UT3 Inspired, Sci-Fi Cannon

sampson · Jan 2009

Hey guys. i'm working on a highpoly scifi turret/cannon thing... i'm still not sure yet if it's firin lahzors, bullets, ion's, condensed energy particle sometings..

hehe anyway, i have a rough concept i'm using, but other than that i'm kind of doing it as i go along. C&C welcome.

still to do - panels, wires, etc - i'd say i'm bout 35-40% modelling done

skullsplitter · Jan 2009

Needs a lot more... I dunno, beef?

sampson · Jan 2009

viewport grab - added another bit on top.

sampson · Jan 2009

more progress.. still perhaps might have to fix the back support bits etc...
C&C anyone?
believe it or not its like 1.6million poly's

mikezoo · Jan 2009

I would love to see more, parts n piece's underneath the gun itself. Like hanging wires, perhaps plugged into the cylinder base. More tech pieces, that could show us more, how this turret-gun operates.

Vrav · Jan 2009

It's nice, but somewhat plain; it has some cool shapes but no driving design... the exhaust-pipe-esque bits jutting at angles out the top are interesting, and I see that shape repeated below as well; what is the scale of the turret? If it's about man-sized, how about some bunny-ear handles at the same angle as the small, capped pipes, but larger, on the back, to tie those shapes together? *is ignorant*

Paul Pepera · Jan 2009

sampson wrote: »

Hey guys. i'm working on a highpoly scifi turret/cannon thing... i'm still not sure yet if it's firin lahzors, bullets, ion's, condensed energy particle sometings..

I think you need to decide what sort of gun this is first. For example, if it fires bullets or shells you'll need some sort of breech mechanism, to allow for the loading and ejection of the cartridges; or perhaps some sort of magazine containing the shells. If it fires energy, I think it would be cool to see an energy source with cables connecting to the gun.

Also, how does this gun pivot? There doesn't really seem to be a movable joint connecting the gun to the base. Not to mention the connection of the gun with the base looks rather flimsy, on recoil it looks as if the gun would just break off.

I think the actual modeling is nice, you just need to work on the concept more; make it more believable by incorporating actual artillery function and design into the concept.

sampson · Jan 2009

thanks for the crits Eraserhead, Vrav and mikezoo... heres a paintover showing its rotation/movement...
it is unmanned and fires super power mega explosion lasers.

Rob Galanakis · Jan 2009

If it rotates 360*, why the 3 legs? Either space them equidistant, a throw a fourth in.

sampson · Jan 2009

ahh yes - good thinking - i had the legs so when it shoots u know it stays in the ground... but of course when it rotates the other way it has one less support.

okay i've decided to go with Energy ball shell styles.. like bullets but not gunpowder.. energy...

here's two renders. the first one it's unloaded ( i havent made the bullet mesh yet) the second one is loaded and i need to cut some holes out so it can move foward without weirdly piercing through mesh.

Lamont · Jan 2009

Nice start. The only thing that bugs me is that the two barrels need to be joined together somehow (a support between them). Also when the barrel starts the model gets plain. The weight of it also looks unbalanced. Maybe a multi-staged tapper to it?

sampson · Jan 2009

ahh yes - good thinking - i had the legs so when it shoots u know it stays in the ground... but of course when it rotates the other way it has one less support.

okay i've decided to go with Energy ball shell styles.. like bullets but not gunpowder.. energy...

here's two renders. the first one it's unloaded ( i havent made the bullet mesh yet) the second one is loaded and i need to cut some holes out so it can move foward without weirdly piercing through mesh.

i dont know why but these renders dont seem to do it justice...

i still gotta strengthen that bottom support etc, a whole lot more details

Slave_zero · Jan 2009

hey sampson. A nice start you have there.

As for the design I would suggest, that you try to cover some of the vulnerable parts of the gun with some kind of plating or armor. I think guns and turrets are usually build this way to protect them from being damaged or destroyed to easily. At the moment I would expect our Gun to be serious damaged if it gets a direct hit by a grenade

Addditionally I'd like to see some references in scale. How big is that thing? 2 meters, 10 meters tall. I can't tell up to now. Maybe add some kind of entrance or fire control-area if it's supposed to be huge. Or if it's supposed to be smaler finer details are needed.

So far my ideas. I'm sure it will turn out great.

nrek · Jan 2009

Looking better with each update man. I think you need to bulk up the area where the leg supports connect with the main body as well as where the to little struts support the rear of the cannon. those are pretty key ares and right now they seem very weak an unfinished.

Mcbiskit · Jan 2009

I agree with Nrek, those back two supports need to be bulked up some. The piston seems to be more about the right size, but without those back supports I think the whole thing might snap off the first time it's fired.

I also thought there needed to be some big thick cables coming out of the back, but that won't do if It's rotating 360. You could still probably utilize them, but you'd have to make sure the cables go from the gun to the rotating portion of the base or from the non-rotating portion to the ground. Actually that could be cool. Have some power cables or something running across the ground to the base of the turret.

Also as Lamont said, the turrets should probably be connected. You already have those thicker parts on them which don't seem to be for anything but looks, make them part of some brackets or something that clamps down on them.

This last one is just mho, but I liked the turret better with just the 3 legs and think you should have just evenly placed them around the circle to supply the support. Oh, and right now the legs seem just kinda plugged into the base. There isn't any supporting geometry for the connection.

Overall good work tho. You've got me thinking about making a turret now as well and I'll be following your progress.

sampson · Jan 2009

here's a image showing scale - i'm definately going to work on some of the crits mentioned - yep and with the two things being connected.. my design had that down but i havent implemented it yet... i got a day of fun in the sun today so probably wont get a whole lot done.

sampson · Jan 2009

added some nice shells:

EDIT:
and a photoshop paintover of where it could glow

Harry · Jan 2009

it looks more like a recoilless rifle or a rocket tube than a cannon to me, mostly because the breech isnt bulky enough

not that there's anything wrong with that

sampson · Jan 2009

added cannon support + little more detail.. man i keep forgetting to fix that support.

oidipusss · Jan 2009

try keeping the shape consistent, the square back piece doesn't match with the round overall curves. watch out with to much detail on the supporting poles, could end up in weird normals (lower texture size, LOD's etc.).
Last thing, think of every piece as a part of a functional mechanical machine. Go wild on the details but make it somehow believable.
nice progress! keep us posted.

Thewiruz · Jan 2009

Why not making a joystick infront of a seat and a display infront of the character mounted in the back of the canon??,And maybe a stair up to the seat?Just a though.

i think it looks very cool as it is but the back is missing some controls maybe?

frubes · Jan 2009

if you are planning on normal mapping this i dont know that some of your shapes will translate well because they look like straight extrusions with no bevelling. Its hard to tell from these shots so feel free to correct me if im wrong. Obviously if you plan on modelling in those extrusions then its fine but most of them appear in places which wont add to your silohuette, like the extruded sections on the feet.

Nice design though but i think you can take it further with the help of some of the suggestions already posted.

Ghostscape · Jan 2009

Personally I think the entire thing looks kind of weedy. The supports for the gun seem very thin, and the size and shape of the gun make it look like it would produce a lot of recoil. The 4 feet for the base appear to be connected with some sort of flex-tubing, which doesn't look that durable.

UT3 Inspired, Sci-Fi Cannon

Replies