The Star Wars: Imperial Winter Eyecandy Thread [56k warning]

[Zoy64]

WOW!!!


OK, now for the long awaited beta releases.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Rebel Espo Walker
Click for more images

The Rebel Espo Security Walker is a light single-man walker available to the Rebel alliance from their barracks.

Initially designed as a security walker for private policing firms, a large number of these have fallen into the hands of the Alliance, because of their cheap cost and versatile use.

The walker is essentially a very advanced combat suit for a single trooper; it is fast and nimble, and the most armoured unit that the barracks is able to field.

This unit is best used in the role it was designed for; as a perimeter patrol unit, ideal for protecting outlying territories from light raids, because of its quick response time, relative cheapness compared to vehicles, and its effectiveness against light infantry, who struggle against its armour.

Another excellent use for it is as heavy support for Rebel infantry squads. If a Rebel squad runs into an entrenched e-web heavy repeating blaster, they will likely be forced to retreat, if not be entirely wiped out. The espo walker gives the rebels a means to respond to such medium weaponry, as the Espo can use it's armour and speed to remove the threat.

Finally, an aggressive rebel player can use Espos in hunting wolfpacks to sneak behind enemy lines and cause havoc with Imperial logistics.

Espo walkers cannot capture territory.

Credits:
Model - Me
Gorgeous Texture - Lynx/Wolf-in-Exile

[kiki]

WOW!!!


OK, now for the long awaited beta releases.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Presenting one of the coolest, and more importantly the final oustanding unit planned for the beta, we have the LM-432 Crab Droid.

The Crab Droid, or muckracker, is feared by its foes as one of the most versatile of all the units available in the game. By driving its wedged claws into the ground beneath it, it is able to climb up literally vertical surfaces and attack from unexpected, otherwise inaccessible angles.

One of the heaviest units available at the infantry level, the Crab Droid's role is as heavy infantry support; providing powerful armour to infantry units, filling a much needed gap - and allowing the combined assault group to overcome anti-infantry weapons such as ewebs and MRB blasters that might have otherwised stopped an attack in its tracks. Quick and nimble, these units also perform well in a fast response and raiding role, able to deploy to locations quickly, being unhindered by most terrain (they cannot cross deep water).

This is also one of the first units for a long time that I have not had my sticky paws on at all; credits to -
Guessmyname: Model
Lynx/Wolf-in-Exile: Texture
Gnomre: Animation

[HeavyLancer]

My god that is awesome. Hawt Secks!

[1v0ry_k1ng]

those sparks look a bit big

[Warlord Zsinj]

Perhaps, but they look ok from the normal playing distance. Just like good theatre sets, you often need to exaggurate things close up for the sake of the people who are more typically going to be seeing it from quite far away.

That being said, we don't have anyone on our team who really knows much about making nice effects, so most of what we have for the moment are stopgaps - with the best stuff we have (including those sparks IIRC) being produced as one-offs from various contributors.

If anyone thinks they're fairly handy with making nifty CEG effects, we definitely want to hear from you!

[Guessmyname]

You might want to tone the scratches down on the texture: the one at the back looks like a dark, speckled blob rather than a crab droid.

[smoth]

I cannot make much out that map is too red.

[Warlord Zsinj]

Don't forget to click the image, which takes you to our forum where there are more pictures >_> Even posted a snow one for you, Smoth!

[Otherside]

Don't forget to click the image, which takes you to our forum where there are more pictures >_>

ITS A TRAP

[Erom]

Crab droid is nice, but I do feel like you guys have set a very high bar texture wise, and the very strong scratches create enough visual noise that this one falls a little short.

[Warlord Zsinj]

I guess it was hard for Lynx to deal with a small map on such a complicated unit (256*256) - this unit is likely to be seen in numbers, and is small enough in scale such that we opted for a smaller texture. It is not that much bigger then most infantry, who also have 256*256 textures, though it is significantly more complicated.

Having seen it in-game I think that it looks very nice. What helps here is the variable reflection of the scratches compared to the paint. Lynx spent a lot of time carefully working on his texture2, and when the unit is in motion and the light is glinting at different rates, the scratches definitely do read as scratches rather then speckled blotches.

[smoth]

I don't know, more texture space should have been give to the legs, it looks out of place.

*edits* Ignore me I am sure it looks fine just stating a concern.

[very_bad_soldier]

Really awesome guys!! Cant wait to test IW!!

[Machiosabre]

how long till it's done?

[Guessmyname]

<---------> This long. (Not to scale)

[Warlord Zsinj]

Just an update, let you know how we're all going.

The beta is proceeding well. We've moved from very wide brushstrokes of balance to much more finer detail tweaking. There are still some noticeable gameplay issues, but these are less of the larger scale issues that we had initially. This is exciting because we've taken two very distinct and asymmetrical sides and have them work together (well, almost ).

Because balance has stabilised somewhat, I've been able to move back to texturing for the final release. Lynx/wolf-in-exile and our new texture artist, Jamin, have been working hard at producing great textures as well (these are all far better then what I'm capable of, but aren't quite in-game yet, so you'll have to wait for preview shots of those).

Here are two I've worked on in the last week:

This is the Rebel Heavy Weapons Lab.

It is a post-beta factory that allows you to build the heaviest battle-line units in the rebel arsenal. It is expensive, but vital for any war that has bogged down and needs heavy hitters to burst through enemy lines.

Credits: Model / Texture: Warlord Zsinj

Here is the Atgar 1.4FD Laser Cannon.

Don't let it's small size fool you - this blaster's large array makes it a specific anti-vehicle weapon. The large dish allows it to project a very precise blast over a long range, making it great at picking off targets from afar, before they are in range to fire.

Due to it's propensity to overheat, the atgar does not fire very quickly, and so is best not used against infantry - it's tight weapon is wasted on such targets.

Designed to be quickly deployed, and where necessary recycled, the atgar sacrifices armour for cheapness and easy accessibility. While it is useful in many situations, once enemy troops close on it, it must rely on close support or it will quickly fall.

Credits:
Model - Zsinj
Texture Jamin / Zsinj

Don't forget that we're still seeking people to help out with lua scripting, ceg effects, and other areas, so send me a PM if you're interested in helping out!

[clericvash]

Looking stunning as usual, hurry up with a release hehe

[Erom]

That fac is as nice as anything in a retail game. Well done.