A Lesson Learnt

Our Fleets project is coming along together nicely albeit a bit slow. I cant see the light at the end of the tunnel but I do see the tunnel wayyyyy off in the distance.

Slow progress is about all I can expect truth be told. Working remotely is always tough. School, work, family, job etc always takes center stage and we all realize this. Still frustrating though.

For example we need just a couple models built for Fleets. Just a few of the first ones which are the Escort and the Destroyer.

One gentleman built our Escort model and it looked great. But it was not useable as it was…I think…15K polys unfinished. Then he takes off and we never see him again so she needs to be rebuilt. Thanks chap!

Our modeler, Baheno, began the Escort rebuild already.

Baheno then built our Destroyer model. She looks great but now I am worried that the design wont mesh with the types of weapons the game is calling for which leads directly into the type of gameplay the game calls for.


The gameplay I desire calls for port and starboard weapons mostly, with enough room for some ventral and dorsal mountings. Weapons would be mounted on a turret or built into the hull with less traversability (thereby being less expensive). The design of the Destroyer model does not allow for port/starboard mounted weapons (it does but we’ll have to squeeze em in there and it wont look good). Nor does the Escort (but that’s not as bad because the Escort is a quick in, strike, quick out vessel. Forward mounted weapons make sense.)

So what are we to do?

a) start again and design a new Destroyer? I did that already and I happen to think my design is quite nice :D
b) modify the existing model to allow for better weapon placement?

Those options are fine. We are not far enough into development where we cant throw out or modify a model or two and expect it to hamper us.

But it took so LONG to just get the Destroyer complete. Baheno is a busy guy. Work and school together so I understand. No big deal.

But still…ugh…there is a bright spot that came from all this.

A lesson. I learned a lesson.

1)I have to know what I want exactly before I tell the concept artist what to draw.
2)What I want has to go beyond “it has to look cool”.
3)There is a pipeline and it goes like this. What I envision to> concept artist to> rough sketch to> final drawing to>3D model.

We’ll loose work and time because I didn’t explain clearly to the men what was needed. 1) I assumed they knew what was needed and 2) I didn’t know what was needed till it was to late.

A lesson learnt.....or is it learned?