Adventure-Class Starships in T5

[PFVA63]

Hi

Hi,

Sorry about that. My new computer has a wider display than my old one, and it didn't dawn on me that when I take a screen capture it would be bigger. I could probably trim it down, since the right side if the big image doesn't really show anything anyway.

I kind of enjoy messing around with this stuff, because it gives me a chance to better learn some of the programs that I have been using. I'm really interested in trying to texture up the 3D image and see how it turns out.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Regards

PF

 

[far-trader]

Hi,

Sorry about that. My new computer has a wider display than my old one, and it didn't dawn on me that when I take a screen capture it would be bigger. I could probably trim it down, since the right side if the big image doesn't really show anything anyway.

Nah, no worries, you can just send me a shiny new 24" widescreen lcd

 

[PFVA63]

Hi,

Nah, no worries, you can just send me a shiny new 24" widescreen lcd

Hi,

Wish I had a 24" display, myself. Here's one other quick sketch I did to try and get a rough idea of ahat the ship might look like from outside. Unfortunately, it got alittle messed up and lost some detail in translation, but I think it helps get the rough idea across.

Regards

PF

 

[PFVA63]

Additional Deck Views

Hi,

Here are some additional deck views I've put together to try and show my thoughts on the internal arrangement of the Pocket Trader type ship.

1st here is the key for these images

Additionally, here are views of the lower and upper decks showing the general arrangements.

I also, have some views showing the spaces with some furniture and equipment, that I'll post below (since the board limit you to only four images per post)

Regards

PF

 

[PFVA63]

Additional Deck Views

Hi,

Here are the additional images I noted above.

These images are still a little rough, but they show kind of what I am thinking. Right now I'm showing a small deck (water closet) head under the stairs forward, between the Low Berths and the cargo hold. I'm not sure its going to fit in as shown, because of the slope of the stair, but it seems like having some sort of facilities in way of the low berths and cargo hold would be a good idea.

Additionally, on the lower level of the engine room, I've drawn stuff that is supposed to represent the manuever drives and power plant.

On the upper level of the engine room, is the junp drive, and a console for local engineering control. Since the original write up for the ship indicates that it would only have a crew of 1, I assumed that the engine room will probably be normally unmanned, but I but a control console in there incase there is ever a need to operate the engine locally, instead of from the bridge.

The dark circle located forward in the machinery spaces is meant to be a vertical ladder and iris valve (I'll have to draw it better later).

In each stateroom I've added a bed about the size of a standard twin/double matress, and each stateroom has its own restroom facility/fresher. For now, I've sketched in some tables and chairs, etc in the commons area, but I may need to fix that area up a bit.

Finally, I haven't had a chance to put together anything much for the bridge though.

Anyway, just thought I'd post these additional images, if anyone is interested.

Regards

PF

 

[PFVA63]

Some more images

Hi,

I made some changes and additions to the upper deck level layout as shown below.

In this 1st image I added some details to the bridge area. Along the front of the space is a broad control panel (as shown by the thick yellow line). To the port side of the bridge (or the left side of the ship if you are looking forward) I assume are some additional secondary contol panels and such (as shown by the continuation of the thick yellow line on that side of the bridge).

The two big yellow boxes in the middle of the bridge (labeled E/R) represent two of the three equipment consoles (or racks) that Robject mentioned in his original post describing the ship. The third rack is shown kind of shoe-horned in on the aft, port (right hand) side of the bridge. Additionally, on that side of the bridge is a small locker (labeled Lkr) and a small space that can serve as a coffee break space/galley (labeled G).

The large space in the middle of the bridge aft of the two yellow boxes is a computer server room. In the last office I worked at, eventhough everyone had a computer on thier desk, we still had a server room to house the network drives, and the uninterruptible power supply, etc and it seemed to me that even if the computer system on a space ship is assumed to be a distributed system a similar space might be of value on a ship like this.

I've assumed the locker space would house stuff like computer program backups, the ship and crews papers, any cash onboard, perhaps any medicines carried, and any other valuables, and as such would probably be a secured space. I suppose it could also serve as a gun locker too, if desired.

Finally, as noted previously along the aft port side of the space is a deck head/water closet.

The second image shows a revised furniture layout for the upper deck. Although the original description of the ship suggested that it could be operated by a single crewman, I went ahead and drew in two seats in the bridge in case a second crew is carried.

In the commons space I enlarged the dinning table so that all 6 passengers and/or crew could be seated at the same time. Additionally I changed the other furniture around to allow seating for most everyone in front of some sort of wide screen entertainment center. Right now the space in way of the commons area is a little tight, but it seemed to me that there should probably be a table big enough for everyone to sit down at for a meal, and that if you are going to be in jump space for a week, that some sort of entertainment system would make sense.

Anyway, just some thoughts I wanted to pass on.

Regards

PF

 

[atpollard]

Very nice.

Two suggestions to consider.

1. split the staterooms 2 forward of the commons/galley and 4 aft of the commons/galley to facilitate a separation of crew from passengers. Another door between the commons and crew corridor would improve security for the bridge.

2. add another door in the corridor to the machinery upper to create an airlock/security ckeckpoint for access to Engineering.

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Very nice.

Two suggestions to consider.

1. split the staterooms 2 forward of the commons/galley and 4 aft of the commons/galley to facilitate a separation of crew from passengers. Another door between the commons and crew corridor would improve security for the bridge.

2. add another door in the corridor to the machinery upper to create an airlock/security ckeckpoint for access to Engineering.

Hi,

Below is a potential revision trying to capture your suggestions. One problem that I ran into was that because the forward stairs let out off-centerline, it wasn't a clean swap of spaces. In the image I show below I ended up moving the laundry to the starboard side (just aft of the airlock). This leads to a shorter, but wider commons area, that may still work out OK. Right now I also show a sliding door separating the forward two staterooms from the other spaces. If the ship really only requires a single crew then I guess this wall could be moved forward one space so that the door to the forward, starboard side cabin is aft of the separation.

I also took a look at the suggestion that you PM'd to me last week, and if I am understanding correctly, what you were suggesting was to arch the overhead in the staterooms, etc to more follow the shape of the hull, while leaving the overhead in the passageway at its normal height, as shown in the 1st figure below, instead of having the overhead on this deck go straigth across 2.3m above the deck, until it gets close to the shell, and then slope down, as shown in the 2nd image.

I think either way probably works OK, and shouldn't really make any difference to the deck plans.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

Regards

PF

PS. I was also thinking of maybe putting an iris valve in the engine room to allow access outside the ship. It would mostly be for when you are on the ground for loading an unloading stuff, or perhaps to allow you to quickly vent the machinery room to space in the event of a fire, and since space is so tight, it probably wouldn't be a proper airlock. Anyway, just some additional thoughts. Also sorry about the last two images not being to the same scale. PF

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Hi,

Here's a quick rendered image I've put together. It still doesn't show any windows, etc, but its getting there.

Regards

PF

 

[PFVA63]

One more...

Hi,

In looking at the ship, it kind of reminded me of a sushi roll for some reason, so I put this together.

Sorry, I guess I just have salmon on my mind.

Regards

PF

 

[PFVA63]

Hi, one final image ...

Hi,

Here's one final image (with doors and windows). It still needs a little cleaning up, but work is getting a little hectic, so I may have to set it aside for a while.

Regards

PF

 

[robject]

After browsing the Keiths' Rogues in Space, here's their Dakaar-class freighter and their Nymph-class Provincial Merchant.

Type TF Merchant Freighter (TL12)

Crew: Captain, FO, Pilot, Astrogator, 5 Engineers, 2 Gunners, Medic.

The drives are slightly larger than the basic minimum, in order
to stave off performance erosion (slightly) due to damage.

Since this ship is designed for frontier operations, power plant
fuel is doubled, as is MAQQ (one stateroom per crew member required);
additionally, one ton of space is set aside for long-term life support
(100 person-weeks). I make the assumption that 'life support' includes
food and water (even though there is no explicit reason to think this).

Volume  Component                                Cost (MCr)  
(1800)  Hull-T (SK)                               ??  
   40   Double Bridge                              
    -     Computer: model/3                        0.6  
    -   - Improved Commo-10, LR                    0.1
    -   - Basic Visor-12, SR                       0.1
    -   - Basic EMS-11, SR                         0.1
    -   - Basic Neutrino Detector-12, VDistant     0.1
    -   - Basic Field Sensor-11, VDistant          0.1
    -   - Basic Analyzer/Sniffer-12, VDistant      0.1
    -   - Standard Mass Sensor-12, Orbital         0.1
    -   - open sensor slot                         -
    -   - open sensor slot                         -
    -   - open sensor slot                         -
   85   J-drive-R (J3)                           160 
   21   M-drive-L (M1)                            69
   49   P-plant-R (P3, 1600Mj)                   128  
  540   J-drive fuel (3 pc)                        -
   64   P-plant fuel (4 weeks)                     -
   48   Staterooms (12)                            6.0           
    1   100 person-weeks' life support             0.2
    2   Hardpoints (2)                             ?
        - L turrets (2)                            ?
  950   Cargo                                      -

Type MP Provincial Merchant (TL11)

This is a jump-2 400 ton merchant commonly encountered in the Reaver's Deep
region. This ship requires a crew of 8: Pilot, Astrogator, Medic, Steward,
2 Engineers, and 2 Gunners.

This version is modified from the original Keith brothers' version as
follows. 1: The seven crew staterooms can be double-bunked, for example
if stewards or a boat pilot are added. 2: This represents the Keith
brothers' streamlined version. 3: The turrets are changed into full hybrid
LMS turrets. 4: A good chunk of cargo space has been allocated into passenger
staterooms, and a Steward has been added to the crew requirements.

Volume  Component
 (400)  Hull-D (SK)
   20   Standard Bridge
          Computer: model/3
    -   - Improved Commo-10, LR
    -   - Improved Scope-11, LR
    -   - Basic EMS-11, SR
    -   - Basic Field Sensor-11, VDist
    -   - open sensor slot
    -   - open sensor slot
   25   J-drive-D (J2)
    3   M-drive-B (1G)
   13   P-plant-D (P2, 400Mj)
   80   J-drive fuel (2 pc)
    8   P-plant fuel (2 weeks)
   28   Crew Staterooms (7)
   64   Passenger Staterooms (16)
   13   Low berths (26)
    2   Hardpoints (2)
        - LMS turrets (2)       
   20   Launch (20t)
  116   Cargo

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Hi,

It was raining today, and I had to cancel my plans, so while I had a little unexpected free time I decided to collect most of the stuff I had put together on my attempt at making a Pocket Trader Hull and Deckplans into a single document. If anyone is interested, it can be found here.

Regards

PF

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Hi,

I'm still messing around a little with the Vue Esprit program, trying to learn how it all works. Here's my latest. I changed a couple small things, but am still having trouble getting the planet in the background to look right. Right now it kind of looks like a large pizza to me.

Anyway, thought I'd share what I have (sorry about the size, I was messing around with settings just to see what impact they would have).

Regards

PF

 

[ranger2261]

HEY break out the chips and scout brew,
we've arrived at the molten pizza planet.

seriously it looks pretty damn good.

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Some thoughts on Conversion Options

Hi,

When I was originally working up my deck plans I began to give some thought to how the lower (cargo) deck could maybe be used for other purposes.

One thought that came to mind was inspired a little by some stuff I saw on something called the Boeing Business Jet. It appears to be kind of a development of the 737 family of aircraft, but modified so that it could be tailored for use by businesses, wealthy private individuals, or even governments as a means of personal transportation.

By converting over the lower deck of a Pocket Trader, you could have something similar in the Traveller Universe. In some ways it would be a step up from having important business executives or governement representatives just travel 1st class, but not as ostentatious?/showy as using a Yacht. With the space available, I think you could add in a luxury suite or two, plus room for an air/raft or ground car, and maybe a conference room/dining area or exhibition space, etc.

A second thought was inspired by a post on another Traveller board, talking about using a starship as a form of Recreational Vehicle, travelling to exotic locals and such. I think that the cargo deck of the Pocket Trader might be big enough to stow an ATV or similar vehicle, plus maybe a couple extra staterooms, and other supplies, so that the ship could be used in an "Adventure Tours" kind of service taking passengers to out of the way locales and then serving as a base as the passengers head off to see the sights there etc.

I might try and work up some revised deck layouts along these lines this weekend, and if they turn out OK, I'll try and post them.

Anyway, just some thoughts I wanted to share.

Regards

PF

 

[Darkhstarr]

The Pocket Trader's a really nice (& cute) design. It would fit well in my campaign.

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Hi,

The ship ended up a little more "cute" than I originally intended, but I like it too.

Here is a rough concept I had for re-arranging the lower deck to be someone's private VIP transport.

Basically, I

• stripped out the Low Berths and converted that space to Cargo
• added a small conference room
• reserved the cargo space (near the door) for carrying an air/raft or ground car
• added a large passenger suite, and
• added a extra-large owner's suite

The large suite is configured like a regular State Room with an attached sitting room which
has a large screen entertainment system. The owner's suite has an enlarged bathroom (with
bath tub), a walk-in closet, a larger bed (I think its either King or Queen size - I'll have to
check), and a large sitting room with a large screen entertainment system, and a small bar/lounge
area.

I've also started trying to model some of the stuff up in 3D, and I may post some of those images
later, if they turn out OK. I've started with a standard Stateroom, but would like to eventually try
and do most of the interior, if possible.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

Regards

PF

 

[Trent]

Hi,

I'm still messing around a little with the Vue Esprit program, trying to learn how it all works. Here's my latest. I changed a couple small things, but am still having trouble getting the planet in the background to look right. Right now it kind of looks like a large pizza to me.

Anyway, thought I'd share what I have (sorry about the size, I was messing around with settings just to see what impact they would have).

Regards

PF

Did you model this in Vue espirit? How is it as a modeller?

 

[PFVA63]

Hi

Hi,

I actually modeled the ship in Hexagon but the planet in Vue Esprit. I typically only use Vue Esprit as a modeler for simple stuff (like the big round sphere I used for the planet) or for other scenery (like islands and mountains, etc). The thing that I have found that Vue Esprit excels at is laying out scenes and rendering them. The environmental controls are great, allowing you to do a wide variety of atmospheric conditions and background scenery populated with realistic looking plants, etc.

So I guess the short answer to your question is that I don't use Vue Esprit enough as a modeler to really answer your question regarding complex geometry, but for some stuff like backgrounds and scenery (especially with auto-generated trees and stuff), its great, both as a modeler and renderer.

For modeling more complex stuff, in the past I had used an AutoCAD substitute called IntelliCAD/AcceliCAD, because it was relatively cheap, and I was familiar with AutoCAD from work. However, recently I have started experimenting with Hexagon (which I find I like quite abit).

This ship is only my second attempt to use Hexagon though, so I'm still learning. My 1st attempt was for a 300dt GURPS Traveller: Interstellar Wars merchant, that I never finished, in part because I had started it in IntelliCAD and tried to migrate it to Hexagon in a way that I began to realize was not the best approach. On my second attempt, for the 100dt ship, I started in Hexagon initially, and exported the deck cut-outs, etc to IntelliCAD for doing the 2D stuff there.

As a side note, right now I'm trying to do some 3D internal layouts, and for that I've actually started with a 3D Home Design program, called PUNCH Home Design AS3000, since it has a lot of doorways and furniture pre-defined. I then exported the base stuff to a VRML file which I converted into an AutoCAD file, and then imported into IntelliCAD/AcceliCAD for cleaning up and modification, to make things look a little more futuristic. Hopefully I'll have something to post on that stuff, sometime soon.

Anyway, I hope I have been able to answer at least part of your question.

Regards

PF