The Next Great Starship Episode 1.4

The Next Great Starship, the modding competition that gives fans a chance to create a space ship for Chris Roberts' upcoming epic space sim game, Star Citizen™, is about to get real for 16 teams!
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Roberts Space Industries is a spacecraft manufacturer within the persistent-world game "Star Citizen" and its companion single-player spaceflight sim, "Squadron 42." RSI is also your portal for information, updates, and purchases of your very own spacecraft with which to trade, plunder, and protect the citizens of Star Citizen.

Be sure to visit Roberts Space Industries here and on your favorite social platform:

RSI - http://RobertsSpaceIndustries.com
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/RobertsSpaceIndustries
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RobertsSpaceInd
Google+ - https://plus.google.com/115090625624883320504/posts

Sandi: Hi, Sandi Gardiner, coming to you from Cloud Imperium's development offices in Santa Monica California.

Today we check in with the 15 teams that have already qualified, plus reveal who you chose for the 16th spot.

The competition is just getting started for the Next Great Starship.

Welcome to episode 4 of The Next Great Starship.

Last week the judges finalized their 15 picks for the competition,

and those teams have begun their work on the concept art for the mercenary gunship.

I had a chance to check in with them, so let's see how they're doing and what their reaction was.

Can you see me?

Did you start recording?

Ay-yo

How's the camera angle?

Woah, that's a big office.

At least it seems to be working.

Sandi: Ciao.

Ciao.

How are you?

Sandi: Hi guys.

Hi Sandi, team Cryo here.

Sandi: I'm having a little trouble seeing you.

The internet in Alaska is the worst of any state.

Greetings, I'm Alexander Lortkipanidze, I am the leader of team Troyka.

I'm Paul Brazid, my forum handle is Neurological, and I'm representing team Four Horsemen.

Hi, I'm Jan Mischke and I'm the only member from 1Bit Amoeba.

Hi, my name is Brian Cozzens, I'm the leader of Shard Collective.

Hi Sandi, I'm Niklas.

Hi Sandi, I'm Malte.

And we are team VisionCut.

Hi Sandi, Simon from team Shimapan, how are you?

Hi Sandi! We're 3Dingo man! 3Dingo yo!

My name is Paul and my team is Tallon Corperation.

I am team Skyguard Fabricaions.

Hi Sandi, I'm am Salvador from Eris--Ok, take 2.

[Laughing]

I'm Gerry, and we're team Catapult.

Hey I'm John, and we are team Catapult.

Hey Sandi, this is Scott from team Catapult.

Hi Sandi, I'm Salvador from team Eris Heavy Manufacturing--Ok, take 3.

I am Vladimir, I am TRUE team captain.

I'm Ben, I'm the sole member of team Belefonte.

Hey Sandi, I'm Phalanx from Tri-Tri.

Sandi: How excited is your team to be one of the 16 finalists.

Well, very excited, what else can I say?

I was surprised of course. Actually I was drinking when I heard.

We put a lot of work into it and had a lot of fun doing it, so it's nice to see it pay off.

It was pretty awesome.

When I found out that we got in the top 16, I kind of jumped up in my chair like "yeah!"

After we found out we... speechless. Yeah, speechless, this word.

We were dismayed we hadn't made it in, then it was like woah, yeah, yeah!

I think we're a little scared actually.

You mean we actually have to produce now? Yeah.

Sandi: I think I may have even seen a comment from your sister saying "that's my brother." Is that true?

Yeah, yeah, it was pretty crazy, my family, they went insane.

This is giant for me, this is like geek Super Bowl, I'm telling you.

I don't know what to say, but I can smile. I can smile a lot. I can not erase my smile from my face.

Sandi: What did you think of the show?

I thought it was great. Just amazing talent out there.

I went into it hoping it would be good, and I left really quite happy and surprised. I thought the judges,

they knew their field quite well, they knew what they were talking about, and that's quite nice to see actually.

It's fun to watch and kind of see them break down what some of us did.

I was actually surprised at the level of technicality that they went to, it was very interesting.

I didn't think that they would be giving such constructive feedback which was cool.

We appreciate that Chris Roberts himself showed up and gave us feedback.

Chris Roberts saying that it was one of his favorites was incredibly satisfying.

It was a huge sense of relief to know that I put something together than Chris Roberts loves, and not just him,

everyone on the panel, like Mark Skelton's reaction.

That has basically become a meme between me and my friends, where he just says "Sick, it's so sick."

[Mark Skelton repeatedly saying "Sick, so sick".]

Sandi: How did you feel about the community's choice for the mercenary gunship?

I'm really quite happy with it actually. It was pretty much what we wanted to make as well.

I was looking for something a little bit smaller, but [laughs].

Gunships are something that everyone wants to do, so I was thinking well maybe we'll do something different.

But it looks like everybody picked the gunship.

Yeah, I think it will be a fun ship to design.

Actually, in the beginning I didn't like it, but after time,

when I made the first concept and thinking about how it looked, I really liked it.

I actually voted for the one that got the least votes, but, whatever.

[Laughing]

It's ok, everyone loves gunships, I love gunships.

So many weapons, looks like strong, we like... We love it... No, we like it... I love it.

You can put a lot of detail into it, a lot of functionality and stuff like that.

Me and my small guild, we basically want to play as mercenaries who hunt down pirates,

which is exactly what we have to build the ship for.

So it really does feel like I'm making a ship for me and my friends. So that's pretty awesome.

I wanted a ship that me and my wife and my daughter could all fly around with at once,

and that seemed like the best choice. So I voted for it.

Sandi: Are your wife and your daughter gamers?

They're gonna play this one.

Sandi: Have you guys gotten started yet?

Um, yeah, we started, but we can't really show something good yet.

Sandi: But no little screenshots to show us just yet?

Uhh, not yet, not yet, sorry.

Scribbles on paper and blocking out some models.

We're doing a lot of ground work on a number of things before actually getting to work.

We're in that phase where we're trying to come up with the look and feel and proportionality of the thing on a

very basic level. We're very close to finishing that,

and then we're going to go into the concept model and detailed concept phase.

Sandi: Have you started drawing the next gunship?

Yeah, do you want to see?

Sandi: Absolutely!

Here is this.

Sandi: Haha, I love it... Woah, pull it back a little bit.

I could move the camera I guess. You can uh--

I have some stuff to show, some stuff might be a little too finished to show at this point.

Sandi: Did the feedback from the judges help you for this current stage?

Oh, definitely, and at the same time, I think it was much easier to work on a single vision.

I don't know if we're sketching it up so much as doodling at this point.

Sandi: Ok, doodling, sketching.

We like what we've got, but it's gonna take iterations, time,

and seeing what everyone else is doing to model the entire thing. But we're coming to it and thinking about it.

Sandi: Would you like to say something in Russian to the Russian community?

[Russian]

Sandi: [German]

[German]

[Italian]

This is what we want to say to Italians.

[Spanish]

Sandi: Is there anything that you want to say to the community.

I'm really excited to be part of this. It should be a pretty cool ride.

Sandi: We know the teams have all started on their concept designs, and we thought what better way to share with you

what that entails than by showing you what we do right here at Cloud Imperium.

David: Hi, my name's David Hobbins, I'm a concept artist at Cloud Imperium games.

My job at Cloud Imperium entails designing the coolest space ships possible,

and at the moment, I'm working on a new starship called the Mustang.

It's a starter ship that will be single-seater, it's gonna be small, light weight, very fast.

It's gonna be a competitor to the Aurora.

When I'm designing for the 3D, immersive experience,

there's a number of design problems in the collision of all these complex systems.

So part of my job is just being a problem solver. Figuring these things out so they work for the in-game experience.

When I was super young, I lived close to an air force base and would regularly go to airshows and

just be exhillarated by the speed of the shape of these planes.

This I think lead me to study transportation design at Park Center College of Design at Casidina.

At school, I ultimately ended up getting more into entertainment design, and I was able to employ what I had

learned in designing for real world vehicles into fantastical vehicles for film and games.

Before video games I worked for Lucas Film for a number of years. I also worked for Image Movers Digital,

and most recently I worked for an effects studio in London, MPC, for the Marvel project "Guardians of the Odyssey."

My day to day process involves taking a design brief and bringing it all the way through to

basically a set of blueprint instructions.

Essentially I'm tasked with bringing the ship to life.

I always try to approach it like blueprinting a real ship.

Even though it's for a science fiction property, it still has to be believable to an audience.

I start by very carefully reading over the design brief.

The design brief is basically a list of instructions, the big idea of what the ship is.

I typically start thinking of words. I think about how I want this vehicle to feel and be received.

So for example it could be fast, or utilitarian, or robust, even scary.

I usually start by sketching the idea out.

I call these "ideation sketches," they're essentially doodles or visual brainstorming.

Once I've drawn a number of ideas that I like, and I think I have something,

I'll typically scan it, and import it into the computer.

Typically from that point on I'm working digitally.

My process once inside the computer, I usually start working the profile or silhouette of the ship.

Once I have a profile I sort of like of the ship,

I immediately start placing and rearranging the major components.

The pilot's cockpit area, the major power plants, fuel, landing gear assembly,

all these things have to be contained within the skin of the ship.

I'm fighting this design task on two different fronts:

one is to have a beautiful shape, and the other is to fill all the functional requirements.

Sometimes it can be challenging to juggle these two contradictory requirements,

but ultimately placing these things, these major components,

in early enough actually can inform the exterior and the overall shape in really interesting ways.

As well, it can also tell the story of the ship's utility and function,

which should be obvious as part of its design story.

Once I have a profile and a package architecture that's an arrangement of all the major components,

I take that and import it into a 3D application.

From here, I start blocking out rough geometry,

and getting a feel for how this thing looks as I move around it in 3D space.

So, I've imported the profile image plane and started to block out some of geometry here.

Chris: It's different. I like the feel.

Could you go sideways a bit?

Cool. You can almost feel it's like a horse up on its hind legs.

David: Typically Chris Roberts and I will interact four or five times on the -

early concept phase of a particular spaceship.

I've just been dragging this along and doing iterations, adding features,

and then ultimately I've landed on this type of package, this configuration.

The way that Chris and I work together is, I'll let him know that I have some new art to show him,

and he'll come over and check it out, and we'll start a dialog.

Chris: So, I guess a couple of things for me would be...

How we getting in and out of the cockpit: is the cockpit going to open,

or are we going to make a hatch somewhere, that you can climb in and out, and also use your EVA.

I don't think there will be too much fancy stuff happening on this,

because obviously it's a lower sort of starter ship.

The other thing is: cargo - where's the cargo going to be?

David: Well yeah, that's a good point.

Right now, originally I thought that there would be a sleeper cabin here,

but what I can do is just open this up and put the cargo hold here.

Chris: Right, okay. Yeah, because the way I would see it is like so that -

Consolidated Outland, they're a new manufacturer, so they don't have all the stuff that RSI has.

They probably would be designing their ship to use some standard parts.

So like, maybe they could use the standard Aurora container -

and it could just plug in and so that you could just interchange it.

But I would think that because they're meant to be lighter and faster,

they couldn't necessarily have the bigger container, just have a smaller container.

I guess the other thing, looking around, you've got these two guns gimbal on the front,

which is actually a fairly big advantage over the Aurora, because the Aurora's got fixed guns.

And are those meant to be two guns on the side back there?

And I don't think you put any missile rack or anything anywhere.

I can't remember if in the spec we have any missiles, but...

David: I don't know about missiles yet, so...

Chris: Well, I'm just trying to think, because generally right now the Aurora has all fixed weapons, guns...

And that's not fixed, it's gimbaled, so it's obviously going to be an advantage over the Aurora.

One thing I would think is, perhaps, maybe this will have missiles and therefore you'll be lighter,

it'll be faster, a little more flimsy, and be more a gun platform, and the Aurora would be more sturdy,

heavier, and carry more cargo and then have missiles, and so...

It's kind of up to what you were doing.

But no, I really quite dig it, so, it's cool.

David: Alright - awesome. Cool.

Thank you.

Chris: Alright.

I'll be back!

David: Another part of the process is that there is an art department in Austin that I'm interacting with.

I'll get on a video call with them and get their feedback and ideas.

Chris O: Hey. Chris S: Hey, man. Mark: How are you, man?

David: I'm doing well, thanks.

Chris: Chris' shirt's making it look a little big there, Chris.

Mark: Those guns.

Chris S: Yeah.

Chris O: My stomach?

Chris S: It's actually tight.

David: I have some new design work to show you on the Mustang.

Basically, I've been doing some ideating and I've got a profiles sketch -

and some of the interior architecture figured out.

Here is the Mustang profile.

The pink areas are where I'm considering making passenger compartments,

and they just have the little Oscar astronaut in there for scale.

What do you guys think?

Mark: So it sits right on its wing, correct? On both sides.

David: Yeah, I thought that the wings and landing gear could remain fixed, serve double duty.

I really appreciate the thought that Chris has put into every facet of the world he's creating.

He has a super critical eye that's always asking "how can this be better,"

"how can this be more functional, how can this look better, how can the player experience be better?"

Once I have a rough block that I'm happy with, typically I'll render out a quick image,

and paint and sketch over that image, plotting where I might go with graphics and specific surfacing.

Once Chris Roberts has signed off on the basic blocking and function of the ship,

I'll typically go in deeper and refine each of those 3D surfaces.

And then here is the rear view with the loading fork down.

Chris: Yeah, I like the little piston detail stuff, it's kind of cool.

And this is kind of nice...

David: After that, typically I'll start thinking about the livery of the ship,

which is basically its major materials and graphics.

So that process really involves going back, thinking about the back story of the particular ship,

what I want to convey with these graphics and what its function is, finding reference...

Usually I give Chris a number of iterations of which to choose from.

So I have these options for you.

Chris: Aah, ooh, umm...

I guess one thing - I guess these are meant to be the panels - the only thing is, generally,

that works better for the bigger capital ships where you have the panels give you a sense of scale.

On all these ones, the one that my eye really gets drawn to more is this one,

because I kind of like the color and the line detail there.

So, it sort of accentuates - like that shot there is really cool, it really accentuates the...

I mean, that thing feels fast, it feels cool, it feels sexy,

whereas in maybe some of this you don't get the same...

David: Right. The panel breakup, the high contrast of it almost slows it down.

When Chris rejects one of my ideas or a particular visual element, it's OK.

It's really just par for the course.

As a designer, critique is the only way I'm going to improve. I welcome it.

Often times at that point, if Chris has signed off, I'll be asked to put that vehicle into a situation,

into a world, into a painting, where people and aliens will be interacting with the ship.

Chris: That looks awesome.

Chris: That's pretty brilliant.

David: So I set up these two; they're kind of in hot pursuit...

I love that part of the process. I think that's where the ship really starts coming to life for me.

I'm super excited about the Mustang and I can't wait for Chris to share it with fans.

Getting Chris' feedback throughout the process has been invaluable,

and I think he's really pleased with the results.

Working with Chris Roberts has improved my work and made me a better designer.

I hope the teams on The Next Great Starship realize how valuable this feedback is.

Chris: I would finish up little bits of details you want to do and we can -

pass it over to the folks to model from your base block-out.

David: Perfect.

Sandi: We will be tracking the progress of the new Star Citizen Mustang throughout the entire season,

but now it is time to find out who won the Wild Card vote.

I have the honor of letting the winning team know that they made the final 16.

Philipp E: Hi!

Sandi: Hey guys!

Philipp E: Hi, can you see us?

Sandi: Yes, I can see you.

So guys, it's official, you won the Wild Card vote.

You blew away the competition and now you're in the final 16.

How do you feel?

Philipp E: It was really a surprise for all of us, so...

Sandi: Are you excited?

I voted for you!

Philipp E: Yes, very very much. Really, really excited.

I think, the first week, none of us could sleep after we saw the first votes on Friday.

Sandi: Do you guys want to introduce yourselves real quick?

Philipp S: I'm Philipp Sackl.

Philipp E: I'm Philipp Erkinger.

Hannah: I'm Hannah Erkinger.

Philipp E: My sister.

Sandi: I'm so excited to have a female in the competition! That's cool.

And so why did you choose the name "Infinitexuemonkey"?

Philipp E: To be precise it's called Infinitexuemonkey, because I chose the name, for my forum, of my wife.

It's the name of my wife, it's actually pronounced Xue, but Philipp got it wrong the first time,

and we immediately imagined the logo of the "infinite shoe monkey" with two shoes.

So that's where we started the name for our team.

Philipp S: My nickname is Infi, Infinity.

Hannah: My name is Monkey.

Sandi: Have you been doing the concept art?

Philipp E: We ended up with basically two sketches, which we worked on a bit further in 3D,

and now we've come up with one sketch with one variation that we like very much,

and this is the one that we're going to present in the video - together with the others of course,

this one is the main.

Sandi: So, good enough to blow everybody else out of the water and fly to Los Angles?

Philipp E: Of course! Definitely!

Sandi: Alright guys, we'll see you later! Best of luck in the competition!

Team: Thanks! Philipp E: Thank you for your call! Very nice to see.

Sandi: Next week, the judges will start to evaluate the teams' concept art.

And we hope it's good, because not everybody will be moving on.

See you every Friday for The Next Great Starship.