I finally got around to scanning in all that crap I'd promised. While none of it is exactly worthy of the Louvre, hopefully it's at least enough to convince you that despite the age and relative stasis of this thread, Incursion is neither dead nor forgotten. So, here we go:
*Early Concepts, Archon still in development*
I was still attempting to nail down the overall aesthetic for the Incursor stuff, and I have a certain weakness for asymmetric ship designs. Shown are side-pylons and scraps, cockpit configurations, and some rough work I used while trying to find a good shape for future ships. I have no intent to use any of these.
When I was sketching the rear portion of the Demiurge, I noted a design I thought might make for an interesting cockpit section. The rest of the half-ship above is built around that idea. The extra pylon shown was another Demiurge cast-off, though I may refine it in the future.
And here's the beast you've heard me talking about for months with naught to show. It's essentially a thicker, sturdier version of the Archon (and intended as the Alternate B-type), and will have an emphasis on drones over weapons. May consider mounting artillery, but I feel it's important to note that all Incursor ships are designed to fit the Enemy window and will be encountered as hostile in normal gameplay.
*When this conversion is complete, it's recommended to start over fresh, as I intend to provide unique circumstances for ship unlocks wherever possible.
Designs for Incursor drones. Standard equipment includes 2-4 weapons, at least one drone bay, Z-shield augments, and Slug Repair Gel (which will be renamed to Hull Sealant).
That first one reminds me too much of a Mantis design though, possible I may not use that one (or drastically redesign it).
Weapons concepts of varying degree. The smaller ones in the top row are the lasers I mentioned in previous posts - the "pulsed" multi-shot ones on the left, and the "Heavy" ones on the right.
The larger cluster along the bottom are designs for artillery-scale "Big Gun" pylons, intended to be mounted on certain classes of Incursor ships. These will only carry one or two weapons, but on a massive scale - a single salvo may be more than enough to ruin your day.
First concepts of the Monad flagship. Apologies for not cleaning this up better, I was trying to avoid losing some of the lighter mini-sketches along the bottom. Perhaps you can see where my "Bird of Prey" comments came from...
Central to the design is the notion of "artillery pylons," which go hand-in-hand with the Big Gun work above - that is, entire sections of the ship are composed of weapon art rather than the ship_base.png and will have a more visceral visual impact when they ignite. Not that you'll really want them to.
Monad, Version 2.
The BoP idea has been abandoned entirely in favor of a more elegant dragonfly shape, and revives the pylon-forward look of the Archon and Demiurge. Though difficult to see, the wire-frame bit below the text shows the artillery pylon array - one on each wingtip. A standard weapons system will also be employed, if possible (I haven't tried this yet, I'm simply going on the oft-flawed assumption it will work), giving the Monad a terrifying arsenal of eight weapons, across five different subsystem controls - and, this being the Stage 3 boss, is in addition to the Zoltan shield, crew invasion, and laser-burst superweapon. To quote my earlier post, it will either be the most amazing boss battle ever, or the most horribly bullshit one in existence.
...On the bright side, I'm also designing the campaign as a series of quest chains that will hopefully prepare you better than FTL's original did, where the boss is essentially an ass-pull from left field. We'll see. Either way, the work continues...
