Improving Interior and Exterior Aesthetics

[AxieGamer]

I have a ship that I recently built, it is mostly a docking area inside, but half of it has rooms inside. When I look at the interior I can't help but think it look too plain and sterile (partly because most of them are empty), any help about what to add to it?
Also, I find the exterior very plain as well; it could do with a bit of touching up. Any tips for that?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Lecic]

Pictures of the ship would be helpful...

 

[nightrune]

I have a ship that I recently built, it is mostly a docking area inside, but half of it has rooms inside. When I look at the interior I can't help but think it look too plain and sterile (partly because most of them are empty), any help about what to add to it?
Also, I find the exterior very plain as well; it could do with a bit of touching up. Any tips for that?

Thanks for any help.

Make sure the walls versus the ceiling versus the floor are different. This alone will give it a much better feel.

Use of slabs and emmisives on the blocks is encouraged as well! I focus on knowing what kind of feeling I want to elicit. Should it feel military, should it feel brooding, should it feel light hearted? Then modify until you like it.

 

[Deserea]

Well..since this thread is here...
ANy ideas on what i can do to make the vents on the Engines look a bit better?

 

[Brokengauge]

AxieGamer I have that different colored lights and furniture help. Tables and chairs different colors.

Pics would help for more specific advice.

Deserea make the vents thicker and space them out. In this case, less is more.

 

[Panpiper]

In my opinion, you should build the rooms you think are appropriate for the ship, bridge, crew quarters, whatever. You should furnish them appropriately. You can decorate them further according to your talent and desire. If once you have done that, you have extra space still, frankly that space should be systems. Beef up your power, add an aux reactor or a few. Add shields, add power capacitors and some long range missile batteries. Increase thrusters to compensate. Give your ship some extra fighting power.

 

[Gasboy]

In my opinion, you should build the rooms you think are appropriate for the ship, bridge, crew quarters, whatever. You should furnish them appropriately. You can decorate them further according to your talent and desire. If once you have done that, you have extra space still, frankly that space should be systems. Beef up your power, add an aux reactor or a few. Add shields, add power capacitors and some long range missile batteries. Increase thrusters to compensate. Give your ship some extra fighting power.

This is sound advice.

 

[Brokengauge]

I gotta be honest, I can't think of any sane argument against "pack on more stuff what makes your ship work" lol.

Seriously, get some pics on here!

 

[Keptick]

Can't really comment on the exterior since there's no pictures. I'll just give general tips:

For the interior, use different colors/blocks for the walls/floor/ceiling. Having different textures already makes a plain room look much better. You can also make patterns with various colors to make a flat area look better (depends on your build style though).

In all cases DEPTH is your friend. Having varying depths for details or even just basic shapes will make a ship much more appealing imo. 3D details and shapes are typically much more appealing than flat details. You basically want to find the perfect balance between the two. Depth usage is something I'm personally trying to improve on, as in my opinion it's often what makes the difference between a good and a great ship.

 

[Jaaskinal]

Can't really comment on the exterior since there's no pictures. I'll just give general tips:

For the interior, use different colors/blocks for the walls/floor/ceiling. Having different textures already makes a plain room look much better. You can also make patterns with various colors to make a flat area look better (depends on your build style though).

In all cases DEPTH is your friend. Having varying depths for details or even just basic shapes will make a ship much more appealing imo. 3D details and shapes are typically much more appealing than flat details. You basically want to find the perfect balance between the two. Depth usage is something I'm personally trying to improve on, as in my opinion it's often what makes the difference between a good and a great ship.

100% this. I recently did a ship where I only used grey basic hull to start with, to get the depth down, and then worked on the coloring. I feel as though depth and shape is crucial to a good looking ship, but that it can all too easily be overlooked when you focus too much on the coloring. Might not work for you, or really anyone other than me, but I think I'm building in grey from now on.

 

[AxieGamer]

Ok I have pictures of the exterior here. I removed most of the slopes so as to start the decoration again.

 

[Daeridanii]

Okay: My advice for interior design:
(Sorry for text wall)

1. Different colors are useful, but different textures are what I find really break up an interior. For example, try replacing some of that standard armor with hull, and experiment with adding different systems blocks into the floor and ceiling. (Jump drive modules seem to be a popular choice.)
2. Lighting can make or break an interior design: right now, you have lots of white lights. Having a lot of lights tend to remove your shadows, which - in general - isn't a good idea. White lights are very useful, but try adding some colors, too. If you're going for a high-tech feel, I find that blue lights tend to work well for that. If you want the room to feel "warm," try lava. It might take some experimenting to get the "feel" you're looking for, but once you do, your interior are going to look a lot better.
3. Right now, it looks kind of lifeless and barren. Try adding some computers, pipes, or even some flashing lights. Having movement makes your interiors much more dynamic and interesting. Having computers or other decorative components serves two purposes: 1, it adds some color and texture to your interiors and 2, it gives a functional aesthetic, as if there are actually people operating and living in your ship.

Hope this helps!

 

[AxieGamer]

OK, I'll give the lighting a go and was planning on adding the extra non-cubic decorations around as well. I don't know if I want to sacrifice the armour though but I'll try it.
[doublepost=1488134239,1488133967][/doublepost]Also I used jump drive modules in the reactor core and quite like the look, but I only used them in a practical sense

 

[Brokengauge]

I also appreciate "practical" builds. If you can't sacrifice the standard armor, you could also place some 1/4 slabs down around door frames, around walls, or turn them into their sides and use them as base boards. Having a dominant color of light coming from the ceiling, and a contrasting one coming from the floor as an accent can help. I'll see of I can dig up some examples

*EDIT*

If anyone asks, I didn't send you this...

Interior porn

It's got some good stuff to copy and learn from. Find stuff you like the look of, and try your best rip it off lol

 

[Lecic]

The exterior is very flat. There's also no difference between the front and back of the ship.

I would suggest replacing those lights in the first picture with corner bars rather than full size blocks.

Try replacing the standard grey armor between the two red stripes with basic grey hull instead.

The door is very plain. I would highly recommend a door frame around it. Also, try experimenting with door slabs. Having the door in a frame and only a 3/4 block instead of a full block would help it stand out from the wall better.

 

[JinM]

Add some lines into the windows. Use orange instead of red. Paint some darker squares onto the floor that resemble parking spots. Make the lights not a straight line and have breaks in those lines. Add pixel art to the walls or some pillars that hold them up, as example you can take scaffold. Put some objects into the rooms like a workshop or a cargo container or some transport robot mecha.

 

[AxieGamer]

Thanks for all the help. The ship wasn't always quite so flat but I removed a lot of the exterior to start it again. I'll put all of your help to good use.

 

[Edymnion]

Slabs will work wonders when it comes to breaking things up.

Here's the interior of a cathedral/church room I'm building for a station. Slabs EVERYWHERE!


Another option, cut into the walls/floors to create recessed lit areas, then cover them with metal grill blocks to make it look like there is stuff going on underneath/behind the walls/floors.