Don't you start with a design brief?asked by Elune
TL;DRUsually a design brief comes first, setting role, size and purpose, and "design" there means technical design on paper that is then handed to a concept artist to visualise.
Usually, yes, but designers, man, all they do is tell you what you can and can't do. We're not doing that here today.
No, we're having a bit of fun today. Because usually, yeah, you do start off with a design brief, and it'll tell you its role, its size, what exactly is its purpose, and then you go from there really, and then you do a series of little thumbnail blockouts and that type of thing.
It does bring up a good point. There's a common misconception. When we refer to the design of a ship, it's often considered a visual thing. In game design, and especially in Star Citizen, design is done by folks like John Crewe and Stephen Hosmer. It's a technical thing. It's a shorthand for technical design. Design happens on paper, in spreadsheets and stuff. It should have this many seats, it should have this big an engine, such and such shields and stuff like that. That's where design of a ship comes from. And then, like Elune said, that gets handed over to a concept artist, and the concept artist has to work to bring that to a visual representation.