Liquid Systems Nano Yard (LSNY)

[Loadout]

Update: The Savannah has been released under community content! Also, major improvements are coming to it later today. Namely I found a way to increase the total drones from 30 to 40 without increasing the size of the ship at all. 30% buff to drone capacity and no extra space required!

 

[Loadout]

Having spent some time in deep space observing our neighboring empires, the Mass Entropic Technology Heirarchy, and the Wild Eel Eosine Dynasty, our R&D team here at Liquid Systems Designs has made some leaps and bounds in battleship design. It appears our neighbors have quite a penchant for large weapons, to that end our new line of battleships has 2 founding members!

First up, the smaller and more nimble...

Gorge

The Gorge carries 4x Rapid Fire Over-driven Rocket Launchers as well as 4x Kuwaga 5-a "Arrestor" ed. drones. These drones pack 4 similarly designed rocket launchers with a 50% stop effect as opposed to overdrive. The end result is a powerful escort ship & picket combo.

Spoiler: The Gorge

The second is the more armed and armored...

Plateau

The Plateau is designed for modular mission modules and as such carries four empty sockets designed to fit our mission modules. Currently many of these are in R&D and will be released publicly as a package. The only existing available one is fitted to our Savannah LDC, which carries several missile turrets. Other designs include powerful Ion/Stop effect weaponry, and possibly a small drone launcher.

Mounted on the bow of the Plateau is two intensely powerful Ion cannons capable of dealing 60,000 shield damage per second. Flanking these on either side are twin missile turrets. Along the spine of the ship are multiple blisters of high radius low yield explosive missiles, after a target has lost it's shields these may be used to devastating effect as seen below.

Spoiler: It was a Voidburn Corvette..

As you can see a single salvo of these cluster missiles has a powerful effect on opposing ships.

Spoiler: Plateau Pics

 

[Loadout]

After much time tinkering, exploding, irradiating, and reclaiming used drones, we @ LSD have decided to develop a new chassis! This chassis will be somewhere between the Heavier drone line and our nano-drone line.

Spoiler: Wisp Prototype

This prototype features developmental weaponry, shields up to 6k, and a size that is somewhat smaller than a heavy drone requiring fewer of those annoyingly expensive docking enhancers. It also happens to be highly modular with a core completely separated from the weapons on the sides. More work will continue on this prototype until our resident perfectionists give up and stamp it "Good Enough".

 

[Loadout]

So it's finally ready, more than a few hours of work and plenty of headaches and fizzing bubbly's later the Wisp is ready to rock and... poof? Whatever it is wisps do since they can't roll. No Matter, wait it's Anti-Matter!

The new Wisp drone comes equipped with 80% piercing Long Range Anti-Matter Cannons. The end result is a penetrating weapon that is not entirely useless against shields, but offers vastly better penetration than a comparably sized and equipped punch-through weapon.

In addition to this, the smaller frame is easier to mass produce and store than our larger heavy drone lines. Shields are still respectable at 9k+, so the loss of size does have a noticeable effect on shield strength. They can still take a hit though, and give back plenty of what they take!

Edit: Forgot to mention, the Gryllos, Cicada mk3, and Plateau are available for download in Community Content now.

 

[Loadout]

Update:

The wisp is available under community content now!

Also I've made the hull for another drone. This one is much larger than usual and will be my first "Corvette" Drone. It lacks a name right now, I'll try to think of one as the day wears on while I'm away at work.

Spoiler: Pics of the Corvette Drone!

You may notice it has 0 system blocks atm. That is because I still haven't figured out the weapons either. xP I'll post more later when I get home in about 7 hours.

 

[Loadout]

Work has begun on a new experimental ship code-named, "The Marsh". This will be a Stealth Carrier with hopefully perma-jam and a payload of my Wisp drones. Estimated payload right now is between 10-20 of these. Armaments are expected to be long range missiles, jammer (obviously), several AMS turrets, and possibly an overdrive effect to help get outta town once spotted.

Pics of the frame and some of the interior modules i'll be using.
Rough outline so far...

Profile view in mini form...

Right: Intersection Left: Airlock(Working!)

Hallway

Core room so far

 

[Loadout]

update on the Marsh

Thrusters coming along nicely...

Main frame is taking shape now too...

 

[Loadout]

Update on the stealth carrier:

Added an interior, needs some details but it's coming along nicely. I changed the overall outside width to make it slightly narrower. I did this because I felt it was just a little too wide and the extra line of blocks on either side was really just so the inside would fit, so I'm just taking one line of blocks off the hallways and poof, nicer outside.

Frontal view is now showing more detail...

Side profile is coming along nicely, not much left to finish up front...

View from the airlock

view down the halls into the rooms

What will become the "bridge"

I'm also doing some filigree work on the top of the ships bow, just like the Savannah, but different shapes of course. It's progressing smoothly but slowly.

Funny note: The filigree is actually the symbol for fresh marsh land on maps. It looked pretty cool so I decided to roll with it. :p

Internals:

Have a power generation rate of 450,000+ so far. Hoping to push that even further before attaching drones, adding in shields, and possibly weapons. I've decided on zero turrets. As a stealth ship they'll be using vastly more power than they'll be worth, also, it's a stealth ship.

Possible color swaps I'm thinking of:
black instead of grey, keeping purple
browns, and greens - would be very marshy and the ship is called The Marsh.


Things left to do:

• Engines! - cause these are gonna be HUUUUUUGE!
• Internals - shields and such
• Weapons - Missile - Beam combo probably
• Specialized Drone Rack - big one here, this thing is a monster to build so far. No pics yet but it's a pain to design.
• no build mode Launch system - also a pain, but if it works it'll be cool
• Details - the engine stalks, the insides, the front may need some touchups, the bottom is entirely blank, the sides are fine, but if i think of something then i'll add it.
• Double & Triple check after everything is added that jamming is perma-capable.
• Jump drives??
• Cloak is a maybe, probably not though, jamming is more than enough to nerf AI's and turrets
• Complete and utter redesign of absolutely everything cause i'm CRAZY -this is more of a, yeah i'm off the deepend so lets go overboard thing, it's entirely possible I'll do this just for shits and giggles but who knows. I might control myself...maybe.

 

[Loadout]

Ok, so a Lot of work has gone into this thing, it's shape has changed so many times, and i'm about ready to call it spiffy as all getup. Still, I need to do some more internal work, and i'm not terribly happy with the outside colors. But the outside is finished...mostly, woot!

Spoiler: Pics! ; )

Note the new scaffolding..

New side profile showing the drones are docked. Finally.

Filigree!

Except for the odd squiggle on the top right, it's a Fresh Marsh map symbol.:D
Does this make me look fresh? :p

Thrus-tars

Outside the airlock...

External Fuel tanks...

The rack isn't finished, but when it is this thing will transfer power to the mothership!

Now to finish off the list of things remaining.

• Engines! - cause these are gonna be HUUUUUUGE!
• Internals - shields and such
• Weapons - Missile - Beam combo probably
• Specialized Drone Rack - big one here, this thing is a monster to build so far. No pics yet but it's a pain to design.
• no build mode Launch system - also a pain, but if it works it'll be cool
• Details - the engine stalks, the insides, the front may need some touchups, the bottom is entirely blank, the sides are fine, but if i think of something then i'll add it.
• Double & Triple check after everything is added that jamming is perma-capable.
• Jump drives??
• Cloak is a maybe, probably not though, jamming is more than enough to nerf AI's and turrets
• Complete and utter redesign of absolutely everything cause i'm CRAZY -this is more of a, yeah i'm off the deepend so lets go overboard thing, it's entirely possible I'll do this just for shits and giggles but who knows. I might control myself...maybe. I'm not that crazy...right now.
• Color Swap: Black instead of grey, keep the purple. OR Brown & Green. Don't know yet, it's a toss up really, just know that it won't stay grey for the big reveal coming soon.

 

[Loadout]

Ah... finally I can call the bridge done.

Spoiler: The RP friendly Bridge

Aside from this, I have also filled the entire inside of the ship... sadly I forgot to add in weapons so now I must chew through chunks of it. =/ meh it's easy enough since it's mostly shield caps where i'm placing the weapons.

 

[Loadout]

Only one thing remains and then it's DONE! Finally I'm nearing the end stretch here. All that remains is to do details on the interior rooms. With the bridge, hallways, core room, weapons systems, jump drive, and exterior all painted up, the ship is nearly done. Hopefully it'll be done tonight and I can reveal it.

 

[Loadout]

After days of development and hours of brain beating against a wooden plex door. We at LSD have accomplished a feat we never before dreamed of, well maybe that one time on a 3 day bender in the Begas system, but that doesn't count.
What happens in Begas, stays in Begas.

The Marsh

Features of this new ship incude;

• A fully functional permanent jamming system. This allows the ship to fly completely invisible near to AI and turrets alike.
• A 12 strong compliment of our medium drones (Wisps), specially repainted for this ship in matching colors.
• A pair of Extended Range Heavy Ion Cannons boasting a salvo damage level of over 79,000
• A mass of less than 4k
• Spiffy Spoilers
• A no-build-mode launch system allowing pilots to eject a rack without ever leaving their ship. Or entering build mode.

Spoiler: Pics

The "Bridge"

View from the airlock

The No build mode launch system. Two overlapping area triggers, one to push the rack, the other to launch it's drones.

Back view showing length of the ship

close-up of the thrusters

side view showing docking

logo!

crew quarters

pretty basic, might spiff em up later on. maybe...

hall view showing lockers

Locker rooms...

Side profiles...

Frontal shot showing some of the details...

 

[Loadout]

After completing the marsh and making it available for download under community content, I find myself a bit tapped out creatively. The marsh was built using design principles I had never before successfully worked with, so it was very taxing to make it work.

Generally speaking here is how I go about building ships...

1. make a random shape
2. make another random shape
3. smash shapes together until I like how they look
4. Rinse and repeat until satisfied

The marsh however was built using a much older method I had once tried but given up on, mostly cause of how time consuming it was.

1. Make a miniature of the shape
2. scale up the shape
3. add details
4. refine details
5. add More details
6. repeat 4,5 until i'm happy

While the second method is more time consuming, and more involved, I feel a lot more accomplished when having finished a design this way. I also get the feeling my ships look better this way, at least in some respects.

Having said all that, here is the next miniature I've built...

I'll be making several minis and then picking and choosing which to do first. So I'll post more as they come about.

My current working idea is to create a Drone Resupply Ship, which will carry numerous racks of drones with the purpose of acting as a long range Resupply ship. Marsh in deep waters behind enemy lines? Return to one of these and get some more Wisps to engage the enemy with! Essentially this is a super carrier support vessel.. I think it's a pretty simple concept, but in practice it's much more difficult.

Why difficult? My drone racks are designed to launch their drones as soon as they're released, making sure they DON'T do that is a challenge in and of itself. Once that challenge is solved I'd also like a way to manually activate the racks in case of trouble.

Current running theories to achieve this;

• Spacers- Make sure there are no barriers, walls, drones, rocks, bouncy balls they can bump into, as most racks are area triggered.
• Disabled racks- disconnect one of the common delay signals until it's been loaded. Drones won't launch until it gets reconnected or "primed" as it were.

Other ideas include;
Bruiser Cruiser - a mobile weapon basically
Jump Racks - player operated, jump capable drone rack. Cheap and easily recycled(to quickly reload all the drones), can be carried on some larger vessels when not in use.
Point Defense Plating - drone rack style Point defense turret collection for larger ships.

 

[Loadout]

Multiple things to be revealed today, so lets get crackin'!

First up on the list is my new(ish) M3 modular mission module system.

This system uses a standardized easily copy-paste docking clamp to house ships with various specialized purposes. You may recognize the first ship here...

The Missile Tub

The missile tub is the oldest design in this series but still retains its usefulness despite its age. The tub features several small vertical launch missile turrets housed inside a shielded and armored shell or tub. The purpose of this nifty ship is to add extra firepower and block damaging potential to ships wherever needed.

Up next is the newest addition to the M3 lineup...

The Launch Pad

The launch pad is designed to add extra drones to the combat as well as offer increased firepower of its own. It does so by carrying two Wisp drones and housing an extended range beam weapon. Its modest shield capacity won't take many hits but the extra power it can bring to any warship is more than worth it.

Remember, our lineup of M3 ships is not intend. d to be fielded alone. These ships are merely attachments that may be interchanged on our larger ships.

Next up is an entirely new point defense system...

Gauntlet FCS

The Gauntlet is LSDs answer to the age old question "why do I have to replace all my PD turrets one at a time?". Our answer of course is, You don't! Replace them all at once with our newest creation. Simply dock the main structure and watch missiles disappear!

Now you may be asking, what in tarnation are these?

Good question, those are...

Scorpions

Yes that's right, we've done it again. Another parasite drone for another day. These drones are fully functional Anti-missile drones. Soon enough they will evolve, change shape(a little) and become full fledged parasite drones. However, at the time being they are still larvae.

Speaking of Larvae I present to you all...

The I have no idea what the hell to call this

A new corvette drone with rapid fire rocket launchers a hefty shield system, and well... an unfinished idea that was the basis of the Marsh. Its roughly finished, but then, so was the firefly and I never revealed that bug.

Well that's all for now. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted of my progress if any more is made today. Doubtful though, being sick kinda makes me sleepy.

 

[Loadout]

The beginnings of a fleet colors update. The logo will get adjusted eventually too, but for now I'm testing out the colors on the smaller drones & ships.

In case you're wondering I decided I really like the green & brown that I did with the Marsh. Bits of black will also be present on larger ships, but for now I'm sticking with my basic colors to feel out whether or not my ships will be aesthetically pleasing in these new colors.

=) Thoughts and comments are always welcome.

 

[Loadout]

So the fleet colors are coming along smoothly. So far I've been adding more color and thus a bit more detail to each of the ships as I pass it by. I've also re-re-refitted the Kuwaga again, it's now back to 100% stop beams, with beam slaves to give them a usable range, and Rapid fire rockets for actual damage potential.

Spoiler: Fleet Pics

Some group photos showing all the ships done so far.

Note the Kuwaga update on the right hand side...
You don't see much of the detail in this shot but the ship has some nice lines of color on it so far.

Scorpion

Aphid

Phaser Flea

The Rumble Bee

The only ship I'm not entirely pleased with so far, the locust just doesn't "Pop!" like I want it too. I'll have to do something about that though.

Aside from this I've also got a surprise! My own personal Asteroid Excavator, it doesn't have a name, or even a designation. The ship is designed to make asteroid farming easy while also being survival friendly. Attached to it you can even see a tiny 5 minute shuttle build I made to help ferry large quantities of ore and shards to nearby planets/installations. All in all it's a very service ready vessel that has served me quite well for some months now.

Spoiler: Excavator Pics

Post Script; These will all be released in their recolored format as part of a fleet package I'll be posting... eventually. First I have to recolor them all, and then make the .rar file.

 

[EMC007]

Beautiful ships man, nice work..

 

[Loadout]

Beautiful ships man, nice work.

Thanks! It's always nice to hear compliments and kudos on my work. =)

In other news I have a new Medium size Bomber Drone. Presenting...

The Dragonfly

Spoiler

Front

Side

Rear

This drone features over the shoulder mounted dual lock-on missiles. Each does about 2k damage per salvo with a base reload of 15 seconds. Nothing spectacular but solid for a medium size drone. It will chew through blocks easily after shields have been taken down by Wisps or other drones.
Speaking of shields these each come standard with a 7k shield, ample power supply and 1:1 thrust ratio for rapid acceleration.

 

[epicfacethe3rd]

Or, you could just use a refit of this:

Spoiler: image

keptic, me, thalanor and all the other dronies be like
*heavy breathing*

 

[Loadout]

keptic, me, thalanor and all the other dronies be like
*heavy breathing*

hehe yeah, if you could reasonably attach all those drones it'd be great. Sadly those docks would take days of time to fill. Racks are much more effective of course so yeah nobody would actually take that thing into combat. xP

Sooner or later I'll get around to building a drone carrier to rival keptick 's titan. My design plans are just taking forever, plus I've got a few other things in mind as well. Once the plans are set in motion expect some photos and maybe some sketches if I get around to uploading them.