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Deckplans: Imperial Palace (aka Pie in the Sky)

RainOfSteel

SOC-14 1K
Ok, this continues on from:
</font>Well now, the Imperial Palace is a favorite location of mine.

Yes, it is a pie in the sky project, literally. The amount of space available is so huge that a team of people would require a long time to complete it.

I'm wondering if I'm skilled enough to even get the basic framing down, and we'll see how it goes.


Currently, I plan to use some test files in Canvas 7 to figure out how I'm going to even begin approaching this.


I plan to have a ring of inner elevator shafts, six or twelve (with multiple elevators per shaft), all the way around the central column making up the aquarium and garden. The Garden is a cone, though, and not a cylinder like the aquarium. This means, to me, that the elevator shafts begin at the bottom floor of the Avionics Ring (after which a switch to other elevators via a heavily armed and armored checkpoint is required, for security purposes), as close to the garden cone as is feasible. They then run straight down. The garden cone itself is surrounded by suites (I'd hesitate to call anything so luxurious "apartments", but that's what they are, really) with giant windows overlooking the garden (but no balconies or ability to open the windows), and the windows are all one-way, so those in the Garden cannot view those in the apartments. IMTU, Arbellatra's suite overlooked the Garden, but future Emperor's have selected other, better-protected apartments since then.

The space surrounding the aquarium is used up by lower class offices and project rooms. Most of the science conducted aboard the Imperial Palace is shoe-horned into the limited space. The Aquarium Management Group (a sub-group belonging to the Palace Staff, who report up through the Chamberlain of the Palace) is quartered here, including a crew of over two-hundred marine biologists and other, similar professions.

Close to the bottom, the science space ends, and engineering spaces take over, followed by the main landing bays.

The classic description has the "Octagon" as the throne room, but I can't help but feel that was a little small and quaint to serve as the seat of power for the Iridium Throne. I've got this idea about a much larger throne room, closer to the surface of the sphere. The throne is backed by giant stained glass windows, three hundred meters high, and the outer armor shell can retract in two door/segmenents and move to one side. Gravitics can turn the palace to face whichever way is desired. Well, it was just an idea. :D
 
On the subject of elevators, these are a major problem for tall buildings. The more floors, the more people; the more people, the more elevators you need. If you're not careful you end up with so many elevators they take up the whole of the lower floors.
 
I quickly scanned your subject header and thought you meant an Imperial Palace in the sky. I pictured something like the mothership from the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, drifting serenely through the atmosphere of some far distant world. Cool!

Crow
 
Originally posted by Scarecrow:
I quickly scanned your subject header and thought you meant an Imperial Palace in the sky. I pictured something like the mothership from the end of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, drifting serenely through the atmosphere of some far distant world. Cool!

Crow
What Andrew said . . .

"Pie in the Sky" was double entendre. First, it meant that this project was so huge as to probably be beyond my capabilities to finish (my favorite kind!), and second, it was referring to the fact that the Imperial Palace is a 1km floating sphere above the Palace Grounds, with the Moot Spire being a few kilometers away (also on the Palace Grounds). To the second, you can add a number of possibilities. That "Pie" was referring to the excellent qualities of the Imperial Palace (becasue pie is good . . . emmm, pie); or that I was carving up the space into those areas I could get finished, like a pie; or whatever. :D
 
<gnarr />

My little podunk 533MHz Pentium III PC (Year 2000), 512 Megs RAM, seems to have problems running Canvas 7.

When I start adding large scale objects, and I zoom in and out a few times and move a few objects back and forth, it starts to not want to redraw the screen. :(

Which is sad because after two days of working I was doing fairly well with only four hours of self-instruction in figuring out how to use the silly program.

I've started looking into open source packages (some look interesting enough), though I'm not sure how that will go.
 
How much video memory does your machine have RoS? That is probably where your bottleneck is - not the total memory. Video cards back then didn't carry a lot of memory on them, and some still used a portion of your main memory (shrinking IT further).
 
Ros,
You might also want to run spyware removal program. If you don't have one, do a search for Ad Aware, they have a free version that works great. The paid version even can set up blocks aginst most of the garbage. Also you may have other software running in the background that is interfearing with the process. If you use a broadband ISP, you may even need to get off line so you can shut down any firewalls and antivirus software.
 
I run SpyBot S&D, and Ad Aware. My Norton A/V subscription is updated, ditto for my firewall.

I also tend to investigate software before installing it (this is, of course, not foolproof, but it helps).

Right now I'm running no software except Opera and WMP that are active spyware (and I block WMP's ability to get to the web).
 
Probably looks a bit like this...
imperial_palace.jpg
 
I was picturing it entirely plated in gold like a "little" Imperial Star (less-the) Burst. Or with, through some holographic displays. I also don't see it as smooth but with a wide indented band across the equator for the ship hangers though I don't recall the descriptions so I'm not sure that'd fit he official version. But all that is beside the point, thanks for the graphic Andrew
 
There is a "promendade" at the equator, where it is possible to stroll the whole way around.

The bottom is also cut-off flat, to accomdate the lower landing bays.

The top is a large skylight capping the open cone over the garden (and over the Aquarium below the garden).
 
I sort of intend the promenade to be a 4-5 deck high area, with suites and apartments overlooking the open concourse. It would be about 25m wide, and would have small pocket parks and mini-plazas with seating and coffee shops, and chess tables, etc.
 
It probably should be gold with details, I was just being my usual lazy self.

Scarecrow, that's probably Lucan's version - scary with spiky bits!
 
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