Pob Heavy Industries

[Pob]

Unfortunately while it looks pretty all the curving, smoothing and details make it hard to get into it.

What? I found it more orderly than a lot of my designs, save maybe the Rhino which was built from huge blocks. All I had to do was remove the back plate to make most of the changes.

 

I did have to "ghost" through the hull by zooming in and use the selector tool to tell what I was looking at to replace the materials though.

 

But if you think the Broadhead is a mess to look at under the hood, you better not strip the Nomad or the Taurus. Those are a mess of trying to get precise numbers, filling in gaps in the sketched hull and optimizing the final product.

The back half and spine is fairly easy to get into, the mess of thrusters that is the front is a different story and that's a major part that needs work

Also this is a cleaned up version, a lot of the armour/hull cladding was originally in very small plates

[Pob]

Going off on a tangent here, but I basically sketch the basic shape of my designs and then build the core of the functional blocks near my guesstimate position of where the CoM would be from my sketch. Everything but thrusters. I keep a decent amount of space free for thrusters to be put in last. I also make sure that the space I keep is going to be as far away from the CoM as possible to maximize maneuverability. Then I slap on some armor and/or hull, glow blocks and add some details. Coat the thing in some paint job and call it a day.

That's probably better than the way I've built things.  ::)

I should be coming up with paper designs, I start with function, what is the ship going to be?

I then think of a general shape & look, nothing on paper just in my head.

I start by building the core internal structure with cubes, block out the rough shape, add and subtract to get the proportions right.

Then I start skinning it in hull/armour here's where the final shape and design form, the broadhead is a great example here, originally I was thinking something something like an enlarged MFF-101 but with a single spine with thruster banks top and bottom and a more wedge shaped front.

However it wasn't right the more I looked at it the more I thought Arrow and that's where the final shape and the name came from a broadhead arrow.

 

Maybe people could prettify my designs, too.  :P

That's a challenge I'll happily take on ;) I'll sit down with the Rhino and see what I can do.

edit: this might take longer than I thought, your block shapes are all over the shop, all multiples of 0.1 ie 14.2x0.6x3.8 it's a pain to work with a grid size of 0.1 on something this large

My first point of advice is when building big sections work to a multiple of 1 or 2 going no smaller than 0.5 for slabs, so 14.2x0.6x3.8 becomes 14x0.5x4 it becomes a lot easier to then align everything to the grid and clad it with angled blocks.

 

EDIT2: Ok I've rebuilt the internals while rounding to whole numbers and I've started skinning it.

stats have changed a little so far

Shields, energy gen and crew quarters have gone up

cargo, energy store have gone down a chunk (eg cargo has gone from 5k to 4k) fighters dropped slightly from 8-64 to 6-52

[Ohm is Futile]

Maybe people could prettify my designs, too.  :P

That's a challenge I'll happily take on ;) I'll sit down with the Rhino and see what I can do.

edit: this might take longer than I thought, your block shapes are all over the shop, all multiples of 0.1 ie 14.2x0.6x3.8 it's a pain to work with a grid size of 0.1 on something this large

My first point of advice is when building big sections work to a multiple of 1 or 2 going no smaller than 0.5 for slabs, so 14.2x0.6x3.8 becomes 14x0.5x4 it becomes a lot easier to then align everything to the grid and clad it with angled blocks.

Actually, I find it decently easy to work with, I basically went with multiples of 0.15 for the Rhino I think. Most of it should actually be either off of 0.6 and 0.3 with only the smaller blocks being 0.15. Everything should work out nicely if you use a grid size of 0.15 (or 0.05 for the really small stuff).

 

Some of my earlier designs were a bit more... let's say messy in terms of scaling. The most glaring exceptions would be hyperspace cores because of OCD. I tend to make sure they result in integers.

 

Anyways, I usually work with multiples with the smallest unit being divisible by 2 for easier grid management.... but I do get messy sometimes  :P

[Pob]

ok in my dropbox (link in first post) is a "rhino reskin WIP.xml" have a look and see what you think so far?

 

What colours did you use?  I wish they was an easy way to see the colour applied to a block.

 

I had a bit of trouble with the nose section as that was a x.5 size and the shaft connecting it to the main body is a x.0 size, which meant I had a 0.25 step on all sides.

 

One thing I've found good to eliminate annoying 0.25 blocks most of the time is keep the scale at 0.5 and the grid to 0.25, you just have to watch out for central x.5 blocks

[Ohm is Futile]

I'd say it's a bit early to say much, although I like that it looks like it's going to look more bold and I like that. As for the original colors, they were dark grey and olive I believe (or was it dark olive? d'oh!).

 

I should make a text file and keep a log of scales and colors I use.

[Pob]

Here we go

I'm still not 100% happy with the front blade bit and so save time I just copied over your engine pontoons

I've left it up to you to paint it you can find it in my dropbox.

 

[Ohm is Futile]

Cool! I'll take a look around, give it a paint job and stick it in the collection with due credits.

[Pob]

Another couple of new ships coming, sneak peek

 

After active testing the Mule while looking nice isn't that functional, the Bee however is very functional, so to make a better cargo freighter?

Make a bigger Bee, stick a cargo hold in the middle and we have the new MegaBee.

[spoiler=animated gif]

 

Projected cost

$630,472

Iron 7,200

Naonite 1,916

Trinium 34,643

Xanion 32,600

 

 

Still not BIG enough?  Don't worry we here at Pob heavy industries have you covered, with generous application of our new motivational-electrified-pokey-stick^tm the design team has come up with the GigaBee

[spoiler=animated gif]

 

When asked to comment on the new design our head designer said this:

"Please stop shouting BIGGER at me, please!"

[Warrax]

Hi Pob

 

Thanx for the stripped down version ... of the Rhino and the other one.

I have a suggestion.  If you were to move the thrusters on either ship to the extreme corners (away from "centre of mass" where practical), pound for pound, your stats may be enhanced ... (Maybe ?)  Lemme know how it turns out.  GL :P

 

For a pictorial of what I mean, maybe check out my stripped downs and my thruster placement(s).

http://www.avorion.net/forum/index.php/topic,2539.msg13054.html#msg13054

 

I hope dis helps

 

Cheers :)

[Ohm is Futile]

Hi Pob

 

Thanx for the stripped down version ... of the Rhino and the other one.

I have a suggestion.  If you were to move the thrusters on either ship to the extreme corners (away from "centre of mass" where practical), pound for pound, your stats may be enhanced ... (Maybe ?)  Lemme know how it turns out.  GL :P

 

For a pictorial of what I mean, maybe check out my stripped downs and my thruster placement(s).

http://www.avorion.net/forum/index.php/topic,2539.msg13054.html#msg13054

 

I hope dis helps

 

Cheers :)

From your post, I get the feeling that you're using the stable branch, which makes all of this a bit awkward because the mechanics changed significantly. But yes, in theory, the further the better (but can make things a bit awkward).

 

If you want tips regarding thruster placement, I listed the best positions for each axis:

As a rule of thumb:

Yaw: mirrored forward-facing thrusters placed in-line with the center of mass on the sides as far as possible. Also possible is side-facing thrusters placed in-line with the center of mass from the front or back. Again, the farther, the better.

Pitch: up-down facing thrusters placed in-line with the center of mass from the front or back. Forward-facing thrusters in-line with the center of mass from the top of bottom.

Roll: up-down facing thrusters placed in-line with the center of mass from the sides. Side-facing thrusters placed in-line with the center of mass from the top or bottom.

 

Ironically, I was answering you in that post, too. Anyways, for example, looking at your ships:

Argento: good placement in general.

Audax: wastes a bit of rotation potential with some thrusters closer to the core. The same applies to almost every other ship.

 

Anyways, I'm probably going to make a videos on ship design (not for the aesthetics, lol) to get the most functionality and just generally make the experience more enjoyable and efficient.

 

[Warrax]

Heya Ohm

 

From your post above - regarding the Audax, agreed - but those thrusters i think you are referring to are my brake thrust thrusters, so I have those on a stubby pod near the centre.

 

Generally, I specialize thrusters - trying to place em as well as I can - but its does not show well in the pic.

Side thrusters

Up/Down thrusters and

Brake Thrusters.

In the version I have, I am still using slices (but again, in the pics, it was early in the build, so I had not slabbed them by the time of the picture).

 

I am hoping I am correct in my thinking.

In any case, I appreciate the insight you have shared. :)

 

(To see the pictures Ohm and I are referring to ... see:

http://www.avorion.net/forum/index.php/topic,2539.msg13054.html#msg13054 )

 

Cheerio

;D

[Pob]

Well it's live now and quite a few people are going to have to learn the new mechanics and devote more time and mass to thrusters now.

I've also spotted some odd mechanics with the directional thrusters I think depth might be more important than volume, ie, we'll go from slab to stick thrusters.

I need to do some testing to see if I'm right or not.

 

EDIT testing done in the latest beta 0.11.7677 and I was wrong, it's volume and placement that's important.

For the best pitch and yaw numbers you want a cross shaped ship with directional thrusters pointing front/back on the ends of the cross.

I have an idea for a heavy cruiser which will look a little odd but will perform very well

[Pob]

Well as I've re-installed the game, because I was having some stability issues, I've started again which means some low tier ships.

 

With that I've added my new starter ship, the Gnat-102, there is a 101 it was 1/3 the size and just too small, 102 is basically the same just rebuilt larger.

 

I did back up my old ships and galaxies so there is other stuff on the way. ;)

[Pob]

Sneak peek at the new MFF-201, although it's not very multi-function

 

Cost is around

$200k

iron 5k

Titanium 6k

naonite 15k

 

Naonite internals with a smallish iron inertial damper, with Titanium skin, engines and thrusters, I've taken care with the thrusters placement for decent numbers and everything is very easy to access.

The skin is all hull blocks except for the nose which is armour and covers the crew quarters (hardest part to access)

The thrusters are exposed for direct access, although not obvious due to blocks covering their ports

The internals have access via a thin strip of framework on the top and bottom and lets the glow be seen.

Finally their are multiple small integrity field generators exposed on the outside of the hull (I pinched that idea from

Ohm is Futile ;) )

 

Here is a thruster pod showing the layout

All the coloured blocks are directional thrusters.

The red block is left/right

The green block is up/down

and the two blue blocks are front/back

The yaw was weak so I did add a small titanium gyro, it's the base block of the bridge on top of the hull, you can just see the edge of the bridge in that image.

[Pob]

MF-201 finalised, I'm really happy with how it's come out although I think I might of gone a bit overboard on the shields, maybe reduce them slightly and fill the space with some hyperspace cores?

[Wilponderoci]

Your ships look more like mine  8)

 

Maybe I'll post some ;)

 

Really nice design's pob!

 

 

[19MT70]

Lol Pob that ship is *exactly* the type I was working on before I got in the semi for this week of work. I was building a lower tier ship with at least 4 slots that's fast, maneuverable and has decent shields to use primarily for sector searching in higher tier areas for secret stashes and claimable asteroids. The only thing I'd need to add to yours to fit my desires would be hyperspace cores to extend the base range.

[19MT70]

MF-201 finalised, I'm really happy with how it's come out although I think I might of gone a bit overboard on the shields, maybe reduce them slightly and fill the space with some hyperspace cores?

 

Nah, leave the shields if you can and sneak the cores on as an outside layer somewhere and move the armor on top of it.

[Pob]

Question: What do people think of the Bee series designs?

I've made a new Bee-103, only using Naonite & Titanium although the total cost is nearly double that of the Bee-102

It's got a hyperspace core, a big chunk of the cost, so it can follow along and scrap/mine, they are meant to be drone's that's why I named the series Bee.

Only issue is that I'm not that happy with the look and I'm thinking of a total redesign.

Yes they are cube's but I tried to make them interesting cubes.

[Pob]

New in the MFF-202

 

Same as the mff-201 however I've replaced the hull blocks with armour and added a hyperspace cube, it's range is only 6 but I find that enough for the Naonite stage and can always add an upgrade for more if needed.

Hard points are 2x  single gun under the nose (up to 0.5 size), 1x double small (it should just fit two 0.3 weapons) on the tip of the nose and 1x tripple block on the top (big enough for 3x 0.5 side by side)

[Ohm is Futile]

Love the new MFF, not as excited about the Mule and GigaBee. I just feel that they don't look as good as your other designs.

 

(I pinched that idea from Ohm is Futile ;) )

Haha, no worries, feel free to steal ideas anytime! I don't mind.

 

Anyways, keep it up, actually quite impressed by the new MFF. Such stats, much style! Wow!

[19MT70]

Yeah the new MFF is awesome!

[Pob]

Sneak Peek at the New StarStrider range of ships.

the 100 series is smaller and near enough finished, although I've been testing it, has modules and weapons on it, so some of the stats are wrong.

the 200 is the larger sister, I've still not finished the nose or paint job but it's mostly there

 

They are both Naonite and Trinium, the long stalks of the thruster pods are made of engines, each pod has 2 raised weapon hard points to give 360 firing arcs

 

Still haven't broken my habit of cladding everything with armour/hull

[19MT70]

Awesome stuff!

[Pob]

StarStrider 100 and 200 now up :)