The Arkon

[AgentZero]

NullAshton, it's all your. The old one. The new one is so mine. Almost. Forgot I should be adding in a big thanks to David for all the help with the texture.

[NullAshton]

Could you give me the textures for it please?

[AgentZero]

That might be a bit tricky unless you're using Byce... PM me your email address & I'll see what I can do. All it is, is a reflective grey texture with a bit of blue specularity and a bump map thrown on top. I can always send you the picture I used for the bump map but it's in .jpg format...

[NullAshton]

Ah... You did't use an image map?

[AgentZero]

NullAshton said:
Ah... You did't use an image map?

No, Bryce is a bit funny about the way it does textures. I think I started with an image map (ie: a grey .jpg with black used to define the hull plates), but after loading it into Bryce there was quite a bit more work involved to get it looking right.

[NullAshton]

Interesting. I'll probally just use procederals.

[AgentZero]

Well give us a look when you've got something. It's always interesting when two artists try to do the same thing because you usually end up with that 'similar but radically different' syndrome. In the mean time, since we started with a Cruiser, here's the good ole reliable Arkon Escort!

[AgentZero]

Now, for a little racial history...

The Arkon are a race of fully sentient androids. They were constructed by a race they refer only to as the Builders, and whom they claim are Terrans, which would explain why the Arkon seem externally identical to a human. Observant commentators have picked up the the rather inconsistent fact that the Arkon were exploring the galaxy while humans were still huddling in caves. For most of it's history, the Arkon Empire was regarded as something as a joke. Their warships were barely able to defend themselves from a menacing asteroid, and invading empires found the Arkon all too willing to pack up and leave a planet if so demanded, leaving all facilities intact, and unbelieveably would apologize for having caused any inconvenience.
Those who traded with the Arkon found it easy to get what they wanted due to the Arkon's apparent inability to lie. The Arkon would even tolerate the destruction of their ships at the hand of other empire with good-humour. It was rumored that the Arkon had only been programmed with 'nice' emotions, and were incapable of feeling the darker side of the emotional spectrum. The truth was, Arkon programming was highly adaptive and they could learn anything. The problem was, no one was willing to teach them.

Then, one fateful day, they encountered Humanity.

In a matter of days, the Arkon had learned passionate love, lust, envy, anger, hate, jealously, and most frighteningly -aggression. With new eyes, the Arkon gazed out into a galaxy that had mocked them, cheated them, and murdered them. And for the first time, they struck back with vengeful fury. At first, the citizens, and indeed leaders of other empires laughed at the delcarations of war that were simultaneously transmited to all of the Arkon's neighbours. This laughter was quickly silenced at the battle of Venduusa Six, the Venduu's nearest colony to the Arkon and the Venduu's most important ship building centre. The Terrans had been trying to take the system for nearly six months, and agreed to let their new allies make an attempt. In six bloody hours, a massive Arkon fleet ripped through the system's defences, tearing defenders apart with weapons several generations more advanced than anything anyone had seen before, and shrugging off damage thanks to their new shield system.

While the rest of the galaxy was still reeling from the implications of this battle, the systems surrounding the Arkon Empire exploded into vengeful fire as the Arkon systematically reclaimed all that had been taken from them. Such was their fury that only frantic mediation on the part of the Terrans saved the Venduu from total anihilation.

Having proven that they were no longer a race to be taken lightly, the Arkon signed treaties with all their neighbours, bringing an end to hosilities. At least, until the Tauran War...

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

.....are you sure it's not too big, that LC?

[AgentZero]

Well, an Arkon Dreadnought's main guns have been described as being "a tad bigger than a Light Cruiser, so you're right, the LC is a little too big. Chalk it up to artistic license.