Cepheus Deluxe 150 ton Trader
- Thread starter Marcatlas
- Start date
Marcatlas
SOC-12
No, never found a FREE, simple to use program to do so. If you know of one...Did you end up doing a deck plan for this ship?
casquilho
SOC-13
AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Any Draw-type program works, if perhaps not automatically enough.
LibreOffice has Draw functionality.
Apple Numbers can do the spreadsheet and deck plan drawing in the same document.
Something like this might work, but probably has a higher learning curve:
https://fixthephoto.com/free-architectural-design-software.html
Should be faster, when mastered.
Example: Apple Numbers:
Perhaps not pretty, but usable:
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
As a mac user I turn to TextEdit for writing up the text offline (to post here on the forums) and the Preview application for "drawing" the deck plans as my tools of choice for this kind of work.
I was able to find a copy of the Starship Geomorphs image data in transparent background .png format, which I can then copy/paste/crop into the necessary "bits and pieces" I would need to assemble into completed deck plans. There are (of course) a number of "best practices" that I've had to develop using this method and these tools, but I've gotten relatively proficient with them over the past 1-2 years.
Marcatlas
SOC-12
Between Sweethome 3D and Draw I could probably do OK deck plans. I just found the Traveller Deck plan symbols document
Define simple?
I use Inkscape, which is akin to illustrator and/or simple cad programs.
Though my true joy for deckplans is old-school pen on paper drawing... The issue I have there is getting good scans of them for sharing.
Hum, not quite sure how to answer this...
In Inkscape, in the document properties menu, the one where you can set page size, there is a tab where you can set a underlaying grid for the document. I generally work in 1/100th scale, as such I set my grid to 0.5cm (5mm) with major lines every 1.5cm.
Also note I tend to use a Legal as my page size, as a 15 meter by 30 meter by scale rectangle fits comfortably on that sheet (Reason, printers that will print tabloid size are generally twice as expensive)
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
With the tools that I'm using, I just start with a "background grid" .png image on which the squares are 60 pixels x 60 pixels from center of grid line to center of grid line (with the grid lines being 2 pixels wide). That way, everything is "1.5m = 60 pixels" when it comes to needing to resize and scale any of the iconography clipped from other sources.
A decidedly "old skool" kind of "photoshop(pish)" approach to the problem, but I've been able to make it work with the application and assets I can access.
I use ms Paint in *bmp mode, and set its dimensions to inches (it does 100ths which is more than enough), and just conceptualize the plans as 1"=3m.
Doesnt scale well, being pixel-mapped rather than vector graphics. But it's free with Windows and I am used to it.
Marcatlas
SOC-12
Here ya go. My first primitive attempt with LibreOffice Draw.Did you end up doing a deck plan for this ship?
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AnotherDilbert
SOC-14 1K
Looking good!
The engineering in the front is a bit exotic, but not a problem.
The engineering in the front is a bit exotic, but not a problem.
Marcatlas
SOC-12
Thanks! Yes, in Cepheus the rules are that the MD is Grav based so my implementation/interpretation is that they create a grav well in front of the ship (in the main direction of movement) hence the engineering at the bow of the ship. A little interesting change from the run of the mill spaceship.
Spinward Flow
SOC-14 1K
It's already giving you nice clean lines to work with, so for an initial test I would say it's successful.
Marcatlas
SOC-12
Thanks, yes, as it is all objects to the program that is one of the benefits I found. I really know nothing about graphic design and am learning as I go. I just learned the difference between vector and bitmap graphics in as far as which to use for what type of work.
casquilho
SOC-13
Looks good. Keep going.
