Turret Cockpit WIP

Howard Day

Random art guy.
Ok, guys -it's been far too long since you've had an update. Work has been fairly hectic, and to be honest, I've been somewhat distracted by other things in my life. But the good news is that the turret cockpit is close to being finished - no more than a couple evenings work left.
The two screen to the front will have a radar display on the left and gun power/tractor beam status on the right.
Take a look and let me know what you think. Any suggestions for improvement or thoughts on the coclors or layout are welcome.
http://www.hedfiles.net/wcpioneer/Turret01.mov
Enjoy!
 

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First: I am glad, that news about Pioneer are back again. The cockpit -- nice work, despite of being surely only a basic framework for final turret interior. It is of course a rear turret interior, right? When some ships will have top and bottom turrets (maybe Camel?), I guess the cockpits will look differently, won't they?

As for actual cockpit - the stuff I would add:
* maybe some kind of oxygen mask hanging on some wall for situation, when the cockpits armor got pierced and depressurized (of course only hipothetical situation :) ) -- just for decoration,
* as you are a master of ambient and other lightning inside various cockpits ,in that stuff, I totally rely on your skill here,
* the pipes on sides of a cockpit could be more swerve and with different widths, branching to several cockpit computers, displays, devices and such. If you want to have this cockpit in a shabby (Millenium Falcon) way, there can be some holes in pipes's casing showing various wires and gossamer filaments (these can change their light intensity -- like with impulses flowing through them -- and yes, I know, that real g. filaments don't glow on the outside...). This will give a kick of life to that cockpit.
* kind of easter bunny-like thing: a WC1-style little blackboard with chalk showing the most recent turret kills...

Maybe some more ideas will come up later -- with more feedback from the rest of community and thinking about the cockpit layout.
 
Good suggestions , all. The most likely to come about is the modifications to the pipes. As for the turret being a rear turret - There aren;t any top or bottom turrets in Pioneer. The Camel has only a single rear turret. The Hydra however, has two turrets - one to either side. For the time being this cockpit will represent all of them. At a later date we may add another.
Thanks for the feedback!
 
I like that the turret gives you a wide field of view without feeling like it's all glass with no supporting structure.
 
To me turrets should feel crampt and this feel very big for a turret. I also liked the WC way of seeing one’s legs when piloting.
 
Looks great Howie. However, as has been mentioned earlier, the tubes could use some modifications. For me, tubes that lead to the edge of the hull have no apparent purpose. There should be at least a foot between the edge of the hull and where the tubes should end, turn away, or something.

I can't wait to see more. :)
 
Cool pic, but correct the link to .mov file to http://www.hedfiles.net/wcpioneer/Turret02.mov . Wanted to edit my previous post but made another one - strange. Working all night on that cockpit, didn't you ;-) ?

[EDIT] Ok, my suggestions: I see, that you've added light effects to by-the-legs parts of a cockpit - it's fine. Still I must say, that pipes don't look too functional right now. There are too many of them leading nowhere and only one or two are supplying deck computers with power and connection to other ship systems. You can make some monitor on the wall with maybe two parallel wireframe planes (like in a targetting systems of Millenium Falcon) or something like this - repeating some move in never ending loop. Make other pipe leading to some upper monitor (small one with some control lights flashing) attached to the frame of the cockpit with some iron bands of sorts. Also looking at the exterior of the cockpit from the other topic of this thread I remember, that the whole cockpit chamber is literally hung on hydraulic hinges and to the main body of the ship it is connected only with a kind of sleeve (i don't know how it is properly named). What I am trying to say is that when looking at the interior of the cockpit I really do not see this whole robustness of turret construction. IMO in the cockpit there should have clearly visible points, where the whole turret is hunged on this great arm -- like some big spindles, welds or rivets -- there can be some pipes leading OUT of the cockpit to feed some exterior turret controlling mechanisms with power or pressurized oil (in case of hydraulic mechanism). This gives me some other idea already - what about sounds when sitting in a turret - In no game with ship turret I've experienced a true feel, that I am sitting in one of these. When turning this turret in different directions there was no sound of some servomechanisms or hydraulic pumps working. Maybe Pio can be the first to implement it - it would surely be great!
 
Looks good although it does seem really really dark...any chance you could hang a light (or two) in that turret somewhere?
 
Looks great, Howard. My only suggestion is this: could it be made a little smaller? It would seem that you would want small turrets that present less of a profile. Other than that, excellent work.
 
Fatcat said:
Looks great, Howard. My only suggestion is this: could it be made a little smaller? It would seem that you would want small turrets that present less of a profile. Other than that, excellent work.

I wanted to place a link to .mov file, showing the rear turret in-action short animation. The file is unfortunately unavailable, nevertheless you would IMO clearly see, that the size of the cockpit is well related to its size from the outside.
 
Okay - Right.
Got pretty much everything sorted out - the majority of the textures are done, and the main displays have been completed. there are a few little details left.
Unfortunately, my webspace is down for some reason, so you'll have to suffer through still pictures for the time being.
Lemme know any thoughts you guys might have.
 

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Howard Day said:
Okay - Right.
Got pretty much everything sorted out - the majority of the textures are done, and the main displays have been completed. there are a few little details left.
Unfortunately, my webspace is down for some reason, so you'll have to suffer through still pictures for the time being.
Lemme know any thoughts you guys might have.

I stand corrected. Awe-inspiring work Howard!
 
Yes, it really looks very nice! It's good to know, that you actually apply our ideas and suggestions, like with those hinges - it really looks better. Looking forward for "finishing touches" of yours done to this cockpit -- it's mostly then, when your cockpits gain their "souls" with lots of small details and decent light effects...
 
Dyret said:
So... where do you enter/leave the turret?

At a guess, the seat back folds down for access to the hatch leading to the rest of the ship. Somewhat ackward for an emergency egress, perhaps, but with the space limitations there's only so much you can do.

On the upside, that looks far more cozy than any real-world gun turrets. :)
 
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