User blog:C3PO the Dragon Slayer/Avian Hunt: December 7, 2007

December 7, 2007
Today is a day of infamy (the anniversary of the air raid on Pearl Harbor), but there is good news to be shared concerning Avian Hunt. I have finished all of the 3D models for the starfighters of three of the four main factions. (Except the Z-95 Headhunter, which is in progress.) The list of all the ships available now are as follows:


 * 1337 N00B5
 * Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor (Jedi interceptor, also the interceptor for the Republic). This starfighter has a screenshot and description in the previous post.
 * Delta-7 Aethersprite-class starfighter (Jedi starfighter, from Attack of the Clones). This fighter is the most contradictory with canon, as it carries seismic charges (the 1337 N00B5 modified these babies) and is not typically available for the Republic faction. This was a hard decision on my part, but I will include them with a normally Republic-allied mini-faction called the Coruscanti Police. That way Delta-7s can be traded to the Republic in a standard match if a player chooses. Another notable fact is that I programmed a simulation of the effects of a seismic charge in a 3D Game Maker test program. It's really cool; the ball hits a target, pulses blue, silences all other noise, including music, and goes off with a bang!
 * Eta-3 Jadis-class light TIE starfighter (A fanon Imperial fighter used among the most elite pilots, including Darth Vader, before the invention of the TIE Advanced). This ship's design is roughly based off a fan's conception of the Eta-5 from Betrayal.
 * Belbullab-22 (General Grievous's starfighter; called CIS Strike Bomber in Battlefront II). This heavy fighter has no projectile ordinance, though it has strong shields and deadly lasers. This model has more vertexes than any other in Avian Hunt so far because of all the curves.
 * YT-1300 Corellian light freighter (same class as the Millennium Falcon). See a screenshot below. This is one of the most customizable ships in the game, and has two quad-laser turrets and a proton torpedo launcher as weaponry.
 * CIS
 * Droid tri-fighter (from Revenge of the Sith). This was easier to make than I expected. The tri-fighter will have three laser cannons and eighteen buzz droid discord missiles in Avian Hunt. The buzz droids are also an armament on Vulture Droids. When a buzz droid discord missile detonates on an enemy fighter, little balls land on the starship and jump around. The ship will constantly take damage and lose items (such as the shield generator, astromech, sensors, etc.) until the buzz droids are shaken off. This can be done by rolling, boosting, somersaulting, or even being hit by laser fire, but only unreliably, and chances are if you're in a smaller ship, you'll be in critical condition by the time you get the buzz droids off.
 * Vulture droid (from the Prequel Trilogy). This ship is more boxy than it appears in G-canon, but this is meant simply to keep processing rates up. Vulture droids are most effective in swarms. They carry four buzz droid discord missiles, but their strength is in their laser cannons, which can pack a punch. Their shields are nonexistent and their armor is weak, however, so these units will not generally be played by human players.
 * Utapau starfighter (from Revenge of the Sith). A basic fighter, comparable to the Z-95 Headhunter, the Utapau starfighter is mediocre, but a great supplement to swarms of droid fighters.
 * Droid bomber (from Battle for Naboo). This is the stupidest bomber in the game, with the possible exception of the Hutt Bomber. It has a weak hull, and still no shields. It is equipped with laser cannons, at least, and its huge load of bombs can be devastating to buildings and capital ships.
 * Republic
 * Alpha-3 Nimbus-class V-wing starfighter (V-wing from Revenge of the Sith). This ship is among the fastest, and has powerful laser cannons. The model is based on the LEGO replication, which allows for some details that would be overlooked in other models to stand out more. The V-wing has limited shields, and is best for dodging enemy fire if in tight situations. The only Republic ship that could hope to surpass this ship for speed is the Eta-2. And no, this is NOT a bomber, as it is in Battlefront II. The Battlefront II V-wings contradict canon so bad it isn't even funny.
 * Z-95 Headhunter (incomplete; I had to edit a bit to make it less boxy). The predecessor to the X-wing is a standard fighter, with a balance of speed, maneuverability, weaponry, and shields. Of course, it's not the perfect ship for any job, but it is adaptable and reliable, much like the fighter of choice for the Rebellion (after they got rid of the Z-95s, of course).
 * V-19 Torrent starfighter (from Clone Wars). This ship seems to be some sort of predecessor to a B-wing or something. It has a weird wing design, has a cockpit elevated far above everything else, and is rather large. However, like most Repbulic craft, it is fast and more maneuverable than most heavy fighters. It carries an ordinance of twelve concussion missiles, making it formidable against swarms and buildings alike. It has relatively good shields and hull strength, though it looks fragile when weighed against the Belbullab-22.
 * ARC-170 starfighter (from Revenge of the Sith). This model just might be my favorite so far. It really looks like the real thing. Just needs a coat of paint, like all the other models. The ARC-170 is special in the way of bombers: a pilot flies the ship and aims the cannons, a gunner is allowed a 360-degree view around the bomber to pick out targets to lock on to (most other fighters have to lock on by keeping the enemy ship in a reticule for a given time) and launch the bomber's powerful torpedoes. The rear gunner can shoot at fighters pursuing the ship, though this is not always going to work. The ARC-170 will be perhaps the most maneuverable of bombers, and its relatively weak armor and questionable hind weaponry is made up for with strong shields.

Wow! Just these fighters can make a huge game on their own! But I still haven't even scraped on the Imperial fighters, the corvettes, the frigates, the capital ships, the buildings, the support units, or the tanks (except for the TX-130). Those will be done around the end of December, by which time I will begin writing the program that will actually get them to fly around and shoot at each other.

Next update will show a few more model screenshots. I'd love to share all of the models with you, but there's the problem of time, space on my computer, space on this page, plagiarism, etc.