TheRagingGerbil
2003-12-11, 12:56 PM
{I posted this on the OF, but just looking for some input here as well}
First off, I want to say thanks. The vehicle concept is great, and it had really turned out to be a huge help in the field. The ability to quickly deliver heavy vehicles to any location in the world has definitely changed the face of the battlefield.
I***8217;ve been playing with it over the last week or two; flew it around, loaded vehicles, mowed, and taken full advantage of its repair/rearm functions. Everything is great, but visually...it***8217;s just plain stupid. I***8217;m actually offended the developers would even allow this flying lunchbox into the game at all. I know I would have laughed the artist who delivered this straight out of my office.
I know you were limited to it***8217;s overall size by the dimensions of the dropship pads, but come on, I know you have more talent then this. The loading bay animation is fine, and I think the pilot loading animation is actually very good. No landing gear or vectored thrust? And what the hell are the curb-feelers for? Tell me those aren***8217;t the wings.
The overall hull of the vehicle is fine, a bit blocky for my taste and anything but aerodynamic, but I can live with that. I have some ideas that will visually enhance the Lodestar and actually make it look like it fits in the PlanetSide Universe.
Existing Hull:
Remove the micro wings. Remove the aft stabilizer fins. Remove the landing feet. Keep everything else the same.
Wings:
The Galaxy wings are great, and that is what I would use to start with. Two sets of the wings with engines attached would be perfect. The overall hull of the loadstar is long enough to support the width of two Galaxy style wings per side. Install two wings per side, a set near the front of the aircraft, and a set to the rear. Basically, while in flight, an engine at each corner would support it.
To get it to fit on the vehicle pad, it would come up with the wings in a vertical position, and then fold down to a horizontal position as it took off. Upon landing, the pilot could toggle this to change the ground footprint of the vehicle. This would also represent the vehicles deployed and undeployed state, which I***8217;ll discuss below.
Repair/Rearm Functionality:
On the underside of each of the wings, add a small repair/rearm silo. When the pilots lands, he would hit the deploy button. The wings would fold from their horizontal flight position to a vertical deployed position. This would expose and activate the repair/rearm silos. Add the Nanite repair animation so we know they are working. When the pilot wants to take off again, he would hit the deploy button, folding the wings back down, then he could take off.
Rear Stabilizer fins:
Since this is a four-engine lift, I don***8217;t think it needs the addition of flight fins. Plus, it will keep the flight profile shorter.
Landing Gear:
Add four of the Galaxies big ass landing pads to the bottom. A little animation when coming in for a landing would be nice.
Protective Shield:
The shield is nice and all, but I don***8217;t think it needs to be quite so domed looking. Makes the Lodestar look like my lunchbox. A nice flat shield would be much better looking.
Cargo:
How hard would it be to allow multiple vehicles to board at once? With the current size of the cargo bay, you could fit up to six ATV***8217;s inside. Possibly even two harassers or heavy buggies. This leads me to my next point.
With the changes I suggested above, the overall size of the hull itself could be increased to carry up to two of the largest vehicles. Is this even remotely possible? I would love to see a Lodestar packing two Vanguards, or a Sunderer with an AMS, or three Deliverers, maybe even an entire squad worth of ATV***8217;s. The possibilities are limitless.
TheRagingGerbil
First off, I want to say thanks. The vehicle concept is great, and it had really turned out to be a huge help in the field. The ability to quickly deliver heavy vehicles to any location in the world has definitely changed the face of the battlefield.
I***8217;ve been playing with it over the last week or two; flew it around, loaded vehicles, mowed, and taken full advantage of its repair/rearm functions. Everything is great, but visually...it***8217;s just plain stupid. I***8217;m actually offended the developers would even allow this flying lunchbox into the game at all. I know I would have laughed the artist who delivered this straight out of my office.
I know you were limited to it***8217;s overall size by the dimensions of the dropship pads, but come on, I know you have more talent then this. The loading bay animation is fine, and I think the pilot loading animation is actually very good. No landing gear or vectored thrust? And what the hell are the curb-feelers for? Tell me those aren***8217;t the wings.
The overall hull of the vehicle is fine, a bit blocky for my taste and anything but aerodynamic, but I can live with that. I have some ideas that will visually enhance the Lodestar and actually make it look like it fits in the PlanetSide Universe.
Existing Hull:
Remove the micro wings. Remove the aft stabilizer fins. Remove the landing feet. Keep everything else the same.
Wings:
The Galaxy wings are great, and that is what I would use to start with. Two sets of the wings with engines attached would be perfect. The overall hull of the loadstar is long enough to support the width of two Galaxy style wings per side. Install two wings per side, a set near the front of the aircraft, and a set to the rear. Basically, while in flight, an engine at each corner would support it.
To get it to fit on the vehicle pad, it would come up with the wings in a vertical position, and then fold down to a horizontal position as it took off. Upon landing, the pilot could toggle this to change the ground footprint of the vehicle. This would also represent the vehicles deployed and undeployed state, which I***8217;ll discuss below.
Repair/Rearm Functionality:
On the underside of each of the wings, add a small repair/rearm silo. When the pilots lands, he would hit the deploy button. The wings would fold from their horizontal flight position to a vertical deployed position. This would expose and activate the repair/rearm silos. Add the Nanite repair animation so we know they are working. When the pilot wants to take off again, he would hit the deploy button, folding the wings back down, then he could take off.
Rear Stabilizer fins:
Since this is a four-engine lift, I don***8217;t think it needs the addition of flight fins. Plus, it will keep the flight profile shorter.
Landing Gear:
Add four of the Galaxies big ass landing pads to the bottom. A little animation when coming in for a landing would be nice.
Protective Shield:
The shield is nice and all, but I don***8217;t think it needs to be quite so domed looking. Makes the Lodestar look like my lunchbox. A nice flat shield would be much better looking.
Cargo:
How hard would it be to allow multiple vehicles to board at once? With the current size of the cargo bay, you could fit up to six ATV***8217;s inside. Possibly even two harassers or heavy buggies. This leads me to my next point.
With the changes I suggested above, the overall size of the hull itself could be increased to carry up to two of the largest vehicles. Is this even remotely possible? I would love to see a Lodestar packing two Vanguards, or a Sunderer with an AMS, or three Deliverers, maybe even an entire squad worth of ATV***8217;s. The possibilities are limitless.
TheRagingGerbil