[TC][WIP] FTL:Incursion

[Kieve]

*snip*
(however minor it might be).

Minor? People would love this stuff if you could just get it out there. Maybe ask the community to help?

That comment was in reference to making money off the music I've produced. A few of the posts on Youtube have indicated a desire for an iTunes download or similar, but the views on most of those uploads are so low that any income I did make would indeed be "minor" at best.

Speaking of music! Have some more.
Nebula Grit
Hard Burn
-EDIT: all done processing, enjoy.

[Ora_unit_SR388]

Well polished ship. Good job Kieve.

[UltraMantis]

Keep it up Kieve. <3

EDIT - Nebula Grit is too sweet. You'll make me visit purple sectors more often. Not sure if i like that. I'll have a lovely soundtrack at least... while asphyxiating.

[Kieve]

Keep it up Kieve. <3

EDIT - Nebula Grit is too sweet. You'll make me visit purple sectors more often. Not sure if i like that. I'll have a lovely soundtrack at least... while asphyxiating.

Unfortunately, my desktop's primary drive died recently... while I was fortunate enough to upload the existing tracks, many of my recent WIP tunes were lost, as well as the settings for certain instruments, and the arrangement layouts for Slow Burn / Hard Burn / Nebula Grit.
I'm currently on a backup drive with my old XP install, debating whether to reinstall Magix and all associated soundpools, or simply hold off until I build a new PC (current estimate on that, roughly a month or so). The drive is simply the latest in a growing list of problems...

The good news is, I'm playing it safe and running my graphics work right from my backup External (and I did back up all the graphics work I'd done thus far), so I may have some smexy ships to share soon(ish).

Some current thoughts:
-Incursor Drone Artillery. Can enemy drone ships support artillery weapons, I wonder...?
Also incorporates "big gun" theory. I'm curious to see how well a cannon or missile rack will animate and function on a large scale.
-The Demiurge is still begging me to sprite it. I fear one day I'll wake up with the concept art on my face going "DRAW ME, MOTHERFUCKER."
-Still no solid ideas for flagship "Monad" design, aside from the bridge. Everything I've sketched so far looks too much like a Klingon BoP for my liking. Not that there's anything wrong with BoPs.
-I've spent a great deal of time sketching the hard, angular geometry for Incursor designs, but barely any on "two decades later" updates for Rebel, Federation, Rock... well, really any sort of aesthetic other than Incursor. Should probably put some more thought into it...

[UltraMantis]

Ow crap. Sorry to hear about the drive failure. It really must hurt to lose the masters and settings.

As for some of your other questions, i don't have too much experience with BFGs, but i'm vary of animations. Before you paint in detail, use a placeholder or test dummy to try and find a suitable and working animation. It's really dissapointing to have to abandon a design just because it never animates properly.

For the flagship... everyone is making them bigger and bigger. Why not make it slender and/or frail looking? Just because it's strong as an ox, doesnt mean it has to look like an ox.

[Kieve]

For the flagship... everyone is making them bigger and bigger. Why not make it slender and/or frail looking? Just because it's strong as an ox, doesnt mean it has to look like an ox.

I'd actually planned to borrow a page from thashepard's book in making the "final boss" a series of ships, rather than blowing bits off the same design three different times. The Monad itself only rears its ugly head in Stage 3, with the first two stages being Escort cruisers, after a fashion.
That being said, you're probably on to something - part of my design theory for the beast is literally making whole chunks of the ship as its "artillery" weapons. Which is to say, an entire pylon that you can watch charging up before it fires - and when it does, god help you - or a cannon that actually looks like it might be perfectly capable of bringing Armageddon all on its own. Dedicating that much of the screen space to firepower does mean a relatively lean ship design might be better.
That massive solar flare in the title image, which appears to be consuming a planet? Those are the stakes. And unlike the Rebels and their dedicated artillery system, the Incursors aren't pulling any punches here.
I'm also curious to see if I can add Asteroid or Solar Flare events to the final battle (fitting), but that may be pushing it a tad.

Suffice to say, my end goal is to unleash absolute hell.

[UltraMantis]

Flares will hurt the enemy as well...

You know, now that i think about it for one of the stages maybe it would be good. Certaintly if want to pile on some pressure to end the stage asap. With enemy boarding drones incoming constantly ofc.

[Ora_unit_SR388]

Maybe the flagship is not a ship, but multiple ships?

[Kieve]

Maybe the flagship is not a ship, but multiple ships?

Yes and no. It's "multiple ships" kind of in the vein of Escort Duty or similar, but neither linked nor accessible. So basically you'll target one Escort cruiser, with the second providing backup firepower (but untargetable), and the Monad just lurking. Stage 2, you've destroyed the first Escort, but the second one is a little tougher and now bringing the full weight of its firepower to bear. Stage 3 - Monad itself, and god help you.

Also, I roughed out a design today I actually like - really like - and poked a bit at post-war Rebel concepts. It occurs to me that the Rebel "Elite" fighter fits about the same role for Incursion that the Kestral does for the base game - that is, an aging class of ship long since phased out of service but still functional in a pinch.

Next actual update for this thread, I'm figuring on just plugging my scanner in and uploading all these crap sketches and doodles so you can see where my downtime has gone, and get an idea of the Incursor ships on the horizon.

[Ora_unit_SR388]

:3

This will be fun!