Oh love seeing people go thru and modify ships! The black version works very well! Also good sight to build a series based off that one ship. Having different classes that slowly evolve seems to make sense. Chimera is one of my favorite ships, its revision is what started the whole "X" series of my shipyards. I love trying to squeeze much into little space but this makes be run into problems. Mostly as I try to get the shapes I want I have to sacrifice function more and more. If i had to change things right now it would be the following items: 1-add in grow plots (just 9 to say i have them. 2-better use of logic 3- fuel as you mentioned combined with some logic from different power modes. 4- increase the cargo bay size by 3 or 4 blocks. I would also recommend loading up the original Chimera and compare it to the Chimera-X. These two are great at showing my style changing from one to another. But like anything there is still room for improvement. Chimera - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=726570475 Chimera-X - http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=957799002
On Ambassador's wings, there seems to be little vents built out of thin blocks with RCS units, if I'm not mistaken? Do my eyes trick me, or did you somehow manage to join RCS together with thin hull blocks to take over same spot? And speaking of revisions of ships - I always thought that usually ships should be built by "factions", and factions would re-use certain components / aesthetics throughout their ships; Still work in progress, but I believe I started to build a "Faction" for my new PVE Mayi (Omicron?) game - it started when building my SV for Jenniphurrs challenge, and as I was writing a little back-story for my ship, I already had in mind few other ships that would have similarities to it. Well, here they are: Right-to-left: 1) Forward outpost - Tiny Lvl 3 base with landing pad on top; 2) HV-13 'Runner' - lvl3 hovercraft with two empty hardpoints on the front, and 4x3 empty cargo area under the cabin (shutters available at level 5, so just some iron fence blocks on the sides; Still working on it - likely to do a cheaper lvl 3 variant, and a fully equipped level 5 variant; One could build either one, and upgrade the level 3 one if needed to match level 5 specs by hand; 3) LR-40 - a tiny scout SV that is very cheap, available at level 7, has a passenger seat, o2 dispenser, constructor, fridge, cargo boxes and a minigun to take care of little threats. I think all it is missing is warp drive; Good for exploring local system or rescuing someone stuck somewhere on the planet. 4) LR-37 - an 'older generation fighter' available at level 10; Since I didn't have enough sathium to build my LR41 fighter, decided I needed something else that could serve as a punching bag to try and take out first few POI's on Maiy. Since I already had a "fighter" role ship, backstory goes - this is older model that is still in use because it doesn't need exotic materials and is available at level 10; Steel blocks only, and an older "wing" configuration (also - the slanted wings have surprisingly a lot of space in them - this "older" design just couldn't house as much as the "newer" models with V shaped wings). Fridge, o2 tank and cargo as all the comforts you get, since it's meant to fight. 5) LR-41 - Ah, the main fighter / interceptor of this faction I have not yet named; Lvl 12, hardened steel, 6 hardpoints, 40+ m/s strafing and forward acceleration, isolated (well, almost) fuel tanks, and of course - a little cargo box /o2 / fridge combo; A straightforward LR37 upgrade. 6) LR-42B - this is already available on workshop, and entered ZeroG contest with it; Essentially, filling role between the fighter and scout - weaker than LR-41, but warp capable, and with all the comforts that scout contains (Well, still working on where to place an o2 dispenser); My idea of faction was that these ships re-use the cockpits and chassis with small changes through the models; Similar color / texture scheme, and use of "attached plates"; I'm trying that if one day I can set up a custom AI faction for singleplayer - you could tell straight away that these ships and buildings belong to the same one. I'm off to do a little more in-game testing of these ships, and tweak them so they fill their roles better. After that - larger bases (since the current outpost is getting cramped already), and probably small CVs, skipping larger SV's for now.
So, yeah, I am not Generally one for bright, loud, colors. How @Jenniphurr paints like their pallet was derived from a collision between a truck carrying Dias de los Muertos decorations and a Marti Gras float and doesn't send my sensibilities running while screaming shrilly to the high Heavens would be a mystery to me save for one thing. Such excellent use of complementary and contrasting colors surpasses my overly Hue-sensitive eye's protests and just makes me smile. I admit, Having a ship sharing my name brought initial interest. But who could help liking the body of work that exists from Jenn for it's bold esthetics and design?
It is a trick of the eye, only seems that way. All credits goes to Jenniphur for that. Tbh, it was a project on the go allready. You can see i started mimicking the cresent shape at A.A.H.3 , as in the moment i came across Torment.
Today I found this in-game physics experiment of an SV, and it kind of works. Not only did I have to "learn" how to get into it, but I lost weight walking around it a hundred times. Then I had to learn how to fly it. I sat there for probably 5 rl minutes, hanging from my harness, looking out the windows, as if the flight sequence might be scratched in the glass somewhere. This was NOT meant for planetary exploration, but then it dawned on me that if it wasn't docked on what I call it's Swiss army knife of a nose, for easy access at say anything but a well equipped base, the cockpit would be perfectly placed for exiting in a hostile planetary environment. It is much more secure when the ship is on it's belly. Its also more armored too on the "nose", when in it's attack formation (guns forward). The whole thing required me to unhinge my brain. In space, it presents space worthy options like easy, error free docking. You can't possibly miss because you're physically sitting 6 inches away from the docking pad. Then in atmo, it has options, like flying nose down kinda, using the space bar for a (vectored?) thrust, to efficiently stay in the air and move forward at the same time. I enjoyed scouting the planet this way as the visibility was great. Spoiler: img I suppose I should attack something with it (for the ZG challenge), but so far, it takes me two hands on the keyboard just to fly it because mouse flight feels impossible. I only need to grow one more finger to fire the guns. It's a brilliant way of declaring what if and why not. Selling it as a salvage ship makes everything from the cracked windows (someone else couldn't fly it either!) to the missing pieces and banged up exterior, believable. Well done Roboboy, whoever you are. found him: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1311389341
Really nice collection. 'Faction' building is something I try to do also - and it's grown much bigger thing than I first envisioned. It was just couple of vessels for one gameplay originally - but I've kinda kept going with the same theme ever since. Alternating between two different factions - Polaris being concentrated on mining and 'corporate' stuff - Raido being more of a militaristic & mercenary themed.
When I got back to finish up the Razorbarb today I realised I hated the paint job, so I spent several hours repainting and doing some tweaking, a bit on textures, the rear entry and a few other structural areas that were bugging me. After I'd fixed it all I looked at the vessel and decided that name wasn't right for it either, so it was changed too. I found I'd forgotten to install a ventilator, and then that the cockpit area wasn't airtight so that had to be adjusted too. All-in-all I'm now fairly happy with it, although it's flight performance isn't quite as good as I'd initially hoped. After some derping with getting the right screenshots & stats pages sorted I managed to get it up on workshop: Occam's Edge: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1313577071 This upgradable SV is designed to be a versatile starter vessel. Includes space for a Warp Core, as well as multiple additional weapon bays to compliment the 4 Gatlings. Ability to deploy and use your Drone from the oxygenated interior as standard. Features: - 1 x Warp core bay - 4 x 6 Deep weapon bay - 4 x 4 Deep weapon bay - 2 x 3 Deep weapon bay - Constructor - Fridge - O2 Station - 2 x Cargo box - Ability to Lock ship so automatic door & ramps are disabled - Fine-tune power usage through the Control panel - Status displays for Engine and Drone hatch
That... is a very interesting way to go about use of that particular kinda Wing Block... inspiring...
When you put out consistent, high quality work it attracts a following and those subscribers help push things to the front page a lot more readily and yeah, some of the people creating stuff for the workshop are professional designers or engineers or what have you doing this for fun. There can be stiff competition for those few coveted spots but it's still very doable without a following. I've seen more than a few newcomer's work hit the main page. Sometimes though? There's just no rhyme or reason to it. Some innocuous little build will make it and another very well put together masterpiece won't. There are things people can do to improve their chances of hitting the front page: It takes practice. Just build. Take apart other people's designs that you like and see what they did. Make modifications to them. Tinker. That's how I got started(and lord knows I could use all the practice I can get). Those imported models can also be a real help too in that regard since they provide a ready framework to get started on. Over time you'll start to build a library of little design elements that you can draw from. Don't be afraid to borrow good ideas. I have no patience for making LCD displays so I snag cool stuff other people have made all the time(thanks @Kieve !). When you look at someone's workshop you see a list of finished builds and you're thinking well that's an amazing portfolio of work. What you don't see is the time invested into them. You don't see the discards or the changes that were made. If I'd made a time lapse video of the construction of some of my stuff you'd see how it shaped up over time. How certain areas were roughed in, built up, torn out, reworked, and altered time after time until it was done. Sometimes it comes together the way I want and sometimes I struggle. I probably post more stuff than I should. Concepts that seemed interesting to me at the time but really needed more work before they were ready. Honestly some of the stuff I've posted is kind of terrible. I've reworked some of them and retired others. These days I try to put more polish on stuff before I post it. I have an extensive list of conceptual stuff that never made it to the workshop too. 'Twas not always so. So yes; polish. Tweak your designs and smooth out the rough edges. Take time figuring out textures and paint and decoration. Texture work is an art. It's a weak area in my ability and some people can do amazing things even with the limited textures we have access to. It really can make a huge difference. Test the o2 systems to make sure they work. Test the structural integrity to make sure it doesn't fall apart. If you're using switches and logic circuits test them to make sure they work. Test the flight mechanics to make sure they work. A number of times I've subscribed to some fantastic looking ship on the workshop only to find out it can't even get off the ground. Sometimes I build something simply because I want to(my video game castle) and sometimes I try to build based on player needs. It's kind of like one of Fractalite's design challenges with a list of requirements. What do the players typically use, what features do they want, what are they looking for, etc. This is where actually playing the game can be helpful. A picture is worth a thousand words. Like others have said take the time to take some pics of your creation. Try to show off your build from different angles. Make sure the lightning is good. Show a few pics of interesting bits from the interior. Learn how to insert a thumbnail pic into the blueprint folder instead of using your drone camera to take a pic. I use a free program called Irfanview to edit pics. You have a very limited opportunity to catch someone's interest when they're browsing the workshop and good pics can make all the difference. Giving your workshop a catchy name and photoshopping that into the main pic can be helpful too. People can see right away it's one of yours and it tends to catch their attention. Honestly I can't be arsed to do it but it is useful. Finally, don't get discouraged! You're here to have fun. Yeah I'll admit my competitive streak still wants to see my stuff hit the main page. I *like* seeing people using my stuff but I also build because I need a creative outlet and I like building stuff and seeing what other people have come up with. And like I said above, sometimes it's a crapshoot and there's no rhyme or reason to what people seem to like. Most of them aren't going to leave feedback. Some do and it can be very helpful.
As I am waiting for EXP 8.0 to come out I was spending some more time designing things. This time I made a Class 1 destroyer CV for the upcoming Wyvern fleet, named DCV Wendigo. Idea was to provide a support vessel for those larger space combat missions, not a full fledged mobile base. I think she turned out nice! Directional thrusting to front, back and bottom is 51 m/s2 while the side thrust is 36 m/s2. Better than many of my SVs. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1313800587
I began a another new game recently and did my usual 'cheaty' beginning. I didn't convert the starter base to Private (Since there is noone to steal my stuff in SP), which resulted in the drones totally ignoring me. I then leveled up enough to start producing vessels to help with the exploration efforts. It's really easy to gain early levels. Doing some light resource collection and finding the Farm POI was enough to get me to L7 and my Transfer Pod, which let me continue the exploration from the sky. But of course my aim was to get to 10 so I could use OreMaw -1- to facilitate gathering at a much faster rate. I also needed saplings and bandages so I went out to bait the natives. I feel I should be held accountable for what you see above, but.. noone said anything, no police drones appeared, so I assumed it was all good. I got to L10 in short order and got the OreMaw produced after adding a concrete pad to the starter base. Working from survival & mobile constructors is slow and painful, so I decided to 'move in' to the local mining base and borrow their facilities. They didn't seem to mind. It was a bit of a tight fit, but the doors closed successfully to protect me should that wandering drone spot something amiss... I continued exploring and spotted something interesting looking in the distance.. It was one of those moments when you spot something and stop dead with the thought 'What the heck is that!?' in your head. I navigated up the hill to get a closer look.. Oh.. It's a floating rock. Well then. I guess this is a wierder place than I thought. With that dealt with I continued searching for the perfect location to set up my first main base. I wanted it on a fairly flat shoreline with as much flat land around it as possible. This makes it almost impossible for drones to get into range before they get fired upon. Hills are great, but unless you're on the pinnacle all it does is provide cover for approaching hostiles. I checked my map and saw what looked to be the ideal location... Much sadness.
Arg that damn green wall eh? I just love the early game drones for what recources they keep on carrying right to my base..
Actually, that IS a good point, they bring a lot of cobalt don't they? ^^ Yeah that wall right across my chosen location made me sad. I've found a new spot but have to wait til daytime to place the base lol! I just placed it, and started offloading materials. A movement in the background caught my eye.. A moment of panic..I closed the control panel and found I had inherited a pet. I shall call him Bob.
Once again, sweet looking CV Timo! I like the idea behind the ship too, a support CV. Kinda like the Decapod too, right? Oh man - can't wait for alpha 8.0. New game is always good excuse to build new ships
@Friendly Timo as you speak of building while waiting for 8.0..... i really need to check on my builds in terms of fuel capacity. 64 times (and in space even more) bigger playfields will surely take their tribute. I need to check if i can up the capacity a bit. Sure you could carry extra fuel in your inventory but i find it a bit uncomfortable to stop every once in a while to refuel. Especially since i think that huge stacks of fuel cells and loooooots of cargobox space will be a thing of the past when automatization and transfer between vessels/bases will be added in. Nice ship by the way. ;-)
Hey @rainyday and @Arrclyde thank you for the nice comments! Bigger fuel capacity is a very good point indeed... at least for the SV's since it is not very economical to fly around with CV inside any atmosphere. EDIT: Decapod is bit different since it actually can support and maintain an entire team during their adventures and funtion as a base.
Something about that first image.... it, teases out, suggests faintly, ushers in a bespoke lure... I might need to play around with this ship. I love your organic shapes Timo, very neat stuff.
Turning off autobrake is your friend here. The expansion of space playfields likely won't have much impact on fuel consumption, assuming that it's dominated by thruster use; once you're up to speed, you'll just coast whether you need to go 1 km or 100 km. You can also coast decently effectively in atmosphere, only needing to reboost every minute or so. In both cases, there's plenty of time to refuel via the control panel.
Well right now a CV in atmosphere is more or less just a less sturdy, less armed base of operations. But when the blancing is kicking in and Eleon works out a way to make flying a CV (turnspeed and acceleration) more balanced as well as weapons (dynamic limit, all weapons work in atmosphere) i see a whole lot of uses for all kind of different CVs in atmosphere while not making SV/HV useless. While real huge CVs stay in orbit, big CVs decent down to the surface and land as a mobile base and smaller CVs act as exploration vessels, big cargo haulers (when cargo boxes of CVs and SVs are way different) or even siege weapon corvettes/cruisers.
