RTS Unit Design Tips [Some of my models inside] Thread

So im making an RTS Game and have started work on some of the units that will be present

So far i've got the basic tank chasis and an APC but its all work in progress and i was wondering, does anyone have any tipes for designing near future scifi vehicles? or just units for an rts game in general

below is an albulm of the current work in progress units

Imgur.com

My suggestion is first learn all about war! An air defense platform attached to a battalion might be nothing more than some shoulder-fired missiles, but move up an echelon and it's larger, vehicle-mounted missiles which provide area-defense, but can advance with the army. Defending the entire front is still larger missiles, that have to be disassembled to be moved but represent the most potent system for defeating fast or high-altitude planes. All these of these are air defense weapons, but they can't be abstracted as a single unit. They differ in size but more importantly in mission - one travels organically with the battalion and different more complex systems with higher echelons, and all of them work together to provide overlapping areas of coverage to prevent any aircraft at any speed, altitude, or azimuth from penetrating.

That's one example but I don't know if this is the kind of help you wanted so I'll quit -.- the models you have look good! Except that's not what a railgun looks like and that one thing looks like it stuffed way too many missiles into those boxes x.x

I think what you've already done is really good. The "railgun" - if that's what it is - is my favourite. It just feels a bit more sci-fi than the others. I originally thought the same about the overstuffed missile tank but, rather than removing missiles, it actually might be better adding more width ways.

I also like DuchessVonKibble comments. I wasn't really thinking in these terms when you were asking about design but I think it's a very helpful way of looking at it.

Purely in terms of art style, I think it's a case of doing some research into current design of modern military vehicles and seeing what other artists have come up with in terms of sci-fi stuff. It's not about copying but more about finding ideas that are cool that you can incorporate, amalgamate and mash up into something new.

My personal preference is not to be too conservative, otherwise it can end up looking bland, which is why I suggested adding more missiles.

I dont know how to quote properly on here so ill say here, thank yous for the tips

i have been looking at real military units more now thanks to yous working on making units look suited to their role rather then trying to 'make them look cool' like i was doing

My problem with detail is im not great at modeling so have trouble wondering what looks right and whats to small to make a difference when seen

My personal preference is to make the details bigger than they really are if they are important but it can look cartoony (which is what I like :3 haha) but you might want to establish a minimum size and omit all details smaller than that. Whats a example of what your talking about?

the example is the tank im working on, though im away from home now so cant show

stuff like the hatch, addons for armour and so on which look nice up close but may not be very visible at large scale

I say just test it out and if there's no point than add it onto the texture instead of the model ^.^

My own inclination is to make the subtle elements greater than they truly are whether they are critical yet it can look toon.

Gameplay Signatures

Edited by: thomas012