[Col. Fishguts]

Well, work on this literally started years back (2004 if the file info is correct) and I've been working on it on and off whenever nothing else needed to be done for TBP. In the meantime I had to learn how to make decent textures from scratch among other little things. But now I'm happy with the texture job, LODs and debris are done, most of the POF data is also finished. It just needs some final touches on the table and a specmap, but that will be done some time next week.

So here's a preview of my first model created for FS2 (and not TBP). The GTB Rhea, a light strike bomber designed to be a true successor to the Athena.



Tech entry fluff:

The Rhea is Han-Ronald's next generation strike bomber. Basically it is a fighter airframe with a large enough bomb bay to carry 4 Cyclops torpedoes. Additional armament consists of a triple-barreled primary bank under the port wing and a small missile bank on top of the fuselage.

Its primary role as a strike bomber is to conduct precisions strikes against targets without the need for a dedicated escort wing. A typical tactic used by its pilots is to punch a hole in the defending fighter screen of their target before the bombs are delivered. Additionally, the Rhea can be deployed in larger fleet engagements to disable and disarm enemy capital ships with Stiletto II missiles and then support the space superiority wings.

The Rhea has powerful engines and a large afterburner capacity, making it the fastest ship in the GTVA fleet to carry the Cyclops torpedo. Together with the strong armor and shields for a ship its size, this gives it the ability to survive bombing runs on heavily defended targets. However, that ability comes with the price of reduced maneuverability due to its relatively high mass and asymmetrical layout.



UPDATE: It's finished, download HERE

[Hellstryker]

Bleh, i had a fighter i wanted to name the GTF Rhea.. oh well, the ship itself is ownage 

[blowfish]

Very cool bomber, but I hate offset gun banks.

[Hellstryker]

I love em, for the look anyway

[Warp Shadow]

I love the texturing. Simple yet attractive. Could maybe use a bit more detail (like some smudges or scratches and stuff) but otherwise it's great! Mind if I blatantly imitate it?

Oh and I personally think the gigantic triple turret is awesome.

[blowfish]

I love em, for the look anyway

They look ok, but they are a b*tch to use.

[Getter Robo G]

Awesome job! 

Why do I feel the urge to resurrect the Morrigan? 

[Admiral_Stones]

Bah. Myrmidon is all I say. Two Heliai (Helios plural? Sounds crappy though) missiles on that, probably superior speed and SIX banks.

Sorry, the Myrmi owned the Rhea

[Woolie Wool]

I consider the Myrmidon's use of Helios cheating, and it seems utterly ridiculous that the Myrmidon could carry bombs (where would they come out?), so therefore the Myrmidon is still the worst new fighter in FS2. Thank you, come again.

Could you add a couple more guns in the nose?

[Cobra]

Interesting design. I like it.

[Col. Fishguts]

I love the texturing. Simple yet attractive. Could maybe use a bit more detail (like some smudges or scratches and stuff) but otherwise it's great!. Mind if I blatantly imitate it?

Go ahead, I was trying to imitate the FS1 look anyway. This is what I consider a factory new look with some light weathering and dirt.  I think at one point I'm gonna do a heavily weathered and battle-scarred version with some fancy shark decal on the nose. But drawing convincing scratches and damage is harder than I hoped.

About the offset gun bank, well I wanted to do an asymmetrical ship from the beginning. Plus its also supposed to be a slight penalty, since I didn't wan to create another uber-ship-of-doom. And I know that the Myrmidon can carry the Helios, but I consider that a glitch or easter egg of since its never used in the main campaign. Also, the Myrmidon is ugly as hell and can go and die in a fire.

[Mad Bomber]

Looks great! My only complaint is that 3 guns is slightly too light an armament IMO, and perhaps adding a pair of noseguns might be in order.

*totally not complaining about offset gunbanks whatsoever*

[Galemp]

I love it, I really love it! I'd be flying this in dogfights all the time, loaded up with Piranhas.

While I adore the offset gun mounts, I do really think it could afford to have another gun in the nose. Have the tech fluff (or even the table entry) note that the triple gun mounts are meant for Maxims, Akhetons, or tactical weapons. Like the Ursa, it would be useless for dogfighting without them. Compensate with low weapons energy capacity if you must.

[S-99]

The athena had the best firing points of any fighter or bomber in the game. They were dead on accurate, the penalty for them was that the most powerful weapon you could equip on the athena was the avenger cannon. Dead on firing points while not being able to equip the most powerful laser and being able to carry actual bombs would truly be a successor to the athena.

On the other hand cool ship It doesn't seem very fs'ish right now, but that's bound to change since the textures are going to be worked on more as it is for battle scars. The cockpit is very reminiscent of the apollo fighter which is great. For the color scheme of the rhea i would make it more colored like the apollo than what it is now. Right now it seems like the ship is a cross between an fs apollo and a bsg mark 2 vyper. Different coloring on it, and weathering and battle scars, then you'll have something that'll be a nice advancement with the unkowns of post capella fs.

[Vasudan Admiral]

That looks superb. Well done.

[TrashMan]

no pic

[Hellstryker]

You obviously are quite blind then Theres a big old pic right there and if i can read it with all my ****ty anti viruses/spyware/popup blockers you should be able to too

[Admiral_Stones]

The athena had the best firing points of any fighter or bomber in the game. They were dead on accurate, the penalty for them was that the most powerful weapon you could equip on the athena was the avenger cannon. Dead on firing points while not being able to equip the most powerful laser and being able to carry actual bombs would truly be a successor to the athena.

On the other hand cool ship It doesn't seem very fs'ish right now, but that's bound to change since the textures are going to be worked on more as it is for battle scars. The cockpit is very reminiscent of the apollo fighter which is great. For the color scheme of the rhea i would make it more colored like the apollo than what it is now. Right now it seems like the ship is a cross between an fs apollo and a bsg mark 2 vyper. Different coloring on it, and weathering and battle scars, then you'll have something that'll be a nice advancement with the unkowns of post capella fs.

Hm. I think it IS freespacy, somekind of Zeus clone (Which gets my reward as 'the fighter-bomber almost never seen in the campaign and never used by players).

[TrashMan]

I see em now.. Very purdy.  Strikes me more as a fighter tough.

[Titan]

Purty is right... *coyote whistles*

I think you should go with the ursa setup; An offset group of gatlings of DOOM, and a pair of chin mounted guns for fighter killin. If you're going to use those big ones against cap ships, how accurate do you have to stinkin be?