Forums » Suggestions

Rag is porous

May 24, 2017 Ore link
Did anyone notice the paper "wings" on the new rag? (I didn't)

Yeah I get that its a spaceship but why is there no hull on the wings? It looks kinda fuckt.
May 24, 2017 incarnate link
Er, what? What's wrong with the wings?


May 24, 2017 Dr. Lecter link
I think I see what he's getting at, though I assume the "porous" remark is more aimed at the bizarre looking hull cut-outs ventral/dorsal.

The old Rag design looked like it had bigger wings because the whole hull curved smoothly into them; this new asset looks pretty slab-sided, with the little winglets being stuck onto those sides. They could be the same relative size, but no longer look like they're part of the overall hull and thus appear smaller.

Overall, I see the argument for most new ship designs being aesthetic improvements even if I personally don't like the new look (see, e.g., Vulture). This one is just weirdly simplistic looking...it's a flying tombstone shape with a nose and winglets slapped on, with tombstone cutouts on the hull. Maybe it's more off-putting due to the original Rag being so much less utilitarian...dunno. The minimal hull plating concept makes realistic sense and could be pretty cool looking on a ship design...but this ain't that.
May 24, 2017 incarnate link
Well, I mean, I said back when it was released that the design wasn't my personal favorite either, but we're working under restrictive limitations.

But the aesthetics are what they are, and we're going to be using it now, so people had best just get used to it.

If there's some kind of actual suggestion about a real gameplay impact.. like the collision hull isn't working right for some reason, I'm open to that.

But, I don't have resources to go re-evaluate aesthetics right now.

And then, after my comment in that thread above, a bunch of people chimed in to say they like the new Rag design, so obviously it's all pretty subjective to taste..
May 24, 2017 Ore link
It looks like a paper airplane around the wings. Bulk it up a little please.
May 24, 2017 Dr. Lecter link
It looks like a paper airplane around the wings. Bulk it up a little please.

Yeah, making the winglets thick enough to come up to the edges of the upper/lower hull would help it look more like the original Rag. But as Inc said, they likely don't have the resources to correct design mistakes that don't have a substantive effect on gameplay.
May 24, 2017 Ore link
apology accepted.
May 25, 2017 Olsbyn link
Matter of taste I guess, I like the new design on both this and the hornet.
May 25, 2017 vIsitor link
I'm afraid that I've got to agree that the new Ragnarok model looks... odd. I'm familiar with the concept of All or Nothing armoring schemes, but it seems to me that the new model is missing armor plating where the ship would logically need them the most. All that fancy piping is certainly cool to look at, but if I were a pilot in-universe I wouldn't want it left exposed where any yahoo could shoot at it. A more reasonable arrangement would be heavy armor on the dorsal and ventral surfaces, with plating more sparse on the hard-to-hit sides.

As for the wings they do look kind of wimpy, but they were always sort of vestigial anyway. They're certainly not there for atmospheric flight; the logical in-universe explanation would be that they're probably heat radiators.

Not that I expect anything to change, of course; there are more serious priorities than addressing our pedantic nitpicking. Still, I believe it is worthwhile to critique the design anyway. Curt is a talented artist, and some honest constructive criticism as he steadily reworks the game's old, dated assets could hardly do any harm.
May 25, 2017 Drevent1 link
When I first saw the new rag I thought shit what have you done but after flying it and looking at it for a while I think its actually quite good
May 25, 2017 Inevitable link
I'm still just trying to figure out why spaceships have wings. Planetary flying in VO 3.0?
May 25, 2017 Faille Corvelle link
As vIsitor mentioned, it's my belief they are not "wings", but heat radiators.

Personally, I like the "KSP" look the new models have. Realism can take a back seat (or just get out and walk) where aesthetics are concerned IMO.
May 25, 2017 Inevitable link
Just as long as something takes the front seat
May 26, 2017 abortretryfail link
What I'm most irritated with is the weapon port placement. If you're going to rework the collision mesh, give some thought to whether moving or changing ports would be an improvement.

Why did the 3 small ports get moved closer together? Is the new model just that much bigger?