12/14/2020 – I think the rhythm this blog will fall into is likely two updates per week in general as a minimum.
The focus has remained on the Freespace fighter, the GTF Achilles. With heavy inspiration from Tron: Legacy and of course Macross, the thing is taking shape. Last time I showed off some nice, Tron style emissive textures on some engine modules. I’ve since gotten those a bit further along, as well as extended that styling to the main body and ventral fin. Challenges remain in integrating the whole lower main body assembly with the heavy gunpod into the ship, and of course animating it within the Freespace engine will be an adventure. Maya’s built in keyframing makes exploring animation of the winglets and the wings extremely easy, which is nice. Currently the canopy also can be retracted, though the canopy mesh in particular is a monster which needs heavy cleanup.
Click the image to see the model in p3d format and spin it around for yourself! This link will let you see the render in full resolution.
