The Lore and Design of the Calypso

[Zeich]

posted on August 4th, 2012, 8:12 pm

Last edited by Zeich on August 5th, 2012, 2:12 pm, edited 7 times in total.

Last week Optec introduced the federation's newest ship: the Calypso. As you read in [url=//www.fleetops.net/news/item/221-the-calypso]his post[/url] the ship has a lot of history. This led to a long and interesting design process.

 

[url=//www.fleetops.net/news/item/222-lore-and-design-of-the-calypso]Click here to read this article![/url]

posted on August 5th, 2012, 11:29 am

Nice insight, I think the nacelles are a good style.

posted on August 5th, 2012, 1:14 pm

salam

posted on August 5th, 2012, 2:15 pm

Good article it give us the details step by step of the design of this ship that look great. I hope we see more articles like this.

posted on August 5th, 2012, 3:45 pm

Man, I always knew your modeling work was impressive, but looking close at your textures.... it is astounding man!

Great work as always man, we appreciate it!

posted on August 5th, 2012, 5:22 pm

Probably already asked and answered else where, but what program do you guys use to build your 3D models?

posted on August 5th, 2012, 6:18 pm

Nice to see you articulate your design process. I think overall the nacelles are my favorite part of the design, while the shape of the saucer looks good, I dislike that stepping taper at the rear. Feels kinda jem'hadar attack fighterish. Looking at some of your angled beauty shots the under carriage reminds me of the NX. Overall a lovely design, has enough federation to say its a starfleet vessel but its clear shes got some influences from other races in her genetic code.Great work.

posted on August 5th, 2012, 8:01 pm

nice article, really like to see the design process of stuff. and fantastic model!

posted on August 5th, 2012, 8:11 pm

Probably already asked and answered else where, but what program do you guys use to build your 3D models?

We gathered quite a collection in the dev team now: Nathan is working with Maya and Photoshop as far as i know, while I'm working with 3dsMax and Corel Photopaint. That's actually a good sign that programs don't matter that much

posted on August 6th, 2012, 8:25 am

Epic job Loving the look and hopefully how she handles. Can't wait to get me mucky paws on her

posted on August 6th, 2012, 9:13 pm

Great Work on the ship. And i have to agree, your textures are amazing. So are the details. Now, if i could just find those pulse cannons. Can anyone tell me where they are? I am probably just blind

posted on August 6th, 2012, 9:21 pm

The little red dots are the launchers - the orange boxes on the top are the chargers

fireaway.png (840.98 KiB) Viewed 2325 times

posted on August 7th, 2012, 1:00 am

By looking I get the feeling that the pulse weapons were part of the original design. The way that they are integrated into the saucer. In the lore, were those top of the saucer weapons always there? The Holographic Domes I could see being added on later, but they integrate enough so as to not look out of place.

I tip my had to you Zeich. I appreciate how much effort you put into the design. As I looked at each step I liked what I saw, but the changes in the following step looked a little better. Thank you for working hard to develop a good design and then to keep thinking and working to make a better version. And then refining the model/textures even more to take the ship all the way to awesome!

posted on August 7th, 2012, 10:19 am

By looking I get the feeling that the pulse weapons were part of the original design. The way that they are integrated into the saucer. In the lore, were those top of the saucer weapons always there? The Holographic Domes I could see being added on later, but they integrate enough so as to not look out of place.

the pulses were probably sensors before, explaining the shape of the saucer having a flat vertical surface in that spot. later some of the sensors are removed and more guns put in.

posted on August 7th, 2012, 10:27 am

The pulse weapons were part of the refit. Being a research vessel, the Calypso carried a lot of specialized sensors and devices that were removed as it was refitted to a more military use.