Ugliest ship design nominations

Post ideas & suggestions you have pertaining to the game here.
george moromisato
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For the next official expansion release, due at the end of this year, I'd like to redo at least one old ship design, much like I redesigned the Sotho and Oromo classes.

I'd like people to nominate ships that need a redesign. The criteria are:

1. It must be a ship in the Core game (not a station, effect, or other image, and not Corporate Command or any other mod).
2. The redesign is for the ship image only.
3. If possible, try to articulate why you think the design is ugly.

Post your nominations for redesign as responses to this thread. Once I get enough nominations I'll set up a poll and we can vote on them.
Tshark9999
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QUICKLY! SOMEONE MAKE A BOLIDE INTERCEPTOR THAT ISN'T PHALLIC LIKE!
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The ones that seem to need help are:
(Death Drugs) Meth Enforcer: Looks bland and blocky no matter the angle.
(Anarchists) Earthzone and (Sapiens) Plague: Aside from the Hornet, the Anarchist/Sapien ships seem a bit primitive compared to others. Revelations looks a bit better than Earthzone and Plague. (Hornet is a classic, and a keeper.)

Honorable mentions:
Gaian Terraformer: The model is not bad, but where are the engines? Looks like a big trash can in space.
Mule auton: Looks okay if a bit bland, but the checkerboard paint job makes it look a bit goofy.
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 My top two are the flying slabs known as the T31 and T55. I also wouldn’t mind seeing the Barbary get an overhaul.

 The T-series ships appear to be little more than boxes with engines strapped to them, though given what they were designed for (from an in-game perspective), I can understand this as being an example of form following function. They still have very little detail to them, at least from the mostly overhead view of the game. Not having been able to see the models, I don’t know if they have much detail to the front or sides, but even they do, it’s mostly lost due to the camera angle.

 The Barbary isn’t much better. Several Charon/Marauder ships look rather minimalist, but the Barbary is the worst offender. Even the Viking and Drake show some sort of pattern or texture on the surface; the Barbary doesn’t even have that much going for it. From the overhead vantage point, all you can really see is a featureless flying wing with a pair of engines tucked under it, and two equally featureless fin/tail struts trailing off of it.
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Those two factions ships which are unsubtly phallic, or V2 rocket-esque

Seconded on the Plague.

I never really got the Gaian Terraformer either TBH.
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PM wrote:The ones that seem to need help are:
(Death Drugs) Meth Enforcer: Looks bland and blocky no matter the angle.
(Anarchists) Earthzone and (Sapiens) Plague: Aside from the Hornet, the Anarchist/Sapien ships seem a bit primitive compared to others. Revelations looks a bit better than Earthzone and Plague. (Hornet is a classic, and a keeper.)

Honorable mentions:
Gaian Terraformer: The model is not bad, but where are the engines? Looks like a big trash can in space.
Mule auton: Looks okay if a bit bland, but the checkerboard paint job makes it look a bit goofy.
Seconded. And Himal intercepter too needs a new body job if possible.
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PM wrote:The ones that seem to need help are:
(Death Drugs) Meth Enforcer: Looks bland and blocky no matter the angle.
(Anarchists) Earthzone and (Sapiens) Plague: Aside from the Hornet, the Anarchist/Sapien ships seem a bit primitive compared to others. Revelations looks a bit better than Earthzone and Plague. (Hornet is a classic, and a keeper.)

Honorable mentions:
Gaian Terraformer: The model is not bad, but where are the engines? Looks like a big trash can in space.
Mule auton: Looks okay if a bit bland, but the checkerboard paint job makes it look a bit goofy.

It's worth noting that from memory the truespace model for the hornet has an open cockpit*. Classic though it is, a touch-up would be nice some day....but it's not as urgent as the other stuff. Even though it's a cheap crappy gunship, it shouldn't be that cheap.

I agree about the Plague-class being ugly and primitive. While I know it's outside the context of this thread it's also worth noting that the actinide cannon hasn't had it's graphics updated since pre-0.99c and is really ugly as well....what IS relevant about that is that it means the ship could also use being a bit bigger: the AWC blocks weaponfire very effectively and since the Plague is a small target (considerably smaller than even ONE AWC shot), it was annoying as a newbie to fight them back in the day (also 0.99c). The earthzone would also be a nice thing to redesign a little, although it's not bad as-is....just boring. And small. Small shielded targets are annoying.

I suspect that redoing the revelations would be essential if the Plague gets redone: otherwise it'll look crappy in comparison. It's got the same "kinda boring" look as the Earthzone, just not as bad.


And the Himal could definitely use some love as well. I'd be happy with just a revised, slightly larger and more shiny version, but apparently everyone else has a really dirty mind.


*or else my laptop or the copy of truespace I had couldn't render the back of it.
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Revive the mikeno into a cool ship, can't seem to find it anymore
the xenophobe worldship design seems to be simple compared to it's brethren
AND i think the Iocrym command ship needs a little bit of improvement (not to mention it's Pew pew effects).
Plague of course, seeing them ingame makes me feel like im playing the old versions...
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The Hornet looks best at its top or front. At other angles, it does not look like a viable ship. The glass is like a motorcycle windshield. Fortunately for the game, it is top-down 2D, so its design flaws of the Hornet cannot be seen in the game. It is only a problem if the player wants to render a fancy dockscreen with a bunch of Hornets in space.

As for the Himal, it could be a bit bigger, and look less like a missile (or sex toy for the perverted), unless it is intended to be a Syreen Penetrator expy. The Himal is good as a big missile, not a ship.
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Both the Penitent ships are horribly repulsive, especially the Atonement.

Meth Enforcers are.... Shoeboxes.

Gaian Processors are just plain odd. The model is fine it's just it doesn't look "right" stood up like that - maybe try tipping it on it's side and giving it a whole load of tiny engines around the edge of what was the bottom and would then be the back?

But....

I rather like the Himal Interceptor, the tiny 50's throwback pulp rocketship thing is cool.
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There are a couple of designs I feel are out of place or outdated.

the ones that always feel wrong, whenever I come across them:
  1. Earthzone-class armed shuttle
  2. Meth enforcer
A set of ships that I never liked design wise, they just
  1. Atonement-class heavy gunship
  2. Repentant-class gunship
  3. Revelations-class missileship
The ones that feel odd/out off place
  1. Salvager nomad
  2. Gaian procssor

All listed in order of need for an update in game art.

Then, part two of the post: the argumentation for the listing.

The Earthzone-class armed shuttle feels wrong, like it belongs to another universe. As an added 'bonus' it mismatches with the hornet-class battlepod (which is quite nice!). Also, it is the only shuttle I know of in the game, larger and some of the ships. (Maybe, the game art would be fine if downsized and used alongside the light/medium iavs.

The Meth enforce is, as very subtly mentioned above, looks like a shoebox. The design is not wrong per-se, but it is severely lacking in detail/greebles and it does not have any (design wise) 'sister' ships in the game, which doesn't help in making it 'belong' in the universe.

The Atonement-class heavy gunship, the Repentant-class gunship and the Revelations-class missileship all look outdated. They look like the 'cockpit window' has been spray painted on, the propulsion nozzle of the Atonement-class heavy gunship is hugely oversized, which would be nice if it was made to 'make sense' by some in-game feature (like enormous speed) but right now, it looks just wrong. All in all, I would nominate all three of them for the remodel list.

The Salvager nomad is somewhat of an odd-one out. I always understood them as a mobile space station, but it looks too plump to my taste. Maybe if it was slowed down and had small ships leaving from its front bay, it would fit better, but it would still feel odd.

The Gaian procssor is also an odd-one out. I somehow like this model, BUT, there is just one of these odd ones. It may needs some sister ships (or at least ships with a similar vertical/cylindrical design principle) to make it deserve its place in the universe more.


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So far I think the mule drone should be on the block for this one. It always reminded me of a target. Not just because it's bright, but the colors and design just say shoot me.

I have to disagree with the Himal comments though. It's shape is a good one which allows it to be a bigger ship but harder to hit when facing you. At best you can edit the colors bu I would leave the rest alone.
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I would have to second the mule drone. At first I was thinking, "Why is there a space couch following me?" and then I accidentally docked to it and realized it was a mule >.<
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I have to nominate the Earthzone-class armed shuttle.
Not because I don't like it, on the contrary, I definitely would like to see the shuttle doing... personnel shuttling between Commonwealth stations.

So, replace the shuttle with a new ship for the Anarchists, following the new station style, maybe an upgraded Hornet :twisted:
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Always disliked the color scheme of the Ares, but I don't think that's changing any time soon. :P
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