Starsector Wing Commander project

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Looks pretty good ingame atm. will do some touching up during a general quality sweep.
If anyone has anything to give in terms of ideas, sprites, topdown views of things, etc, ill see what I can do to bring it into the game :)
 
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Hello everyone, I was introduced to wing commander by the amazing Mac's lore. Ever since then, i've had a fascination with the mythos and style of the ships.

It stewed in my brain for a while and a week ago, I started to make it into reality.
I'm currently working on a modification for Star Sector, a game you can find out more by looking it up.. though let me summarize
Its a 4X sort of top down pixel art game.

I don't want to just copy and paste stuff in from wing commander, since the fidelity is off and using existing models is sort of lazy.. so I began to make my own work.

Heavily based off wing commander, I present what i've currently made so far, with regular updates and other goodies forthcoming.
View attachment 14312View attachment 14313View attachment 14314
Arrow, Thunderbolt, WIldcat, Hellcat


Currently, I am doing my own sort of lore for it. Using the thunderbolt as the main bomber, the wildcat having a more retro design inspired by starwars with the exposed engine components on the top to help indicate its older age. (Since I am limited by the pixel budget, since the game scales off pixels). As well, as I said, I only just started doing art a week ago, so every sprite i've made is distinct by my exponentially growing prowess at making them.. the arrow is pretty dated in comparison to my other work, for instance.

So some artistic liberties are taken to help distinguish stuff. Currently i'm working with CountvonSchnaps and Mac's lore to try and get some capital ships into the game.. (Mac provided topdowns of some 3d models and CountvonSchnapp is going to provide some sketches) feedback is appreciated. Currently touching up the hornet for showcase, with the raptor and scimitar on the canvas.
Hey there. Nice work - and especially nice to see, that you are using my Hellcat VI-Design 🤗
Let me know if you need anything like files or images. If you want to know more about the Hellcat VI:
 
Hey there. Nice work - and especially nice to see, that you are using my Hellcat VI-Design 🤗
Let me know if you need anything like files or images. If you want to know more about the Hellcat VI:

Oh! Yeah, glad you caught that, I adore your take on the hellcat, sleek and more utilitarian. I did make it a bit more clean in the sense its meant to be my lores F22 equivalent. There is going to be a hellcat successor craft. Just dunno how i'll adjust the hellcat design enough to make it distinct. Its already pretty sleek. (Its sort of like trying to distinguish a top down of the f22 and f35 on a limited pixel budget).
 
So. Here's a small summary of the project lore. I live on Vancouver Island, which has a large car culture, which is what my corporations are based off.

The Confederation inhabits a single star system, called Wicomma on the fringes of the persean sector.
Their capital within the system is the planet of New Bengal, which is an earthlike.
There are two more inhabited planets within the system, but I haven't written the lore for them yet.

The subsidies of the government and minerals of New Bengal allowed exceptionally cheap vehicle production. Meaning everyone basically owns their own starfighter, airplane, or boat.

The Confederation was founded on the principles of democracy, free market, very liberal ideals. They have no prime minister or president, relying entirely on a large parliament to enact decisions. Much like Canada, regions have their own representative, with often conflicting and frustrating laws that make trade between them difficult, which has limited the growth of the Confederation outside of their own system. So despite being under a unified government, many regions have just enough autonomy to make wrangling the whole beast of the government a job most want to avoid. Government reform is almost impossible, sticking to both the founding document and squabbling within their own regions, very few propose broader legislation, leading to very small, incremental, vague changes. This frustration with the inability of the government to push for any larger reforms, has led to a rebellious, punk culture within many citizenry. Though since appointments to the parliament are lifetime, even after 200 years, things have remained quite stagnant.

As the system was isolated from the broader domain of man, a very large corporation began to take more and more power.
Origin Starworks. They started as a monopoly, but grew larger, being responsible for manufacturing almost every large ship within the Confederation. In Hegemony Era 95, a brief and bloody skirmish within the capital broke out, resulting in the nationalization of Origin Starworks.

By the Hegemony era 206, three major distinct groups had taken form.
Foster Aerospace. The modern car company. Ruthless, corporate, its CEO ego driven to self sabotage. They use propaganda, sabotage and often outright piracy to muscle in on other, less fortunate companies. Hellcat, Wildcat, Arrow, all their designs. They have a very lucrative government contract, though try and keep their ambitions in check to avoid the same fate as Origin.

Galaxy Motors. The passionate car company. More consumer focused, seen as 'for the people', though still a corporation under all the fluff. They are often the 'good' guys in a lot of corporate war lore. Focusing on utility, dependability, reliability, pushing the envelope with a diverse range of products that have a full right to repair and resell. Gladius, Thunderbolt, Galaxy, all their designs.

Maverick Manufacturers. These represent the hobbyists, the black market, chop shops and shady resellers. Exceptionally diverse. The small guys in the corporate war, they are also greatly varied politically, since there is no cohesive structure. Its just a bunch of dudes doing starship stuff cause its their passion, or, perhaps, payday.

Together, they form the three 'factions' under the Confederation, with their lobbies influencing a lot of the politics within the government. Though their fleets and overall policy of isolationism and friendship at a distance are still maintained.
 
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Oh! Yeah, glad you caught that, I adore your take on the hellcat, sleek and more utilitarian. I did make it a bit more clean in the sense its meant to be my lores F22 equivalent. There is going to be a hellcat successor craft. Just dunno how i'll adjust the hellcat design enough to make it distinct. Its already pretty sleek. (Its sort of like trying to distinguish a top down of the f22 and f35 on a limited pixel budget).
Oh that’s sounds interesting 🤗 Would you be interested in working together? Maybe if we put ideas together we might get a real cool Hellcat-Successor 🤗
And thank you for your kind words 😊

One question: Would you be so kind, to show with what you meant by „a bit more clean“? … because believe it or not… but ever since Count-von-Schnaps take on my Hellcat I have been playing around with some ideas… but I am lacking inspiration at the moment.
 
Oh that’s sounds interesting 🤗 Would you be interested in working together? Maybe if we put ideas together we might get a real cool Hellcat-Successor 🤗
And thank you for your kind words 😊

One question: Would you be so kind, to show with what you meant by „a bit more clean“? … because believe it or not… but ever since Count-von-Schnaps take on my Hellcat I have been playing around with some ideas… but I am lacking inspiration at the moment.

I have a discord. same as my name here. freelanceralpha1. That way we don't clog up the forum with responses :)
 
I do want to make fighters/corvettes that escort the carrier, sort of like floating gun platforms.. though wing commander doesn't really have those, escort sorta vehicles with a top turret thats supposed to fly near the carrier and help defend stuff. Like this.
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Maybe ill adapt the longbow into a sort of corvette platform thats supposed to escort carriers.
 
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She's flightworthy. Very rough proof of concept. Schnaps work ports very well into the game. The actual mounts themselves need to be adjusted of course, but that's a me thing to do.

Expect more updates as me and Schnaps work to bring more into the game ;) though, it will greatly change as it approaches a first release.. since.. yknow... i have to build the ships into a faction from the ground up rather than just haphazardly replacing existing stuff with them.
 
Update!
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Its looking better by the minute :) Ill be taking a break from updates for a bit (Maybe a day) Just to relax. (And yes, there is an engine plume coming from the hangar, but that's due to a bug with my ship editor.. hopefully ill figure it out by the time first release comes around)
 
There are turret mines, although I'm not sure if they have anything other than station keeping thrusters, if that.

Fighter screening is generally handled by ships like corvettes and destroyers. They're also shown doing things like launching chaff to break up missile strikes. It's never stated explicity but from their armament it seems like corvettes are mainly anti-fighter ships, the Kamekh carries flak cannons rather than heavy anti-matter guns.
 
I do want to make fighters/corvettes that escort the carrier, sort of like floating gun platforms.. though wing commander doesn't really have those, escort sorta vehicles with a top turret thats supposed to fly near the carrier and help defend stuff. Like this. View attachment 14337

Maybe ill adapt the longbow into a sort of corvette platform thats supposed to escort carriers.

Perhaps you can give the anti-fighter role to the Crossbow and augment its armament with chaff pods and electronic warfare capabilities and keep the Longbow as a missile boat and bomber.
 
additions to the lore and sneakpeaks at upcoming ships

So, first off. The gimmick with the confederation navy is that unlike the other factions in the game, they do not have access to nanoforges. Meaning they have a limited number of planes they can send out (Though can send them out consistently, as they keep a lot on the deck). As well, confederation pilots are trained to sort of 'go down'. While many do have ejection seats, they prefer to die with their starfighter.

The Tallahase is a mixed utility cruiser. Utilizing the longer southhampton esque body to do search and rescue operations.
It is combat capable and is meant to be in the heat of battle, but its primary purpose is that its long neck is used for cranes, gantries and small hangars for shuttles and recovery.

So the neck is going to be thicker, mostly to accommodate the extra equipment. While the cost of fighters is dirt cheap, they much prefer to recover what is left rather than let it be space trash. (This ties into the lore about New Bengal having a catastrophic kessler incident.) Due to a cataclysmic event that almost spelled the doom of the Confederation early in its life, cleanliness of the battlefield is a must.

The Tarsus is a Maverick Manufacturers vessel, a slapdash conglomeration of scrap. A competitor to the much more popular Galaxy, it has made a name for itself by being exceptionally easy to repair. Overpowered forward thrust gives it great smuggling capability, while a notable top turret allows a 360 degree coverage in case of problems when cruising through the orbit of New Bengal or the asteroid belts.

The Gettysburg i.imgur.com/CTah8eb.png
The only confederation cruiser to not have a hangar bay. It is an exceptionally old vessel, being the pride and joy of pre-nationalization Origin Starworks. It is slow, lumbering, outdated. Though the fact it has so much mass dedicated to guns, leaves it a niche that it continues to enjoy to this day.

The Waterloo i.imgur.com/C9E1ChA.jpeg
A newer design, a joint venture between Foster Aerospace and Origin Starworks. its goal was to replace the southhampton, though since the aging destroyer still found great usage in trade convoy escort and training exercises, it never quite accomplished this goal. The Waterloo is left as a rare sight, its production having been cut to just a few years. It still boasts some of the best hangar space for its size, though is notably undergunned compared to the southhampton.

Eagle i.imgur.com/gpJYkYh.png
The smallest dedicated carrier within the Confederation, the Eagle is a newer design. In hegemony era 185, during the Reconstruction Of The Navy seminar, retired Fleet Admiral Tolwan proposed that the aging Victory class be put into mothballs and a more maneuverable ship be put in its place.

By Hegemony era 195, Ten years after the seminar, the first Eagle was rolled off the assembly line. While it was smaller than the Victory, it boasted the same flight deck launching capability.. though at a reduced overall carrying capacity. This, alongside the speed, gave the Eagle a strong ability to 'punch down', even able to keep up with Southhamptons during full cruise.
 
Update! I've been working on my spriting skills and have been redesigning the hellcat V
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Giving it more solid lines, more shading, adjusting the parts around, all that. I think its looking really good! let me know which one you guys prefer ;)
 
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