Yeah, this as probably been argued over to death (and it already seems to have been discussed to a point on the Carrier Landing thread), but I wanted to hear what you guys think of it in full -
How does one explain the extreme jump in design of vehicles on both sides of the war, from WC 1 and 2 to WC 3 and onward?
One aspect is of course the hull of the ships - the Confederation's ships go from being reminiscent of modern fighter craft to flying bricks. It can be said that the entire reason for the change is due to the necessity of low polygons, but that doesn't quite explain it; observe the Kilrathi ships, and the fairly complex looks they manage to pull off. The Arrow is kind of like that, too - it's almost like the lovechild of a WC3 and WC1/2 era fighter.
Modelers have had to make do with less (Arwing from Star Fox, anyone?), so I don't see why Confed couldn't have retained the "fighter jet" look of their fighters at the very least.
(I might have to try modeling a Hornet with the same polys as a WC3 fighter and see if it can be pulled off...)
But that's not the only thing. The other is the dramatic change in color scheme. I can best describe the Confederation in WC1 and WC2 as "green and white," but all of a sudden, in WC3, it's... sort of a whitish blue.
So, yeah - for me, the change in design is far too sudden and happens on every front. You can also say the same for Confed's uniforms, and the interior of ships.
The Kilrathi's change has been less drastic, except where starships are concerned. Their fighters retained a bit of complexity and the same color scheme of brown and red... but all of a sudden, their culture's preference for asymetrical shapes kicked in. Why did it happen all of a sudden? They've already been a spacefaring race for quite some time, enough to make sophisticated ship hulls - surely they've had plenty of time to introduce their cultural asthetics.
So... How can you explain the change?
How does one explain the extreme jump in design of vehicles on both sides of the war, from WC 1 and 2 to WC 3 and onward?
One aspect is of course the hull of the ships - the Confederation's ships go from being reminiscent of modern fighter craft to flying bricks. It can be said that the entire reason for the change is due to the necessity of low polygons, but that doesn't quite explain it; observe the Kilrathi ships, and the fairly complex looks they manage to pull off. The Arrow is kind of like that, too - it's almost like the lovechild of a WC3 and WC1/2 era fighter.
Modelers have had to make do with less (Arwing from Star Fox, anyone?), so I don't see why Confed couldn't have retained the "fighter jet" look of their fighters at the very least.
(I might have to try modeling a Hornet with the same polys as a WC3 fighter and see if it can be pulled off...)
But that's not the only thing. The other is the dramatic change in color scheme. I can best describe the Confederation in WC1 and WC2 as "green and white," but all of a sudden, in WC3, it's... sort of a whitish blue.
So, yeah - for me, the change in design is far too sudden and happens on every front. You can also say the same for Confed's uniforms, and the interior of ships.
The Kilrathi's change has been less drastic, except where starships are concerned. Their fighters retained a bit of complexity and the same color scheme of brown and red... but all of a sudden, their culture's preference for asymetrical shapes kicked in. Why did it happen all of a sudden? They've already been a spacefaring race for quite some time, enough to make sophisticated ship hulls - surely they've had plenty of time to introduce their cultural asthetics.
So... How can you explain the change?