- Joined
- Oct 14, 2015
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 130
Hello everyone!! As some of you might have seen, i have recently built two "biomechanical" ships and i intend to build more of them and also some "completely" biological vessels.
Since i started working on these ships i've checked SMD a thousand times and seen very few biological or partially biological ships, while i understand that players generally think it is pointless from a PVP-oriented point of view to build anything that looks organic (even though i think it doesn't make much difference if the ship is a machine or not), it is very interesting for roleplay purposes and adds a lot of diversity to the universe of Starmade.
Most of us have a stone in front of us when it comes to developing too complex ships that is the upcoming power update that may save or ruin ship building. Since i don't want to stop playing Starmade i have resorted to roleplay-0riented builds such as ground units, buildings and now biological ships. The idea of biological ships came to me when i learned about the existence of species 8472, a race from another universe that uses organic spacecraft. Below i present pros and cons of designing biological spacecraft.
Pros:
-> Let your imagination flow. When building something that is not a machine you can build it in virtually any shape, any color (even though purple and green give a more interesting look in my opinion), any body parts can be added such as arms and tentacles (if you master rails u can make them move), etc.
-> Originality. The amount of bioships that can be found on dock is almost nonexistent if compared to the number of common ships so those who build them will surely be seen as creative builders (If the bioship is decent of course) and inspire others to build more bioships.
-> Fun. It is really fun to pit your unique bioships against the common ships of other builders or those of NPCs, you can create any storyline you want for your biofleet and cause insane chaos in the universe from the seat of your leviathan.
Cons:
-> Interior building. While the exterior of bioships doesn't need to be complex and can have virtually any shape, the interior is really complicated to build because we are human players inside the body of a beast, Starmade doesn't have truly biological blocks so it is hard to fit those mechanical parts inside the body of a bioship. The solution i found to this was to make the bioships be half biological, half mechanical, this not only solved the interior problem but also openned my mind to hybrid ships, half machine, half creature.
-> Planning. Building a bioships is fun but requires a lot of planning IF you want a good interior, good fire power and mobility. 95% of the bioship's interior and exterior would have to be made of standard armor for it to look completely organic, that can be a problem for smaller ships that don't have much space for thrusters. Again, i solved this issue using my "biomechanical" build theme.
-> Relationship with stations. While in common ships u can simply add a small airlock, that is complicated in a biological ship because it wasn't "born" to house a pilot let alone a crew. Once again, i solved this with my "biomechanical" theme.
I would like to hear more thoughts on this and if i missed anything about the concept of a biological ship, please write it down.
Since i started working on these ships i've checked SMD a thousand times and seen very few biological or partially biological ships, while i understand that players generally think it is pointless from a PVP-oriented point of view to build anything that looks organic (even though i think it doesn't make much difference if the ship is a machine or not), it is very interesting for roleplay purposes and adds a lot of diversity to the universe of Starmade.
Most of us have a stone in front of us when it comes to developing too complex ships that is the upcoming power update that may save or ruin ship building. Since i don't want to stop playing Starmade i have resorted to roleplay-0riented builds such as ground units, buildings and now biological ships. The idea of biological ships came to me when i learned about the existence of species 8472, a race from another universe that uses organic spacecraft. Below i present pros and cons of designing biological spacecraft.
Pros:
-> Let your imagination flow. When building something that is not a machine you can build it in virtually any shape, any color (even though purple and green give a more interesting look in my opinion), any body parts can be added such as arms and tentacles (if you master rails u can make them move), etc.
-> Originality. The amount of bioships that can be found on dock is almost nonexistent if compared to the number of common ships so those who build them will surely be seen as creative builders (If the bioship is decent of course) and inspire others to build more bioships.
-> Fun. It is really fun to pit your unique bioships against the common ships of other builders or those of NPCs, you can create any storyline you want for your biofleet and cause insane chaos in the universe from the seat of your leviathan.
Cons:
-> Interior building. While the exterior of bioships doesn't need to be complex and can have virtually any shape, the interior is really complicated to build because we are human players inside the body of a beast, Starmade doesn't have truly biological blocks so it is hard to fit those mechanical parts inside the body of a bioship. The solution i found to this was to make the bioships be half biological, half mechanical, this not only solved the interior problem but also openned my mind to hybrid ships, half machine, half creature.
-> Planning. Building a bioships is fun but requires a lot of planning IF you want a good interior, good fire power and mobility. 95% of the bioship's interior and exterior would have to be made of standard armor for it to look completely organic, that can be a problem for smaller ships that don't have much space for thrusters. Again, i solved this issue using my "biomechanical" build theme.
-> Relationship with stations. While in common ships u can simply add a small airlock, that is complicated in a biological ship because it wasn't "born" to house a pilot let alone a crew. Once again, i solved this with my "biomechanical" theme.
I would like to hear more thoughts on this and if i missed anything about the concept of a biological ship, please write it down.
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