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[Parsely]

It looks like the throat of a toothy sea monster.

[Guardian G.I.]

I'm entering a contest, and I need a number of 3d spaceship models (fighter/bomber class)... I've made one so far, and I'm looking for suggestions on how I could improve it (without going crazy with detail - I'm thinking body shape/coloration/etc).

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Nothing fancy... I don't want to be texturing decals or anything on just yet - the ship is going to be seen from a distance anyway. I'm just looking for suggestions on the shape and coloration.

It looks rather boxy and reminds me of 3d renders from the very first Command & Conquer.

[Nirur Torir]

Talvieno: I don't know what to classify that as. It looks like a lower tech design. It looks fairly heavily armored, but with minimal maneuverability. Perhaps a long-ranged missile interceptor - if the cockpit had room for walking back and a basic living area. Are the red stripes missile hardpoints? I would expect such a craft to have more space dedicated to weapons.

[kytuzian]

Some stuff I randomly made during class:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Talvieno]

Tron lines? Tron lines can be good, though you'd have to mess with glowmaps.

Glow maps are easy - the software I'm using lets you just put in that it's an illuminating surface and it'll glow like a light source, with self-illumination built in. I don't think it quite matches what I'm doing, though.

It looks rather boxy and reminds me of 3d renders from the very first Command & Conquer.

Ack. Okay, thanks for the input... wouldn't suppose you have any suggestions on how to fix it? It's going to be seen from fairly far-off, but if you get it looking good close-up, it generally looks good from far away too. Usually.

Talvieno: I don't know what to classify that as. It looks like a lower tech design. It looks fairly heavily armored, but with minimal maneuverability. Perhaps a long-ranged missile interceptor - if the cockpit had room for walking back and a basic living area. Are the red stripes missile hardpoints? I would expect such a craft to have more space dedicated to weapons.

I was thinking missile hardpoints, yeah... something like a heavy bomber type thing. I was definitely aiming at lower tech (if you're meaning cheaper to manufacture)... I'm going to be blowing a couple of them up. The red stripes are supposed to be missile hardpoints. The guns (and other missile hardpoints) are protected beneath the wing so as to be less of a target... Or at least so that you could put the armor between the enemy and your ammo caches.

The idea was a ship designed to go deep into a dangerous location (such as bombing a capital ship) and still have enough armor left to shoot off the missiles and get out - no fancy tactics or anything.

Also to be viewed from a decent distance so nobody could quite tell that it looked like carp. Like I said, on a tight time limit so I only have several hours to work on each of these.

[WillowLuman]

More WIP. Messed with gradients on the strokes and outer glows, though not sure if the new glows are an improvement. Illustrator seems to be wanting to have all glows show up as white for some reason.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Does it need a background? More tentacles? More glowy bits?

[Parsely]

There needs to be a lot more going on in the image for symmetrical art to be interesting. The chest and face are really sick but the rest of it doesn't really live up.

The tentacle things overlap with the hand in a way that confuses the perceived depth of it. The way both the knees are turned outwards is also really awkward. If it were me, I'd put something cool and swirly in the background, and possibly crop out the legs at least up to the knees.

[WillowLuman]

The tentacles are supposed to be coming out of the palms, but it does seem like they're coming out of the side of the hand. I take it that's a yes on the "needs more glowy bits"?

[Parsely]

The tentacles are supposed to be coming out of the palms, but it does seem like they're coming out of the side of the hand.

I take it that's a yes on the "needs more glowy bits"?

Yes, that was the impression I got.

I dunno. I like how shadowy the rest of his body is, but there's just so much empty space.

[Knight of Fools]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

More details could make it interesting, and even better if everything has a purpose for existing. Bonus points for interesting stories behind the parts, such as a reason they're designed that way (Law, circumstance, human error, jury rigging, tradition).

Spoiler: Wall of Ideas (click to show/hide)

The glowy bits everyone wants to add could be thermal coolant tubes copied from an alien wreck and retrofitted for human use. For that reason, they looks a bit odd and the design flows slightly differently than the rest of the ship, but it's still functional and an important part of interstellar travel. A mounted light near the cockpit would be fun, too.

As far as color goes, I recommend having no more than two brighter colors on the ship, and no more than three or four plain shades and colors. Spread the orange around a bit, get some deep blue in there for the contrast, and it'll be a little more aesthetically pleasing.

Throw in some antenna arrays to give it a bit of variety. A small set on each wing should work, right on the tip to minimize interference from the hull. It never hurts to have redundancies when traveling in space, so don't feel like you can't copy things even if it's unlikely that it'd ever be needed. A blinking light on each array is a nod to modern aircraft lights and an important safety feature that keeps ships from bumping into each other more often than necessary.

You could toss a few tubes and tanks on the outside, if you can spare the polygons. Make them stand out from the hull, but not as much as the glowy bits. These are non-essentials (Extra water, emergency oxygen, non-volatile fuels, radioactive materials unsafe to store inside, extra heat sinks) that have been tossed on the outside of the ship to save space for more important things. Extra points for vents for releasing radioactive waste into space, as well as drawing in air when traveling in an atmosphere.

Fixed solar panels on top and on bottom. They don't have to be large, like we're used to. This is the future - They can be shaped to fit around important parts and be much smaller, while still generating more energy than our modern panels. Unless this is a fighter designed to deploy and immediately return to a base, there's no reason a good space ship shouldn't have solar panels. They could save a space traveler's life if the primary engine fails. In the least they'll be able to keep life support going if they aren't stranded between suns, and if that's the case they have other problems.

If you're opposed to the idea of solar panels, just say that they're not needed because if the engine fails it would be a violently catastrophic failure, or that the glowy bits act as solar panels. Or just don't explain it at all - It's your ship.

I like that there's two different pairs of thrusters. If there's different kinds of engines, such as standard engines and light travel engines, you could consider making them a little different, with different colors and doodads hanging off of the ship. Also important to remember that the engine may be a separate part from the thrusters themselves.

The purpose of the ship is important, too. If it's just a space version of my car, it doesn't need many fancy things. If it's designed to solely reside in space, it'll be slightly different than something that's meant to go into an atmosphere. If it's meant to transport cargo it would have space for that (Probably on the outside to save space and make cargo easy to transfer - Under the wings or beneath the main body would be a good spot). If it's a tug boat, meant to haul larger ships and debris, then it'll have a beefier engine relative to its size.

If it's meant to get into a few fights it'll obviously need weaponry, but we still need to determine purpose: If it's just meant to survive long enough to run away, it'll be more likely to have swivel turrets, a la The Millennial Falcon. If it's more of a hit and run type deal it's more likely to have fixed turrets near the nose or on the wings, like a jet fighter. Crew and automation also make a difference. Laws may prevent automated turrets, but if this is a smuggler craft then the law is just an obstacle. Missiles and bombs are another consideration you could make, since it does have the look of a bomber craft.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

[Parsely]

Zalgan is a cyborg helicopter pilot, which I made for Zanzetkuken's game Colonial Defense. I did him up in about hour early this morning. Line work was cheap, most of my time was spent getting the colors to work how I wanted them to. After that I spent about another 30-40 minutes shifting things around, adding more lines, changing colors. Pictured above is the finished product, but he went through a few other iterations until I was satisfied.

Spoiler: Original (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Revision (click to show/hide)

[miauw62]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA

THIS

has taken way too much time

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

KIND OF happy with it? Should've used a smaller brush for the dark crystal outlines. Also shouldn't have sprinkled it with those small dots. Oh well, it's supposed to be a background for my in-progress personal website, where the websitey part obscures the middle of it, anyways. :U

PRAISE SHAI-HULUD!

[Shook]

is this some crystal sarlacc deity i don't know of?

:v

also today i drew what is probably the most psychotic dinosaur expression i have ever made

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Oddly enough, 90% of the creepiness comes from the tiny pupils. Also, if this isn't creepy enough, i'll have to stop being subtle. :U

[Slayerhero90]

Is this something that goes here?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[acetech09]

Is this something that goes here?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Yes.

Spoiler: Robot time! (click to show/hide)