Game Sprites

This is the first part of the Spaceship Template Project.

The result of the Spaceship Template project will be easy to use templates that you can use to make spaceships.

The templates will be modular allowing you to snap together different parts of a spaceship to make your own unique spaceships.

The first part of this project is creating wing shapes.

If these are *SPACE*-ships, then why are they needing wings for?!

ATTENTION

I've created a thread for this where you can continue discussing this here.

Do not post about sci-fi physics in this thread.

— hartnell

If these are *SPACE*-ships, then why are they needing wings for?!

Science fiction is a wonderful thing. :) To put it simply, science fiction spaceships need wings to satisfy Newton's law of coolness.

And besides, there's quite a few science fiction spaceships that come equipped with repulsorlifts for sub-atmosphere flight.

— hartnell

pwnd hehe

On a (just a little) more serious note, that was a good answer. Lets face it, the law of coolness was Newton's greatest contribution to mankind ;)

Yeah, awesome :D not to mention the stabilizing properties for orbiting a planet, and the fact that they tell you which way is up.

So what size are you aiming for on this template project? I'm sure we all realize the dramatic difference between the different sizes of sprites. Just wondering, :D

So what size are you aiming for on this template project?

From : Creating Wing Shapes
"Any size will do. Rough art is ok. We're focusing only on the shape of the wings."

The actual shapes are the hard part. Once we have a good set of wing shapes, I can convert them to vector and scale them to any suitable size. I was thinking a 32x32 tilebase size and a 40x40 tilebase size created from vector.

— hartnell

u9: pwnd hehe
Not really… ;-) While I appreciate the wit in Hartnell' answer, I still have to point out something in there (and don't forget, I'm the Engineer here ;-)

@hartnell: There's a flaw in your logic. ;-) I raised the question simply because putting wings on a spaceship still reflects a conventional way of thinking it through. Here are a couple of examples of sci-fi craft that are capable of atmospheric flight, yet do not possess a wing configuration:

Ex.1

Picture the classic rendition of a flying saucer: there are no wings involved (in fact, no control surfaces whatsoever) — at least not in the common sense.

Ex.2

In the Star Wars series (too much of a fundament for the sci-fi movement to overlook in here ;-), a TIE Fighter is depicted at least once flying through the atmosphere of some planet. NOTE: I need to point out to you all that the vertical "panels" on both sides of a TIE are NOT wings ! Vertical surfaces cannot generate lift ! The best you can hope is to make rudders out of them…

Ex.3

If we acknowledge a technology such as antigravitational repulsorlifts (name literally says it all ;-) — and, as you said, sci-fi *IS* a wonderful thing — then we effectively remove the need for wings. A craft built with repulsorlifts won't need wings to sustain flight at all.

For more (scientific) notes on how aircraft wings work, you can refer to this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift_%28force%29

Anonymo: not to mention <1> the stabilizing properties for orbiting a planet, and the fact that <2> they tell you which way is up.

<1> Sorry, no such thing ! Although some stabilisation/correction may be necessary, it can't possibly be achieved by using wings or any avionics controls; there's no atmosphere at that altitude for those surfaces to interact with ! I think the only means available is using an active thruster array. I'm betting the whole cohort of artificial satellites "out there" are using something like this…
<2> You don't use wings for that ! Come on ! :) To know what the craft attitude is (that is, "position relative to earth" — i.e. pitch and roll angles), an instrument called "Artificial Horizon" (or "Attitude Indicator" = ADI) is used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_horizon

Anyway, I'm aware this is a sprite creativity project; all that I'm aiming for is for you guys to acknowledge that "wings" may not be necessary and mark them as "optional". I'm very interested in seeing how would you design a craft without wings… ;-) Think of it as a challenge within the challenge…

@ Nicadi

Great points. Post them in a new thread so they'll get discussed.

This thread is about creating a sprite kit. Sprites don't have to fly.

— hartnell

@repulser lift point.

But wings are needed for increased stability and a redundancy safeguard when some systems fail. Also, they provide and aerodynamic boost and a place to mount and store various pieces of equipment.

anyways, (I'm itching to discuss those points…Nic :)) anyways*gives self stern look* I'll see if I can cook up a set of wings and scan them in.

I've created a thread for this where you can continue discussing this here.

— hartnell

When do we start the cockpit or body parts of this? I am just curious.

When we have enough wings.

We will have enough wings when making wings gets old. :)

— hartnell

Hehe, ok. I like spriting simple shapes like wings, they can be complecated, but they are still fun to draw. :)

P.S. With all the varietys we will proboly have when this is done, someone could use this to make a space rpg, with a ship creator. :)

ok ive got some wings but i dont no how to attach them
any help would be accepted

Oh hi, finally I see someone new go to this website :)
http://gamesprites.wikicomplete.info/forum/t-3824/wing-shapes-spaceship-template-project#post-13857
Just go to the link above or check out the Topic "Wing Shapes — Spaceship Template Project"