Did anyone else know the original name of the VT-49 Decimator was actually the TIE Decimator?
TIE DECIMATOR
VT49 "Decimator"
I was excited when I was assigned the task of creating the Imperial version of the Millennium Falcon , the VT49. I knew it would be a big deal, not only because it would have an interior, but it had to be as cool, if not cooler, than the Falcon . I was even more excited when I was handed the concept art. The ship looked fast, large enough to carry a crew, and had several elements reminiscent of the standard tie fighter. The Imperials were definitely on the way to getting an awesome Falcon counterpart.Since the exterior was pretty much designed, modeling it meant just staying true to its draft schematics. The schematics didn't provide a great deal of information about it's surface textures, however, so I drew from the sleek paneling of tie fighters, altering them to be even shinier and sleeker, and then adding some weathering to give it a sense of its larger scale and toughness. The goal was to create an Imperial ship that felt a little more "personal" - a ship that a high ranking Imperial would fly, maintained and modified by themselves...a ship too cool to let the Imperial mechanics and window troopers touch!
The biggest problem then, was the interior. The Falcon had great reference, but the VT49 was something being designed exclusively for Star Wars Galaxies , and there wasn't even a written description of it. I fought with the idea of using the smaller front window as a cockpit, or the larger upper deck. Eventually deciding on the larger area I then had to design this command area so that the ship still felt like it could be manned by a one or two man crew, instead of a fleet of Imperial pilots. The Empire Strikes Back provided the answer for this. In a concept book for the movie I'd found some of the original cockpits for the AT-AT, which became the inspiration for the inset cockpit of the VT49. It then was a matter of sectioning off areas and filling in some of the space with control panels, monitors, and map displays, turning this command deck into a personal control center for the pilot!
With the cockpit complete it was time to move on to the rest of the ship's interior. The design of the exterior greatly facilitated the internal design. The exterior windows alone, made for a lot of great locations for viewing space flight and combat, and being able to watch the upper turret fire at enemy Rebel ships was an added bonus! The viewing lounge at the very front of the ship was inspired by the Emperor's throne room in Return of the Jedi . I'm waiting for the first player to put a throne-like chair in front of the window! The rest of the ship was visually tied together with elements from designs of the interior of the Star Destroyer, using large structural elements and few exposed internal elements, almost the opposite of the Falcon . The VT49 will definitely be one of the high status ships for Imperial players, and I'm sure every Imperial player will be salivating at the thought of getting their hands on one!
Here's the source from Oct 15, 2004: