Well, I forgot to post another Journal last week and got the "Disappointed Glare" from Brad, so I'm going to make sure never to forget again by lowering my standards! From now one, I'll only be showing the top 3 images of the week...not because it's less work, I just want to make sure to keep some surprises in store for the players. 
#3 - I always Enjoy seeing Concept art for Movies and Games, so this is a side-by-side comparison of the finished, in-game "Warp Drive Mark 5" with the concept art for that propulsion module. You'll notice alot more detail on the concept...well, blame the poly limit, not me! 
If it was MY choice, we'd be making 1024x1024 textures with 20,000+ poly models with full normal mapping and 10x anti-aliasing - but alas, the game is supposed to RUN on players' computers.
Go figure 
#2 - IMHO, one of the COOLEST features in the new game is the Ship Design mechanic. What we're doing Is creating not just Ship Components (Engines, Weapons, Sensors, ect.) to put on your vessels, but also Structural Components (or 'Bling', as they've come to be know). This allows the user to take a hull and, using the various 'Bling' add-ons, create drastically looking ships every time.
Above we have my first sample works using the same hull and 2 different Structural Pieces. Couple this with the ability to personalize your race color, and the possibilities become ENDLESS!
#1 - Mix the stress of crunch-time, with the giddiness of not-much-sleep, and throw in a new game mechanic! What do you get?! SHIP DESIGN CRAZINESS!
To test the bounds of our new toy, Paul Boyer and I wanted to see how many peices of Bling we could get on a ship before the game crashed. Luckilly for us, the coders, and the faithful journal readers, we get to see what happens when the Altarians try to put a ship in orbit that has over 70 peices of "Bling" on it.
This beast is sporting an impressive 25,000+ polys...well over the 3,000 limit we want to place on the custom ship designs.
Needless to say, the players will now have a 8 Item limit on how many structural pieces can be added to their ships.