StarViper
Description
StarViper - One of the galaxy's most intricate craft, this craft was commisioned by Prince Xizor of Black Sun as the stock starfighter of the criminal empire, and as his personal mode of transport. While Virago, Prince Xizor's personal StarViper, undoubtedly had higher performance than the typical StarViper, even the stock model boasted incredible performance. When Prince Xizor commisioned Mandal Motors (the same company that designed the Persuer Enforcement Craft, which was the designation Bob Fett's Slave 2), he asked for a unique craft, and price was not an issue.
The StarViper is capable of moving each segment of all four of its wings independently and initiating timed microthruster boosts. This gives the StarViper incredible manueverability, even matching the nimble TIE Interceptor. It also equals the TIE Interceptor in speed, which is produced by the craft's large engines behind the fuselage. However, the StarViper comes equipped with deflector shields, a strong, reinforced hull, two Proton Torpedo launchers, a hyperdrive unit, and of course, four laser cannons. The unit is pricy, but deadly in the hands of any pilot.
The craft does have several downfalls, though. The large wings that give the ship its incredible manueverability and even protect the pilot when folded behind the fusedlage actually hinders the craft's speed when in atmosphere. The wings also provide a very large target when viewed from both the fore and aft. Finally, the ship's lack of Ion Cannons mean that it will be a space superiority fighter and/or interceptor, but never a fully-fledged bomber. The Supa Fighter was produced after the StarViper in an attempt give Black Sun a more general and durable craft, however its performance is far below that of the StarViper.
Model
I have modeled the StarViper for use in X-Wing: Alliance. It is a high-detail model, so do not consider it unless your PC has fairly new hardware. It is not yet textured because I lack the skills required to do so, and they could take months to develop, even if I started now. This model has been contributed to the X-Wing: Alliance Upgrade, a project with the purpose of updating each model in X-Wing: Alliance to be more detailed, artistic, and when possible, accurate. The XWAU can be visited here:
The reason the StarViper is a planned ship of the XWAU is that it was originally a planned ship by Totally Games, but that plan fell through. Below you can view my model. When the craft is textured and OPTed, I will provide updated screenshots:
Update
The model has possibly lost its texturer. After I finish with my other models I have in the pipeline, I'm going to practice texturing on a Zero-G Stormtrooper. If all goes well there, I might texture this myself... although if the original texturer wishes to take this back up he is welcome.
The model itself has been drastically changed thanks to new reference material and the need to correct the vertical face problems. Here's how the model looks now:
Update (12-13-2005): The Zero-G Stormtrooper model is off my list of models to complete in the future. Additionally, I have started texturing the StarViper. It's winter break now, so I'll probably finish up the almost-completed texture set for the StarViper's base model before school is back in. I don't know how progress will continue on the other three models.
Level Of Detail (LOD)
This model is used when you are very far from the craft in the game, although the distance can be set by the player. Since it is far away, the important thing in modeling is getting the right general shape, not making it detailed. The LOD helps speed up game performance. And yes, this is an improvement over Totally Games' LOD models, as they were simple boxes with images painted onto them. This model has 310 faces.
Base model
This model is used normally in the game. It's the model that is drawn when you are close enough to the fighter to see detail, however, it is not used for your own craft. This model has 1698 faces.
Exterior model
This model is used when you take an exterior view of your own craft. The model used for this is pretty much the same as the above one, but allows you to see inside the cockpit, has added detail on the Laser Cannons, and modeled Proton Torpedo launchers. This model has 2531 faces.
Cockpit
This model is used in normal piloting, although you can deactivate the cockpit if it is slowing your performance or dulling you skill. In the case of the StarViper, the huge support beam down the center could definately be a problem, but other than that, the view is fine. Keep in mind that the pilot point of view is stationary, although the angle can change. For that reason, I have deleted faces that the pilot can't see to be efficient. Therefore, in the screenshots I am about to show, some things might look odd as you aren't viewing it from the pilot's POV. This model has 2120 faces.
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This webpage was uploaded 2-1-2004 (February 1st, 2004).
This webpage was last updated 12-13-2005 (March 2nd, 2005).
