Free Starship Design Program
When I was much younger I use to play a lot of space games such as and wishing I could build and fly my very own space ships.I noticed in the last couple years quite a few alpha stage games have popped up that let's you do just that, and it's amazing just what they are capable of.Here is a list of the newer space ship 'sandbox / building / simulation' games that I know of. If I missed one, let me know! Playable Unplayable Dead In The Water Failed Infinite Pixels Edited January 18, 2014 by Shippou. I cannot wait for KSP to get a little more finished. It's a huge time-sink now, but if they get around to implementing something like a real campaign in career mode, maybe with actual costs factored in and objectives with rewards, I might not have time for anything else for a while.In some ways, it reminds me of another of my old favorites that did the paid-alpha thing, before there was kickstarter to make it cool, Mount&Blade.
Not only was it fun as hell (riding on horses, chopping up guys!), but the anticipation and speculation as to what it might eventually become when it was 'finished', and the rush when you saw that a new point release was available, kept me playing it steady for a long time. I've bought a bunch of them, and always wanted to really get into them. But it never happened.
I never had enough enjoyment in the first few hours of play to keep me wanting to load up the game later. Not really sure why. Still might buy the latest few and give them a shot.Same. I really like what I see in the trailers and gameplay videos, but the start is so damn slow that several hours in I am still not enjoying myself.I want to try X: Rebirth, because it looks like they have scoped the game down considerably. Though it appears they may have pissed off their entire existing fan-base in the process:).
Designing a spaceship, if we're honest, is the reason a lot of us got into 3D. I know I did, as unfortunately I didn't have the sticking power at physics to become a real rocket scientist.Making a spaceship is pretty easy, I could drop a cube into my 3D model, and tell you it was an alien battle cruiser from the planet 'spot', and that would be that. Making a good spaceship is the hard part. Inventing a spacecraft that people really believe exists and has an identifiable purpose, and above all looks 'cool', is where your talent and artistry comes into play.Here are 10 top tips to consider when creating your own 3D spaceship designs. NasaThere are many ways to get 3D reference for your spaceship design. But one of the best places is to start is the.
Here you'll find a great selection of 3D models of Nasa's inventory containing space hardware (and astronauts too). The models are free for general use. The is fantastic too and provided the clouds for the planet in the main image here. You'll find a great selection of 3D space ship models in Nasa's inventory 02. Start with a briefAs with all design challenges, it is always best to respond to the brief.
Audiojungle free download pack. Even if your designing the spaceship for yourself, create a brief description of what the ship it and what it does, crew complement, etc. This will give you a bedrock for what features your design has to have.
For example, in my image, the big ships are designed to be evacuation transporters. Configurational changesAlso bear in mind a spacecrafts ‘coolness’. For example, one of the most iconic space ship designs is the X-wing fighter from Star Wars. When it goes to x formation, there is little practical reason for it to do this other than the fact it looks awesome. Configuration changes for storytelling devices can be a great way to make your spaceship standout.Configuration changes for storytelling devices can be a great way to make your spaceship standout 04.
Giving scaleAs no-one has a frame of reference for space, try and give a sense of scale with recognisable human cues. This can be as simple as placing a figure in your image, or setting the camera as if it was being taken by a human photographer. As can be seen by the lonely individual on the bridge in my image. Give a sense of scale by placing a figure in your image 05. So what's an alien?Designing purely alien ships can be a real challenge, as their design by their very nature will be alien. Unless you are going for a truly alien look, try and remember to give identifying element’s such as a cockpit.06.
Use model bashingTo really get detail into your spaceship model, look at the techniques that have been used in film making in the days before computers. Most spacecraft models were simple shapes with a wood frame which were detailed by random parts from plastic model kits to add authenticity So use the same methodology for your CGI models.
Starship Designs Concepts
Spaceship detailing kitsThere are now model packs that can be used to help you build your scene, the main image for this article was constructed out of parts from the stock spacecraft parts that come with modo along with the excellent add-on pack. This allows you to get to the fun bit of detailing your spaceship so much quicker than modelling every component by hand. Save time by accessing model packs to help build your scene 08.
Embedding detail using Normal MapsOf course, all this detail can start to drag your machine down. If this starts to happens, start baking secondary detail down such as panels onto simpler geometry using normal maps. Normal maps still react to lights in your scene. The techniques for doing this vary from software to software, but learning how to create normal maps is a great skill for all of your 3D modelling requirements 09. Creating your texturesTexturing can be massively important to getting the look of a spaceship just right, varying panel detail, which would be a chore to model, can be added easily using texture maps, as can dirt and grime if needed.Texture applications such as MARI can really help you with the texture schemeTexture applications such as MARI can really help you with the texture scheme as it can generate procedural textures which you can mix with other texture layers painted on by hand. Texturing can be massively important to getting the look of a spaceship just right 10. Use lighting and rendering for detailTo light a spaceship, try and use a secondary source of light such as planet to offset any harsh key light from a start, try and set your spaceship against a backdrop which will allow it to be silhouetted.Light without using textures to help you find where the nooks and crannies are in your spaceship to really help bring it to life.
Free Starship Design Software
Ambient Occlusion Render passes can be excellent for this as well.