Now, don't take this the wrong way... but...

1. I can see polys on that thing that are clearly bad- they shouldn't be black, no matter what your viewing angle is.

2. You need to lose all of the polys on the guns. Nobody will notice them unless they're right on top of the thing, and it'll drag its polycount much higher than it needs to be. Fake it with a textured, cut-up torus, instead of greebling.

As for skinning... export your model to the OBJ format, and then use UVMapper to split it up into different areas for your skin. UVMapper can be found at www.uvmapper.com, and the "demo" is actually a free, working program... it's just not as sweet at UVMapper Pro. Working with it, MS3D and PS or PSP, you can make a nice TGA file, which you can then turn into a DDS texture by following the directions in Kasdian's Overhaul Guide (which you can download from this 'site). It discusses the proper settings for DDS conversion, which is a necessary step for most ship skins.

Once you have a skinned model... now you're ready for the Rest of It- the process of importing, configuring and testing your new ship. Let us know when you get there, and I'm sure we can help you get it done

Oh, and btw... I loved the styles of EVO's ships... very nicely done. So I wish you good fortune in taking on this project...

Edited by - Argh on 11/22/2004 4:11:00 PM