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- May 29, 2013
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OK everybody! These are the challenges. One every day for the month. Released one a day. So check back here. If you participate please make a shipyard thread with your completed or even WIP productions. Good luck!
There really is no reward. Except maybe some bragging rights. Sorry.
Tips for participants:
- Use offline SP or a build server where you'll have easy access to all the resources you need.
- Try to build in the Release version. For our Steam users that means both the paid and demo versions will work excellently. For DEV users we'ed recommend you create a new folder and have the launcher switched to REL and pointing to the new directory to get a fresh install.
- Reusing old ship designs can short cut a lot of the challenges. Just make sure you have permission to use the ship or use your own.
- We're starting simple and getting progressively more complex. Reusing what you learn from the previous challenges is strongly recommended.
- Work in a group. It's not only more fun but you learn from one another.
- Some of these challenges have mass limits; Others do not. So take it slow and easy. They'll be a chance to catch up.
- Feel free to skip a week if its scope doesn't fit with your build style. You can always catch up if you change your mind. Or you can use the extra time to finish a WIP build.
- These are just challenges. If you decide to take the idea in a different direction it's completely understandable.
- Keep feedback constructive. Not only for the challenges but also for the results produced by each builder.
---
The challenges:
[Single Dock Week]
Wed 1st: PDT (Anti missile turret or Point Defense Turret)
- I know a lot of folks have something similar already but try to shrink it down to a single dock and make it look as nice and distinct as possible!
Thurs 2nd: Cherry Picker. (Salvager meant to collect specific resources)
- It just needs a few beams and a highly suggested 100% refire rate (use cannons as slave) to gather small clusters of resources while leaving the asteroid mostly intact.
Fri 3rd: Pretty Pretty Drone. (Regardless of stats if has to look good and have functional weapons and shielding)
- This one is tough. Making anything that small look good is a tough sell. Good luck!
Sat 4th: Cargo Drop Pod. (Well made and useful cargo container that can be left in space for pickup)
- Couldn't be simpler. An attractive-ish functional cargo pod with enough plex storage on board to hold the requested amount of any one block type and just enough power and shields to survive a stray cannon bolt. Because accidents happen.
Sun 5th: Cloaking Manned Probe. (Recon probe which must cloak for at least 15 seconds)
- Now we get to a tough one. Meant to be unmanned; since it's not possible just yet let's go with manned. It needs to be able to stay hidden from the moment it enters cannon range to egress. Get close, cloak, take a look around, then get the heck out of dodge.
Mon 6th: Docked Reactor. (Greatest efficiency with bonuses for aesthetics and turret docks)
- This isn't a big deal. But making it look good would be pretty sweet. The additional turret docks can have a lot of uses. But we'll worry about that later. Just keep in mind anything you add now might be useful - or it might be counter productive.
Tues 7th: Anti-fighter Missile Turret. (Best stats within a limited space with good aesthetics)
- A good way to do this one is just recycle your PDT with new weapons. You might want to make it slightly bigger than your PDT. It's up to you. The fun is in trying to make it launch more missiles than most PDTs can deal with. MUAHAHAHA.
[Small Craft Week]
Wed 8th: Harasser Drone. (Minimalist weapons and shielding with a hard to hit silhouette and good armor, not restricted to a single dock space but not to pass 100 mass)
- Who needs one dock space limits? Am I right? The entire point is to make it hard to hit with capship weapons. It does need to be able to go up against any turrets you've made so far. At least any you made in this challenge.
Thurs 9th: VIP Jump Shuttle. (Protected by turrets designed to stop fighters and missiles. must be maneuverable enough to evade cannons. Not to exceed 200 mass before adding turrets)
- All fine and good. But you might want to outfit this with a full set of at least 3 PDTs. If you can combine your PDT with your missile turret all the better. Then the PDT would double as an anti fighter/drone setup.
Fri 10th: Light Fighter. (Not to exceed 200 mass and must have weapons and shielding. No turrets)
- A fun shortcut would be to redesign your harasser drone for manned flight. What exactly IS a fighter? Well capital ships have bridges. Small strike craft have flight decks. Freighters, and other mid sized craft would also have flight decks. Anything smaller has a cockpit. This is enough seating room for the crew and nothing else. They can be two, three, even four seater vessels. But there's no standing room. You pop open a port, sit down, and take off.
Sat 11th: Advanced Fighter (Not to exceed 400 mass and must have passive effects and jump plus weapons and shielding. Turrets are fine)
- Your common strike craft. The quintessential hallmark of your fleet. Most of your attacking needs bundled into one package. Scale it down or add to it as you like but the main thing I'd like to see here is something multirole. One swiss army fighter. Have fun making other variants for specific jobs. This first one just needs to be able to survive and even flourish in nearly any situation. Not an easy build for most.
Sun 12th: Cloak and Jam Capable Jumpship. (Not to exceed 400 mass and must be able to cloak and jam for more than 20 seconds while charging the jump drive. Turrets allowed but not recommended. Shielding and weaponry optional)
- It might turn into a cloaking snowflake but that's fine. It needs to be able to take a hit, run and jump. A crew of ninjas and a hold full of sharp assassin thingies.
Mon 13th: The Asteroid Eater (Salvage able to harvest an entire asteroid in 10 seconds or less. All other systems optional. Must not exceed 400 mass)
- The next step up from the Cherry Picker salvager. Why be choosy? Take the whole dang 'roid! 'Roid RAGE!!! Mining Mayhem! Resource Rampage! CRYSTALSSSS! You want soemthing? This rock munching beast will get you the raw materials to make it yourself. GET SOME!
Tues 14th: The Pirate Buster (Soloist craft able to destroy a pirate base's defenders , turrets, and break the faction module without taking damage. Not to exceed 500 mass)
- Week 3 begins tomorrow. We'll be moving from harassing pirates to simply obliterating them. But we have to take small steps. So we have a final stage, kill any pirate base, light vessel. 500 mass is small! So make the best of it.
["What's up Dock?" Week.]
Wed 15th: Big Ol' Gun Day 1 (Plan and find docking space either on an existing ship or test bench ship/station to add a 1000 mass weapon and start building)
- Just layout your plans for the gun's location and shape. This gun is going to be bigger than anything you've built in the challenge so far. I strongly recommend you use a station as the mother entity. You will want to be able to test power and damage output ratios easily. For now just Make sure you have a good powered dock the right size and shape to fit your new gun.
Thurs 16th: Big Ol' Gun Day 2 (Finish hull and primary systems)
- Get those systems installed and tested! Close up the hull and get ready for some detailin. Also leave space for your completed weapons system.
Fri 17th: Big Ol' Gun Day 3 (Install weapons system and detail your gun)
- Kinda self explanatory :3
Sat 18th: Chargin Da Lazah Day 1 (Plan and begin constructing a dockable reactor powerful enough to fire your new weapon)
- Now it's time to pull your new big gun off it's mount and figure out how to supply the power it needs directly. You might already be halfway done with this challenge by now if you used a ship to build your weapon onto.
Sun 19th: Chargin Da Lazah Day 2 (Finish and test new reactor/cannon setup and detail the reactor so it matches the host craft or station or just plain looks cool)
- Aesthetics are key to any ship design that can stand the test of time. There are very early alpha ships that still look awesome. If a master builder can accomplish only one thing it's a ship pretty enough for someone to want for the collection. Ships marred by bad turret placement never seem to endure without someone stripping them off. So here you need to either hide or make pretty your reactor-turret couple.
Mon 20th: Hidden Dock, Crouching Turret Day 1 (Build an area that a turret could be hidden inside of with doors or force fields protecting them)
-
Tues 21st: Hidden Dock, Crouching Turret Day 2 (Make your protected gun port big enough to hide your turret from Big Ol' Gun week while it's docked to the reactor built for it)
-
[Big Ships Week]
Wed 22nd: Framework (Plan the size and overall shape of your ship's hull
and basic placeholder systems and get some of the detailing started)
-
Thurs 23rd: Internal Deck Layout. (Figure out what decks will be spaces intended for crew so you know where not to build systems, get some detailing done if possible)
-
Fri 24th: Systems Day 1 (Remove the temporary systems and move them into their appropriate spaces)
-
Sat 25th: Systems Day 2 (Finish any framework, internal layout and needed systems)
-
Sun 26th: Weapons Day 1 (Begin installing weapons and turrets)
-
Mon 27th: Weapons Day 2 (Finish weapons installation, add in non critical systems and get a head start on detailing)
-
Tues 28th: Details, details. (Finish any detailing you started. At the very least try to make a snazzy looking flight deck/bridge)
-
---
Participants: (Again; PM me the link to the thread and I will list you here as one of the participants)
- Raiben
- Tydeth
- keptick
- Sven_The_Slayer
- jzimmerman4 April Challenge Shipyard
- Gandrac April Challenge Shipyard
- LegoF4 April Challenge Shipyard
- Nauvran April Challenge Shipyard
-
-
(Just PM me if you'd rather not appear on the list)
Thanks to members of our community staff, SR7 and RageLogin! for helping me hammer out some of the details.
There really is no reward. Except maybe some bragging rights. Sorry.
Tips for participants:
- Use offline SP or a build server where you'll have easy access to all the resources you need.
- Try to build in the Release version. For our Steam users that means both the paid and demo versions will work excellently. For DEV users we'ed recommend you create a new folder and have the launcher switched to REL and pointing to the new directory to get a fresh install.
- Reusing old ship designs can short cut a lot of the challenges. Just make sure you have permission to use the ship or use your own.
- We're starting simple and getting progressively more complex. Reusing what you learn from the previous challenges is strongly recommended.
- Work in a group. It's not only more fun but you learn from one another.
- Some of these challenges have mass limits; Others do not. So take it slow and easy. They'll be a chance to catch up.
- Feel free to skip a week if its scope doesn't fit with your build style. You can always catch up if you change your mind. Or you can use the extra time to finish a WIP build.
- These are just challenges. If you decide to take the idea in a different direction it's completely understandable.
- Keep feedback constructive. Not only for the challenges but also for the results produced by each builder.
---
The challenges:
[Single Dock Week]
Wed 1st: PDT (Anti missile turret or Point Defense Turret)
- I know a lot of folks have something similar already but try to shrink it down to a single dock and make it look as nice and distinct as possible!
Thurs 2nd: Cherry Picker. (Salvager meant to collect specific resources)
- It just needs a few beams and a highly suggested 100% refire rate (use cannons as slave) to gather small clusters of resources while leaving the asteroid mostly intact.
Fri 3rd: Pretty Pretty Drone. (Regardless of stats if has to look good and have functional weapons and shielding)
- This one is tough. Making anything that small look good is a tough sell. Good luck!
Sat 4th: Cargo Drop Pod. (Well made and useful cargo container that can be left in space for pickup)
- Couldn't be simpler. An attractive-ish functional cargo pod with enough plex storage on board to hold the requested amount of any one block type and just enough power and shields to survive a stray cannon bolt. Because accidents happen.
Sun 5th: Cloaking Manned Probe. (Recon probe which must cloak for at least 15 seconds)
- Now we get to a tough one. Meant to be unmanned; since it's not possible just yet let's go with manned. It needs to be able to stay hidden from the moment it enters cannon range to egress. Get close, cloak, take a look around, then get the heck out of dodge.
Mon 6th: Docked Reactor. (Greatest efficiency with bonuses for aesthetics and turret docks)
- This isn't a big deal. But making it look good would be pretty sweet. The additional turret docks can have a lot of uses. But we'll worry about that later. Just keep in mind anything you add now might be useful - or it might be counter productive.
Tues 7th: Anti-fighter Missile Turret. (Best stats within a limited space with good aesthetics)
- A good way to do this one is just recycle your PDT with new weapons. You might want to make it slightly bigger than your PDT. It's up to you. The fun is in trying to make it launch more missiles than most PDTs can deal with. MUAHAHAHA.
[Small Craft Week]
Wed 8th: Harasser Drone. (Minimalist weapons and shielding with a hard to hit silhouette and good armor, not restricted to a single dock space but not to pass 100 mass)
- Who needs one dock space limits? Am I right? The entire point is to make it hard to hit with capship weapons. It does need to be able to go up against any turrets you've made so far. At least any you made in this challenge.
Thurs 9th: VIP Jump Shuttle. (Protected by turrets designed to stop fighters and missiles. must be maneuverable enough to evade cannons. Not to exceed 200 mass before adding turrets)
- All fine and good. But you might want to outfit this with a full set of at least 3 PDTs. If you can combine your PDT with your missile turret all the better. Then the PDT would double as an anti fighter/drone setup.
Fri 10th: Light Fighter. (Not to exceed 200 mass and must have weapons and shielding. No turrets)
- A fun shortcut would be to redesign your harasser drone for manned flight. What exactly IS a fighter? Well capital ships have bridges. Small strike craft have flight decks. Freighters, and other mid sized craft would also have flight decks. Anything smaller has a cockpit. This is enough seating room for the crew and nothing else. They can be two, three, even four seater vessels. But there's no standing room. You pop open a port, sit down, and take off.
Sat 11th: Advanced Fighter (Not to exceed 400 mass and must have passive effects and jump plus weapons and shielding. Turrets are fine)
- Your common strike craft. The quintessential hallmark of your fleet. Most of your attacking needs bundled into one package. Scale it down or add to it as you like but the main thing I'd like to see here is something multirole. One swiss army fighter. Have fun making other variants for specific jobs. This first one just needs to be able to survive and even flourish in nearly any situation. Not an easy build for most.
Sun 12th: Cloak and Jam Capable Jumpship. (Not to exceed 400 mass and must be able to cloak and jam for more than 20 seconds while charging the jump drive. Turrets allowed but not recommended. Shielding and weaponry optional)
- It might turn into a cloaking snowflake but that's fine. It needs to be able to take a hit, run and jump. A crew of ninjas and a hold full of sharp assassin thingies.
Mon 13th: The Asteroid Eater (Salvage able to harvest an entire asteroid in 10 seconds or less. All other systems optional. Must not exceed 400 mass)
- The next step up from the Cherry Picker salvager. Why be choosy? Take the whole dang 'roid! 'Roid RAGE!!! Mining Mayhem! Resource Rampage! CRYSTALSSSS! You want soemthing? This rock munching beast will get you the raw materials to make it yourself. GET SOME!
Tues 14th: The Pirate Buster (Soloist craft able to destroy a pirate base's defenders , turrets, and break the faction module without taking damage. Not to exceed 500 mass)
- Week 3 begins tomorrow. We'll be moving from harassing pirates to simply obliterating them. But we have to take small steps. So we have a final stage, kill any pirate base, light vessel. 500 mass is small! So make the best of it.
["What's up Dock?" Week.]
Wed 15th: Big Ol' Gun Day 1 (Plan and find docking space either on an existing ship or test bench ship/station to add a 1000 mass weapon and start building)
- Just layout your plans for the gun's location and shape. This gun is going to be bigger than anything you've built in the challenge so far. I strongly recommend you use a station as the mother entity. You will want to be able to test power and damage output ratios easily. For now just Make sure you have a good powered dock the right size and shape to fit your new gun.
Thurs 16th: Big Ol' Gun Day 2 (Finish hull and primary systems)
- Get those systems installed and tested! Close up the hull and get ready for some detailin. Also leave space for your completed weapons system.
Fri 17th: Big Ol' Gun Day 3 (Install weapons system and detail your gun)
- Kinda self explanatory :3
Sat 18th: Chargin Da Lazah Day 1 (Plan and begin constructing a dockable reactor powerful enough to fire your new weapon)
- Now it's time to pull your new big gun off it's mount and figure out how to supply the power it needs directly. You might already be halfway done with this challenge by now if you used a ship to build your weapon onto.
Sun 19th: Chargin Da Lazah Day 2 (Finish and test new reactor/cannon setup and detail the reactor so it matches the host craft or station or just plain looks cool)
- Aesthetics are key to any ship design that can stand the test of time. There are very early alpha ships that still look awesome. If a master builder can accomplish only one thing it's a ship pretty enough for someone to want for the collection. Ships marred by bad turret placement never seem to endure without someone stripping them off. So here you need to either hide or make pretty your reactor-turret couple.
Mon 20th: Hidden Dock, Crouching Turret Day 1 (Build an area that a turret could be hidden inside of with doors or force fields protecting them)
-
Tues 21st: Hidden Dock, Crouching Turret Day 2 (Make your protected gun port big enough to hide your turret from Big Ol' Gun week while it's docked to the reactor built for it)
-
[Big Ships Week]
Wed 22nd: Framework (Plan the size and overall shape of your ship's hull
and basic placeholder systems and get some of the detailing started)
-
Thurs 23rd: Internal Deck Layout. (Figure out what decks will be spaces intended for crew so you know where not to build systems, get some detailing done if possible)
-
Fri 24th: Systems Day 1 (Remove the temporary systems and move them into their appropriate spaces)
-
Sat 25th: Systems Day 2 (Finish any framework, internal layout and needed systems)
-
Sun 26th: Weapons Day 1 (Begin installing weapons and turrets)
-
Mon 27th: Weapons Day 2 (Finish weapons installation, add in non critical systems and get a head start on detailing)
-
Tues 28th: Details, details. (Finish any detailing you started. At the very least try to make a snazzy looking flight deck/bridge)
-
---
Participants: (Again; PM me the link to the thread and I will list you here as one of the participants)
- Raiben
- Tydeth
- keptick
- Sven_The_Slayer
- jzimmerman4 April Challenge Shipyard
- Gandrac April Challenge Shipyard
- LegoF4 April Challenge Shipyard
- Nauvran April Challenge Shipyard
-
-
(Just PM me if you'd rather not appear on the list)
Thanks to members of our community staff, SR7 and RageLogin! for helping me hammer out some of the details.
Last edited:
Hahah