Trekkertech Inc. Competition time!

[Trekkerjoe]

It may seem like I dropped off the forums for a bit. In fact I did. Among other things, I was stepping up my game. I didn't want to post until the ship I was making was finished enough to hide all the sec- I said too much. Anyway, here it is:

Spoiler: New Cruiser WIP

The recent update gave me an exciting new idea! Mothership-launched salvage drones. And I thought of a particularly neat way to deploy them too. So I had to make a new ship that was fitting of the name Trekkertech to host them. I noticed that my most popular craft was the Harbinger, and the one thing that sets it apart from my other designs(and many other's) is that it is asymmetrical. So, I decided that that would be my thing, making asymmetrical ships. Without further ado:

Might not look like much, but what you see before you is the interior of my ship. Yes, I am building a ship around the interior this time around. It gives me more freedom to make an awesome interior. So long as I get the larger rooms in the appropriate places, this technique should not screw up my exterior one bit, when I start on it. I am planning to build some salvage drones so that I can test different deployment methods. Hopefully I can get them to land on docked roofed platforms that recess into the hull when not in use.

Anyway, I mentioned interior, so let's talk about interior:

The core room. While a little cramped, it is a fully featured, asymmetrical design. Not too much more to mention. It is two decks tall, so it has an elevator on one end of the upper platform to assist in getting to the core. There are four doors leading into the core, two on each deck. Quite proud of it, but feel free to offer up suggestions.

There is also a cargo/shuttlebay:

There is room for one shuttle. The rest of the space is devoted to storage. Roughly 55k storage, in fact. Plus an extra deposit for pulling cargo out of the runabout. Yes, I am going to make a runabout just for this ship.

I was going to make this a smaller, sealed in room when it occurred to me that it made no sense to put all your storage in a sealed room, with no easy way to get anything large in or out the ship. So I chose to make it also function as a small shuttlebay.

The hazard blocks foretell the second coming of my extending docking strut. I improved it using inspiration from Bench 's spire. It is now automatic, and thus far, far better than my last design. Of course, that made a huge protrusion in the bottom of the ship, so I improvised and used it as an opportunity to make an engine pod. Quite satisfied with it. And it is the perfect place to hide the rail logic. Surprised I didn't start using ice a lot sooner.

Among the things not pictured, it has room for eight crew quarters. Already have the doors laid out for them. It also has two elevators in the outer hallway.

They are simple. They use a T-flip flop as memory, since there are only two decks on the ship. They also have a safety feature to prevent people from trapping someone in the elevator by spamming the call button.

It is possible for them to break, however, as a result of the safety feature. If for some reason it does not actually move, or if the reset signal is lost due to lag or something, it may lock up. Has not happened yet though. I will be sure to make an escape hatch in the elevators. Players will also be able to access the mechanism from the shaft. I will be sure to include display blocks with instructions on how to fix it from there.

A bit of a doozy of an update. Tell me what you think!

Can I get a second page here forum?

 

[Trekkerjoe]

It has been a while since I uploaded anything, so I decided to release my salvage drone: The Scrounger. It is a basic drone meant to be launched from a carrier. It has twenty-one 5m long salvage arrays. It even has running lights! Check it out if you like.

Spoiler: Pic

Scrounger
EDIT: Edited for consistency.

 

[Trekkerjoe]

It has been a while. Had a lot of stuff to do, and some machinations involving a new hobby. Robotics for the win!

However, despite all the stuff going on in the background, I managed to lurk around the forums just enough that I saw the new competition announcement. I knew I could not let this pass, so I am back in the fray! I already have some great ideas for factions, and created a systematic system to ensure they meet the criteria.

First off, I have a 140x140x140m station to visualize the maximum size my ships can take.
Secondly, I spawned in an Izanth for size comparison.
Third, I have set up cores with the palette of blocks I will primarily be using.

Using these tools helped me get through half of my first scout craft already:

Spoiler: Pics

Quite satisfied with the front. Hopefully I will not have to work it. The only thing I might change is the 'quill' in the top, but I will go with it for now.

Those with a sharp eye might notice a slight gradient in the engines. I quite like it. It makes it more visually interesting without making it too busy. Just a subtle detail that I hope will pay off.

I think I have a good basis for a reptilian style fleet. The hardest part will be making the armor look scaly. As you can see with the front, I have a vague idea of how to get that effect, but it is much harder to apply to a flat surface. Any tips or advice to give me an edge? I could use it.

 

[Trekkerjoe]

I was busy shooting green men into space for a while, but now I am back to making ships for the competition. This one is the Izanth of the Reptillian faction, but it's power is comparable to the scout craft. Enter the Viper:

Spoiler: Pic

You may also notice the completed corvette:

Tell me what you think. Is this a good fit for my reptillian submission?

 

[Col_Kurtz]

I Like it Granted I'm not one of the more accomplished builders but I think it looks cool :P

 

[Trekkerjoe]

It has been a month since the last post, no thanks to a rather cluttered schedule. I was only able to spare small amounts of time to my builds, so I did not really have anything with enough shape for me to want to post it. However, I have gotten much of the hull done on my fleet cruiser. Tell me what you think!

Spoiler: Cruiser

As you can see, much of the body is similar to the corvette. I am planning a bridge on top, and a comm relay underneath, but otherwise, it should have some symmetry for the turret mounts. I can say I'm satisfied with how they turned out, but I think I should extend the front of the larger turrets to match the smaller ones.

From this angle you can catch a glimpse of the mess hall through the window. Perhaps it will come with robotic staff...

I am probably not going to change the engines. The look perfect, especially the sense of scale they add. It used to have six in each pod, but that proved to be far to wide for the style I was going for, so I loped them off, and added side thrusters ripped off of the corvette. I quite like the style.

Hopefully this gives you an idea of the scale of the ship. Fun fact: This was intended to be a destroyer! XD
It will come complete with running lights, special effects, and red alert systems.

Tell me what you think, and if you have a suggestion, I will look forward to hearing it!

 

[Trekkerjoe]

Finally finished the outer shell! One thing to note, the picture is actually the second most up to date image I have. The only difference was that I added some running lights. When I finish (soon) I will give a tour and release the fleet. Then I will attempt to squeeze a couple of other ships in, time-permitting.

Spoiler: Pic

Finally got a bridge mounted, and a dorsal comm-relay poking out. I have to say, the bridge is the most aesthetically pleasing bridge I have ever made, I think. However, if you have an idea to make it much better, let me know! When I finish it off, I will be sure to post close ups of the hull features and rooms.

Tell me what you think!