I use XSI. When making game models, indeed the normal maps will remove the faceted look you see on the screenshot above, as long as the angling between faces is gradual enough. The only thing you have to worry about is the silhouette of your model. Normal maps do nothing with actual geometry, so if your sphere is a low poly approximation, it will be relatively smooth towards the centre, but the silhouette will look broken up. However, you don't have to worry about making it look perfectly smooth - finding a nice balance between a faceted silhouette and a good looking model is the key.

Mind me asking how far along is your mod, is there many more models to come? if so, if you will allow ,could I join your greatness . As im a Maya buff and have never seen the point in jumping in to Softimage but seing you made all them great models it must have potential. 

A little bit of a delay Mansh00ter?

Have been following this wip for quite some time now.. everything looks outstanding.

RipsterUK, I've never worked in Maya, only 3DSMax, but XSI is by far the best tool of the two in my opinion. It simply has an easy and intuitive workflow which allows me to focus more on actual creative parts of making a model, and less on wrestling with the interface. As for the Last Stand, episode I is more or less nearing the end of production as far as model making is concerned, but I may be interested in taking on team members for episodes II and III... though if I do it'll be a somewhat selective process where some sort of portfolio will be needed. If you're still interested by then, we'll talk!

Rhylin, well not so much... but now the production is focused on gameplay changes, research tree refinement, abilities etc. and that's not something you can easily show off in a couple of screenshots. When individual unit classes are finished, some will get special "focus" teaser movies posted here, and there should be some screenshots coming soon of models not yet shown, like the Vortex Cruiser I've been working on lately. So keep an eye out on this thread!

RipsterUK, I've never worked in Maya, only 3DSMax, but XSI is by far the best tool of the two in my opinion. It simply has an easy and intuitive workflow which allows me to focus more on actual creative parts of making a model, and less on wrestling with the interface. As for the Last Stand, episode I is more or less nearing the end of production as far as model making is concerned, but I may be interested in taking on team members for episodes II and III... though if I do it'll be a somewhat selective process where some sort of portfolio will be needed. If you're still interested by then, we'll talk!

Rhylin, well not so much... but now the production is focused on gameplay changes, research tree refinement, abilities etc. and that's not something you can easily show off in a couple of screenshots. When individual unit classes are finished, some will get special "focus" teaser movies posted here, and there should be some screenshots coming soon of models not yet shown, like the Vortex Cruiser I've been working on lately. So keep an eye out on this thread!

Thx for both replies   

I would gladly join you at a later date if I have the time as my job comes first. Ive always been fond of model design and do get a taster sometimes at the studio.

Although im sure you would need testers of somekind so im up for that if you are ever in need.

ManSh00ter, your work continues to amaze and astound me... just the models alone make this worth waiting upon... keep up the great work!

I appologize if you answered this question somewhere between page 1 and 50 but, do you have an ETA for this mod.  I've been following this development for a while and it looks nice so far...which leaves me wondering why no release or atleast why not Beta release?

I can't state any definitive release date. The reason why it takes so long is because I'm commited to deliver the highest quality content possible and a most complete mod possible as well. The idea is that when you install this mod, it should feel like you have installed an official expansion.

Right now I am working on integrating all the little details linked with the ships... this means calculating ships stats so that they're in line with the rest of the game, tweaking visuals, coding abilities and not least of all, combat testing. As I do that I take all kinds of footage and will edit them into small "action videos" so you can see and hear each and every unit in action as it will appear in the mod.

Once I am done and satisfied with the quality of my work, then I will release the mod so everyone can get in on the fun. I think complete mod experiences are few and far between, but it does feel nice when you come upon one, don't you?

Ok, time for another little update, this time showing new screenshots of an already mentioned unit previously known as a Spider Cruiser. The old model wasn't up to scratch with the rest of the lineup so I have made a new one which fits the setting better (and looks much better in my opinion).

Vortex Cruiser

Ingame description:

"A Genome 3 creation, the Vortex cruiser, although unarmed, is a valuable addition to any fleet, capable of using powerful gravity projectors to both ensnare enemy ships and prevent their escape into phase space."

Out of the box, this unit will be capable only of light support duty, and is meant for commanders who have an excess of resources and would just like to catch those high level caps from running away when things get dicey. Later on however, it can become one of the most values and useful additions to your fleets, especially when dealing with a slippery foe.

It is completely unarmed, however it has one nifty ability which can potentially make it a killer when flying with support - it can effectively drag any ship to a halt. I think the value of this doesn't need to be explained.

But, with further research, things get even better! It becomes capable of deploying a gravity disturbance field strong enough to prevent all ships within a large radius from entering phase space (the tractor beam only slows a single ship down, but that ship can still fight, turn and escape if it reaches phasing boundary), thus trapping them until either the Vortex cruiser is blown up, or they are. Of course, nothing stops you from deploying more than one such cruiser.

Last but not least, with even further research, the cruiser gains another ability, Implode, which enables it to effectively self-destruct and possibly take a few of the enemy ships with it, or at least damage them. Considering the Vortex cruiser is probably going to be a no.1 target when big stakes are on the table, this ability can come in handy.

Screenshots:

oooh, I likey!

When I first saw those pictures, I literally said, "Holy shizding!" And don't ask me what it means, beacause I don't know. Anyways, amazing job ManSh00ter.  Here, have this giant beer and go get wasted. Then try and make a model and share it with us. It'll be fun!

no, I bet ManSh00ter does his best work sober!

I do not drink... wine...

heh it's been a while since I was around here... good work at the progress and I agree with you on having something completed in wanting to play it

haha Dracula

i got an idea for one of the abilitys effects, for the single tractor beam, make it launch a glowing blue blast from the middle. and for the large scale thing, make a giant vortex, like the vasari eggship does, only blue, and going vertical.

just some ideas

You have got to be kidding me, i make one comment and this thread is dead for a month?  what did i do wrong???? what did i say???

I think the thread is only active periodically, specifically after a new update, you've hit it at a time where ManShooter is back in the dungeon, working.

Next time he provides some pretty visuals or new info I'm sure the thread shall twitch back to life as it has done quite a few times in the last year.

Perfection takes time, y'know?

Damn, I really want this mod. The ships look awesome, and I like the concept of a race with ships that are uber but fewer in number.

Hope it comes out soon

Like Draz said, we're all just waiting expectantly.

i know, im just joking , but still, its kinda saddening, seeing "last post by"___________ (namely me) for a month just staring you in the face, have you ever experienced that?   

Here's some more screenshots I posted on the ModDb page:

And a Combat Trials video, showcasing the Impaler drones in action:

I think I just made a puddle with all the drool that came out of my mouth after watching that vid

that makes the battles in the vanilla game look they are being played on a computer with windows 94