Ideologically, I've been a left-leaning libertarian for a long time. I mostly identify with the Democratic Party(of the two). But I also fully realize and concede that there is corruption at all levels of government and on both sides of the aisle. Nobody is perfect and both sides have issues.

Lately, more so than usual, those that I have associated with in the past have taken particular interest in attacking Obama. The latest is over the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare (just a slightly different version of Romneycare aka "Massachusetts health care reform" if, ya know, we're interested in the truth). People are certainly entitled to their opinions. Heck, they can even be vastly different than mine. I rather enjoy good, lively debates. But I have issues with what are seemingly intelligent people saying that America should wake up, that somehow trying to give healthcare coverage to the roughly 15% of American that aren't covered (aka the whole purpose of the "Affordable Care Act") is a bad thing.

Ironically, I came across a video showing what is really going on as far as the government shutdown. America needs to wake up indeed.

Yet more teasers for Season 8 Fleetie Darlings. These Voth ships look pretty cool, can't wait to fly one, or blast them apart ;)

DESIGNING THE VOTH'S SHIPS
[attachment=1689]Voth4.jpg[/attachment]


[attachment=1690]Voth5.jpg[/attachment]


The Voth and their ships are a paramount of technology, the result of eons of development. In Voyager, we saw a pair of Voth ships: a very small one and a very large one. (It should also be noted that the small ship was reused later on in the series as a Turei ship.) This limited palette of ships posed a challenge for creating a large variety of vessels, but opened up the door to allow for creativity.

To get through this challenge, we decided to start with research. Primarily, we took note of visual elements that were symbiotic between the two canonical ships. A variety of these elements were isolated and used to create a visual design language for the Voth’s ships. We created this language knowing that we would have to create anywhere from three to five new Voth ships. This acted as a strong stepping stone for deciding where to start.

Similarities aren't the only thing to take note of, but differences as well. Aside from the obvious, size and mass, we extracted more information, which laid out the ruleset for our wiggle room in designing new, interesting features. On top of that, we outlined a variety of things that we felt were important for filling the gap between the incredibly large and incredibly small.


[attachment=1691]Voth6.jpg[/attachment]


[attachment=1692]Voth7.jpg[/attachment]

The visual design language comes in a variety of forms: screenshots with notes scribbled on them, lists of descriptive words or phrases, and even white boards covered in sketches and lists of "Do's" and "Don'ts."

As a game, we also must take into consideration the needs of our Systems Designers in regards to ship-based powers. Sometimes art needs to compensate for "gamey" functionality, as it is important to translate certain information to the player purely through art. As a result, features visible on some of the smallest Voth ships are shared with some of the largest.

With the information gathered through research, coupled with discussion among the team, we set our concept artist loose. We sifted through piles of shape studies and sketches, and over time massaged the design of our ships into something the team was happy with. We progressively created higher quality concepts until we had enough to work with a predictable amount of precision.


[attachment=1693]Voth8.jpg[/attachment]

In the end, we are happy with how these ships have come out, and Season 8: The Sphere is shaping up to be one of our best updates yet! We look forward to seeing you all in-game, enjoying the fantastic new Voth space content when it releases, and we hope you will enjoy breaching the hulls of these monstrous vessels.

Ian “JamJamz” Richards
Ship Artist
Star Trek Online

Quote by kiddkasper

Quote by Parker

Quote by kiddkasper

Seriously?!?!?

Oooo. I may still have the box in storage. I can dust it off and make a few bucks apparently.

I'll give you a 2500 zen.

2500 zen sounds nice. But we can help get it setup for ya. Unless someone beats me to it, I can help after work or this weekend.

Yaaaaaay! :) I look forward to working with you guys.

Ahhh, I love Fleet Ops! I haven't played it much though since STO came out, but I really enjoyed it. Although I suck at it really badly...

Quote by Parker

Quote by kiddkasper

Quote by Parker

Seriously?!?!?

Oooo. I may still have the box in storage. I can dust it off and make a few bucks apparently.

I'll give you a 2500 zen.

2500 zen sounds nice. But we can help get it setup for ya. Unless someone beats me to it, I can help after work or this weekend.

Quote by Gravity

Catch me on vent shawn and ill have you set up in under 30 minutes i promise :P

Ventrillo is the voice chat software the fleet uses information on how to get it and connect to our server can be found at
http://fleet.stonewallgaming.net/welcome-center/guides-and-tutorials/setup-ventrillo

Your word is as good as gold I have come to find out. If you're around this weekend we will do it. Thanks!

PS- I have a feeling he knows very well what vent is :whistle:

Catch me on vent shawn and ill have you set up in under 30 minutes i promise :P

Ventrillo is the voice chat software the fleet uses information on how to get it and connect to our server can be found at
http://fleet.stonewallgaming.net/welcome-center/guides-and-tutorials/setup-ventrillo

Quote by Sector001

Ventrillo? What is that? :whistle:

I sense that you should be downloading/installing/configuring (any necessary combination or piece of 3)so you can join us in vent as we yakity yak through various games on the interwebs :)

Quote by kiddkasper

Quote by Parker

Seriously?!?!?

Oooo. I may still have the box in storage. I can dust it off and make a few bucks apparently.

I'll give you a 2500 zen.

Quote by Gravity

While i couldnt condone acquiring a cd image of this game by nefarious deeds. I should point out fleet ops simply requires the disc in the drive or to be mounted on a drive.
So if you accidentally went to isohunt and accidentally downloaded the image of the armada 2 disc and mounted it using daemon tools and then ran the fleet ops installer it would work.

:P

If I knew what all that meant I suppose I could do that as well :) Since my technical skills around anything OTHER than physical Security software have dulled over the past several years I would need to read a "* book for dummies" to work all that out :)

Ventrillo? What is that? :whistle:

Quote by Parker

Seriously?!?!?

Oooo. I may still have the box in storage. I can dust it off and make a few bucks apparently.

While i couldnt condone acquiring a cd image of this game by nefarious deeds. I should point out fleet ops simply requires the disc in the drive or to be mounted on a drive.
So if you accidentally went to isohunt and accidentally downloaded the image of the armada 2 disc and mounted it using daemon tools and then ran the fleet ops installer it would work.

:P

Seriously?!?!?

The warp trails of the Sarajevo and T'Rokk had just faded from view. We were on course for DS9 and just entered the Regulus sector when the hail came in from a Captain Fitzroy.

"On Screen", I responded to hail.

"Captain, I am in the area and would like to take a look at the Phantoms new toys. Would you care to join me in a simulation?" He started, with a smirk.

"Ah Captain Fitzroy, how nice to see you." I replied. "I think we could hold position for a Brief visit. As for a simulation I'd prefer a more devastating display rather than just a simulation. If you'd like to accompany us we are heading to DS9 then I am sure we can scare up a cube or two to play with."

"Fine, Parker... We'll meet you at DS9 and you can show me your new toys then. Fitzroy out."

I was not really used to Capt. Fitzroy's ways, but I found myself liking him, just a little bit. We had worked together on missions prior but seldom spoke. Capt Brighton had a thing for him once but went about it the wrong way. You just don't kidnap another officer under any circumstances, even in the pretense of love or whatever. Fortunately I had aspirations of my own in that area. I have not crossed paths with him in several years. Jeremy has been off handling the Breen in the Orellius Sector and stationed on Deferi. After his assimilation he became known as 1 of 7, but in the last few years has readopted the use of his birth name, Jeremy Cross.

The memories fade as reality emerges. "Sir, we are being hailed by the Trinity." The comm officer stated.

"The Trinity? That ship was missing years ago!" I exclaimed. "On Screen".

The image that appeared on the screen was ghastly. It seems the lost ship has resurfaced as somewhat of a ghost ship. The captain was old and pieces of the flesh on his face had decayed away leaving only bare bone and tufts of hair. I signaled to the comm officer to cut the transmission and put the ship on screen. There it was, the long missing Heavy Cruiser. I signaled the comm officer to hail the ship.

...Silence...

CDs yes it is that old :P

I'm game...actually let me see if I can find my dvd's...or where they cd's? LOL

Happy to have more people you should jump on ventrillo we tend to organise these things on there.
Or just send me a message on here or in game and we can work something out im sure.

I love Armada 2 Fleet Operations!! Would love a game with you guys. Let me know when your playing. :P

That would be fairer in terms of the prize the "model paired with the winning designer" receives.