How to ship?

[HorribleHedgehog]

You've got a good basic shape for a ship there, however, I would recommend detailing it up. Some good tricks:

- Greebling - basically small random square shapes protruding from the hull. Breaks large flat areas up nicely. SW Imperial star destroyers are a good example of effective greebling.

- Trims - lines of blocks on top of the main hull layer. Good for ship insignia, faction markings, structural reinforcement beams, etc. You could hide the 'sawblade' pattern on those side panels with some detailing like this.

- Gun barrels, communication arrays, etc. - These are important if you (like me) dig a certain 'scrappy' aesthetic. They effectively break up a shape, act as visual focal points and can be used to give a ship a sense of direction - just be careful with their placement.

- Thrusters - same deal as above. A good trick is using ice crystals and covering them with ice (just plain ice) to create a nice glowy look.

There's some basic detailing tricks for you. Don't forget to experiment and see what works for you - Starmade's build tools give a wonderful amount of freedom for us aesthetic builders.

 

[Zekester81]

There are already lots of great suggestions so I won't add actual building strategies cause they've been said, just encouragement.

Don't forget to make it your own personal style. Don't be afraid to have a weird ship. Something that gets left out with ideas usually is, if you're happy with it, than others' opinions don't matter. The important thing is that you're building if you want to, you'll get better as you go. My first upload was crap. No one made fun of it, but simply suggested that I try using wedges. Now I build all kinds of things. Don't be afraid to take a previous build and change it somewhat, re-purpose it, add to it. I like to make several variations of ships that I enjoyed, that can have vastly different purposes.

Take your time. I have a really cool idea with the new carrier rails for a cargo ship. I know exactly how I want the system to work, but am not willing to start with the system. I have started 4 different ships and destroyed them all, not happy with them. I'm not frustrated, not upset, just biding my time. I'm not afraid to waste hours of work if I'm not happy with it. I know that I will make a hull that I like and will work with it given enough time and tries. Most of the ships I have made started life as something other than what I wanted them to be, but seemed like they would work great for what they turned into. Sometimes, they seem to take on a life of their own. Good luck, and happy building!

And Greebling... Didn't know it had a term for it. I hate it, lmao, but I like to saying the word. It's my new favorite word now, up there with quark and quasar. Thanks HorribleHedgehog!

Also, Death Croissant sounds awesome. That would be an awesome metal band name.

 

[Indigo Slimez]

I've added bigger and more armour, I'm on to making the gun barrels and engines

 

[Az14el]

Day 1:

Day 14:


Pretty much how I do it >_<
From terrible scrawl to terrifying reality, doesn't have to follow too close at all (obviously since these two don't look all that alike)
I start with a wireframe of the basic shape, add in the main system blocks (like shields, power, thrust, weapons, docked generators) and surround them with an adv armor layer, then start building the hull roughly around the wireframe, detailing as i go, leaving interiors & rail stuff until last.

For super intricate detail you just have to spend longer, this is definitely not an example of super detail but just what can be achieved while "rushing" once you've actually found a style and stuck with it for a while.

tl;dr, find a style that works for you, try many, then get gud at it.

 

[Indigo Slimez]

Le done, see it here:
The Infection Initiative [Recruiting]

 

[Vader_is_Bored]

System-first - one of the most popular approaches. Systems first, interiors are usually carved in the systems and then it all is being shelled in exterior.

The most cubic ships usually come from the third approach, but it's the fastest way to build a ship.

Hey now, you can still get some interesting hulls this way just by varying the size of the cubes.

 

[jontyfreack]

Death Croissant sounds awesome. That would be an awesome metal band name.

on it. French deathcore, will be done.

one thing that many tend to do is to use I textural detailing. or as most will know it as using different materials. this can be as simple as using the different hull types of that colour to create a cool effect, to break up panelling, and even to decorate greebling.

and even using different types of blocks, like terrain, crystal, system blocks that you don't usually use (these can look cool, especially in interiors or to make computer looking bits)

 

[DeltaEpsilon7787]

Hey now, you can still get some interesting hulls this way just by varying the size of the cubes.

I never mentioned it's impossible to build a good looking ship this way. I just meant that you've already got a fully functioning ship by the time you are done with the systems and it provokes people to not spend time on exteriors or interiors as those seem countereffective (which was true and still true) and useless. That's the reason for doom-cubes after all - systems are the most useful out of all.

 

[Peekie30]

i often draw a design of a ship, usually the top/bottom views, and make a wireframe out of that and a ship out of that

Spoiler: example; the SS Iris

Spoiler: and often completely deviate from the design