q_q hack laners gonna have a smexy shipline. Kek, it's cute, why isn't it civilian tech for all freelancers? :c That's like a bomber version of mass effect fighter existing under the name of "Vindicator"
Lane Hackers deserve it. Even though all I know about them is that they are putting quite an effort into their lore. Aaand, well, I have made them wait for 1.5 years, so I must do something to compensate it.
Abouse size comparison - it is too early for that, and it could actually be sized up in any way, you know.
I am not doing it with much balance in mind, because for that I should have actually played FL.
They agreed on heavy bomber, well so be it. Whatever that means in terms of sizes.
You see, by just scaling up the cockpit a bit I could shift the proportions and make it lighter.
Swallow! There is not much to say here besides words of praise. Congratulations on your excellent work with your model! You have once again perfectly captured the seed of an idea and expressed it brilliantly. We have discussed the model internally and pretty much everyone liked it so much that we couldn't come up with any critical feedback besides words like "cool", "badass", "rad", "excellent", We have discussed the model once again today to make sure that it did not change after the initial excitement passed but still could not find anything we would like to modify. This means that the model itself has reached the stage where small modifications will neither substantially add or subtract from it. We suggest that you simply do a final touch as you see fit and then go straight to texturing phase. As far as we are concerned this model is almost finished.
Heavy bomber
Initially we were thinking that a light bomber would fit the Lane Hackers image better. However, after seeing this model we all agreed that it looks like and feels like a heavy bomber. After consulting Antonio we concluded that a heavy bomber will be the best option for many reasons. Firstly, it will be the only native heavy bomber in the technology sharing triangle of Lane Hackers-Outcasts-Golden Chrysanthemums. Secondly, LH ID has access to almost native BW line which has both light and medium bombers already, so own heavy bomber will nicely supplement these options. Finally, contrary to the common perception of LH lore, heavy bombers suit our PvP needs better, because we are primarily a pirate not a combat faction and heavy bomber is always the best solution when conducting piracy against transports. For these reasons after internal discussion we officially endorse this model as a heavy bomber.
*If someone is interested this is the seed of an idea we have given to Swallow before he started the model. You can judge for yourself how he captured it.
With VHF you have perfectly captured our ideas. Current VHF model was inspired by Bayonet and can be characterized as flat, boxy yet sleek and techy. The main corpus of the ship is composed of one block with only lowly extruded segments - all of which altogether add to general sleekness of the model. In general all these traits should stay. It is often good idea to compare models to animals and in case of Vindicator my first impression is a lean cancer (albeit with inversed broadness ratio of rear and front). So if the VHF is a cancer, then bomber can be a scorpion. Now imagine that current VHF model is starting to morph into a Scorpion? What happens?
Minimum goal: It is a common practice in new shiplines where bomber is just copied and pasted VHF model with the only difference that it is bigger, fatter, has some additional small wings or engines. This is perfectly illustrated by Outcast snubline when it is extremely hard to even tell the ships apart. For a plan minimum we are fine with that and it pretty much does not require any input from our side.
Optimal goal: But what happens when your VHF model starts to morph into a scorpion and stops shortly after? First of all it has to grow a sting which should be a primary addition to the model. Imagine a still rather flat but at the same time distinct sting half-emerging from the corpus of the ship taking a form of large power generator/accelerator that gives the ship enough power to fire a SNAC but has not yet grown large enough to go sky high (and it doesn't necessarily go over the cockpit).
Maximum goal: Now since it is a scorpion it has relatively shorter and more bulky claws. Thus during the morphing its front wings got shorter and maybe more bulky, while the entire ship horizontal arc becomes slightly more curved.
https://p3d.in/nZh3H - v1.0.1. Worked on wing top-front mesh and texture, engine mesh. It takes time to adjust the texture and clean mesh that is why the progress is rather slow. Ignore distorted textures and gaps for now.
Hopefully this will be in the same time @Robert's Upholder will be ready to put in. I'll be replacing my Cutlass with this one.
Still looking good, @Swallow. Do we have a comparison of this to a VHF or other bomber? Not knowing how large it is makes me imagine 'its large like a beatle' (given how its as wide as it is long i wouldnt be wrong in my guess.)
I have no idea how large it is or should be, they say "heavy bomber", so, apparently, it will be sized like.. old Waran? Maybe? I don't know, it is not up to me.