And time has come for another little update. First of all, thanks everyone for the continued support. Its the fuel behind the effort so to speak.
This time round, I bring you the snapshot of several Seeder Pods gathering before an invasion:
And the centerpiece, a brand new Attack Cruiser!
Lore: Ystra Attack Cruiser forms the backbone of Xin Central Fleets. Usually the first manned ship to appear when the drones prove ineffective, the Ystra is big, tough and exceptionally well armed, sporting six plasma launchers (simmilar in function to those used by the smaller assault drones) and dual proton beam emitters able to periodically inflict massive damage to enemy ships and structures.
However, it has a few weaknesses as well, though neither are easily exploited against a capable fleet commander. The Attack Cruisers rarely venture alone; despite their power they, like most Xin ships, were never meant to be deployed without a sizable drone escort. As such, the large vessel is ungainly and slow when compared to their counterparts from other races. Furthermore, their weapons require, unlike those mounted on the drones, for the ship to face the target directly - which makes it vulnerable to a fast enemy which would be able to simply outmaneuver it, or failing that, outrun it.
This model was very fun to make. I aimed to make it as organic-looking as possible without actually going full-curves (which would not agree with the technology-biology combo the Xin have; in other words, square plating on a fully organic shape look like crap). I've actually spent most of the time working on texturing. You wouldn't believe how simple windows can define the overall feel of ship size-wise. I must have redesigned them at least three times.
Anyway, this much for now. These are just bare models, when I get their weapon effects working I'll finally post that movie I was talking about...
bss08380, I don't know if scripting something like auto-colonization would work, not because it can't be done, but because the Pods are REALLY fragile. I am talking about two-three hits. Even if a neutral planet has only a few scouts around, they would have no problem in taking out a lone Pod. And as far as I know, you can't script it so that they pick random routes as a group. Though I personally like the idea. I may even put it in just for kicks if I can.
