New vehicle model

A little follow-up on my last blog/.plan. I should start posting plan's more often. Somehow keeps me on track while developing this game. I should also make a website, to collect feedback/suggestions/... and show (off) most recent development screenshots. But, oh well, making a site takes time, and I think I better invest my time into getting this game done ;)

Anyway, since the last .plan I decided to focus on the modelling for a while. Instead of going trough yet another iteration for the vehicle model, I decided it was better to start over and simply make a new model. Sometimes its better to throw something away to make it better. I needed a new model becuase I needed:
-fewer polygons
-bigger wheels for better driving experience (more space between car body and ground, so less bouncing off when hitting the ground)
-a shape that allowed me to make better LOD
-a shape i can slightly modify to make several versions but still keep the same look (so we can have more then 1 car)
-more detail (?)
-...


So, after 8 hours of modelling and texturing, this is what i came up with:
renders with diffuse light (so the highlights you see are actually part of the texture)

Both the texture and model need work, but it already looks better then the previous version (I think). The look from the back is completely what I was going for, but I'm not 100% satisfied with how it looks from the front. Looks a bit too toy-like... but maybe that's not a bad thing, this is an arcade racer ;)
Its 400 polygons lighter then the previous version, and has more detail. I'll see if I can optimize it some more, then finish the texture, and then make the LOD versions.
So, if anyone has some critiques on shape/look/..., just let me hear.