Gave this a spin, have some minor feedback.
- The art is great. I'd love a look at your layered files just to see the process.
- Some of the slot layouts are really strange, eg, the Gaia has everything clustered in the front third of the ship, which makes for some odd overlapping and incredible vulnerability to EMP, torpedoes - lots of stuff could knock out both large slots or even most of the ship's weapons with one or two hits.
- The built-in PD lasers are great - been experimenting with those too. I'd like to see them installed on more ships, or all of the ships; it would give you more freedom to put a ship's slots in odd locations, without worrying over PD coverage.
I'll definitely keep playing around with it.
Thanks for feedback!
Gaia has such layout to force player to use it as a purely support vessel: as you said it is very vulnerable due to clustered slots and no guns at the rear. This will likely stay the same. Maybe it will get a different system though.
Built-in PD is good, but I will add it only to some "exceptional" ships, perhaps 1-2 more.
As for the sprite layers, technique is quite simple. Here is a WIP personnel transport:
1) Just a sketch. Not used in result image.
2) For PBC ships I usually make 3 layer groups: light gray bridge, main hull, "lower" hull. Hroups make it simpler to work at the area edges.
3) Add pre-made slot images, I use the same for all PBC ships. Important to add them ASAP not to mess with hull surface later.
4) "Lines" pass: add plating outlines and divide stuff to segments. Partly reuse sketch.
5) Lighting: add shadows and highlights. I usually have the light source somewhere sightly on the left, so that this layer is asymmetric even on totally symmetric ships.
6) Tone, overlays and lights.
7) Details. Just random stuff usually not bigger than 2-3 pixels all around the ship + some antennas and bulkheads.
P.S. The sprite is not finished, I just dumped it in its current state. All steps are quite valid, I'm just not satisfied with its look yet.