Expanse-like rocketships flying upwards?

V-tech · Dec 1, 2018

Hi guys.

I'd like to build a vertical ship, like in the Expanse, oldschool / hard SF, or like in real rockets. So, a ship with engines at the bottom, always flying up, with lower decks closer to the engines and upper closer to the bow.
Like that:

default starmade ship:

/--------------|x=
|....

.........|x=
\--------------|x=

my dream rocketship:

/---------\
|............|
|...

....|
|--------- |
.H. .H. .H.

Now, I can think of two ways how to do this, but neither seems good enough:

1. build a normal horizontal ship, but arrange the interiors and grav modules to create an illusion that the back of the ship is actually the bottom. Problem: the illusion disappears when I align to ship by pressing Space, and then I can't walk through 1 voxel wide doors.

2. build a vertical ship and keep flying upwards, with E, instead of sideways, with W. Problem: camera view and controls are a mess, and I can't do any effective shooting.

Is there a better way?

klawxx · Dec 1, 2018

I think what you need could be simple to achieve. Just check the direction the core points and build in the Y height axis direction (your hypothesis N.1). This way, while inside the core, you drive forward, but your ship points upward. The interior walking could be achieved by gravity blocks. NOW, I believe that the problem is your idea of 1 m wide corridors. this wont work; Go for 3x3x3 corridors. This way if you missalign you could still float around. all the sides should look similar to achieve a nice zero-G feeling. the corridor should be something like this...

[doublepost=1543669338,1543668469][/doublepost]Oh yea, don't forget to use area triggers if you want to achieve some auto-rotating situations like those on 2001 Space odyssey. where each room floor in on a different direction.

NeonSturm · Dec 1, 2018

But I don't see how it solves his problem.

In astronauth mode, you have a galactic up/down, and that's what should be fixed.

Ofc, you can turn your head only 40° downward or 80° upward (still archive more with eye-sight direction), but your whole body is free to rotate like any ship.

Lone_Puppy · Dec 2, 2018

NeonSturm said:
But I don't see how it solves his problem.

In astronauth mode, you have a galactic up/down, and that's what should be fixed.

Ofc, you can turn your head only 40° downward or 80° upward (still archive more with eye-sight direction), but your whole body is free to rotate like any ship.

I would love to have full range of movement as an astronaut. The capability is there already. So I wonder why it hasn't been turned on. Perhaps it's just an alpha thing, where it will eventually be turned on at some point. Maybe in the universe update.
[doublepost=1543785593,1543785018][/doublepost]

V-tech said:
Hi guys.

I'd like to build a vertical ship, like in the Expanse, oldschool / hard SF, or like in real rockets. So, a ship with engines at the bottom, always flying up, with lower decks closer to the engines and upper closer to the bow.
Like that:

default starmade ship:

/--------------|x=
|.............|x=
\--------------|x=

my dream rocketship:

/---------\
|............|
|.......|
|--------- |
.H. .H. .H.

Now, I can think of two ways how to do this, but neither seems good enough:

1. build a normal horizontal ship, but arrange the interiors and grav modules to create an illusion that the back of the ship is actually the bottom. Problem: the illusion disappears when I align to ship by pressing Space, and then I can't walk through 1 voxel wide doors.

2. build a vertical ship and keep flying upwards, with E, instead of sideways, with W. Problem: camera view and controls are a mess, and I can't do any effective shooting.

Is there a better way?

Personally I would build the rocket horizontal, and then place all gravity modules in orientation you require. The only issues I would see are;

computer screens, but this can be sorted using a duplicate screen for decorative purposes.
Any blocks that don't have multiple orientations, that you might like to use as decoration.
If you exit the core without gravity applied, you will be at the incorrect orientation. But this is not a biggy.

V-tech · Dec 3, 2018

Thanks, guys! Full range of movement for the astronaut would be a very cool thing to have.

Horizontal rockets with 3-wide doors seem to be the best solution so far. Far from perfect, but doable.

JinM · Dec 3, 2018

V-tech said:
Hi guys.

I'd like to build a vertical ship, like in the Expanse, oldschool / hard SF, or like in real rockets. So, a ship with engines at the bottom, always flying up, with lower decks closer to the engines and upper closer to the bow.
Like that:

default starmade ship:

/--------------|x=
|.............|x=
\--------------|x=

my dream rocketship:

/---------\
|............|
|.......|
|--------- |
.H. .H. .H.

Now, I can think of two ways how to do this, but neither seems good enough:

1. build a normal horizontal ship, but arrange the interiors and grav modules to create an illusion that the back of the ship is actually the bottom. Problem: the illusion disappears when I align to ship by pressing Space, and then I can't walk through 1 voxel wide doors.

2. build a vertical ship and keep flying upwards, with E, instead of sideways, with W. Problem: camera view and controls are a mess, and I can't do any effective shooting.

Is there a better way?

Hello my friend, you question has been asked several times before. Now, as I read it again, I got this new idea:

To achieve your desired sideways gravity, I suggest you build your ship normal, but you dock a second ship inside it, that only is the interiour (rooms and walkways). The second ship is rotated into the desired direction, and thus could affekt the players gravity into another direction, than the ships original one.

Your core of the mothership would the only thing, that is accessible from the second inner ship via astronaut mode.

Nauvran · Dec 3, 2018

JinM said:
Hello my friend, you question has been asked several times before. Now, as I read it again, I got this new idea:

To achieve your desired sideways gravity, I suggest you build your ship normal, but you dock a second ship inside it, that only is the interiour (rooms and walkways). The second ship is rotated into the desired direction, and thus could affekt the players gravity into another direction, than the ships original one.

Your core of the mothership would the only thing, that is accessible from the second inner ship via astronaut mode.

the fuck are you on? Just rotate the gravity block that players interact with to get gravity

Skwidz · Dec 3, 2018

to do this just use a grav module to orient yourself in the direction you want to face while sitting and sit on a wedge facing that direction. You can then enter the core which would provide the actual direction of the ship

Lone_Puppy · Dec 3, 2018

I think JinM is referring to using the native orientation of the entity as it would be applied to the docked child entity. Coud make decoration simpler. This would be interesting to try, but the simplest solution is to use grav modules. I could see uses for this method with blocks that have no orientation. Although, it would be better that all blocks had full orientations.

If you were to dock another entity at the required orientation, I would be inclined to make the external shell and internal decorations part of the docked section, the child entity. All the systems have to be part of the parent to be useful and the parent entities core will need to be exposed to be accessible. This will still have the issue when you exit the core where the astronaut orientation will align to the parent entity. Could be more work, but you would get the orientation of your decorations the way you want.

TungstenWall · Dec 4, 2018

I had a similar idea to you, but it was building tall ships with and interior similar to that of a long one.

H H H H H H
|-----------------------|
|.............

.............|
\----------------------/

One thins I did learn to do over time was to have important door (including the core room) aligned in such a way that I could float through them when synced with the entity, but walk through in gravity. In your case, these would be any doors leading upward/downwards with respect to your ships 'real' alignment, or along the Y-direction. At least have enough mobility from your core to reach a gravity module.

Good luck! I personally found such interiors to be quite the challenge to make.

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Expanse-like rocketships flying upwards?

V-tech

klawxx

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NeonSturm

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Lone_Puppy

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V-tech

JinM

Nauvran

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Skwidz

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Lone_Puppy

Me, myself and I.

TungstenWall