Comments - DrVenture

I'm in agreement here; the AI seems to have unlimited RU's at it's disposal, and I can't enjoy any of the new ships because I'm being overrun by about 5 minutes into a game

I like this new Prowler a lot

Blimey, is that new missile models I see? Tomahawks, essentially, nice

I respectfully disagree there. While there are certainly some repeating textures, it seems like they are only noticeable because we are looking at this in raw form, rather than in game. I think for a completely raw design from scratch, it looks great. Except...
The color. It seems so much bluer and lighter than the rest of the UNSC fleet. Was that by design, or will it appear greyer/darker in game? EDIT: Although, looking at your previous material, the grey-blue does serve to differentiate between non-combat shipyards and combat craft, so maybe that's a good thing ^^

Oh, I have been wondering this: For the Charon, where do the fighters/corvettes leave, and how will having a carrier benefit the fleet? Just by being able to take Longswords through slipspace, or is there a fuel system , or a repair system on board?

Very nicely done

I'm with you there, these renders are hella awesome

That's true, but a cylinder is the least stealthy shape, mathematically. My two cents is this; the shape is fine, but maybe the engine cowling should be truncated horizontally, so it doesn't come off quite so wide and flipped. Then, it needs a new design for the antenna, maybe based on the shape of the oni facility from reach(whose design is always loved) which can then be horizontally oriented to lenghthen and define the nose.

I have the same feeling. I know the PTV and Homefront guys are having trouble with models that are too high poly. I hope it works out, cause these are beautiful, but I have my qualms about it's feasibility

That's how solar systems work, they have an orbital plane where most of the planets revolve through.

This is a really crazy, nice design, which I imagine is just what you intended. The only problem I have with it is that that crazy giant antenna would reflect radar like a BOSS, and doesn't really fit in with the canon of the Prowler being basically an F117 in space. I love the rest of the design, and the big FLIR-type pod on the front, but I think that antenna needs to be redesigned, maybe a more angular design.
As for the game mechanics, would I have an active cloak, or will it just be black colored? I kinda like the latter, making it undetectable via the scanner, and making the Covie player required to keep an actual eye out for it.

Well, I hope it works, and doesn't crash if I zoom in to look at the pretty model

Is the HW2 engine really going to be able to handle all this? I mean, the poly count for this turret must be ABSURDLY high.

Why are there no mods listed for this game? I could have sworn there were several...
EDIT: Never mind, saw I was udner the Wii panel... nvm

That's what I get for skimming XD

I love the new nose on the Charon, it looks a lot more distinct from the Marathon/Halcyon now, and has a great look. As for the Atlas, the addition of that armor has made it look much more UNSC from before. I like the idea of a long range ship, maybe make it slow to make up for the range and power?

I really like these, especially the Talos and Hecate. The Atlas I'm a bit less enthusiastic about, it has more of an EVE Online look about it, but I am prepared to be pleasantly surprised. The Charon I also like, but IMO, perhaps the nose section could be more truncated, like that of the Talos, just to give it a more recognizable silhouette (I've always thought carriers should be more flattened on the whole than the cruisers, but that's really just my aesthetics than anything else.)
These are really great concepts.

Zero, this is much better than our ideas.

Is it even canon that the supercarrier can take a Marathon? I nean, they were bigger, but the Marathon is the big guns of his fleet, why would it need carrying?

I see. I figured it wouldn't be quite so difficult, but I'm not a coder ^^U Well, I like the idea of refinery ships as well.

I like that idea too. Make the refinery ship frigate-class in size, and the resource carriers much smaller then?
Randomly slipspaceing in would be an issue, but since there is already code for hyperspacing in shipyards, surely the same thing could be applied, just on a timer delegated by the Resource research that you have. It could just "build" a new freighter every so often, which would then dock and automatically "retire", with a high enough set RU cost it would be just like a RU delivery.

So, I've had an idea. There is plenty of canon (specifically in the Harvest book) for small, modular, slipspace-capable robotic freighters. These would be essentially a clamp, AI, slipspace engine and thruster mounted on a framework and slapped onto the end of basically a shipping container (I've drawn a mockup, it's pretty ****** but you'll get my meaning). These provide most of the shipping around UN space. My thought is this: I've never REALLY bought the "mine asteroids right next door to build ships" aspect of HW, and in the Halo universe it makes less sense. My idea is this: based on research, the UNSC player will get one of these freighters slipping in every so often. In-game, it would hyperspace in, and automatically retire itself, thus depositing a consignment of RU's every so often. It makes more sense to me than trying to design a plausible mobile mining craft, and instead they get their materials from dedicated platforms off-map. Your thoughts?

It's nice looking, but I'm puzzled by the red cylinders. Those are living quarters, right?

Carriers are awesome

I'm no great shakes at drafting., but I might draw up a sketch of the harvester as I imagine it, then you guys can see what you think

Great minds XD

I've always figured UNSC harvesters would be something really practical, Something like a Pelican cockpit, a drill or one of those continuous miner heads, and a giant container on the back end for the ore. But then we'd need a factory ship to process it, and all that. It'd be a mess, but a consistent one.

Are you planning on integrating carriers and such as well? I've always wanted to see/draw myself a design for an UNSC carrier.
Also, what about harvesters, have you settled on a design for them, or still soliciting opinions?

Guru3d.com
It looks like this RivaTuner software might be able to do just that

This is a fantastic looking model. And Zero has his work cut out for him. Does this mean we're closing in on the next release?
*me being selfish and wanting to play with textured ships and try all this new stuff!