Project Heavy Metal

[Coolhand]

I hope to post a series of designs in here, for far future, 100 + years spaceships on a large scale, this will also include large space stations! Saving time by Sharing assets like textures, windows, seats, landing gear and so on to build a collection of vehicles and assets. The goal is to have large objects which look good up close, have an impressive sense of scale but yet still be renderable in real time.

Currently under construction is an Earth - Mars passenger spaceplane with a deployable centrifuge, there are other views in the Ravenstar thread, but more to come!

 

[Pilot7893]

Oooh, sounds fun. I always liked the big lumbering spaceships more.

 

[Coolhand]

Yep there's certainly something fun about landing a large aircraft. here are some more views of the spacecraft.

 

[eveningsky339]

Me gusta.

 

[Woo482]

That looks really nice ! what's the poly count ?

 

[Pilot7893]

It almost looks like something out of Shattered Horizon, you did a very good job on the model. Sometimes I wish Orbiter had self shadowing, dynamic shine, all that stuff. Addons like this would just look so much better.

 

[Hielor]

Looks great! You've had us all drooling over the ships since you posted them in that thread.

Are there any plans to take advantage of OGLA features like bump maps or dynamic lighting?

 

[Coolhand]

Yes the models will take advantage of new engine developments... shadows and other effects are doable.

These things can only improve now the physics and graphics have been separated. OGLA as mentioned and i've heard things about directx 9 too i think.

Poly counts are large of course, Greg Burch large or something like that. I expect this ship will put as much strain on your graphics card as 3-4 ravenstars if thats any help. But its a big ship with explorable interior.

speaking of interior, the leg room in first class can only be described as outstanding I'm not sure whether this zero g area should be all seating like an airliner or cabins like a passenger liner.

 

[Hielor]

Yes the models will take advantage of new engine developments... shadows and other effects are doable.

These things can only improve now the physics and graphics have been separated. OGLA as mentioned and i've heard things about directx 9 too i think.

Very nice. OGLA's the first to get things like bump maps and dynamic lighting--I'm not sure how the API will play with other future graphics clients. Needing separate calls for every graphics client would be undesireable.

Poly counts are large of course, Greg Burch large or something like that. I expect this ship will put as much strain on your graphics card as 3-4 ravenstars if thats any help. But its a big ship with explorable interior.

speaking of interior, the leg room in first class can only be described as outstanding I'm not sure whether this zero g area should be all seating like an airliner or cabins like a passenger liner.

Very nice. For seating, it would depend largely on how much time they're going to be spending there. Will people be spending the entire trip there? You'd probably want cabins, or at the very least rooms like they have on trains. If the area is only used for launch/landing for safety reasons, with the centrifuge area used for extended stays, all of the cabins could be in the centrifuge area and the zero-g area could maybe have deployable seats which retract when they're no longer needed, turning the area into a ballroom sort of thing.

On that note, you might not even really need separate floors for the zero-g area, if there's no structural reason to have them. In zero-g, there's no need to have only one level of seating per deck, since you could have rows of seats just coming out of the wall...although, if the ship is designed to also have atmospheric operations that wouldn't be the most comfortable setup when you're in an earth-like gravity field, I imagine. Having it all be one giant deck would certainly aid in a "zero-g promenade" kind of feel...

 

[Ark]

That is outrageously sexy.

 

[Pilot7893]

This reminds me of something...
Oh yeah! I remember!

 

[Coolhand]

yeh well for atmospheric flight i think everyone would be in the forward section. The centrifuge opens up once your in space and your passengers start throwing up.

the forward section could also perhaps break off as large lifting body escape craft if something goes wrong further back. Heres a crappy animatic of the hub during transformation. access to each gravity module is by 2 elevators at either end of the modules. things in here and for much of the model are a little 'rough' at this stage of course so you'll have to use some imagination.

 

[Pilot7893]

Also, about the interior, I agree with Hielor. Airliner-like seats for the Zero G area, and Ocean liner like cabins for the centrifuge.

 

[Izack]

That is outrageously sexy.

Gone horribly wrong:

((Sorry, I watch too much YTP))

 

[Coolhand]

ya know i dont mind the guy, but if i see one more pic of hugh laurie in this thread, the poster had better produce a flyable hugh laurie addon within a week or they'll be banned.... at least for a day or two.

or maybe forever, who knows

Pilot, yes i think that is wise. there might be a mixture, theres all different ways it could work i suppose. maybe some people would prefer to sleep in zero g and would attend the centrifuge only for exercise or avoid it alltogether.

since the flights are of a long duration, there needs to be more on the inside than simply cabins and seats of course. but anyway i agree, i think this deck should look like an airliner on the inside. but i dont think it'll stay as "open plan" as it it currently is.

 

[Izack]

ya know i dont mind the guy, but if i see one more pic of hugh laurie in this thread, the poster had better produce a flyable hugh laurie addon within a week or they'll be banned.... at least for a day or two.

or maybe forever, who knows

Sorry about that...I'm very, very tired (coffee apparently isn't for me.)

To validatate my presence in the thread, I can't quite put to words what I think of this vehicle. I'm sure under the current Orbiter engine it won't look quite so stunning, but I think that between this and the XR-2, we may never need another spaceplane.
Unless, that is, you plan on making it with Spacecraft3.
Speaking of that, who's coding this bird? You, or maybe Mr. Beachy?

 

[Coolhand]

We haven't discussed anything other than the xr2mk2. I'd certainly like Doug to be involved. he's a great guy and fantastically dedicated, you know when he starts something it'll be finished, even if its a long haul. If not, who knows... if you build it, leave it next to brighton base you never know who will start tinkering with it.

 

[Zachstar]

Wouldn't anything 100 years from now be able to reach mars within say a week? A good strong fusion reaction will give you plenty of ISP needed for such a trip.

 

[Xyon]

Flyable Hugh Laurie?

The idea makes me rofl. If I could model, I'd probably be sorely tempted to do that now.

 

[dbeachy1]

We haven't discussed anything other than the xr2mk2. I'd certainly like Doug to be involved. he's a great guy and fantastically dedicated, you know when he starts something it'll be finished, even if its a long haul. If not, who knows... if you build it, leave it next to brighton base you never know who will start tinkering with it.

You are too kind, my friend. The feeling is mutual! After the XR2 mk II I'd love to do an XR7. Or maybe an XR12 -- that thing looks big.