Random fun challenge: let's build a fleet :D

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Days are getting darker and colder, we have ourselves more indoors free-time boredom that better be killed with something creative, and we recently learned that all that is to be expected from the next few months of updates of our favorite videogame (StarMade!?), is the undoing/fixing of broken stuff, right?

Let's try and see whether we can collectively bring just a little bit more color/magic into the silence/monotony? I personally haven't worked on any serious StarMade project for the past 1.5 months, and although, as all of us, I could find a million other silly-but-fun things to do, I'm too lazy to explore right now, so let's have another round of a leisure activity that's known to work: let's build something easy and fun!


FIRST SET OF RELAXED BUILDING CRITERIA:

• Ship between 50-250 meters on the longest axis
• Preferably more long than wide or tall
• White main hull color with neutral color accents (greys, black, brown)
• Preferably blue glowing parts (lights, engines, etc.)

Everything else is up to your desires and visions, but it would be nice to follow the visual criteria above, so that the final results could be complied into a fleet of some kind, thanks to their fundamental similarity in appearance.

Approach it as a low-effort side-project, the results of which will stand as another proof of your skills in stacking blocks in ways that translate products of your imagination into "real" things that others can appreciate, and be aesthetically pleased and inspired by. Most of the best work that I ever done in this game were the results of the inspiration of witnessing the awesomeness created by other starmadians. And when you get such sparks of inspiration, you get a smooth fluidity to your process of design and construction, which really worths the time.

So, build a thing and post screenshots/blueprints of it in any stage of progress!

If we're lucky, the natural flow of things will produce something admirable, maybe a fleet or fictional faction with a name of its own. Given enough content, I *MIGHT* make a youtube video showcasing all submissions (I'm not promising anything, cause I'm not very proficient in video production).


Anyways, have fun building!


My own start so far:

 

[OfficialCoding]

Days are getting darker and colder, we have ourselves more indoors free-time boredom that better be killed with something creative, and we recently learned that all that is to be expected from the next few months of updates of our favorite videogame (StarMade!?), is the undoing/fixing of broken stuff, right?

Let's try and see whether we can collectively bring just a little bit more color/magic into the silence/monotony?

I personally haven't worked on any serious StarMade project for the past 1.5 months... and although I, as all of us, could find a million other silly-but-fun things to do, I'm too lazy to explore right now, so let's have another round of a leisure activity that's known to work. Let's build something easy and fun!



FIRST SET OF EASY BUILDING CRITERIA:

• Ship between 50-250 meters on the longest axis;
• Preferably more long than wide or tall;
• White main hull color with neutral color accents (greys, black, brown) so that the final results could be complied into a fleet of some kind, thanks to their fundamental similarity in appearance.

Everything else is up to your desires and visions. Approach it as a low-effort side-project, the results of which will stand as another proof of your skills in stacking blocks in ways that translate products of your imagination into "real" things that others can appreciate, and be aesthetically pleased and inspired by.

Most of the best work that I ever done in this game were the results of the inspiration of witnessing the awesomeness created by other starmadians. And when you get such sparks of inspiration, you get a smooth fluidity to your process of design and construction, which really worths the time.

So, build a thing and post screenshots/blueprints of it in any stage of progress! - If we're lucky, the natural flow of things will produce something admirable, maybe a fleet or fictional faction with a name of its own. Given enough content, I *MIGHT* make a youtube video showcasing all submissions (I'm not promising anything, cause I'm not very proficient in video production).


Anyways, have fun building!


My own start so far:
View attachment 51897 View attachment 51898 View attachment 51899 View attachment 51900

Yeah that would be really fun. I might try my hand at building something, but my builds are kinda sucky so don't be shy to tell me that my ship is crap.

But i will try to build something.

Do you have any preference on maximum reactor level, shield, thrust, etc?

 

[Muffin_man17]

This sounds like a fun side project to give me a break with constructing stations. Do they need to be combat capable or can they fill any role?

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Yeah that would be really fun. I might try my hand at building something, but my builds are kinda sucky so don't be shy to tell me that my ship is crap.

But i will try to build something.

Do you have any preference on maximum reactor level, shield, thrust, etc?

Ah, no problem, it could look like a carton of milk, and still be nice, if it has some originality to it and you had fun building it

No restriction on systems, weapons, turrets, interior, or anything - we'll just have the building criteria at a bare minimum to give free way to creativity, and then hope that the ships will turn out visually similar enough that we can get away with calling them a proper "fleet".

This sounds like a fun side project to give me a break with constructing stations. Do they need to be combat capable or can they fill any role?

I know, right? - I too started building the ship in the original post as a break from a station construction that started to feel like a grind... And yes, everyone is free to build a ship of any desired class/role, as long as they fit the size range and color scheme mentioned above. I guess the key criteria would be white hull; neutral color accents; bluish glowing parts, so that the final results could be grouped as if they were built by the same faction

Edit: so the resulting "fleet" won't necessarily be one of a specified purpose (such as a defense fleet or mining fleet), rather it will just be a diverse fleet of a fictional faction.

 

[OfficialCoding]

Ah, no problem, it could look like a carton of milk, and still be nice, if it has some originality to it and you had fun building it

No restriction on systems, weapons, turrets, interior, or anything - we'll just have the building criteria at a bare minimum to give free way to creativity, and then hope that the ships will turn out visually similar enough that we can get away with calling them a proper "fleet".




I know, right? - I too started building the ship in the original post as a break from a station construction that started to feel like a grind... And yes, everyone is free to build a ship of any desired class/role, as long as they fit the size range and color scheme mentioned above. I guess the key criteria would be white hull/neutral color accents/bluish glowing parts, so that the final results could be grouped as if they were built by the same faction

Edit: so the resulting "fleet" won't necessarily be one of a specified purpose (such as a defense fleet or mining fleet), rather it will just be a diverse fleet of a fictional faction.

Ah nice. Fictional faction, eh? I was thinking you were making a faction or something to use this fleet. But I will get right to it

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Progress update! :D

I almost have a closed hull with this one... Still have to make the engines, and then some micro-detailing, then turrets, then on to the interior.

I think I'll call this "The Lobster Frigate" or "Lobster-class laser frigate", because the armor plating kinda reminds me of the exoskeletal scales (or whatever they're called) of lobsters. (By the way, I used to think they're cool creatures even before good-ol' quirky Jordan Peterson made them fashionable.)

Also, the main top-bottom symmetry issue, the duplicate bridge on the bottom, will be modified to look unique and support a large turret.

 

[klawxx]

Progress update! :D

I almost have a closed hull with this one... Still have to make the engines, and then some micro-detailing, then turrets, then on to the interior.

I think I'll call this "The Lobster Frigate" or "Lobster-class laser frigate", because the armor plating kinda reminds me of the exoskeletal scales (or whatever they're called) of lobsters. (By the way, I used to think they're cool creatures even before good-ol' quirky Jordan Peterson made them fashionable.)

Also, the main top-bottom symmetry issue, the duplicate bridge on the bottom, will be modified to look unique and support a large turret.



View attachment 51973 View attachment 51974 View attachment 51975

If you invert the angle of those armor plates and dye them in yellow/teal they would look like a Protoss carrier... I know that's not the objective, but they remind me of it... now the rest of the ship has nothing to do with it lol

 

[Forsyth]

Hello, found this thread, seemed interesting.

Here are a couple ships (still very much WIP) that I'm working on. The first is a miner with a powerful beam-beam system installed. The second is a frontline cruiser with room for 7 turrets. I'm working on turrets and internal systems, then I'll tackle the aesthetics.

Feedback/Thoughts?
Miner/Ion Cannon:

Cruiser:

[doublepost=1542907443,1542906679][/doublepost]

If we're lucky, the natural flow of things will produce something admirable, maybe a fleet or fictional faction with a name of its own. Given enough content, I *MIGHT* make a youtube video showcasing all submissions (I'm not promising anything, cause I'm not very proficient in video production).

If you need, I can help you out. I have some decent software on my pc that I can use.

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Hello, found this thread, seemed interesting.

Here are a couple ships (still very much WIP) that I'm working on. The first is a miner with a powerful beam-beam system installed. The second is a frontline cruiser with room for 7 turrets. I'm working on turrets and internal systems, then I'll tackle the aesthetics.

Feedback/Thoughts?
Miner/Ion Cannon:

Cruiser:

That second ship has an interesting shape, I imagine it could look very nice after a smooth-out with wedges, tetras and heptas.

But the main plan with this thread would be to see if we can build a few new ships, following the rules highlighted in the first post, and then put them together in a fleet of some sort if they will turn out visually similar enough... The key criteria would be white hull; neutral color accents; bluish glowing parts, so that the final results could be grouped as if they were built by the same fictional faction.

If you need, I can help you out. I have some decent software on my pc that I can use.

Thank you, but I actually did a few StarMade videos myself before... My problem is only that I'm kind of a perfectionist, but I'm not that fast and efficient in video editing, so it always ends up taking a lot of time and feeling like forced work. And anyways, we first have to see whether enough content will roll in

 

[Forsyth]

Ok. In any event, I'll keep working on the cruiser and upload it once it's done (I'll make a separate one with my own colors as well). What do you think of the first one? You think you could use it?

 

[SlavSquatSuperstar]

What any of you think of a ship disguised as a planet (think: Death Star, moon)? I'll try to create a bunch of planet faces with some "terrain on them." This would probably more suited for living quarters than anything else, but it would be a fun and cool challenge I could submit. I wonder how I would camouflage it while following the guidelines. Just know I have a MacBook Air, thus my hours playing this game are limited.

This is just an idea. Photos will be added as (or if) I make progress.

Devlog 1:
I'm just trying to get the general shape using smaller models. I'm really bad at making any 3D solids, and it's impossible to make the dodecahedrons.


Devlog 2:
I don't think I'll be able to submit anything for this event, but I'll try this again later. If anyone wants to borrow my idea, feel free to do so.

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Ok. In any event, I'll keep working on the cruiser and upload it once it's done (I'll make a separate one with my own colors as well). What do you think of the first one? You think you could use it?

Regarding the first ship you have shown, you wrote that it's a very early work-in-progress, and I have to agree that it seems so
In its current form, it's too basic structurally, and too funky color-wise. But I ain't one to not see potential in any creative effort, so I wish you fun with continuing building it. And to clarify to anyone interested, any ship blueprint attached to this thread, or a potential whole fleet that might emerge from this collective endeavor, will be used by whoever wishes to download them, but I myself don't intend to use them for practical purposes. The main goal of the challenge would be rather to merely give motivation/inspiration for anyone who wish to participate. It's more about the joy of design and construction, than actually using the final results in-game.



PROGRESS UPDATE:

I'm mostly finished with the shell of this "Lobster-class laser frigate". Sorry guys, I realize that I went to very funky places with this design, making it very unlikely that we will have a fleet of a uniform style (unless you all start adding sea crustacean design elements to your submissions). But never mind, they can all have their own unique features

I installed eight little AMS turrets on the top and bottom of the nose, but those three offensive turrets are only placeholders until I design stronger ones, after finishing with the interiors. Meanwhile, any opinions on it?

 

[Forsyth]

In its current form, it's too basic structurally, and too funky color-wise. But I ain't one to not see potential in any creative effort, so I wish you fun with continuing building it. And to clarify to anyone interested, any ship blueprint attached to this thread, or a potential whole fleet that might emerge from this collective endeavor, will be used by whoever wishes to download them, but I myself don't intend to use them for practical purposes. The main goal of the challenge would be rather to merely give motivation/inspiration for anyone who wish to participate. It's more about the joy of design and construction, than actually using the final results in-game.

I was thinking that the first ship's backstory would be a converted harvester. I kind of went for a more industrialized, functionality-over-aesthetics design and the flamboyant colors to help it stand out among asteroids. I guess I forgot to mention that with the original post
[doublepost=1542991692,1542991446][/doublepost]In other news, finished installing the turrets and reworking the shields. Now going to spend days smoothing it out...

 

[OfficialCoding]

Sorry I haven't been building any ships for this fleet yet. I've been trying to finish up my battleship. Hopefully when that ship is done I can build a shall ship (maybe Corvette size).

 

[Excelsior]

Hi all !

Pavlvo Corp. is happy to join the challenge ! Here are the W.I.P. pictures of our brand new Assault [put a class name here] ! Just imagine some logic wings and other useless fancy stuff.... And you'll get the big picture of it ^^

92m long so far

 

[kikaha]

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

Hi all !

Pavlvo Corp. is happy to join the challenge ! Here are the W.I.P. pictures of our brand new Assault [put a class name here] ! Just imagine some logic wings and other useless fancy stuff.... And you'll get the big picture of it ^^

92m long so far

Glad that you joined, Excelsior! - The ship's looking good so far. It has a descend form, and it's built cleanly. I like the minimal asymmetry you achieved with the three, instead of four, identical weapon barrels. The logic wings you mentioned should bring it to the next level if made well, it's always nice when large portions of ships are movable.

That's something very interesting you are working on, Kikaha. - Are you going for a highly asymmetrical industrial vessel of some sort? I always like those. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see it evolve!

 

[kikaha]

That's something very interesting you are working on, Kikaha. - Are you going for a highly asymmetrical industrial vessel of some sort? I always like those. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see it evolve!

Thank you. Assymetrical, yes, industrial, well, a little, maybe, most probably.
But this is a military ship. 5 fighter carrier with a futur large docking bay that will double as repair bay for the fighters. This is a covert ops carrier for flash operations. In, out of a sector (2 long jumps loaded and full camo). Launch fighters, kill target (small one, like ambassador ship (hate talking) or precious cargo shuttle) get back remaining fighters and jump away.

In theory :D

 

[Forsyth]

Another update:

Made significant progress in smoothing it out. Front kind of looks like a drill bit now... whatever. Going to continue smoothing and optimizing systems.

 

[DeepspaceMechanic]

kind of looks like a drill bit now

Or like a spear head... It looks fantastic IMO

I always like when slopes of non-45-degree angles are extended on a greater distance, producing uniformly liny surfaces, like in the case of the main body of this ship of your's.

I assume that you know how to use the Remove/Replace filter tool, with large build area dimensions, to mass-replace all of the cubes, wedges, etc. of the hull, from grey to white, after finishing with the overall shape... Though it would look very appealing in this color too.