Mr. Parnell wrote:Perhaps I've been using the wrong word - I meant for colony to be something even a bit bigger than 'city' - kind of self-contained economic entity in and of itself. City was probably the right word. I'll have some fun with dictionary.com in a moment and see what happens
I love hearing this.
This means the procedural planetside city generation could be very interesting indeed.
AND, in the interest of getting people to post more pictures, I'm going to post a number of Freelancer favorites. Don't like them? Give me some good examples of stuff you
do like, people.
We have plenty of time.
This one shows all the hallmarks of being hand-modeled - odd building shapes, supporting struts, external frames, etc. But it looks pretty. Then again, I've always been an ice planet kind of guy.
Ahhh, Manhattan. If you've played Freelancer at all, you've seen this one. To be honest, I don't particularly care for this city design - there's something about not being able to see any walkways that doesn't appeal to me. (I've always loved walkways, streets, etc.)
Not sure which planet this is from - I'm pulling them off google images. I like it, though. I suppose it's partially the almost medieval-style buildings combined with the dark rock, combined with nighttime. It looks peaceful and hidden.
Here's another good one from Freelancer. It's actually pretty simply built, but the way the buildings get taller in the background really appeals to me - very strongly. It gives you the sense that yes, this city extends farther than you're actually seeing - it makes it feel larger and more grandiose. The rain, of course, is a gorgeous touch that I'd love to see LT have, but rain is a problem all its own.
Three things I'd like to point out in this one (and yes, it's another ice scene). First, the camera angle is gorgeous - aiming upwards towards the clouds, with the sunlight focused behind the buildings. Second - clouds. I'm sure Mr. Parnell could quickly throw something together to believably generate clouds, given how he's already got nebulae working. (Interesting fact: When artists draw fictional nebulae in real life, they very often draw inspiration from real-world clouds.) And finally - look at how simple these buildings would be to generate. They're essentially layers of blocks with other blocks stuck through them, and yet it looks great. Textures might be a bit more difficult, but hey.
Here's another great one. Let's point out a few things. First, yes, I love rain. Second - the colors in this are really eye-catching, and give it a futuristic feel. It would be really useful for Mr. Parnell to familiarize himself with ways to make things look "futuristic" - so we could get high-tech planets that really look like something from the future. (Come on, guys, let's help him out.) And finally, look at those roads in the foreground, curving off into the city. No, look at them - they don't actually go anywhere - one of them even goes straight through a building - and yet I bet you didn't notice until I pointed it out. I'm not sure what to make of that, but I bet that trick could be utilized.