on other servers, and the potential for SRPs to allow other players to access the ship. So it should have atleast sufficient basic adaptability to factor that in.
hm - i was told that the angels had no lore in freelancer and were ooc guides. - if it is right and the angels do need to fit into vanilla RP - they ll get a conventional design of absolutely non-intimidating shapes.
I'm citing the Infocard on Newark, which mentions it being the Angels' headquarters on that particular note.
As for the model itself, I like it. I really do. And I'd like to see it implemented. But I dunno if it'd work as an angels ship. It's a bit TOO distinctive, and dosen't blend in. Now, if it were an admin ship or random UFO, then sure!