Gascor Skunkwerks

[Gasboy]

Nice color code, and engines (looked at the 3d model).

I think its a good work and if I criticise it I might not hit the right nerve, because I don't know the purpose and intentions of your design. But maybe you like to hear some stuff I noticed. If not just ignore it.

I would certainly add much more details, like deco fans or scafolds or metal mesh/grid, or some some pipe thingy going over the wings. Also you can add many many lights, hidden and obvious ones. And some ventilation shafts right to the body on the top are possible too. Last thing that I noticed by a quick glance is the transition between the black and the brighter colors, I would make some more "cougary" stripes going to the front.

If you want to emphatise on the bulkyness of the wings I also can suggest to add some parallel 1/4th slabs going over them to resemble some sort of supporting plating.

If you want the wings to be more wingy but not destory the overall shape and feel of the fighter, I suggest to make some sort of convex curve into the middle of the wing using slabs. Like some1 pressed an egg on top of the wings. ^^

Thank you for your critique.

I do want to add more flair to my fighter designs, but the idea clashes with my desire to have a minimum of 'greebling', especially on fighter craft. So I think it will be a while before I add more detailing to them. But it will come. The updates I did were to add some details, like the rear of the fighter, with the small vents on top, and the red 'sublight engines' to the sides of the main engine. It's a start, at least.

 

[Gasboy]

Ugh. Tried three different designs for a corvette and I just can't get them to come out the way I see them in my head. It is hella frustrating, I have to say.

I was playing around with a slightly larger Tiger with a different weapons layout, cannon-cannon-pierce instead of cannon-beam. Not sure if I find it satisfactory or not yet.

 

[Gasboy]

Woo, still alive! Just like GLaDoS. Just sayin'.

Okay, the station continues to expand. Added some hangers for the fighters, where updates and repairs can be performed. Also added a sensor module, so that the system remains known to me.

I've updated the 1000 and 2000 to include two display monitors since the most recent patch added more functionality to them. Displayed is the ship's current system and sector locations, and the percentages for power, shields, armor and structure. Information is king, folks.

I have also created a new variant of the 1000/2000, a salvager! For those mining operators who want a dedicated salvager.

Yes, I know, British Racing Green stripes is a bit cheeky for a salvage vessel. But hey, more colour than all the other cargoships combined. A first, for me!

Virtual tour!


Available here: GS-91-3000-STANDARD

 

[unelsson]

As MChain said in the review.

Whoah! A new expansion in the GW line! And a nice one!

Still don't understand why the ship line which started as a nice modular-cargo vessel line turns into a simple one-piece design. Why not to use an external container to store minerals? This way you can drop the full container at the recycling facility, load an empty one and proceed with mining while your previous harvest is being processed

Is it really necessary to have mass enhancers if you use cargo modules? I thought they would affect only rail speed, not jump speed or thrust. How would all of your cargo ships work with cargo modules, but with zero mass enhancers?

 

[Gasboy]

As MChain said in the review.
Is it really necessary to have mass enhancers if you use cargo modules? I thought they would affect only rail speed, not jump speed or thrust. How would all of your cargo ships work with cargo modules, but with zero mass enhancers?

Well, if the cargo containers get full, they will definitely be over the 50 free mass that each ship gets. So with zero mass enhancers, the cargoships would probably be slow-ish. Also, you would have to worry about lag due to collision checks. So definitely keep the mass enhancers on the 1000. They probably have more than they'll ever need, but whatever. As for the 2000 and 3000, they have less enhancers, but I left the ones in the jump ring in so that people could customize the ships. You could add turrets to the flat surfaces, or docking points to add cargo containers. For the 2000 and 3000, they could probably go without the mass enhancers.

Whoah! A new expansion in the GW line! And a nice one!

Still don't understand why the ship line which started as a nice modular-cargo vessel line turns into a simple one-piece design. Why not to use an external container to store minerals? This way you can drop the full container at the recycling facility, load an empty one and proceed with mining while your previous harvest is being processed

Catering to two different markets. Notice that the 1000 got the salvager module a bit before the 3000 showed up? Basically, modular ships work fine, however having a ship specialized in something is sometimes beneficial.

EDIT: Also, for mining operations that take quite some time, one can simply bring a cargoship and dock it to the salvager, and slurp out the resources that way.

 

[Madman198237]

That is so much not how rail mass enhancers work. They increase the mass that it takes to slow down the rail system. If you have a total of 50 free mass and 500 mass worth of rail enhancers, then you will be able to dock anything that weighs less than 550 mass and have it move at full speed. Anything over 550 mass will not move at full speed.

 

[Heillos]

That is so much not how rail mass enhancers work. They increase the mass that it takes to slow down the rail system. If you have a total of 50 free mass and 500 mass worth of rail enhancers, then you will be able to dock anything that weighs less than 550 mass and have it move at full speed. Anything over 550 mass will not move at full speed.

Correct, but expressed in a potentially confusing way.

Any entity can move docked entities of up to 50 mass along its rails for free (if chains are docked, I believe the total mass of the chain is measured).

Each Rail Mass Enhancer block increases this cap by 5 mass, and costs 50 e/sec to do so. If you do not have power enough for the enhancers, they will not work.

Therefore, for rails on an entity to move docked entities of 550 mass, you must have 100 Rail Mass Enhancers ((550-50)/5=100).

 

[unelsson]

But there is no need to move the cargo containers along rails - just dock and undock - therefore no need for mass enchancers? Or does it also affect thrusters and jump drives?

 

[Heillos]

But there is no need to move the cargo containers along rails - just dock and undock - therefore no need for mass enchancers? Or does it also affect thrusters and jump drives?

You are correct: Rail Mass Enhancers are only for moving things along rails. They have no effect on thrust or jump drive speed.

 

[Gasboy]

Well I did not know that.

However, why do we get warnings about a ship being over the mass limit if we're just docking?

 

[Scypio]

Because if you move very slowly, turret's won't be able to track down their target.

 

[JinM]

However, why do we get warnings about a ship being over the mass limit if we're just docking?

Don't you know the message that pops up when its too heavy? "this entity is heavier than the rail can support, it will move at reduced speed. current speed: xx%"

 

[Gasboy]

Hmm, welp, guess I have some work to do.

 

[Gasboy]

Alright, updated the 91-1000, 2000 and 3000. Mass enhancers were removed, and the ships have a slightly better mass to thrust ratio. I also increased the number of jump drive modules. You should get a bit better movement out of the girls now.

 

[Gasboy]

Sweet, found a screenshot on Steam of someone using my salvager in the wild. :O

Thanks to Calhoun for pointing this out. :D

 

[Calhoun]

(It's upside down)

 

[Gasboy]

(It's upside down)

Oh you planetbound people with your arbitrary ups and downs. XD

 

[Gasboy]

NOT DED!

Okay, I've been asleep, as far as this little thread goes anyways. But I have been busy in StarMade.

Spoiler: Halberd, small ships, general update

First, my ship of the month (February 2017): the GS-71-HALBERD, a patrol corvette.

GS-HALBERD-CORVETTE

I'm going to remove that ship in a bit, and replace it with a more RP entry, with more information on the ship.

The Halberd:

I had a lot of fun building her. I usually get stuck on getting the hull shape "right". I found building this much easier, because the majority of the hull is already defined, and even though I took out chunks of blocks that I did not like, under the armor, squeezed in between systems, a large portion of the original hull is there.

Engines!

I'm still working on an engine look. Can't seem to get anything I like really, and I am loathe to steal someone else's engine design, since engines tend to be iconic, and almost instantly recognizable.

Intakes!

I have to say that I am digging the new grates. They make for some great intakes. Not to mention shower drains. In this view, you can see the small shuttle bay (to the right of the purple intake).

The current station on the Cake Build server.

In the station's hangars, you can see a green fighter I've named the Lynx (for now), that's a slightly larger version of the Tiger, which I am mucking about with.

The Cheetah:

This is my explosive weaponry test bed.

A wee shuttle.

Very hard to get enough thrust, power and jump drive into her to make her workable. But, testing continues.

My very poor impression of the YT-1300:

If I get around to completing her, there'd be some greebling along the top and bottom, as well as a top mounted ball turret (there's a hollow space inside for such a purpose). I think I may build a second prototype, with the cockpit back further. I just wanted a USD dock, and that ship contains the first sliding (hull) door I made. It also has my first working airlock. So there's some logic and rail experience right there.

A mining drone.

So this little fellow is the first of (probably) many drones I'll be working on in the future. It's hard to use them on the Cake Build server, the multiplier for ore/crystals is so high this little guy can't mine a single ore/crystal. :P Needs more cargo capacity, but there's very little room. I am loathe to remove the cockpit, but it will have to go I think.

Last but not least: An expandable cargo ship.

It doesn't look like much right now, but this is a boom and pylon system. If you've seen the MISC Hull series from Star Citizen, you will have an understanding of what I am aiming for.

Boom slides out...

And the pylon extends.

Basically, the boom would extend from the front of the ship, with the engine section being pushed backwards. The pylons would pop out, and you could attach cargo containers to the pylons. On bigger ships, the engine section would have it's own boom that extends outwards as well, and there would be room in the boom to move between the front and engine section.

So yeah, that's my latest update. Woot!

EDIT: Oh, I found my notes that I sketched out for the person I am collaborating with on these thips.

EXTRA EDIT: Halberd 3D view.

 

[Gasboy]

Working on a sister ship to the Halberd: the GS-72-LONGBOW.

Hard mounted missile launcher with a secondary turret mounted missile launcher. Using explosive warheads.

Turret closeup.

Mounting the same Samurai® armour plates as the Halberd, the Longbow is a guided missile corvette. Sporting explosive warheads, the Longbow is designed to standoff and deliver her happy, fun packages from a distance. While the warheads have poor performance versus hardened armour, should she find a hole in said armour, kiss your precious, soft and squishy systems goodbye!

The Longbow is not yet ready for distribution as she is undergoing weapons trials.

 

[JinM]

Do weapon trials mean, that you are trying to finetune the warheads? Nice color Code btw. Black works well doesn't it? =)