PeskyFly PeskyFly

Show off your ship designs 2008!

Show off your ship designs 2008!

I designed a ship in my current sandbox game, which is the first ship I'd like to post on the forums. It's the first ship I've designed to look completely unrelated to it's base hull. It does not use KHSM(making it fully metaverse-legal), and in fact uses only 5 extras. It's a Terran medium hull which represents what I imagine us humans to actually make space warships look like when we eventually have to militarize space(against aliens or against ourselves) - water-based ships. Although I actually expect humans to make space warships which resemble submarines, I couldn't put together a decent looking submarine design, so I made the medium hull 'Katana-Class' hunter-killer surveyor instead.

Of course, the ship was designed in 2008, so I'm not going to put it in last year's thread. Feel free to put your more recent ship designs here.




It's a DA ship, which is too bad. If I had TA, with it's rotating parts, the front turret could have actually been made to spin. (:(

Details: The ship design isn't a warship of the line. No, that role would of course be taken by huge hulls. This thing is designed to speed around killing freighters, constructors, starbases, transports, small fighters, flagships, etc. in times of war. Of course, everyone in my present game(at the time when the design was created) was either allied to me, part of my empire(culturally conquered), or allied to me and undergoing a peaceful integration into my empire. In fact, I hadn't yet invaded any planet at all, though I had flipped about 60% of the the galaxy. So far, the Iconians, Korx, Altarians, Yor, Torians and Exploitrons have all fallen in this manner. This leaves only the Drengin and Thalan independent, protected for now by a freak 'native cultural power' event.

But every time an evil empire finally gave in to my culture, their warships would go astray as pirates, with no fleets and no bonuses supporting them. This threatened slow-moving constructors and space miners working in the region, and called for a ship to mop up the pirates. So I upgraded my aging, obsolete, neglected Terran Alliance Flagship, which had eventually given up it's survey duties to smaller, zippier ships and was lying unnoticed in the orbit of Iconia 5. These smaller ships were now outclassed by the Katana and retired to picket duties.

The ol' Flagship already had the anomaly plating, HP-booster techs, and Xinathium required to kill any pirate-ized frigate using the tie-rule exploit, and with a bit of experience and another layer of anomaly plating, it could kill off a pirate battleship using the same exploit.

It's so far done it's anti-pirate duties as expected, and though it will probably never make up for it's upgrade costs, it's already paid off several years worth of maintenance with 1000 bc and 250 bc anomalies. No ships of the Katana class were actually ever built, with only my flagship's upgrading and renaming taking place. The new name was derived from Douglas Adams' Life, The Universe and Everything:

"But while these spaceships, and other great ones come to mind, such as the Galactic Fleet Battleships-the GSS Daring, the GSS Audacity and the GSS Suicidal Insanity-are all spoken of with awe, pride, enthusiasm, affection, admiration, regret, jealousy, resentment, in fact..."
857,831 views 307 replies
Reply #176 Top
ugh double post... sorry.
Reply #177 Top
My first attempt at a ship design. I did in the demo earlier lol.

I saw a dead scorpion in the light fixture... decided to try and make a ship that resembled one. I had no idea the Ship Builder was this flexible...








Reply #178 Top
That Scorpion is really well done HazMask! the detail in the legs and torso is really good, along with the way the pincers line up. Well done mate!

Mzuz the Helix is an incredibly attractive fighter, its smooth lines and semi-modular looking sections look swift and lethal with an elegant pose about it. I love it!! Somehow I think that Lord Vega is going to imitate that design as soon as he gets a chance :HOT:
Reply #179 Top
Indeed, looking good :)
Reply #180 Top
Sweet scorpion Haz. You're right: the Shipyard is unbelievable.

Latest from my yard...a rebuild of one of my first and still most favorite designs. Really crunching the graphics card on this one.





WHD-191 "Wolfhound" Guided Missile Destroyer
&
X-WHD-SSX "Novahound" Guided Missile Destroyer


Medium Hulls, DA (No mods), 65 and 202 parts, respectively.


*Note the WHD-191 was posted in the 2007 thread and is provided for comparison purposes.


Also a special shout-out to Kyro for helping me trouble-shoot my disappearing ship parts problem that allowed me to complete the SSX. Now, on with the show...and some little fiction I thought up during the 17+ total hours I spent working on it.

Enjoy. C&C welcome.

(Here's a real game story for you Peskyfly :P )

BEGIN TRANSMISSION...
DECODING...

HIGHEST PRIORITY
SOURCE: KRYNN INTELLIGENCE ORDER OPERATIONS IN THE GULF WORLDS

Greetings to the High Consulate:

Since it was initially fielded during our blessed Krynn Consulate's tragic Third Jihad the Gulf World's WHD-191 series Wolfhound Class Guided Missile Destroyer (DDG) with it's signature armored node ring, has become the iconic representation of both the Gulf Worlds Confederacy's naval power and ingenuity.



It was during that conflict that Wolfhound hull number 5086, "The Fightin Fifty Eighty-six," later immortalized by the holovid of the same name, Kiss of the Blood Lotus, 3:10 to Toria, Tora Toria and more than a dozen other human films, waged a lone and unsupported holding action against our Torian allies, decimating two full Torian Strike Fleets in a series of spectacular hit and run engagements along the expanse of space known as the Torian Corridor.

As a result of the devastating losses it inflicted , it's unique appearance, and what was, at the time, it's seemingly invincible ECM suite, Torian crews quickly nicknamed the design the "Blood Lotus" after a deadly and especially vicious carnivorous plant native to their homeworld. During the war we naturally adopted our allies designation and amongst our own forces the design is still most often referred to by this name.

Of course the tragedy of the Torian Corridor affair highlighted the need of the High Consulate to adopt the long standing recommendation of the Intelligence Order for greater technological exchange between the Krynn and our allies. While our own forces operating in Confederacy space were not so clearly outmatched the Blood Lotus still proved to be a capable vessel whose introduction was instrumental in bringing the Third Jihad grinding to a unsatisfying close.

Since the end of that conflict a few short years ago export model Wolfhounds with downgraded electronics and weapon systems (our Intelligence Order has designated these as "Service Pack 2 "vessels) have found their way into a number of navies. Today primary users remain the Gulf Worlds Confederacy and the Snathi, with a smaller number serving in both the Arcean and the Iconian fleets as well as other independent navies.

(And now a bunch of nonsense, not related to the game in any way...)

Since the end of hostilities, our own operatives working amongst the Snathi covertly aquired a 191-Series vessel for us. That vessel is currently under study within Krynn Space.

However this Operative has discovered a troubling new development, necessitating this transmission..

It is with great sadness that I must report to the High Consulate the completion of construction on a new and this Operative believes far more dangerous "Blood Lotus DDG.



The Gulf Worlds' Experimental Design Bureau's prototype X-WHD-SSX "Nova Hound" represents the next evolution of their Wolfhound design. The Nova Hound maintains many of it's predecessor's unique design elements in a sleeker more aggressive, more powerful warship.

The WHD-SSX's Node Ring, always a vulnerable point of the 191 series, has been heavily reinforced. Additionally, the Node Ring's reactive/reflective armor has been significantly expanded. The original Hyperdrive engines have been replaced with dual experimental Trinity Wakedrives. Of course, immediately noticeable is the redesign of the bow and forward bridge stuctures.





IT SHOULD NOT IN ANY EVENT BE MISTAKEN BY OUR OWN FORCES OR THOSE OF OUR ALLIES FOR ANY WHD-191 SERIES BLOOD LOTUS OR MODIFICATION THEREOF.

Sources close to us inside Gulf Worlds space have informed this operative that the advancements represented by the WHD-SSX are far too significant to be either an upgrade package or a field modification and it is also reported that the Confederate Shipyards on Dresdae have begun retooling to support full production of this new vessel.



It is likely that the Confederacy's 17th Fleet currently operating along our own border in the Iron Triangle will recieve the initial shipment of Nova Hounds with other units to follow over the next 18 to 24 months. It is highly probable, given the Confederacy's past actions, that the older vessels they replace will be refurbished and sold to the Snathi, among others, rather than scrapped.

It is the opinion of this Operative, that our own blessed Krynn Consulate make every effort to determine the full operational capabilities of the Nova Houndl as soon as is reasonable and though it seems unlikely, if at all possible. acqiuire one for further study.

Your Most Humble Servant,

END TRANSMISSION


Reply #181 Top
wow Kool ships f.v.constantine!!!!

Nasty
Reply #182 Top
Constantine the SSX Nova Hound looks sleek, smooth and durable from every angle, like a poisonous dart from the top to a slippery, aerodynamic (excuse the spaceship not being in air) and sensor-invisible shell from the rear. Especially loving the engines aye, they have an incredible amount of detail in them and they look awesome! Definitely stealing that style as well :D
Reply #183 Top
(Please excuse the lack of textures)

The Normandy-class cruiser is heavily armed and more of a 'pocket battleship' than a true cruiser; the Normandy-class was first in service near the end of the First Galactic War. It is arguable that the introduction of the Normandy-class led to the final demise of the Yor Collective, however critics cite that the small squadron available on the front lines was not significant enough to cause a turn in the tide of battle. Even more critical voices said that the Normandy arrived in time to clean up the battered remains of larger battles that the more widely available Tallenbach-B and -C classes had borne the brunt of.



A quantum leap in capability from the Tallenbach-B, the C-revision of the Tallenbach-class destroyer has become the mainstay of the Navy. Well armed and protected, long range and respectable speed, the Tallenbach-C is suited to patrol, exploration and combat operations. The Tallenbach-C served with distinction on the front lines during the First Galactic War, fighting many of the largest battles. The arrival of the Normandy-class to supplement the power of the Tallenbach-C was said to lead to victory, however many say that victory was already within reach before that, that victory rode on the back of the Tallenbach-class destroyers.

Reply #185 Top
With the new animated parts it's more difficult to get the actual designs to show how they look in the game with just a screenie so I tried something. Basically three screenshots put into a gif animator :)


Not an elaborate design by any means, but maybe a good idea for those with a lot of animation they would like to show off.
Reply #186 Top
Ignore this reply :)
Reply #187 Top
Just a little fighter i threw together



Reply #188 Top
I like the look of the Tallenbach...but why no textures? It really takes away from the designs.
End of quote


Unfortunately my gfx card won't display them on GCII for some reason. It doesn't seem to have a problem with textures for other 3d games. I just have a GeForce Go 4400 w/ 64MB, and I have the most recent drivers.
Reply #189 Top
Here's a couple more:

The Tuscon-class battleship:



The Burke-class cruiser which as supplanted the Normandy-class cruiser in primary combat operations:



And finally, a redesign--again--of the Tallenbach-class destroyer yielded the new Austin-class:



I'm thinking the Austin would have been better with the wings tilted down a bit like the Tallenbach. What do you guys think?

As you can see, I get hooked on one style of design and keep playing with it ;)
Reply #190 Top
DethAdder--the animation looks cool. The design kind of looks like some kind of cross between a bullet train and a flying hand iron. I do really like the bullet train looking front of it. I think you should stretch out that rear and slap some big engines on it and it would look pretty wild.

LordKona--that is pretty sweet man. I like the way you used the weird special edition triangular deals...one of my heavily used and abused pieces too.

RogueIdea--Man get a new(er) graphics card. I've got a PNY GEForce FX5200 PCI card with 256MB DDR...even that is ancient, laughable really--you can probably pick one up for about $70 USD nowadays.

In the meantime, if you want PM me and I'll give you my email. You can send me the .shipcfg & .xml files in a zip folder and I'll screenshot it on my sys when I get some time and zip it back to you for posting.

Reply #192 Top
RogueIdea--Man get a new(er) graphics card. I've got a PNY GEForce FX5200 PCI card with 256MB DDR...even that is ancient, laughable really--you can probably pick one up for about $70 USD nowadays. In the meantime, if you want PM me and I'll give you my email. You can send me the .shipcfg & .xml files in a zip folder and I'll screenshot it on my sys when I get some time and zip it back to you for posting.
End of quote


Well I'd like to get a new gfx card but I've got a notebook PC...so it won't work unless they make USB gfx cards :p

Reply #194 Top
Unfortunately my gfx card won't display them on GCII for some reason. It doesn't seem to have a problem with textures for other 3d games. I just have a GeForce Go 4400 w/ 64MB, and I have the most recent drivers.
End of quote


Try the workaround described in reply #2 of this thread if you want to try and get textures working without buying a new system.
Reply #195 Top
Try the workaround described in reply #2 of this thread if you want to try and get textures working without buying a new system.
End of quote


Wow, thanks alot kryo! It worked!
Reply #196 Top
Some nice ships in here!
Reply #197 Top
Ok, thanks to Kryo and back by popular demand xD, the ships of the 7th Expeditionary Fleet!

The Tuscon-class fast battleship is designed for long range patrol and interdiction. The Tuscon-class is a capable, well armed and well defended combatant, but cannot stand up to ships of similar size with heavier armaments and lesser speed.



The 'warp ring' is responsible for the greater speed of the Tuscon-class. The ring bends and streamlines the warp field enhancing speed, but the added size and weight of this ring reduces the hull capacity available for weapons.



Another view of the streamlined shape:



The B-series Burke-class cruiser is both a redesign and upgrade from the original. Boasting heavier weapons complement and upgraded defenses, the Burke B-class is a formidable opponent.



The Burke and Burke-B ships were at one time the fastest ships of their time--that is, before the debut of the Tuscon-class, and in this image the warp bending fins can be seen to the aft of the ship:



A final shot of the Burke-B series:



The Austin-class destroyer is a follow on and redesign of the aging Tallenbach-class.



The as the Austin-class destroyers come online, they are replacing the Tallenbach-class as the mainstay of the fleet.



And finally, the Tallenbach-class: the ship that won the Boarder Wars:





Read about these ships in action in my ongoing saga: "Shadow Sun: Expansion Wars Part I"
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Reply #198 Top
The newest from Terran Shipyards, the Lathe class destroyer!





(It doesn't have weapond because I just hopped into a Battle of the Gods senario and started creating.)
Reply #200 Top
Actually DethAdder your design reminded me of this:
End of quote


lol. Yea I guess it does :) . Actually that was thrown together in about five minutes just for the purpose of doing the animation. When I sit down to design a ship for real I'll be in the designer for 45 minutes or more playing around. Not that I design anything great , but a little better than the above. I need to get one together for a better animated example and add a few more frames to it for smoother movement.