Actually I too think this unit needs work.
It is not a bad unit. Plenty of recent (and past) items are of lower quality, and still widely used.
But in the spirit of helping a guy who has in the past shown himself very open to reasonable suggestions.
I haven't tested this in game, but only in Civ3FlcEdit. I won't have the time to play Civ until later this week.
But, in general the timing seems too slow.
The run is just slightly slow. The death and fortify are much too slow. The attack speed is ok.
The death is odd. His gun and him fall at the same time and speed. His gun should begin to fall 1-2 frames sooner. (or he can just hold it as he falls). His legs should buckle at their present speed, but then he should fall faster as his legs cease to support him. His current fall as he leans way forward and yet still manages to float to the ground doesn't work well.
Also in the death, the textures on his shoulders keeps changing as he falls. Perhaps you should have more than one shade of red in your palette as this might allow for some dithering (antialiasing) on those areas. Since I suspect this might be the cause of the weirdness there.
I think in your death shows your excitement about the creation process. You get it almost done, and then get exicted and rush it out the door before it is really done. Consider how it would be like to be shot and fall. How would you expect a person to behave when this happens? Perhaps a small twitch, legs buckle as they try and stand, then the collapse as death starts to claim them. Maybe try to include some little bits of that in your units?
Ultimately where your units need the most work is in the animation details. The modeling is ok. The texturing is ok. The little things that make it seem alive are often missing. I would add little things in my units that no one could really see... like in my JSF, the pilot turns to look at you as he flys past (etc)... but also consider the difference between my first unit, the somewhat crude ME262, and my later ones. (not that I am the best example, I just know my own units better that I know those of others).. The Me262 has the funny parachutist, but the flight is flat and stiff... I know even Aaglo made a German plane with this same flaw. My later ones have more of a flying feeling to them (consider the C130 and the Casa 295, for example).
This same lack of animation detail is present in all the FLCs of this unit. His Fortify animation is both too slow, but more importantly also too limited in motion.... his arm just slowly comes up with the gun. He does not draw it. He does not assume a firing position.
The attack animation is too stiff and the laser beams wiggle oddly for bolts of light.
There is no fidget animation, a little wiggle, scratching, whatever... adds life to your unit.
Also, you really really should include civ specific color. Since this unit is all red, why not change the palettes to make that the civ specific color? This would not require a re-render or anything. Just a few minutes with your paint program or PEdit.
Take care, and keep at it. I'm convinced that with your passion for the game and love of creating that you can compete with the best of them. You just have to slow down enough to take care of the little details.
