Asymmetrical Ship Sets

[geoschmo]

United FLora is one of the most orignal and cool looking SE shipsets out there. It's one of my Favorites.

[Pax]

Originally posted by jimbob:
I'm curious if anyone has released a plant based shipset, sort of like the plant guys in Starcontrol (I)?

You mean the Supox. they were only in StarControl II, not Star Control I. Fun race, but, a VERY "bit part" in SC2's storyline game, and their ship's ability (the lateral movement) is VERY tough to apply well, as a human player, during a Melee, anyway.

Hmm. Though the lack of variety in Star Control race's "fleets" (each race had a SINGLE ship type) would make it difficult, I'd love to see a Star Control themed mod, complete with shipsets etc. 8) Once could even release the mod as SC-1, SC-2, SC-3, and SC-All varieties (since the mix of available races changes from one SC game to another, usually by addition of new races ...).

[henk brouwer]

Originally posted by PAX:
Hmm. Though the lack of variety in Star Control race's "fleets" (each race had a SINGLE ship type) would make it difficult, I'd love to see a Star Control themed mod, complete with shipsets etc. 8)

The speech files should be fun :-)

I think someone made an Urquan-Kzer-ah shipset some time ago.

[Taera]

Star Control 1 is the game with 4 factions - blue, green, red and grey, everyone with the same types but very different ships and abilities, right?

It shouldnt be too difficult to mod, their ships are rather simple.

[DirectorTsaarx]

Originally posted by geoschmo:

quote:

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Originally posted by TerranC:

quote:

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Originally posted by geoschmo:
Humans are very visual and symetrical creatures. It is hard for us to look at an asymetrical craft and not think it's got a problem.

Many architecture is not symmetrical.

Humans are not perfectly symmetrical:
Facial features notably Eyes, Ears, and Nose are not symmetrical.
The human lung, liver, stomach, and kidneys are not symmetrical.

(One kidney is a bit bigger than the other... )

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Right. Which we have already discussed and I acknowleded earlier in the thread. But haveing one eye a milimeter bigger than the other is not really asymetrical for the purposes of our discussion. That would be like saying a battle ship is an asymetrical design because it only has an airlock hatch on one side of the ventral pod. If it were, would you even notice it in a 36 x 36 bitmap image? What most people are talking about with asymetrical ship designs would be equivalent to a being with two feet on one leg and both arms on one side of it's body.

I agree it makes for interesting and very alien looking ships. But since almost every life form on earth is basically symetrical, or at least tends towards it if possible, we are safe making some assumptions. Not hard cold assurances of course, but if the processes that formed life on earth hold true throughout the universe, you would tend to think that it is common for life forms on other planets to also be basically symetrical.

Geoschmo

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Not only is life on earth basically symmetrical, symmetry is one of the defining characteristics of beauty. The more symmetrical a face is, the more beautiful it appears to the average human. I found an article on this years ago, which included a couple pictures of Lyle Lovett (one of the weirdest-looking guys around); one picture was a standard full-face; but the second was a morphed Version, where the authors copied the right half of his face, reversed it, and used it as the left half of his face. Once they made his face perfectly symmetrical, he really was a decent-looking guy. So, natural selection should tend towards symmetry. Perfect symmetry isn't going to happen, but many people come pretty close. Barring major accidents, of course.

Besides, the asymmetry being asked for in ship design is major, not minor. Like having a wing/nacelle/control pod on one side of the ship, but not the other.

And one thought on why ships are usually symmetrical - in non-SE4 combat, where turn radius and weapon arcs are taken into account, it could be dangerous (if not suicidal) to only have weapons/sensors/etc. only mounted on one side of the ship, as the enemy (if they're intelligent) would focus their attack on the less-protected flank. Now, in SE4, where turn radius and weapon arcs don' matter, let the ships be as asymmetrical as possible. Have some fun. Or, if you get bored with asymmetry, try for more than just bilateral (i.e., right/left or top/bottom type) symmetry; go for tri- quad- or even pentalateral symmetry. Or more, if you're that talented...

[capnq]

Star Control 1 is the game with 4 factions - blue, green, red and grey

The original Star Control had two sides with seven races each, with each race having a single ship design and special ability. IIRC, the four colors were used on the star map to show Alliance control, uncolonized, Hierarchy control, and unexplored, respectively.

From a physics standpoint, symmetry give you a more predictable center of gravity, which makes it easier to control the direction of acceleration under thrust.

[Pax]

Originally posted by Taera:
Star Control 1 is the game with 4 factions - blue, green, red and grey, everyone with the same types but very different ships and abilities, right?

It shouldnt be too difficult to mod, their ships are rather simple.

Nope.

Star Control 1 has TWO factions. The Ur-Quan and their Hierarchyof BAttle Thralls ... and the Alliance of Free Stars.

On the Hierarchy side, hoping I don't miss a few, were (SC1) the Ur-Quan, VUX, Mycon, Androsynth, Umgah, Ilwrath, and Spathi. SC2 added the Thraddash, and introduced the Ur-Quan's "sibling" secies, the Kor-Ah.

On the Alliance side were the Humans, Chenjesu, Shofixti (samurai squirrels in space! lol!), Yehat, Mrnhrm, Ariloulaleelay (a.k.a. Arilou), and the Syreen. SC2 added, in the New Alliance of Free Stars, the Chmrr (combined Chenjesu and Mrnhrm), Zoq-Fot-Pik, Supox, Utwig, the Yehat's own splintered "sibling" race, the Pkunk, the Slylandro, and the Orz.

Neutrals in SC2, were the Melnorme traders, and ... damn, I can't remember, the slave-trading bastards in their "Mauler" flying-cannon ships ... whatever their names were.

SC3 introduced a few other races; I forget most of them.

...

The trick is, each race had it's own, single, sole ship design. Each had (usually) two abilities, the main weapon, and some special ability.

For example, the Arilou "flying saucer" affair had a VERY-short-range, rapid-reload laser, that auto-aimed towards the enemy. Their special ability was to teleport (randomly) aroudn the battlefield, a useful escape trick after making a (dangerous) strafing run on the enemy.

Meanwhile, the Vux had slow, barge-in-space, klingon-lookalike warships with a hugely powerful, mid-range laser out the front. Their SPECIAL ability made them combat worthy -- little "limpet" missiles, that slowed the enemy down if they hit (and clung, ofc).

So, each race would need to have their own set of technologies to be properly done in SE4 style, mod-wise.

Shipset-wise ... each race had only a single ship, and, they weren't always of the same "size" (the Arilou SKiff and Shofixti Scout would both likely be Escort of at best Frigate sized vessels, for example). however, a certain style MIGHT be extractable from those basic images, if a talented shipset designer was motivated to assay the attempt. 8)