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Post by srbrant on Jun 15, 2017 22:29:09 GMT
Now I understand all the important aspects of designing a "real" starship (where to put the crew module, shielding it from the reactor, giving it a low profile to minimize hits, etc), but here's where I'm at a loss with writing Kemono: The ships are far more advanced, but they still need to be believable and realistic. One particularly pesky problem is that of crew space layout. Here are some of my ideas and dilemmas:
- Having corridors in the middle of each deck so that if there is a breach, people can get from one room to another without a spacesuit. - If that corridor is breached anyway, how are people going to survive if they're stuck in the connecting? Using "jeffries tubes?" - Make each room have an emergency distress beacon that can be activated if they are trapped. - Having multiple bridges is the logical solution to breaches, but which one should be the primary bridge? - One idea is to have multiple corridors snaking around, on and between remass tanks for easier maintenance access and for extra room. Multiple doors and paths will be necessary in case of breaches. - The problem is that if there's a breach and the escaping oxygen mixes with gunfire and the remass tanks... BOOM! - Also, are horizontally-oriented decks really so bad??
Now keep in mind that, because this is set so far in the future, several liberties are taken and handwaved due to sufficiently advanced technology. Such as...
- Oxygen scrubbers are cheaper, smaller and more efficient to allow for larger interior spaces (though it's still of course at a premium) - Advances in engine efficiency means that ships have more Delta-V and thereby smaller remass tanks (Don't want them to get too fast and reach relativistic speeds). - Engine efficiency also allows for more space and less weight restrictions. - Artificial gravity generators are commonplace though they have to be built into the floors and overheads.
Suggestions?
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Post by Enderminion on Jun 15, 2017 23:53:47 GMT
same as in CDE
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Post by tortugagreen on Jun 16, 2017 0:35:18 GMT
- Also, are horizontally-oriented decks really so bad?? Yes, as when the ship thrusts that means that everything is thrown to one wall, at least partially, rather than the floor (though this depends on acceleration). If you happen to have a space magic system to prevent the ship's acceleration from affecting the passengers, then go ahead, but otherwise having the floor towards the engines is simply a more useful and sensible layout. Even if there is such a technology as I describe, there wouldn't be any advantages I can think of to encourage a wall-towards-engine, and at that point tradition would likely set in for things like floor arrangement.
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Post by Enderminion on Jun 16, 2017 3:20:01 GMT
if you get tired with cylinders you can try rectangular cubes, with thrust along the long access
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Post by n2maniac on Jun 16, 2017 3:37:39 GMT
Asymmetric cylinders: radiators on one side, guns on the other, heavy armor bias to the gun-equipped side.
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Post by srbrant on Jun 16, 2017 4:25:25 GMT
- Also, are horizontally-oriented decks really so bad?? Yes, as when the ship thrusts that means that everything is thrown to one wall, at least partially, rather than the floor (though this depends on acceleration). If you happen to have a space magic system to prevent the ship's acceleration from affecting the passengers, then go ahead, but otherwise having the floor towards the engines is simply a more useful and sensible layout. Even if there is such a technology as I describe, there wouldn't be any advantages I can think of to encourage a wall-towards-engine, and at that point tradition would likely set in for things like floor arrangement. Yeah, it can have a "space magic" system that keeps the passengers from turning into jam, but...I don't know, there's something about a floor-to-engine plan that just feels very...awkward and alien to me as weird as that sounds.
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Post by The Astronomer on Jun 16, 2017 5:05:31 GMT
Note: the 'down' in the spaceships is in the same direction as the direction the rocket exhaust is shooting.
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Post by srbrant on Jun 16, 2017 6:06:15 GMT
if you get tired with cylinders you can try rectangular cubes, with thrust along the long access The hulls have to conform to the various layouts of its interior components, the exteriors resembling sharks or other fish with a low polygon count.
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Post by Argopeilacos on Jun 16, 2017 9:08:39 GMT
Yes, as when the ship thrusts that means that everything is thrown to one wall, at least partially, rather than the floor (though this depends on acceleration). If you happen to have a space magic system to prevent the ship's acceleration from affecting the passengers, then go ahead, but otherwise having the floor towards the engines is simply a more useful and sensible layout. Even if there is such a technology as I describe, there wouldn't be any advantages I can think of to encourage a wall-towards-engine, and at that point tradition would likely set in for things like floor arrangement. Yeah, it can have a "space magic" system that keeps the passengers from turning into jam, but...I don't know, there's something about a floor-to-engine plan that just feels very...awkward and alien to me as weird as that sounds. You can also have a dish shaped ship with the engine(s) at the bottom as a middle ground, a bit like Atlantis from stargate or this: It might not be the most practical for a warship but civilians could use it.
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Post by RiftandRend on Jun 16, 2017 10:02:38 GMT
I really recommend against artificial gravity. The technology required for that is on the edge of the theoretical and is far more complicated than anything else you listed.
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Post by morrigi on Jun 16, 2017 10:14:47 GMT
I really recommend against artificial gravity. The technology required for that is on the edge of the theoretical and is far more complicated than anything else you listed. Yeah, it's basically internet space magic until proven otherwise.
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Post by AdmiralObvious on Jun 16, 2017 18:35:11 GMT
I really recommend against artificial gravity. The technology required for that is on the edge of the theoretical and is far more complicated than anything else you listed. You could do artificial gravity by rotating the crew compartment at relatively high speeds, granted that needs power and/or some sort of engine to keep the crew compartment rotating, if you don't want to spin the whole ship.
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Post by srbrant on Jun 16, 2017 18:44:30 GMT
I really recommend against artificial gravity. The technology required for that is on the edge of the theoretical and is far more complicated than anything else you listed. You could do artificial gravity by rotating the crew compartment at relatively high speeds, granted that needs power and/or some sort of engine to keep the crew compartment rotating, if you don't want to spin the whole ship. This takes place in the year 5525, keep in mind. Though there ARE some ships that use centrifugal gravity to save on costs or if the required technology is unavailable.
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Post by Rocket Witch on Jun 16, 2017 19:38:52 GMT
One interesting layout is that of the Pegasus freighter from Escape Velocity Nova. Artificial gravity is provided by centrifugal force from spinning the ring section which contains any cargo and potentially crew with the outer wall being the floor. The powerplant is presumably at the centre, and limited reaction mass in the engine nacelles, the latter notably kept at some distance from the main body of the craft (re: your safety concern). Due to the orientation of the ring relative to the engines, applying thrust will produce a fluctuating force on any inhabitants, so this is wholly unsuitable for high thrust.
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Post by srbrant on Jun 17, 2017 4:56:09 GMT
It feels like wall-to-engine orientations are best not only because they're more familiar, there's more width for cargo bays and freight ramps. It may also be a morale thing so that they are more reminiscent of ancient sailing ships instead of orbiting sardine cans.
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