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[David]

Blog post here.

[Cycerin]

Fighting the urge to overgreeble is an endless battle. I def. learned a lot from seeing how you've started approaching Starsector's sprites differently.

Also that new frig is super retro looking. Is it a shuttle or what?

[Ahne]

An interesting read, nice to see how you are approching this for the new generation of starsector ships. Also very nice to know, that stuff is going on and the next ss version is coming closer, hype?!

[Tartiflette]

Mmmh, I'm not a huge fan of the new Eagle... The first one was definitively over-the-top in term of greeble, and the second a stark improvement. But that new one lost something imo: some volumes aren't as defined as before, especially on the front arms and just behind the side medium turrets. There is also the fact that the whole armor has the same frequency details now, when before some parts were very detailed and other smoother, the scale is more difficult to guess. And the arms details seems rougher too, not as polished as the rest, plus the sudden break in the lines when the side medium hardpoints emerge straight from a tilted shape with tilted plating.
Sorry for the harsh disappointment post, and I swear, I'm not complaining because I have three variants of the Eagle to redo for a coming mod. (or only a little >< )

[Zudgemud]

Nice blog post I like the change in greebleness, and I think that guide is great (I should try to follow it more though...).

I really really dig the new eagle look, the front armor now looks like a proper armored shell for the softer innards, the only complaint is that the mid forward hardpoint stands out more now, and does not flow as naturally into the rest of the hull as it did in the previous versions, I think it is the sharp contrast between the whiter centerpiece and the more saturated brown color that makes it stand out more now.

I'm kinda ambivalent regarding the new frigate though, it looks a bit too much like a fat space shuttle, which is a pretty meh spaceship shape.

[MShadowy]

An interesting write up for sure.  Greebling is actually an area where I feel a bit weak on, so I mostly do big smooth hull surfaces.  That being said it's probably a little cocky to proclaim that it's not something I might have a problem with.

I'm a bit conflicted over the changes to the Eagle; the contrast between the armored sections and the exposed mechanical parts around the engineering is much stronger now, which gives a good feel.  On the other hand, like Tartiflette noted, there's some loss in sense of scale and some of the areas around the bow feel weaker.  Also it lost the slight assymetry, which I rather liked.

The new shuttle looks neat; has a nice kinda retro style to it.  Nifty.

[Thaago]

Interesting!

I really like the new eagle (and will promptly be staring at it to try and replicate the armor style ).

[Megas]

Which is more interesting to look at, A or B? Then: which is playing a supporting role better in the overall context of the work of art?

A.  I like smooth.

I have not been much of a greeble fan.  I prefer a smooth look over a greeble-infested eyesore even if the former is considered primitive by some.  (I also prefer symmetric ships over asymmetric mutants.)  I like Eagle #3 with almost no greebles the best.

I see a new frigate-sized ship, as others have noticed.

[HELMUT]

As Cycerin said, that new shuttle-thing looks straight out from some 90's Shmup. That's pretty cool.

I'm not sure about the Eagle MK.III. Before you could clearly place him in the mid-tech family with the Hammerhead, Conquest etc. But now? It feel more like a semi-high-tech D-variant, a bit like the Odyssey. I'll still gladly take it but i'll probably miss the MK.II. I hope you'll eventually try to "smooth-it-up" other ships like the Venture or the Apogee in the future.

By the way, is it possible to have a png of that old web page layout? So many pipes! And rails and wires and tubes and... For someone that loves the "flying oil refinery" style, this is a kitbashing wet dream.

[CrashToDesktop]

I dislike the color of the new Eagle - it seems much more low-tech now with the brownish overtone - but the it has improved greatly (in my mind, at least).  The details like the raised front ends of the turret platforms are a nice touch, too - give the main deck of the ship a sloping feel.

[SafariJohn]

I'm not sure of my opinion either way on the new Eagle. I'll have to see it "in the overall experience of the game."

[NeutroniumFurnace]

The issue is that the "greebles" as you call them caused there to be a sort of scale to the ships. A largeness personified by all the multitude of tiny pieces making them up. Even small ships felt large due to all the interlocking plates and pieces. Not only does getting rid of them make the ships themselves (in my opinion) look substantially worse, but also serves to remove the uniqueness of the ships. The ships don't look as unique anymore, they look more like things drawn by committee than by an inspired artist.

I don't expect to change your mind, but since you have been developing the same game over the course of 5 years and made the same amount of progress a team of 4 could do in as many months, I don't see you changing much of anything let alone your own mind.

[TheDTYP]

New ship confirmed you guys!!!!!!

[Thaago]

The issue is that the "greebles" as you call them caused there to be a sort of scale to the ships. A largeness personified by all the multitude of tiny pieces making them up. Even small ships felt large due to all the interlocking plates and pieces. Not only does getting rid of them make the ships themselves (in my opinion) look substantially worse, but also serves to remove the uniqueness of the ships. The ships don't look as unique anymore, they look more like things drawn by committee than by an inspired artist.

I don't expect to change your mind, but since you have been developing the same game over the course of 5 years and made the same amount of progress a team of 4 could do in as many months, I don't see you changing much of anything let alone your own mind.

Well that was rude of you. You do realize that David has a full time job at another game company, correct?

In terms of greebles: when done right, they can add scale. When done wrong, they just add noise. I don't think any of the old sprites were that bad, but I very much like the look of the new Eagle. It looks like its covered in armor plates, not in random lines.

[Cathair]

Mmmh, I'm not a huge fan of the new Eagle... The first one was definitively over-the-top in term of greeble, and the second a stark improvement. But that new one lost something imo: some volumes aren't as defined as before, especially on the front arms and just behind the side medium turrets. There is also the fact that the whole armor has the same frequency details now, when before some parts were very detailed and other smoother, the scale is more difficult to guess. And the arms details seems rougher too, not as polished as the rest, plus the sudden break in the lines when the side medium hardpoints emerge straight from a tilted shape with tilted plating.
Sorry for the harsh disappointment post, and I swear, I'm not complaining because I have three variants of the Eagle to redo for a coming mod. (or only a little >< )

This pretty much mirrors my own thoughts, but in greater detail.

I agree that the middle Eagle is a definite improvement in terms of drawing the eye to its defining shapes, and I think it actually has a better sense of depth to it than the original sprite.

I strongly dislike the Eagle on the right, though. From a distance it just looks blurred somehow. Also (and this is more of a personal taste thing, I admit), the new raised 'wells' for the turret mounts adds some of the weird plastic-y bulbousness that turns me off about the larger Tri-Tach ships. Just doesn't fit well with the image I've built up of this ship's 'character'.