Controversy is only kept going at all, when those who want to see it keep going, keep stoking it up. Honestly, its a mountain out of a molehill - that goes for everyone, not solely Buzz, Centurus and not Nanner - all things considered, all three have kept remarkably cool heads throughout this. A credit to all of you.
Anyway. It. Is. Only. A. Model. When all's said and done, its a fictional model, in a fictional universe, created by someone who has put a lot of time into it - represented by a fictional character in this world we call SFC.
So much hassle over so much fiction. Urgh.
I *knew* there was a reason Ive been taking a long, *long* break from fleet stuff. Stuff like this.
Just FYI - I havent flown an OP campaign since KCW, and havent done a SFC3 one since NDF4. Im not planning to again in the near future, not only because my "real life" career prospects have, finally, seemed to take off, I have simply not had time to play, let alone sort out fleet stuff.
[The "Real Me" - Jason Greenwood, for this paragraph. No Ryker, no online character, no SFC stuff. Just plain old me]
When I come back of an evening, I kick in Birth of the Federation (anyone remember that?) and hope I find the Zakdorn before any other race does, so I can train my starships to Badass proportions
Maybe sink a couple of cans, ring up some old school mates, check on my schedule, and basically do work-stuff. Its going well, better than I could have hoped - IT support in a musical theatre school for children. I like musical theatre, plus I have a BSc (Hons) in Applied Computer Technology - it is a work-placement made in Heaven. I couldn't have asked for a better one, and Im very happy with it- with any luck, this 3-6 month placement will turn into a "proper" salaried job.
To this end, Ive been putting in a lot of time extra-hours on career development skills, and in terms of online stuff; well. Ive left fleet business in the hands of those people better at it now than I am, as it should be. If this situation continues, I will most probably retire or stand aside, and let someone with the drive, enthusiasm and passion for this game that I once had, take my place.
However, since it seems I cant be left in peace to enjoy my twilight days with this game. Urgh.
[Puts on the "Ryker" hat]
Officially, Centurus isnt part of the 9th Fleet anymore. For the record, I will state that while he was with us, he remarked to several members of the fleet, including myself, about how great a model the Chabot was, but that as it was designed to be something just used for SFC - namely a kitbash - the model itself did not stand up to close scrutiny.
To this end, he came to the Fleet about creating a new model, of the exact (or as close as possible) type and configuration of the original, but with a much higher level of detail. Specifics here Im not sure of, but I believe it was intented for high-quality rendering work, as well as use in Bridge Commander.
Since this model was intimately associated with the Ninth, it was felt that a high-resolution re-build, to the same specifications, would help "spread the word" about the 9th, and it's origins with Ghis (who the ship was named for). Also, as Centurus pointed out, several other modellers were already taking an interest in reworking the Chabot, and it was felt that, despite some of them being exceptionally fine modellers, that to keep it "in house" would keep a sense of attachment of the ship to the fleet, just as it was when Nannerslug designed and made the original kitbash.
And so, Cent went to work. Early un-named WIPs looked promising, and as long as it stayed as faithful as was possible to the original design, I was content with letting it continue.
However. The issue of naming it came up. Since it wasnt a "refit" or kitbash, but nothing short of a total, 100% rebuild of an existing model, the original name of "Chabot" seemed to make sense. Case in point - the original in-game models. Im sure someone holds the rights to the design for the Galaxy class ship, somewhere at Paramount. However, Galaxy class models made here arent called "Mark 2", or "Type 195" Galaxy, they're just called "Galaxy" class ship. Most cases, I believe, the name of the author is included in the description for the model, but not the "class" itself in-game.
[Personally, I consider the original Chabot to be the Nanner Chabot, and the rebuild to be the Centurus one, for the same reason. In game, I'd still call it the Chabot, for the purposes of discriminating between the two though, I'd call them the Nanner and Cent Chabots.]Sometime later, Centurus felt that his time in the fleet had come to a close (as Im feeling right now), and decided to retire. I suggested to him possibly renaming the ship the "Thrain", - "Chabot Mk 2" seems silly when its exactly the same ship, and after many many man-hours of work have gone into making sure it
is the same.
On the face of it, this should stay between Centurus and Nanner. Nanner's father, nor the 9th Fleet, has any business getting involved - Cent isnt part of the 9th, so while this was "our" idea in the earlier stages, anything he chooses to do regarding this, I cant really do much.
I will say this though, on a personal note. Centurus is a good person, who has been through far FAR too much hassle recently over this. As Nanner himself said,
"My suggestion would be for Cent to simply rename the model. If he chooses not to do so the world wont end or anything like that - I mean, my goodnes, its JUST a model for a game. We shouldnt get all huffy over anything."
I agree totally. It is a nice looking computer file, of a fictional ship, in a fictional universe, made for a game and TV series which is, to be fair, dying out. Its a *model*, its not the Crown Jewels, or a Renaissance-era copy of the Bible worth millions we're talking about here.
Its a bloody model. Person A makes it, person B re-makes it as faithfully as possible. Persons C, D, E, and their brothers and former room-mates get involved, and makes it into something much more than it actually is - a model of a ship, made in tribute to a model of a ship, which was made in tribute to someone we once knew.
Final thought- wait until Centurus, or whoever has it right now, has finished it with a full retexture. Then, if you still want to go ahead and judge it, then judge the Finished Article.
If there's still crap going on over this then, maybe Cent could go to Nanner for comments and feedback as to how to tweak it; since he knows the mesh inside and out, he's and P81 are probably the best people to go to. Or, *shocker* idea here, maybe Nanner could modify Cent's mesh and release it too as his own update?
Shocker indeed.
Springers Final Thought:
Something I learned recently - there's more to life than pissing contests. If that applies to real life, then it sure as hell should apply here too. [Now I remember why I dont play SFC any more. None of this hassle in single-player Birth of the Federation ]
Topic: WIP Chabot Refit.... (Read 26064 times)