Same! That was my SV philosophy for a long time: to use small compact SVs, and usually only as a taxi to get places when I didn't have a CV available. I briefly tried using them to attack OPVs and kept getting destroyed, so I gave that up for while. I just didn't get why anyone would build a big SV. My biggest at the time was probably Size 0.6 or so. I couldn't fathom having a Size 2 or 3 SV -- I figured at that size, I might as well make a CV. Then when I started playing with Mass/Volume enabled, I quickly realized that small SVs would get filled with loot very quickly, and I did not envy the idea of making multiple round trips just to clear a single POI. So I started building larger, with more storage space. Then it felt weird to have this big SV with no interior, so I started building SVs with interiors and man, what a difference. Makes it way easier to take out POI defenses, then get prepared to go in on foot without exposing oneself to environmental hazards or enemies on the ground. Plus, it allowed me to have all the nice devices (Trauma Station, O2 station, armor locker, food processor, etc) accessible to me, but not exposed to the outside where they could get shot off. With the addition of a few small containers here and there to work as gun lockers, I quickly found a formula that worked for my playstyle. The only extra adaptation was to always remember to bring a survival tent or two, and set it up immediately outside the SV door for easy respawning. Agreed that the larger thrusters help a TON with building bigger SVs. I used to just use clusters of smaller thrusters, but after looking at the CPU to Thrust ratio, I realized that bigger was pretty much always better, and switched over whenever possible. The big SVs definitely added a new dimension to the game that I hadn't explored before and have ended up being one of my favorite ship types for the time being. Having a number of turrets and guns I can use in atmosphere (Reforged Eden, here) really helped with the idea of Attack-type SVs, which is less available to CVs. I usually do a boom-and-zoom type tactic with POIs -- first pass I try to drop shields completely so that they don't come back up. After that, I try to target and destroy one turret per pass, usually coming in at ~20% forward speed in a shallow dive, which generally gives me time for 4 - 6 volleys from the Railguns, which is usually enough to drop a standard turret. Once I've destroyed the turret (or failed to) I'll put the throttle back down and zoom away at full speed, loop around, and line up for another pass once my shield reaches 100% again. I'll usually have a few minigun turrets on the underside of the ship to take out ground troops while I'm dealing with bases turrets. Once all turrets are gone, I go into Attack Helicopter mode and hover-strafe around the outside of the POI, taking out any other small turrets or foot troops that I had missed. Then, land out front and get ready to go in on foot. Sometimes I'll blow open a few holes in some walls with the railguns for easier entry, but not always -- some POIs are plenty fun to do the way the builder intended. And it works pretty well so far! I imagine a dedicated attack CV might be quicker to take out POI defenses (and would have potentially way more shield), but I rather enjoy the Attack Jet/Helicopter -type gameplay. It's a lot more hands-on than just letting CV turrets do all the work for me, and has been pretty engaging.
Ahh, I haven't tried anything other than vanilla. I figured I might try Reforged Eden when I run out of other things to do. I'm nervous of updating everything and risking losing progress, or my blueprint library suddenly not working etc.
I've really enjoyed it, personally. It adds a whole lot of new content not available in Vanilla. And one of the cool parts is, you can still play your Vanilla games with no issues. When starting a new save, among your options are Survival (vanilla) and Scenario (where RE is). Personally, I still have my Vanilla saves from months ago, and they still work just fine, though I don't really play them much anymore. Downloading RE just gives you the option to start and play RE saves; it does not remove your ability to play Vanilla saves. No risk of losing progress at all from what I've seen A fair number of blueprints can transfer from vanilla to RE, but you will definitely want to check the stats in a Creative RE game, as block weights, thruster outputs, and lots of other numbers were tweaked for RE. I adapted some of my Vanilla blueprints for use in RE, but ultimately ended up making entirely new ships for RE in the end. For me, building ships is like 70% of the game, so I really rather enjoy that aspect -- but your results may vary depending on your playstyle. In my case, when building ships for RE, I just add a prefix to the file name, so all of my RE ships start with STS (SlamTek Ship). Like STS Wyvern, or STS Bandicoot, etc etc. Makes it easy to sort RE blueprints from vanilla ones. I think RE is worth a try, even if you don't stick with it. A lot of the added RE content is end-game content, but there are some nice early- and mid-game additions as well.
I've been playing with Reforged Eden today. So far, everything I've spawned in that I made in vanilla has had the generators overload and explode, but I can't see why
One of the things Reforged Eden does is change the energy cost of thrusters to make them more balanced. (Larger thrusters are now more efficient.) If your build uses a large number of thrusters I would look at either adding more generators or swapping out the smaller thrusters for larger ones.
Todays experiment, will forcefield blocks count towards the structural integrity of a planetside BA? Answer, yes, but not for a far enough distance for my purposes. The setup: How far it worked.
Today I published this. This is my first attempt at a large SV. I thought, wouldn't it be nice to stop worrying about space and trying to cram everything in. The result is this. One of the ugliest things I've ever made. I experimented with the curved blocks, something I don't usually use. There are some lovely design elements, all brought together to produce something really quite horrible. It was only when I started to add colour and texture I realised I'd made conjoined shark twins. But, I hear you ask, how does it handle? Maybe it makes up for what it lacks by being a pure joy to fly? No, not at all. It turns like a cow and has a braking distance of several small towns. I've got to this stage and thought about kitting out the interior, but completely lost motivation. There is really nothing I could do to the inside that would save it. So, umm... subscribe and like!!! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3016548117
Neat! Always fun trying a new type of build, isn't it? And the best part is, you'll get a bit better every time you try it! My first 'large' SVs certainly weren't much better than yours I always found texturing and painting to be one of the harder parts, but over time and repetition, one finds some good strategies and ideas that can be re-used for new ships. Especially for interiors. Personally I'd still try texturing the insides a bit, even if you don't like the result. It's all part of the learning experience
For every 1 build of mine that I can live with, 10 or so have hit the scrap heap. For every 1 of mine that I actually like, 20 or so have been scrapped
Relatable! Most of mine end up scrapped or moved to the 'reject' pile in my Creative save. Newest one I've built, trying to go for a slightly more unconventional design. Not quite sure I nailed that though. Didn't end up too different from my other recent builds, though, to be honest. Might have to try to make an even weirder SV soon. Just hard to make unconventional shapes and still have a walkable interior. Even this one ended up strange and cramped on the inside. I also really wish it were easier to match the color of the structural ramps (RE blocks) and the regular blocks. The shade of color is almost always different, and custom colors cannot be applied to the structural ramps.
I finally completed my Victory Class Destroyer, The ISA Excalibur, from the Babylon 5 spin off series, Crusade. I think I started this about a Year ago and struggled with the interior, but finally figured it out. Texturing this one was a blast! https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3018854399
This week I obtained an old japanese space sci fi puppet show called X bomber. Played in the uk during the 80's under the name of Star Fleet. Anyway having watched an episode to remember what this show looked like, I searched egs workshop to see if someone built ithe x bomber ship.... They did ! Does anybody else remember this ship ? https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1457210839&searchtext=x+bomber
Made a thing that is similar to the last ship I made and neither are quite what I wanted them to be: It is an HV and is here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3021880403 if you want it. Made with Vanilla creative and could use some RE heavy thrusters.
Today in Empyrion I have repeatedly banged my against a wall (all the walls!) in the Clear Skies mission on Akua. I'm in the old Abandoned Base (Nice new POI for Akua!) and was quite enjoying it but that ventilation switch doesn't seem to do anything. It's listed as fixed but my experience would seem to be to the contrary having 'God-moded' into where the ducts SHOULD open. Oh well, such is Empyrion... -UPDATED COMMENTS- Okay having to got the end of this POI I have to say one thing; Are you guys insane?!?! Everything easy and familiar up to this last dungeon but, good lord, talk about mountainous difficulty curve and excessive loot! This feels like something you'd be doing just before The Ilmarinen not at the end of Akua!! I think you might want to rethink this as Skillon and Ningues are an utter cakewalk compared to this utter beast of a POI.
I can probably find out for you but I don't think it would be significantly different with another seed as it's a set POI for these missions. I mean there were hordes of Abominations and Scorpions and I found an epic Assault Rifle among other things. Seems a bit excessive counsidering all you have to face on the supposedly harder planets are Spiders, Turret Droids, those battered sentry droids, Hishkal and the occassional Drone. Admitedly, the loot is pretty good on those other starting planets as well and I don't know what the Masperon missions are like. I suspect the reason the ventilation switch didn't work was because I went down to that area first (and flipped the swtich) as I was passing it on the way to where I was supposed to go based on the marker.
Raviens new industry addition to the Eden/RE scenario is pretty darn neat: it is not an actual part of the scenario *yet but you can download the test version on the workshop.
I like it! I'm going to convert it to an SV for reforged. May I re-post if I like how it comes out? Credit to you in the description of course.
