How exactly could you give different ship models the same physics model or collision mesh? It would feel strange, and actually can be a slight advantage/disadvantage depending on the ship.

simply make them very similar in size and stats. one is rounded, another is squared, angled edges... just like EC88/EC99 or Revenant/Wraith.

Bring to real-world, many different cars are mounted over same plataform. They look very different, but inside they are exactly the same engine, chassis, transmission, etc...

Or, WHY would nations that are enemies for centuries would still use exactly the same vehicles? Or are all ships in game, except Valks and Proms, produced by UIT/TPG? This makes no sense! Can you imagine the Germans, Japanese, Italians, Americans, British and Russians using exactly the same airplanes, tanks and ships during WWII?

In the real world we don't shoot missiles out of our vehicles that have a detonation radius... 3D doesn't matter that much in vehicles that drive on a road, mostly only the level plane matters, except when it comes to aerodynamics and center of gravity. Its also why collision models are much easier to do accurately in a normal racing game than a flying game.

You do know that other countries use the same jet fighters as the United States, right? Also, many countries use weapons developed in other countries as the primary weapon of their military. Now think about it, this is 2012.

For instance, the F16: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-16_Fighting_Falcon_operators

All F-16 operators are US allies... or can you imagine North Koreans, Chinese and Iranian flying F22s? Or american Army replacing their M1 Abrahams with russian/chinese T72s?

I didn't realize that we had that many allies >.> Just because someone isn't an enemy of a country, does not make them an ally. Also, its interesting how you're comparing top of the line aircraft usage, even though the ones you were suggesting are some of the lower tier ships being different. If anything, lower tier ships are the ones that would be the same across borders, just like how, as new war technology comes out, the less advanced countries often start purchasing some of the older technology from different countries, because those countries become less strict on the usage of their aircraft. I can't imagine any of the factions keep a tight hold on the design of the EC-89.

Another issue of using current models is that you then reduce the number of ships that can be bought by each faction, which I've noticed people already complain about the number. If you reduce that number even further...

Even using your own example of the M1. The M1 came into service to replace the M60 tank. Guess where the M60 is in use now? Iran.

until 1979 Iran was pro-US. Those were sold before the islamic revolution...

Really? Haven't seen anything about them being pro-US in the stuff that I've read. Whatever, you get my point though, right?

I more or less agree with the basic idea behind what Alloh is saying, if not with some of the specific details. But that's a lot of work, so not worth complaining about until they employ dedicated artists.

And it's not what the OP was getting at. The OP wants to always have some new ship to be unlocked at the next level. That is what I'm opposed to. More variety and more ships would be okay, but having ships require combat 19 would be a Bad Thing for this sort of game.

Waterseas, you should be truly, truly ashamed of yourself.

Oh? How so?

Why serco ships should be square? Give the box shaped ships to da uit, they be da traders nation anyway :p.

I wonder if waterseas is a relative of Bungarus, future of this thread should tell.

Alloh, having the same stats on ships of different shapes and sizes makes no sense, because the stats of every ship are finely tuned to the specific shape of the ship. This was made extremely clear when the developers switched the old Wraith for the new Revenant - they had to change the stats because the Revenant handled differently than the Wraith with the same stats. The way a ship flies is tied directly to its model.

Why not use new models for ships that serve different purposes (or to replace currently dated models like the Atlas), rather than trying to expand the range of looks for a ship that serves one purpose?

Or update them at least so they look similar, but better. I kind of like the style of the Atlas, it's model is super low detail though.

@slime:
The idea is that the race's variations keep same stats, including size, to ensure balance! Smaller variations on flying performance is welcome...
What ship we have that only serve one purpose? None, all them but the XC can do anything... very few are better suited to some tasks, as the XC, hound or minermoths, but all others are multirole.
We really could use other ship types, unarmed, but that's another topic.
And Great ship model you posted, where did it come from?

Back on more ships, I'd like to see that diversity of ships per nation, to be unlocked not only by XP, but mainly by faction standing. Better to keep the existing good balance on what ships a newbie and a vet can have, and focus combat more on skills than equipament... a newbie Hog2 is a good match for a Prom or Valk when hog pilot is better...

-1 to supermegaships unlocked at higher licenses
+1 to more ships, per race, horizontally spread
+2 to more specialized ships
OT:(that probably requires creating Equipament ports, for unarmed ships)

I'm pretty sure slime understands, he's just being nit-picky. You can't literally reuse the exact same collision meshes and stats unless the actual model is very nearly the same. But you can certainly make the ships basically equivalent in role and power. One nation's version might end up being just slightly better at some things due to a different profile or smaller moment of inertia, but it's not the end of the world as long as they're pretty close (in fact, that's a good thing).

I just want a HM3 etc use the same model just give it 1 extra port 24 grid and make it hard to get

Xc pluss 240 cargo very hard to get

Ragnerok gls 6 small ports

superlight pluss no guns 1 cargo

A superlight with no weapons... are you high?

Race ship.

Where is my BHM3 :)