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..."
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Reply #101 Top
@General Homsar,

Awesome Katana-Class frigate. The Berlin is also impressive with that hangar bay :CONGRAT: . But how do you achieve that nose section? It looks sharper than the standard Terran medium hull nose disc-thing(used on the Flagship). Or is it just the glossy black paint scheme that makes it look sleeker?

Anyway, here are some more designs I'd like to present:

1. F-99 Blitz fighter squadron - Made with Kryo's Hull System Mod

This was not actually designed to fight in any actual game. I just opened up a new Battle of the Gods scenario, bought a Hyperion Shrinker, designed this "ship", and bought one just to take the screenshot.



Unfortunately, I didn't save this game and went back to my actual game after the screenshot session, which means the design is lost. Why I didn't save this game, is obvious:



2. Poseidon Class dreadnought - Made without mods

This is a now-old design from January, used on the Milky Way map to spearhead the offensive against the Dread Lords. The Dread Lords had nearly consumed the Torians and Arceans, and forced the Drengin into surrendering(to me). The Krynn had not joined my alliance, the Iconians had surrendered to the Korx, and the Korx and Yor had their militaries crushed in a war against each other. So only I and the Altarians could do something about the Dread Lords. The Poseidon's task was set.



In the actual heat of war, however, the Poseidon never even came within sight of a Dread Lords ship - Seeker fighters had blockaded their troop transports, Polaris Class frigates had smashed their orbital defenses, and the Arceans and Altarians had kept their deadly Frigates busy(they had only 4 frigates anyway). I invaded their homeworld before the Poseidons could arrive.
Reply #102 Top
I finally got an image taker thanks to Hoversnap, which is awesome for this. I have 3 ships to show but have to sort thru my images and then I will post them tomorrow afternoon. Nice Mechas, and nice ships all around.
Reply #103 Top
Uh, Using Image Shack, what do I have to do to get my pictures to show up properly in a way that can be enlarged?
Reply #105 Top
"Or is it just the glossy black paint scheme that makes it look sleeker?"

The paint scheme. If anyone's intrested, the trim color is the default dark grey on the pallette.
Reply #106 Top
*can't Edit my blank post, sorry for the spammishness...*

One that I am working on and had finished several months ago got corrupted some how before I even upgraded from ver. 1.06. Its huge, and the original had over 500 parts used to complete it. Might be why it corrupted. But I had an earlier save of the ship in its initial form, which took me all of 10 min to complete. The Devil is in the details so they say.

Mark 1 Crusader: This is the GC2 version of a Lego ship I used to have. It is the first version of the venerable Super Battle Carrier(SBCa)class of the Ven Protectorate(my custom race). It has 4 Hangars, 2 on each side:


You can see the fighter and small support class ships hangar near the middle of the image, and the large capital ships hangar to the left in the middle of the wing. The hangar is very open to allow easy maneuvering in and out for the capital ships that can use it.


Here is the side view of the ship, where you can see better the multi level fighter hangar and a glimpse inside the capital ships hangar:


The top view, you can see the areas where the hangars are on both sides. And into the pit where the capital ships go:


The rear view:


Now my pride and joy which took me about an hour to make perfect to my liking, the main planetary and capital ship cannons. I hadn't thought of putting turrets on yet, so these are the only weapons this version has that aren't from the selection of weapons we have to choose from. They are used to bombard, slow moving capital ships with high amounts of psionic energy. The power output can be measured to simply disable, cut through and sever, or completely obliterate the ship in question. While they can do significant damage to a planet, they could not outright obliterate a planet or large moon. However, they are never used to do such damage. *The Ven Protectorate leader, Abraxas, has condemned the use of the main cannons for such destruction to any planet that can support life. Most often this damage results in serious if not completely lethal destruction of the planets environment.* Each cannon can shot in a 20 degree arc from their fixed position, together or individually. This makes their field of fire very large in front of the ship.


The last picture shows the 2 large, psionic generators that are used on the ship. They are near the fore and aft of the underside, marked with 4 lights from their domes. The rear generator(primary) supplies power for the entire ship systems, except the main cannons. It has more than enough power for all the defensive and offensive capabilities and ships essential support systems. The 2 main cannons have their own dedicated generator which has just as much power as the primary generator. This allows for astounding amounts of energy to be fired from the cannons in sustained bursts or quick successive disabling shots with recharge being few and far between. Because the Psi energy is not very hot, passive cooling from space allows the cannons to be fired for extended periods with little to no rest in between shots:


More to come, and next time I will condense some of the pictures together to save space and load times. Next: Crusader MK2
Reply #108 Top
The Ronin class Frigate of Mother Arcea was - and still is - a marvel of modern engineering with only one (AES Dawn, KIA Jun 2236) every lost in combat, and only so when on route to a rally point and ambushed by a Dregin killer fleet. And yet now news has arrived that will send a cold shiver down even a Korath.. A leaked Spy Picture of the Arcean Empire's latest warship, the battleship sized Shogun class, ruler of the space lanes and everything she sees.

From what we can see from this picture the Shogun currently has six Capital Weaponry grade batteries which are all mounted on rotating pivots and ludicrously more powerful than a Ronin class Frigates Capital Weaponry grade battery. It's been estimated that a volley from any two of these new batteries would be able to disintegrate a Ronin class Frigate (strongest vessel in the known universe at this point in time).

In a very regular pattern along the entire length of both sides, top, bottom, front and rear of the Shogun can be seen Fighter Weaponry grade batteries, making a fighter attack virtually impossible to even contemplate for a commander. Even if they tried, the Shogun would just launch its 2 full squadrons of fighters from its cavernous, mid mounted fighter bay, squadron of bombers from its rear mounted bay and squadron of boarding craft from the rear bay. In the case of a Frigate sized vessel being damaged in battle it has been estimated that a Shogun could move all of its flight wings to the fighter hanger and literally maneuver the crippled Frigate into its rear hanger and safeguard it for the duration of the battle, before taking it back for repairs if the damage is to extensive to be repaired on board.



More photos shall be made available by Lord Vega as the Shogun class becomes operational.
Reply #109 Top
I like all of the new ship designs
Reply #110 Top
Although the Thalans had been long-time allies with the Alliance, some feared that they would "wise up" to the latter's cultural insurrection of the former. To aleviate these worries, Lockeed Martin unveiled the Alliance's newest dreadnought to an ecstatic audience in late 2247.



When asked about the ship's odd name, Captain Kro'karr, the first Drengin to acheive a command role in Terran Starfleeet responded, "Because anyone who's idot enough to attack will soon be as extict as my ship's namesake."
Reply #111 Top
I've got more and belive it or not, better, shots of the T-Rex. :HOT: 
Reply #112 Top
Here are three of my tholian base designs



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more tholain ships to come
Reply #113 Top
I made this one too big can't add weapons and use it in the game.



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Reply #114 Top
This shot shows the Ragnarok's main phasor battery, as well as two of her four engine nacalles.



A unique feature of the Ragnarok is the command saucer, which can be jettisoned as a whole, or should the need arise, only one half can be detached. Although the junction point was a weakness on early prototypes, it is nigh-impossible to cause structural failure on the service versions.

Reply #115 Top
Hehe, it seems that I created a "Hanger craze" with the Ronin class's pioneering design! I name Terran Starfleet's Berlin class Frigate sized vessel and the Ven Protectorate's esteemed flagship the Crusader class Dreadnought sized vessel, along with Arcea's own Shogun class Battleship sized vessel as prime examples.

Congrats to the General, Uorx and PeskyFly on creating some absolutely amazing vessels, the talent of the players around here is amazing!
Reply #116 Top
That 'big slab' piece that forms the Katana's main hull seems to be really popular as well. It's used on the General's Katana, the Ronin, the Berlin, the Crusader, my Poseidon, the Shogun, and the Ragnarok.

I tried to design a carrier, but couldn't come up with anything I liked. After seeing the "strike craft" system in Sins of a Solar Empire, and their carrier designs(such as the outrageous Aeria), it seems bitter to be reminded of the lack of true fighters in GalCiv, especially since the gunboat-style Tiny/Small hulls have been nerfed by ye ol' DA tie rule. This was the concept behind the Blitz fighters - a 'fighter' force that actually stands a chance.

A huge-hulled carrier could be added to the design, with the fighters pushed over to the side, but then it would look weird in battle for the fighters to always move at a fixed distance from their carrier. Maybe TA's animated parts could be combined some day with some kind of KHSM-for-TA to make some carriers who's fighters actually appear to make sweeping passes at the enemy. Maybe.

Until then, the closest we have to fighters is to have a fighter swarm design independent of a carrier, use the Super Warrior ability with large Tiny/Small fleets, or have a carrier with a symbolic hangar bay like the Berlin, who's fighters are statues when it comes to the Combat Viewer.
Reply #117 Top
That 'big slab' piece that forms the Katana's main hull seems to be really popular as well. It's used on the General's Katana, the Ronin, the Berlin, the Crusader, my Poseidon, the Shogun, and the Ragnarok.
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Yep, shamelessly stolen from your original post to trial in my Ronin, then because it was so very awesome it became the foundation of the Shogun as well!

A huge-hulled carrier could be added to the design, with the fighters pushed over to the side, but then it would look weird in battle for the fighters to always move at a fixed distance from their carrier. Maybe TA's animated parts could be combined some day with some kind of KHSM-for-TA to make some carriers who's fighters actually appear to make sweeping passes at the enemy. Maybe.
End of quote


I remember there was a piece in DL that had a hard point that was actually a fair way away from the actual piece just floating in space at a fixed location from the piece.. If its still in TA and still glitched like that then you could have it rotating on its axis, along with anouther one on a different axis and have at least a fighter doing a random/elliptical orbit of the carrier craft.
Reply #118 Top
I remember there was a piece in DL that had a hard point that was actually a fair way away from the actual piece just floating in space at a fixed location from the piece.. If its still in TA and still glitched like that then you could have it rotating on its axis, along with anouther one on a different axis and have at least a fighter doing a random/elliptical orbit of the carrier craft.
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Interesting !!! good Ideal !!!
Reply #119 Top
I remember there was a piece in DL that had a hard point that was actually a fair way away from the actual piece just floating in space at a fixed location from the piece.. If its still in TA and still glitched like that then you could have it rotating on its axis, along with anouther one on a different axis and have at least a fighter doing a random/elliptical orbit of the carrier craft.
End of quote


That was exactly what I meant.

The specifically required piece would be "1x Hardpoint Modifier" or whatever it was called, from Kryo's Hull System Mod for Dark Avatar. You can place a floating hardpoint at any position in random space, and then stick a "Delta" piece(also from KHSM) on this hardpoint to get 9 hardpoints in a triangular pattern as shown above on the Blitz Squadron. Build a squadron of fighters like the Blitz shown above on those 9 Delta harpoints, animate the Hardpoint Modifier piece, and voila.

You should have the fighters apparently flying paths independent of their carrier, and if your weapons modules were on the fighters like the Blitz Squad, then the weapons fire should also shoot from the fighters. I predict that when this actually becomes a reality though, the fighter squads will end up really slowing down the Combat Viewer's FPS. And of course, you need Kryo's HSM in TA as well.
Reply #120 Top
Hehe, it seems that I created a "Hanger craze" with the Ronin class's pioneering design! I name Terran Starfleet's Berlin class Frigate sized vessel and the Ven Protectorate's esteemed flagship the Crusader class Dreadnought sized vessel, along with Arcea's own Shogun class Battleship sized vessel as prime examples.

Congrats to the General, Uorx and PeskyFly on creating some absolutely amazing vessels, the talent of the players around here is amazing!
End of quote


To be factual, the Crusader design was done in its current form about October of 2007. I just decided to stop being lazy and post it. I have always loved the idea of a capital ship with massive amounts of fighters and support craft housed inside it. The New Crusader, will show a new design based on the same frame.

Ty for the kudos.
Reply #121 Top
While the Shogun made waves across the galaxy as the first warship to top the famed Berlin Class carrier, Terran scientists working secretly at the Locksteed Martin Skunkworks in Area 551 of the isolated Xeta Tri sector were making breakthroughs of their own. With spies detected and swatted out every time around, information about the new ship was only heard of by the outside world when news was released to the Terran public about the Terran Alliances new "Light" Carrier, which is yet unnamed but very deadly. What you're about to see is a much watered down prototype of what the actual thing will be, with this display piece having a mere fraction of the final version's capability.

*Curtain Raises*





Unlike the older Ronin and Berlin designs, this ship has not one but TWO fighter bays: one in front, one larger one in the back. Lets take a look at the front end "gaping maw" fighter bay, designed for keeping at least one squadron on constant alert. This shot is taken from the flight deck, and shows a pair of common Terran F-92 fighters ready for takeoff on their hyperdrive-catapults.



But now we see a shot from behind the ship. There appears to be a pair of odd flying-wing fighters here... known only by the code number '97'. There capabilities remain unknown. There's also a 'dark side' at the hangar's end... what could that be for?



Of course, this ship is no slouch itself. With heavy Kanvium armor in the pipeline for production versions and turret-mounted Photon Torpedo launchers, this thing can stand a fight against any contemporary warship without even deploying a fighter.

And Super Dominators? One word: Tasty.

Edit: Sorry, the pictures seem to be kind of blurry and low-res after transferring them from my laptop to my internet desktop. Don't know why, so y'all will have to do with these low-res things for now. When the actual ship rolls out, it'll be displayed here as well.
Reply #122 Top
Hey Daniel, how do you post the small thumbs which pop into large images on Imageshack?

I would like to figure out how to do that to save some space instead of cobbling together images for one big shot. That or posting them as large singles, which adds load time significantly.

Assuming that Imageshack doesn't have a tantrum and decide to not show them like you intended, which I notice these last two shots of yours it is not showing well.

Jiggymonkey, you also have done the Thumbs to large image linking well, how do we do that?
Reply #123 Top
just go to imageshack and load the picture there. Using the link for websites. post it here. Do not use the link command above. Just copy and paste.


Those last two shoots were loaded differently
Reply #124 Top
here are my bases again



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Reply #125 Top
OK! Got it. Will post my next tomorrow... its 4am here...bed time. I got off work about an hour ago.