Thanks @Pyston - I started (again and again) without a real spark of inspiration was my real issue. I do my best work when I have an idea to work toward but remain flexible enough to make changes on the fly. By different approaches, do you mean you don't "frame"? Or do build the interior first or something? I'm curious about building methods, I'm new enough at voxel building I'm still looking for ways to improve my methods. So far my methods consists of starting with an inspiration, eg sci fi art of ships less known than Star Wars or other major franchises. I start with a feature that's going to define my ship, either it's shape or its function - in this case it was a hangar big enough for features I wanted. Build it based on the inspiration. Add more sections - looking at other sources of inspiration for mix and match sections our basic shapes. I also prioritize "problem areas" where I suspect I may have an issue, so I work to either solve it or determine it needs radical alteration before I move on. They often appear as "unusually finished areas" in my framing stages. For some reason this works for me for ships, CV and SV, but not bases or hovercraft. Anyway, I'm tired of building for now. Finishing work on that big ship...May wait for 6.0 as that will radically change things. Time to actually do done survival mode...
We have a similar approach to starting the build. To get the inspiration you are talking about I do the following (write on paper). 1) The type of ship. Smuggler, Freighter, Pirate, etc. The first thing about this is that we can draw from pop culture to get an idea of how it will function (and even the size, shape and style to a degree) 2) Ship size: I base this on how many 'crew' the ship will hold, or how many people IRL will play in it or both. This combined with (1) helps determine the size based on that pop culture reference and what we need to sustain the crew (farm plot count). 3). Floor Plan. The layout of the ship. Is the Bridge/Cockpit in the front or tower style in the middle or rear like a naval battle ship. Where are the quarters going. I try to have a smart flow from one area to the next both in pathing (I try never to path in front of doors so they don't open), and also the "work triangle" (in kitchens its the way the stove, fridge and sink are layed out). What I mean by this is that I think its kind of lame to have the engineering door in the same area on the same wall as the quarters lets say. I usually do something like bridge>hallway/quarters>recreation/galley>pre engineering area > engineering > cargo bay (although cargo can also be close to the kitchen to a degree). As far as how I actually start to place blocks, this is where I wish I could build like you. I just start in the middle usually (I want my core in the middle of the ship when I start) and work towards the front or back. I sometimes do lay out a straight line to get an idea of the length but for the most part I just start placing blocks down and try to finish the first area. Once I finish the first area (texture, paint, props etc) I get a feel for how the rest of the ship will look and I base it off that. I don't wait till the end to paint and texture. I do it as I go along. It really helps me visualize the end goal.
I made all of my earlier builds survival-oriented. But, relativity recently, I made a large (for me) double-combat steel hull ship in creative. That's why I am doing this, I wanted to see if the ship is feasible in a survival game.
Totally! I miss building in survival, I hate to say it but personally don't think we should be able to blueprint in creative and port it to survival. The game just has more longevity and play value when you are building inside the world. I like creative for the ease of building, no doubt it allows for some things to be made that would be very difficult in survival. It allows for greater fine tuning, but it also takes people out of the game. Its kind of a lose/lose scenario. We need creative to push the limits and crank out builds fast that help promote the game and give the devs stuff to use, but it also takes the player out of the game. I was playing minecraft with my girlfriend and we made a rail that lasted 30 minutes in real life. I mean it took 30 minutes of travel time to get from our house to some red woods we came across and we loved the red wooded area so we spent like 3 months making a rail to get to it. We started farming all the materials and I think we farmed 50% of the rail but we started to cheat and gift materials to our toons and that kind of ruined the game. There was no more need to kill, mine etc cause we could just spawn it. We are trying hard to not do that in Empyrion cause it will ruin the game, and imo creative is heading down that path.
I have tried basing a lot of my (non purely functional) ships on the Terrran Trade Authority artbooks from the late 70s and early 80s by Stewart Cowley, with only a little success. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terran_Trade_Authority http://www.terrantradeauthority.com/ In a large part these influenced my ideas of how spaceships should look, very purpose-built and sometimes not so aesthetically pleasing. I also like to build things like this in survival rather than creative, but sometimes the scale is so large and the blocks are so limited that you just have to do your design and creation in creative simply to avoid huge amounts fo waste both in time and materials. This is not new, but was one of the first E:GS ships I ever based on the TTA books:
Oh the joys of thin blocks. I took an idea from some of the other ship designers and made a CV dock-able HV so I could use the HV's mining turret with the CV. My first try is really not much to look at, just a platform with everything exposed on the top. Until you dock it on the CV, then it's purpose becomes clear. The problem that is frying my brain, how to keep the thin blocks for the floor and still protect the HV. I can put a shutter on the front, but I cannot use diagonal blocks because of the corner pieces. I do not want to make the front any longer, or move the HV away from the CV's secondary cockpit. <fleas jumping off my head with little hot feet.>
Sweet! Thats clever looking system. As for your problem - would it work if you drop the CVfloor one level below? As its now BOTTOM of that level, what if it was TOP of the level below? That way you can atleast protect the cockpit level.
Impressive work, Siege! You are right, that doesn't need pipes Coming to workshop soon or do you still have the insides to work with?
That's pretty cool. I used to park HVs on a CV like that for defense without running the CV constantly.
I cannot lower it any further, otherwise the HV would not be able to maneuver beneath it. I think I am just going to bite the bullet and make the lower cockpit square.
Thanks! I still need to do the interior so it will take a bit longer. I've done some initial cleanup work and I've laid out elevators and doors so far but that's about it. I've been experimenting a little with different types of decorative schemes but haven't hit on anything I really like yet. I do like how the skylights really opened up the interior spaces. By necessity the process added a layer of complexity that was missing before and it's made the interior much more interesting to look at. I've got a little more work to do on the landing pads but that shouldn't take long. I'm hoping 6.0 adds some new block shapes. I've got a corner for a baggage conveyor that needs finishing and nothing in the current options is really suitable.
Most of my time is spent in creative and I'd lose a lot of interest in the game if I couldn't share the stuff I build.
Hello maybe i don´t understand correct what you want (sorry for my bad english) but you can build your HV complete covered by CV combatsteel if you want... you can build it inside and remove the arm...build a big block...there is no si and for the game it´s still connected...exploit maybe...
I finished the modifications to the CV-HPOD (Tortoise) for it's companion HV. I was able to lower the height of the HV so it has better maneuverability, but I was forced to use a square cage for the lower bridge/HV docking area. All in all, I think it turned out well.
Siege, in all honesty, I think having or not having new block shapes is the least of your worries in 6.0. And I don't mean that as a bad thing - but A LOT will change. The way we should design our bases and vessels from now on - especially in the inside - is very cool but also very different than what we are used to. I would probably wait on the insides - as you are most likely having to do some rework on the inside to get it airtight & oxygenated and so on. Here's some preview what to come so you can prepare: http://empyriononline.com/threads/guide-vessel-heat-and-oxygen-101-experimental-6-0.10423/ But ofcourse, this is just early experimental - so lot of things are still bound to change.
I agree, I like building in survival too. Don't always mine the resources but cheat in the ore and use the constructor. (Whatever makes you feel good right?)
