Civilian Explorer

[Tic]

Few days ago I set off to make a civilian gunboat in my spare time(no offense to who ever made the other one, but I somehow didn't like the idea of flying an overfed eagle) but with time my idea evolved into something different. I came up with this, a ship that is supposed to take on a role of a deep space explorer, operating anywhere in Sirius with ease. It is designed for utility more than anything else(heavy armor, radar, additional cargo bay, docking bay for small miners/fighters/bombers/small freighters etc.). I tried to design it as an all purpose RP platform. My idea of it is to be a heavy version of Kusari Explorer, but available to all houses(thus the generic civilian liner textures).

Final model finished.

My suggested stats:

Hull: 185 000
Bots/bats: 550/550
Turrets: 11x gunboat(following arcs: 8 forward, 7 backwards, 7 to sides, 7 up, 8 down)
Shield: Gunboat shield.
CM: 2x
Cargo Hold: 850
Agility: Between cruisers and heavy gunboats.
Powerplant: Heavy GB powerplant
Thruster max speed: 145

Screenshots and comparison:

My ideas on the stats:

Hull: 195 000
Bots/bats: 550/550
Turrets: 1x gunboat(following arcs: 8 forward, 8 backwards, 7 to sides, 7 up, 8 down)
Shield: Gunboat shield.
CM: 2x
Cargo Hold: 1050
Agility: Between cruisers and heavy gunboats.
Size: 2-2.5x of Corsair GB/Kusari Explorer
Powerplant: Heavy GB powerplant
Thruster max speed: 140

Here are some screenshots of the model which is now pretty much finished, just lacking some details.

New model:

http://i49.tinypic.com/516kv7.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/10ofp0l.jpg

Edits for details;
http://i46.tinypic.com/bz9l.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/m508m.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/1y659d.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/2z8ssih.jpg


Old model:

http://i45.tinypic.com/15q885h.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/sm7vuw.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/166hf6q.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/ajx848.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/2vvrj80.jpg
http://i50.tinypic.com/szwnkl.jpg
http://i48.tinypic.com/2uo5efk.jpg
http://i49.tinypic.com/16m6d81.jpg
http://i45.tinypic.com/34fhf8x.jpg

My idea of size for the old model:

New would be a bit bigger, same width/height but greater length.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Evan_]

I fell in love. :ylove:

That looks like a brick! Almost as beautiful as a Waran. Or that beautiful even. Sooo sweeet!

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[Toaster]

I love the idea and I really like the model too. Though, I don't like those fins so much... might wanna make them less obvious. Also, a tiny bit less boxyness wouldn't harm either. I really like the box shape, but that's a bit extreme, I think.

Otherwise, awesome!

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Olivia Sable
On hiatus

[sajjukar]

No offence but that thing with 900 cargo and cruiser manuv....its a cruiser not a gb and gb's with hangars...eint gonna happen not even in 1000 years.That will probably will be the first civilian cruiser?


Edit:Or its posible to equip hangars on gb? (im not really a gb person)

[Charos]

For some reason this reminds me of the Hellfire gunboat:D

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Remember our fallen, we are the Legion.

[Diomedes]

I like the concept overall.

The model screams "brick," but that works well in this case.

The only thing that bugged me immediately was the complete lack of windows or of a distinct bridge/survey point. An exploration/science type vessel would probably want at least one spot with a good view of the surroundings from somewhere at least.

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[Tic]

Thank you all for the quick replies.

@Toaster

I agree that it might be a bit too boxy, so I made an adjustment to increase the length which reduces feeling of a box and adds more of a brick feeling which I was going for. I also reduced the height of the lower middle fin, which together with the length increase makes them stick out less, or at least in my opinion.

@sajjukar

I see your concerns, but this ship will not be very combat efficient. With it's size, powerplant and agility even gunboats will have an easy time vaporizing it, while it wont stand a chance against even the weakest cruisers.

My idea was indeed to give this ship a hangar slot, but docking would be only for small ships(small freighters being the largest of them).

Cargo hold is there simply to increase the RP and utility value of the ship itself.

@Diomedes

I agree with you, and I will add one or possibly two observation spots/science labs to top and possibly bottom of the ship. With the new model, there should be extra space for it.


New model, length increased by ~20%

http://i49.tinypic.com/516kv7.jpg
http://i46.tinypic.com/10ofp0l.jpg

Stats towards the new model:

Hull: 195 000
Bots/bats: 550/550
Turrets: 1x gunboat(following arcs: 8 forward, 8 backwards, 7 to sides, 7 up, 8 down)
Shield: Gunboat shield.
CM: 2x
Cargo Hold: 1050
Agility: Between cruisers and heavy gunboats.
Size: 2-2.5x of Corsair GB/Kusari Explorer
Powerplant: Heavy GB powerplant
Thruster max speed: 140

[Evan_]

I preferred it the boxy way. :(

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[Tic]

I preferred it the boxy way. :(

It's still boxy, just maybe not that boxy. But I'll see what people think about it. Though, I'll need space for observation domes, so I might be forced to stay with the longer shape.

[Toaster]

Hmm... now I'm not sure whether I prefer the longer or the shorter version.

But the fins definitely are better this way.

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Olivia Sable
On hiatus