How do you build your ship?

[FireOfVoid]

I' m about to go to bed and i'm curious as to how most people start their build off. I've tried many styles such as trying to build the cockpit first or building the outline of the ship but it doesn't necessarily work in my case.My case being a noob that is(Biggest noob 2 years running. Like to see anyone beat that.). How do you guys build your ship?

 

[Reilly Reese]

I swear there was another thread like this somewhere.... I'd link it if I could find it.

 

[SuperWookie]

Shape/Hull>Exterior Design>Interior>Scanner>Weapons/Turrets>(in any order) Radar Jammer, Thrust, Shield Recharge, Jump Drive, Jump Inhibitor, Defensive Effects>Power Cap>Power Recharge>Shield Caps

I do all my systems before power so I can calculate what they'll need per second while moving (e.g firing cannons while thrusting forwards) and I get that perfect. Then I fill all left over space with shield caps and my ship is ready for action :D

 

[Peekie30]

I often draw a sketch of how i want the exterior to turn out, then build it roughly , then interior/systems/turrets etc in any order to what i feel like doing at that moment

 

[CyberTao]

I start with a flat 2D frame to get the general feel of the shape, then inflate the frame to 3D. Then comes details and turrets, then interior and power systems. Other that it's just whatever I feel at the time.

 

[Kilim]

I usually build the systems I want and then make a hull around it. I'm not that creative at making empty hulls, so having the systems already there gives me scaffold of how to make the ship.

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

Like most I start with the hull first, then I usually do a bare-bones "deck plan", mostly so I'll know where not to be running the power system.

Then I'll build the power system till I hit the soft-cap. Then, I'll rough-in the thruster system.

Next, I'll see if it can move without draining the battery. If it can't, devote space to docked reactors of some sort.
If it can, move on to a more refined interior plan, accounting for Rooms & Corridors, instead of just deck height.
(I've found it easy~est to build the corridor first, unless I have a burning need for a specific room to be in a specific place. EX Deflector control should probably be really close to the deflector)

Then comes the "fiddly bits" how much shield cap, and how much shield regen?
This part takes subjectively the longest, as it is massively influenced by:
WEAPONS. What kind, how hard will they hit, will there be more than 1 kind?
Will it be mostly Turret-based, and will I need to shove in even more docked reactors?

Finally, finish the RP grade interior, and put a USD-1 dock point somewhere.

Interspersed all through this process is "tweaks" to the exterior, and to previously completed portions.
EX: I felt compelled to re-do the detailing on the hull over 7 times on one build, before I finally got it "right".

 

[TFlok]

I usually start with the piloting room as it's the most important thing on my ships (wish the frelling CoM bug with offset reactor cores gets frelling fixed, I hate having it at the dead center so the frelling gravity doesn't get switched off when too far somewhere in the ship) and then I let my creativity and my mind to the rest of the thinking and planning and I NEVER do sketches as I have no need for them due to my innate ability to envision the thing in 3D in my mind.

Eh, I'm just frustrated beyond belief over the fact that I can't frelling build immensely smaller ships with lots of interior all because of boll yotz inability to add custom functions to custom blocks. I need super power reactors, super power capacitors, super thrusters, super shields and super shield rechargers and finally a super overdrive computer and it's super overdrive module for me weapons.. all of that needs to be in the custom block sections so the frelling pirates/AI doesn't get my advanced tech and I can have my dream ships. I'm dying to build my next ship but.. at this stage of the game, bleagh.....

 

[Chances_Ghost]

ive started experamenting with 2 different ways to build

the first involves starting with a block of shields made up of the approximate block count im aiming for, then i slowly start replacing the blocks in the cube with power, weapons, and everything a ship would need . then i take that apart and use those same blocks and start placing them in the shape of a ship and add hull to make it look pretty

the second involves creating a giant box of grey hull in the size of the box dimentions i want, then i literally carve the hull of a ship out of it first by carving the top down view, and then the side view, then slowly work my way from one end of the other refining the shaape with different coloered blocks till im happy with the looks

 

[Fishbreath]

I build in a very true-naval-architect sort of way:

1. Start with a keel, usually running directly beneath the ship core.
2. Going by my plan for rough hull shape, wireframe the interior.
3. Build the decking, leaving room for logic between decks if required.
4. Build the hull around the interior, filling in void spaces with noncritical systems.
5. Install reactors, weapons, and engines in engineering sections.
6. Build out the crew sections.

 

[IG-1000]

Skeletal Frames, they really help give you an idea of what your ship will basically look like and then you go from there.
Remember when building a ship you should spend 90% of the time on the ships aesthetics and 10% on the ships systems because when it comes to building a ship putting in all the systems is the easy part...

 

[MrDeez]

I sketched the idea of the ship and then list down different feature i want in it.
Then i create modules with each of this feature or room and build in a very lose skeleton. The overall hull wont be created until evreything inside is done.

 

[AshJohnson]

I usually build the systems I want and then make a hull around it. I'm not that creative at making empty hulls, so having the systems already there gives me scaffold of how to make the ship.

Yeah I do the same. I usually find they perform better that way. Reactors, battery's, shields, capacitors then thrusters. Then weapons etc.

 

[iAmCodeMonkey]

I usually start with a core room housing my ship core and faction module first and then build off that. Once the interior is finished I start with the systems and then the exterior hull and other detail bits.