Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts
|
|
|
||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
| Frequently Asked Forum Questions | |
|||
|
||||
|
|
|||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| Search Older Posts on This Forum: Posts on Current Forum | Archived Posts | ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
| Visualizing the Halo Universe: Round 2 Winner | |
| Posted By: Postmortem <postmortem@forwarduntodawn.com> | Date: 10/21/12 7:13 p.m. |
In Response To: Visualizing the Halo Universe: Round 2 (Postmortem) Apologies to everyone involved for getting this up so late. I've been rather busy today with some special stuff we're putting together for Community Evolved. Can't wait for you guys to see it. ;) Also an awesome last minute submission required me to take the extra time to do it justice. But as a result, I'd like to present you with... The Winner: Quirel
While this didn't technically adhere to the rules for this round (since this ship has a designation within Contact Harvest), I'm going to overlook that for the sake of the more important part of this contest, which is attention to fiction. Seriously, this is really what the contest is about: visualizing the Halo universe And it would be hard to say that this submission doesn't visualize the fiction with a level of detail higher than any we've seen so far. The fully-fleshed out description built around Staten's own in Contact Harvest, in addition to the new aspects of the ships story added by Quirel, really brought this entire thing together. Accuracies: Inclusion of real-life companies (such as Aerogroup International, Solar Dynamics, and General Electric), simple propulsion pods (compared to other methods of propulsion in the Halo universe) allow for quick attachment after ascent up space tether, ballistic foam for protection from debris, MASER communication module, magnetic clamps for attaching cargo containers, methods of cargo piracy, cargo container power consumption from propulsion pod Inaccuracies: Possible misreading or reinterpretation of "anti-gravity units" Artistic License: The cargo container's shape and nickname "barns" is fitting with Harvest's agricultural reputation, "anti-gravity units" altered to be referring to gravity created via spin, rather than the side (as stated in Contact Harvest), Insurrectionist reprogramming of propulsion pod & CMA countermeasures, Kaiser Sergei, My Thoughts: I don't really know what else there is to say about this one. I'm glad this submission didn't fall by the wayside. I can honestly admit, the level of detail absolutely blew me away. I was hoping people would really dive into the fiction with this contest, but I never expected anyone to go this deep. It's absolutely amazing. And while at first the design didn't strike me as particularly Halo-like, its origin in the early years of Halo history make this more realistic design absolutely applicable, and I now feel it really enhances the reality of the universe it resides within (similar to the Sabre launch sequence). I had to spent an additional hour or so just picking through all the details you explained, and even still I'm not convinced I absolutely picked up on every detail that you highlighted. Congratulations, you did an amazing job! "Above and beyond" seems an apt phrase. :) Other Entries: Unique Name
Source: Halo Wars Genesis
While it's obvious that this was intended by the creators of Genesis to be a Phantom dropship, the manner in which it was portrayed, combined with this unique interpretation of the visuals presented, makes this one of the more creative/fictionally interesting of all the designs submitted. Enough of the original visuals remain for this to fit perfectly in the Covenant family tree as a precursor to the Phantom; this is even included in the description of the spacecraft you provided. The Incubus, given its appearance as well as its role in dominating the battlefield, is aptly named. Accuracies: All devices designated (plasma cannons, Forerunner power cores, [impulse] drive system, hardpoints), Covenant design aesthetic (sweeping curves and smoothed angles), consideration of overheating problems from "plasma lance" (assumed to be pulse laser) Inaccuracies: Possibility that pulse laser is improperly labeled as "plasma lance" (otherwise it's a new Covenant weapon) Artistic License: Interpretation of stylized Phantom as new class of ship, "plasma lance" as new weapon (if not intended to be pulse laser), My Thoughts: I really, really like this design. It really does feel like something that the Covenant would have based the Phantom off of. Knowing that they had this ship, I could see them saying "alright, now how can we marry this design with that of a dropship to ensure our troops are better protected, while also creating a more versatile vehicle for combat". It speaks heavily to me of the history of the Covenant, if this were to be considered a part of the canon. Not only that, but it just looks slick. Much like the angular Orbital Banshee, this craft has sleek curves and contours that give it an overall more aggressive appearance. I want to see this thing in action. I want to see it tearing across the battlefield and space to take darting attacks at UNSC emplacements and Longswords. I think that you should not let this design stop here. There's so much potential for the Incubus. Simply put, I want to see more of this. I hope you will sometime. :) TDSpiral
Source: Halo Wars Genesis
Accuracies: Accurate size measurement (compared to Elite figure), accurately labeled devices (pulse laser, grav-lift, plasma cannons), cramped cockpit (indicated by the description of the Elite Flight Harness, developed for use with this craft and other similar vessels) Inaccuracies: Seraph fighters were seen operating in 2526 during the Second Battle of Harvest while this states they didn't replace the Tarasque fighters until 2533 Artistic License: Conversion of what was likely intended to be a larger naval vessel into the Tarasque, previously undepicted Class-3 plasma cannons My Thoughts: It's interesting that both TDSpiral and Unique Name's ship designs included a primary pulse laser, making these extremely formidable smaller attack craft. Spiral's route to this design by converting a larger craft into a smaller one by way of (more-or-less) camera trickier was interesting and surprising. I never would have thought to convert that vessel into a smaller attack craft, let alone designate it as the Tarasque. Which I've always wanted to see. Personally, I don't think the Tarasque designation fits the aesthetics of the vehicle (it's not visually intimidating, like the mythical creature which it's named after),
but it certainly fits the functionality. Much like Unique Name's Incubus, this fighter could pack one hell of a punch with a primary pulse laser. My only other comment was brought to our attention by Metalingus627, which is that this design accidentally ended up looking a lot like the Geth dropships from the Mass Effect universe.
Hedgemony
Source: Halo Wars Genesis
Supplementary Submission: Although not an entry as it didn't adhere to the rules of this round, the following image is still an excellent portrayal of a UNSC destroyer in the same class as the Heracles, with design influences from the standard destroyer we're more familiar with (see: Midnight in the Heart of the Midlothian)
Accuracies: Consistent with UNSC frigate design, appropriate layout for class of ship within its size range, weapon with fore-facing dorsal placement (in front of the bridge), primary mac cannon evident at front of ship, visibly apparent hangar bay doors Inaccuracies: Phaeston portrayed as frigate-like while original design is visibly more carrier-like Artistic License: Drastic adaptation from design seen in Genesis, protrusion on top converted into highly exposed bridge My Thoughts: While I love the end design that came about as a result of this and could easily see it fighting alongside any UNSC ship, I feel that it would have been more beneficial to approach this design as a new type of carrier (other than the Halcyon or Marathon classes). But nevertheless, this ship is equally as applicable to the Halo universe, and I would love to see it flying across the skies of Reach to take the fight to the Covenant. It contains a level of detail that I absolutely love, containing small elements similar to other ships designed by Bungie.
- - - If anyone has any complaints about my flexibility regarding the rules, I'm more than willing to take this into account for future rounds. You just have to actually communicate with me about it (no really, I want to hear more feedback from people). This is more about the art, the involvement, the fictional research/awareness, and adding to our collective understanding of Halo than anything else, and so bending the rules where it feels appropriate is to ensure everyone gets as much out of this as possible. :) And that's it for this week. Congratulations to the winner, who will be receiving their avatar code to do with as they please shortly. Also, Hedge approached me about actually submitting one of my own ship designs for you guys to see. While I didn't sketch it out in time for this post, I plan on updating with it a little later :) We'll be taking a break for a week, and then this coming Sunday you can check back in for the next subject! Thanks to everyone who participated!
| |
|
| Replies: |
The HBO Forum Archive is maintained with WebBBS 4.33. |
