Second Generation by NefariousDrO
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Before the development of the Rephi Portal network, the nations of Earth began developing the solar system. This started with the nearby bodies of Earth's moon, and some of the larger Near Earth Asteroids. mars was next, and the colonization effort moved surprisingly fast, once it finally got started. The second generation of colony transports were the first major ships built from resources mined off of Earth. Most of the main components came from Lunar mines, with basic refining on the moon, and final refining and manufacturing happening at the Lagrange Point stations. Mars Colony Ship Mk2 was considered a major accomplishment not in the actual design so much as the in-orbit infrastructure that made it possible. For the first time humanity had a major manufacturing capability that was not dependent upon Earth's resources.
Of course, it really wasn't that simple. Certain components and rare earth elements would be coming from Earth for some time to come, but the asteroid mines eventually replaced those. Details not withstanding, the ability to use space was a major accomplishment and even nations who'd not directly participated in this effort shared the sense of pride in the possibilities it opened up.
The second generation transports served very long lifetimes, and some even operated up to the First Interstellar War. They are frequently considered the baseline against which any design is compared to decide if it truly was a success or not.
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My first Bryce project in ages. I'm re-working something I made a while ago, but looking towards future projects as well. Still trying to find my inspiration, but this feels like a good step forward.
The ship was made in Bryce 6.1, the main hull textures are my own, while the flat grey tones came from one of the presets.
The background is Photoshop, a combination of the Glitterato plugin, photos of clouds, and a little tinkering.
Comments, critiques and suggestions are actively encouraged. I learn more from criticism than praise, but if you just want to say "cool" that's welcome too. Hope everyone had a good weekend

Comments (20)
Cool! No, really cool! I love the design and the textures. The little details, like the antenna arrays, really stand out.
doing real good work here. the model looking good
Oh, man..... It's sooooo good to see your wonderful spaceships again! This is just.....well........ COOL! It still blows my mind that you do these in Bryce! I'm gonna have to pick your brain one of these days when life calms down a bit - for both of us... I've tried a few times to apply a texture to things in Bryce (I'm using 7.1), but nearly every time, it causes Bryce to crash. It's more than likely my own noobie-ness... I haven't tried it since rebuilding this computer and upgrading to Win7. Maybe this weekend. Anyway, this is yet another masterpiece, Mike, and your storyline is most excellent as well!
Fantastic detailed modeling! Great lighting. Corrie
splendid work on SciFi's spaceship ! This exceptional beauty must be seen with zoom !!! OUTSTANDING !!! Congratulations !!!
NICE.
Excellent sci-fi image.
Long time no see you with a space station picture! And that's even better than before, really well done!
great Rendering AAA+
Wonderful space scene and great narrative!!
Great narrative and desin!
very impressive space station, cool ski-fi work
well done and realistic interplanetary spaceship design with good background story
Great construction with terrific detail! Love the story~ =D
NefariousDrO, It is very good to see your complex designs and texture work return -- and this is another example of very fine Bryce craftsmanship. Your unique style and the details of your future history narrative are always a pleasure, Great work my friend!
Well done!
Great lighting and model. I love space scenes, espacially with space ships ;)
your ships always like realistic and convincing. Great texturing.
Wonderful modeling and composition!!!
Yeah, one definitely needs to Zoom to truly appreciate it. Great details. Interesting that you suggest in your "history" that near earth astroids might be colonized before Mars. Think that might very well be the case, if you consider a coporate factory (and town) as a colony. Really makes good sense when one thinks about it.