Heavy Turret GFX suggestion

[HitmanN]

(I hope this is where stuff like this goes. Not a mod though.)

Since I originally suggested the Heavy Turret addition, I figured I should at least try and suggest GFX for it. Here's a little something I just made.

Inspiration: Dreadnought (brown/grey colours) , since I imagined the weapon of the turret being similar to Dreadnought's.
Size: Bigger than 'normal' turrets, smaller than Ion Cannon. (as far as image files go, small turrets seem to be 32x32, ion cannon is 256x256, but takes the space of roughly 128x128, so I based the size on 64x64.

No colour masks or other mark versions yet. Can be added later if desired.

Let me know what you think. I've only sprited a few space things before, so I'm still noob-ish, I think.  

EDIT:
Added mk2 and mk3

[Ozymandiaz]

I think it looks good.

[HellishFiend]

Better than good, it looks terrific! Nice work!

[HitmanN]

Thanks, glad to hear that. 

I guess I'll see if I can conjure up mk2 and mk3 versions as well.

[HitmanN]

Added mk2 and mk3 versions as well. They're mainly just expanded editions. The blue horizontal tubes near the center denote the tech level of the turret, and thus increases by 1 in each. Also the parts with blue light, near the tip of the barrel increase by one. The general idea is that with each tech level, the amount of energy storage for each shot is higher, allowing more powerful projectiles, while the main design remains the same throughout. Seems common with the many of the current turret designs. If it's too boring though, I suppose the barrel could be made bigger, or maybe some additional parts added here and there for decoration.

[keith.lamothe]

These look cool, thanks

I was thinking about making heavy turrets somewhat modular, to give the feeling of a more substantial defensive installation, but "starbase" might be a whole separate category of it's own, with heavy turrets just being bigger "normal" turrets.

[HitmanN]

Yup, starbases sound more fortress-y, and I think it'd be a shame to make them turret-like. Something command station size would fit better for that, I think.

Anyways, I guess I should make the color masks for these too.

[HitmanN]

And here are some colormasks for the turrets.

I also tested them in game (see attachment #4) by replacing the Lightning turrets (since they're 64x64 as well). Looks pretty good, if I may say so myself. I built some other mk1 turrets for comparison next to them. The Heavy Turrets should probably turn towards their targets like ion cannons though, instead of being still or rotating.

[vonduus]

And here are some colormasks for the turrets.
Looks pretty good, if I may say so myself.

Let my say it for you: They look really good. 

+1

[keith.lamothe]

Looking good

Is there a thread with stats suggestions or shall I be creative?

[Voodoomancer]

Sweet.

[HitmanN]

Looking good

Is there a thread with stats suggestions or shall I be creative?

No stats anywhere yet, I think.

But originally I was thinking simply turret version of dreadnought. Not sure where it'd end balance -wise if using similar stats. Normally turrets are stronger than the ship equivalents, but would the heavy turret be too powerful if given more power than dreadnought in similar ratio? Might need some testing first.

In the end, the heavy turret should feel noticeably more powerful than the other turrets, and the low build cap is what balances is out with other defenses. Oh, and the range should be at least somewhat higher than other turrets, so that we finally get some effective medium-to-long range defenses, other than snipers and spiders.

That's my view of a heavy turret anyhow. Basically it's stationary artillery. Maybe low HP, so it's weak without proper support? Would help a bit also when attacking AI planets that have lots of 'em heavy turrets.

[keith.lamothe]

I'm thinking maybe a beam turret would fill a weaponry gap too.  But the stats could be similar to a stationary dreadnought, appropriately buffed for the "stationary" part.

In general the normal turrets are buffed normal ships that can't move.  I'm thinking of heavy turrets as having a similar relationship to starships, so they could cost what a dreadnought costs (and take a similar time to build).  Were you thinking maybe a bit smaller scale than that?

As for HP I think I'll keep that pretty high but give stuff strong against heavy defenses some significant bonus against them (but nothing like their bonus against heavy defenses proper).  Of course, if you'd prefer a glass-cannon concept for this particular line we could do that too.  Probably can't go too overboard on that though since the AI probably won't realize it should focus on them.

[HitmanN]

In general the normal turrets are buffed normal ships that can't move.  I'm thinking of heavy turrets as having a similar relationship to starships, so they could cost what a dreadnought costs (and take a similar time to build).  Were you thinking maybe a bit smaller scale than that?

Actually, that sounds good. I was probably thinking of something slightly smaller scale, but what the heck, might as well make 'em considerably different from the other turrets while we're at it.

As for HP I think I'll keep that pretty high but give stuff strong against heavy defenses some significant bonus against them (but nothing like their bonus against heavy defenses proper).  Of course, if you'd prefer a glass-cannon concept for this particular line we could do that too.  Probably can't go too overboard on that though since the AI probably won't realize it should focus on them.

Sounds good too. High HP would fit a starship equivalent well. I was mainly thinking low HP would make it easier for players when the AI has the turrets. Since there's no cap, unlike for a human player, I could imagine turrets like these becoming a major pain. But perhaps just not give the AI too many of them altogether, then the choice of HP level won't make much of a difference.  

EDIT:
Or maybe make the mk1 HP low, and mk2 and mk3 to have significant increase. Kinda like Frigates' HP goes.

[keith.lamothe]

The ship cap (or a related variable, I forget) does impact how many the AI gets when it gets them as reinforcements.  Not a cap, per se, but it maintains rough proportionality.

And having the MkIs with low HPs sounds like a good idea.  Basically a "budget" low-end version that still packs a punch; the corners were cut elsewhere.