Mechanical: Ferion Phaser Cannon

[NanoGator]

Hi All,

I've been asked to design a 'Phaser Cannon' for the game Ferion. (http://www.ferion.com) It's a web based game similar to Master of Orion. The phaser cannon is one of the technologies you can research, and they needed an illustration of what it looks like.

Well, to be honest, I don't know what a phaser cannon is, so I imagine it's a form of particle cannon. With that in mind, I did a quick white-board sketch that I later turned into this drawing:

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/ferion_phaser_cannon_type1b.jpg

From there, I started building the 3D model:

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_e.jpg

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_fwf.jpg

Want to see more? Here's my other WIP images:

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_c.jpg

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_d.jpg

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_d-wire.jpg

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_f.jpg

Enjoy! :)

[ChadTHX1138]

wow that turned out cool, The finger section looks great and so does the back section. It somehow though looks like it need a little more to the pipes in the middle not a ton but just a little bit to enhance the design.

probably right behind the firing plate to beef it up some.

[NanoGator]

Sorry about the lack of updates the last few days. I had a nice little combination of getting sick and running into a design challenge. Curious about the challenge? Okay, have a look here:

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_g.jpg

I did some research on particle accelerators etc, and picked up on the color scheme. It's not bad, but by the time I got to the claws, it stopped looking like a particle accelerator and more like a blue model car. So I took a couple of more evenings to refine the design a bit. And I think I came up with a better scheme. I need to mention that the hazard decals are not UV mapped yet, so yes they are distorted in places. Enjoy. :)

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_h_th.jpg (http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_h.jpg)
(Click the image to enlarge... (http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_h.jpg))

Now this is a post-production trick, but I thought ya'all might wanna see the lights dimmed a bit so you can see the particle emitters glow.

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_i_th.jpg (http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_i.jpg)
(Click the image to enlarge... (http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_i.jpg))

Wanna see the rear?

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_j_th.jpg (http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_j.jpg)
(Click the image to enlarge... (http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/phaser_cannon_construction_j.jpg))

Hope you all likes. C&C welcome. :)

[NanoGator]

Yeah Chad, I think you're right. I'll look into it. I want to do one more round of modelling on it if I can score the time for it.

[Calibretto]

Awesome work NanoGator. Looks superb. But if this Phaser Cannon is supposed to be a weapon, it would need a targeting and aiming system. Maybe a hydraulic lift to move and aim the weapon; something akin to how a SAM site is mounted. Anyway, that's just my little suggestion.

[Bo Degn]

nice stuff there lovely modeling, texturing and lighting. which program do u use m8?

[NanoGator]

@ Calibretto: It does have an aiming system. The animation'll spell that out a little more clearly. As for the targeting system, I imaigned that'd be a seperate system. It is meant for a starship, afterall. As for the mounting, still chewing on that. Technically this is a lab-prototype so how functional it is is questionable. But we'll see, I haven't designed the environment for it yet. :)

@ Bo Degn: Glad ya like it. :) It was done with Lightwave 7.5c.

[mcampbell]

WOW, the detail is spectacular.
Incredible job.... :)

- M.

[NanoGator]

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/lift/cannon_lift3.jpg

Stay tuned.

[natethegrate]

hi nano,
this thing looks very nice,but one question...
how much polygons has this weaopen,the wireframe seems to be very detailed...it must be a burner engine to get such a thing in a real-fife online game.

but very sweet,natE

[Scrubbin Bubbles]

I think this is for a cinematic. No need to lower polycount on that unless you like lower render times.
No that I reread the post I think its just for a stil. But a cinematic of it firing up or actually firing would be cool. A big ball of plasmatic goodness grows in size and intensity till it launches.
Kazow! take that you alien freakazoids...

[azjohnl]

looking very nice, lightwave does such a great job at rendering, like the detail of the modeling and texturing.

[NanoGator]

http://www.reflectionsoldiers.com/refsol/artwork/phaser_cannon_type1/lift/cannon_lift9.jpg

The interior is pretty close to being geometry complete. Just got a little more to do on the roof, and maybe a little more detail in the walls. Then I start lighting it for real and texturing it.

@natethegrate: No no, it's not a real time game. It's a strategy game and these are illustrations of the technology. Heh I too would like to see 1.4 million polys in a game. ;)

@Scrubbin Bubbles: Actually, I'm not convinced that the render times would lower that significantly with fewer polys. Maybe some I guess since I'm using ray tracing... the big render killer is that all the screen is filled with polys.

Man I gotta figure out how to do a cool beam effect. heh.

@azjohnl: Thank ya. I gotta say, I'm pretty darn happy with Lightwave as well. It's been very kind to me.