Calling all ship designer people

[(Alex) Jacen]

For my mercenaries, I came up with a ship based on Battlestar Galactica, but a lot smaller, and considerally less well armed. I ended up with a ship that has about 5 decks (at least, thats what the proportions suggest), and a few guns. I'm calling it a "Star Frigate".

I fiddled with the blueprints to create ones that would fit with what I did for my modded fighters, and I found more...variants of the Nova. So I'm gonna come up with a few more ships. I can get hold of blueprints for a Star Escort (Stellar-class), a Star Cruiser (Supernova-class), and a Star Transport (Dwarf Star-class).

Now, this is where you come in. I'm gonna put together a little site for an engineering company that's gonna build these. They'll be "low budget vessels", which in normal terms translates to "crappy little ships". They'll be sturdy, and modular, so they'll be easy to upgrade, and they come in reasonable size bands. The Frigate is 92 meters long. The Cruiser will be about 200 meters. The Escort will be about 75. The Transport will be about 40...approximately. But if you look at the sorts of ships out there, they can get up to 600m in length for a cargo ship, and they can get down to under 5m for fighter craft. So, what I was wondering was, would anyone like to design some more ships for that range, and help me come up with specs? We could even set it up as a proper company, and have RPG-related stuff to do with it.


Anyway...enough talking. Later!

[Darth Viscera]

what's wrong with using ships previously established in the movies and more prominent EU books?

[(Alex) Jacen]

There wasn't anything the right size for what I wanted. I wanted a small ship able to carry a few fighters...but I either had massive, or too small. *shrug* I just like making up ships, and doing the specs for them and stuff.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

you should go pick up the guide to vehicles and vessels then. I remember seeing a few ships in there that are like the ones you want.

Here. look through this - http://frankg.dgne.com/swsv/index.shtml

[(Alex) Jacen]

I already have. There's nothing in the right size range. The closest I got was 300m...which is way too long. The next highest was something Falcon-sized.

Besides, whats wrong with having a new ship design? New ships get created all of the time. The company that makes these will be very old, and probably got taken over by Rendili StarDrive during the Clone Wars or something...the design is vaguelly similar to a Star Destroyer.

I just wondered if anyone had any ideas...no need to start pouncing at me. If you have a problem with me using a new kind of ship...tough. What does it matter, anyway? Its just a box with engines and a few (emphasis on the fewness of that few) guns. Not like I'm asking for a Death Star or something.

*sigh*

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Calm down, Trigger, no one's jumping on you o_O

have you thought of the Marauder Corvette? ASAIK, it carries a few fighters and is less than 200 m

[(Alex) Jacen]

Yeah...and achording to the site you said, it has no hyperdrive. Kinda useless.

Why is everyone trying to make me pick a different ship, anyway? Not like you're gonna end up seeing it, anyway. Its just to get from a to b. Who gives a frell what it looks like?

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Originally posted by s'Ilancy
Calm down, Trigger, no one's jumping on you o_O

besides, I only suggested something - don't take it so hard, bud

[(Alex) Jacen]

Then why are you all trying to make me change my mind?

[Telan Desaria]

I am not - designing ships is fun. I do it all the time. If your prupose is to use them for rping do as you wish. To placate them, here are a few suggestions:

Rebel Action VII Transport - Blockade Runenr - 150m

Action V Transport Wild Karrde - 100m

Incom Y4 Raptor Tranport - 35m

Delta X-16 Freightor - 90m

and others.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

we're not.

we're simply making observations and trying to help.

we'll try to curtail our efforts next time :)

[Dasquian Belargic]

All people are trying to say is that it seems somewhat superfluous to create a ship if there is already one available of similar, if not exact, design. No one is trying to criticize your ideas (given that you offered the idea up for public discusion, I would have thought comments and criticisms were wanted), simply provide alternative solutions and ensure that anything you do draw up is 'legal' within the boards rules :)

[(Alex) Jacen]

Sorry...you caught me in a bad mood.


Why not a Marauder Corvette? A few reasons

1. Price.

2. Who uses it...its Corporate Sector...not really mercenary material.

3. Its not modular. Like all good mercenary and smuggler ships, its gonna be upgraded. The easier it is to upgrade, the better.

4. It apparently doesn't have a hyperdrive, achording to http://frankg.dgne.com/swsv/index.shtml

So...yeah. Doesn't really fit the description. Oh, and calling a Marauder Corvette the "Rage Marauder" would be slightly lame. ;)



If I go through the pros of my design, you'll see how much better it works. And remember, before the Clone Wars is a hazy area anyway. This could have been a small business firm that got gobbled up by something bigger. That was the general idea, anyway.

1. Modular. Easy to upgrade.

2. Cheap, both to buy, and to maintain.

3. Two fairly large "Cargo Pods" (the Viper bays on the Galactica design)

4. Separate landing bay.

5. Powerful-looking engines.

6. Ruggid appearence.

7. Surface landing capability if required - no "sticky-outy bits."



If you want a more detailed assessment, wait a few hours until the Fury website is up...I've got blueprints for her up there already.

[(Alex) Jacen]

To conform with what I assume the board rules are, the ship is very small, and VERY lightly armed. Its essentially three Millennium Falcons glued together weapons-wise, with a couple of extra turrets, but is considerably larger. It relies heavily on its fighter escort should it come under attack. It is purely a carrier. Its not a cargo ship. It needs to carry fighters...everything else isn't that important, really.

If you can find me a CARRIER at that size, that will fit the bill, then go for it. But unless the Marauder Corvette has enough space to carry 5 TIEs, a Lambda, and two Republic Gunships (Clone Trooper thingies), then I don't think it'll work out. And no, my ship doesn't have this capacity either, but the two cargo pods double up as landing bays for the 2 Gunships (used to transport cargo from surface to high altitude and back), as well as any ground vehicles that might be needed (Gunships can fly those in to a battle situation, as they demonstrated with the SPHA-T Walkers).

There isn't a "similar" or "identical" design, anyway. The nose element of the ship is vaguely reminiscent of something Corellian. Same with the engines. But apart from that, its fairly unique in a Star Wars context.


The only one vessel I found that MIGHT have worked was a Corellian Corvette, as modified in the Wraith Squadron books. However, after thinking about it, the Blockade Runner is not a combat ship, really. Its a courier. It would need heavy modifications to take the extra capacity, and isn't really agressive enough. More important than just doing the job, the ship needs to look the part. I don't really want my mercenaries using craft that are currently in use by New Republic or Imperial forces...it begs the question "Where did they get it from?", and "How did they get their hands on it without being vaporised?". Also, the Corellian Corvette is fairly advanced. Same with the Marauder. I want to keep the numbers down on my crew. Because of the age of the ship I created, it is possible to make it function in a relatively autonomous fashion. Again, for further details, wait until I get the site up...that should answer some of your questions.



Incidentally, do any of you want to come and work for me? :D I still have a gunner, technician and one more "Fury Trooper" position still open...

I guess its a bad idea to mention the modified TIE Interceptors in front of you lot, huh? Or the fact that we've got decades-old Super Battle Droids defending headquarters? Or Destroyer Droids stored in a shuttlecraft ready to be deployed for back up on a mission? Or that we've got a schitzophroenic droid with 3 brains that does linguistics, combat and analysis stuff all at once, and wears Mandalorian Battle Armour? Or that my dude wears a little visor that is made up of electrobinoculars, night vision goggles, a comlink and all sorts, dragged out of the helmet of a Storm Commando (which he used to be)? Need anymore help finding something else about my mercenaries that you can quibble about? C'MON...I'LL TAKE YA ALL ON!!! >D

[(Alex) Jacen]

(If you didn't realise, that last part of my last post was a really lame attempt at a joke. lol )

[Dasquian Belargic]

I don't know much about ships design and so forth, so I'll leave the rest of this discussion to those who know, but just one pointer - you don't need to make multiple posts in a row. There is an 'edit' button that allows you to add in new things to old posts. Just for future reference ;)

[(Alex) Jacen]

I know there is...but my posts are usually big enough as it is, without me extending them. :p I talk too much.

[Telan Desaria]

You can work for the Empire....

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

considering that three YT-1300's glued together is only about half as big as an MC, I don't see how it can hold the ships you want either

[(Alex) Jacen]

I meant weapons wise. Its a tad bigger than that...three decks, plus the cargo pods and the engines, and 92 m in length. It doesn't sound much, but when I worked out how many fighters were meant to be in there, and drew a little diagram, there's space, although only just. Two TIEs go on port and starboard (as in, two each side), opposite the door. The fifth TIE goes on the fore-side, and the Lambda goes on the larger aft side. Behind the Lambda is the repair area, large enough to hold 2 TIEs at once. There's space to shift things around inside, but only just. Everything fits...honest...

And if you think about it, if you crushed the Falcon into a box, it'd probably have a big enough capacity to hold the fighters I want...and I was only speaking figeratively. Gluing YT-1300's together would make three beautiful ships into something hideous. ;)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

actually, 92 meters is smaller than the 105 meter glue-job. not bigger. you're not going by the west end games length for the YT-1300, are you?

[(Alex) Jacen]

No...I'm going by approximate guesswork. But when I say "glued", I don't literally mean that. Its bigger than the Falcon, coz it has more decks, for one thing. Ok, its shorter than 3 falcons end to end, but the internal capacity is a lot bigger. Wait until my site is up...you'll be able to look at specs, and maybe understand. I dunno. But I'm only gonna say this once more: IT IS BIG ENOUGH. ;)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm not saying it isn't. I'm trying to clear up things on my end and get a better mental image

-_-

[Khendon Sevon]

How about we wait until we see the final stats and figures before passing any judgment :)

I'd just like to remind you of one thing, a ship doesn't just contain storage space and a cockpit. Living space, mechanical bays, escape pods, engines, reactors, sensors, weapons, shields, communications, targeting, computers, life support, hyperdrives, etc all take space.

I'd say a 95m vessel carrying the above mentioned might be a little excessive. Of course, it depends on the other ship components. Anyway, we'll see when the final stats are posted.

[(Alex) Jacen]

I've already taken the other bits of the ship into account...it is just a vessel for taking the fighters from A to B. No one lives on it...we have a base for that. Its just to extend the range of our fighters...they are Hyperspace capable (part of the mod), but they use fuel for that...we want to conserve as much as possible, because it don't come cheap.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm with Khendon on this one. I'll have to see it before I believe anything

[Darth Viscera]

Jacen, swfans has already experienced 5 years of deviation from canon-type star wars vessels, and the staff would appreciate it if you could select a pre-existing vessel type so as to encourage the greater use of "classic" star wars vessels.

[Telan Desaria]

agreed

[(Alex) Jacen]

http://www.geocities.com/fury_smops/equipment/rage.jpg

Not amazing, because I'm still working on the site...but there's the top and side views of the "Rage Marauder".


One of these...

http://www.geocities.com/fury_smops/equipment/x4a.jpg


...and four of these...

http://www.geocities.com/fury_smops/equipment/x4f.jpg


...plus a Lambda have to fit inside. That's all. The other two ships will easily fit in the Cargo Pods. In the middle third, the lower deck will be dedicated to fighters. They WILL fit.

The front third is dedicated to the crew, mainly, with the bridge, some quarters for longer missions, rec rooms, simulators (we have a full compliment's worth of TIE sims, plus a few others), etc.

The top of the middle third and the aft third are given over to Engineering systems.

The two bits on either side are Cargo Pods. They're pretty large, and can hold a hell of a lot. We will only use one most of the time, and leave the other one to be used as a spare landing bay (both Rep. Gunships will be in the "Cargo" Cargo Pod), and for training purposes...the sniper shoots targets from the other end, the Assassin and the Unarmed Combat guy spar, and we've set up targets and stuff for the others.


When you look at it, there isn't that much to fit in. We could use a YT-1300, save for the shuttle space. All this ship is, as far as we're concerned, is a 1300 with extra cargo space, and a landing bay bolted on. Nothing too fancy...pretty much just functional.


And before you ask...Cargo Pods are accessed through slides and ladders that go through the three large arms...well, one arm is a slide, and the other two have steps and ladders.


Anyway...there they are. Happy browsing.

[(Alex) Jacen]

I'm sorry to the staff, but as this thread (hopefully) showed you all, "a pre-existing vessel type" will not do the job. So I'm sorry, but I think I'll stick with my ship. I'm not trying to be awkward, but after all the hastle you people have put me through, it'd be unfair on the poor ship to turn my back on her now ;)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

A: your site doesn't work for me.

and B: no one has put you through any hassle.

[imported_STELA'SHLIT'NURUODO]

And I missed al this

I never get to have any fun.

[Darth Viscera]

Jacen, please select a pre-existing ship type. Take it or leave it. Your future group isn't exactly in the position to throw around enough resources to design entirely new classes of vessels anyway, you'd very likely be getting 2nd hand ships of common classes from someone else and modifying them.

[Khendon Sevon]

You know, you can modify an existing model, right?

I think it's cooler to have a ship that you gutted and retrofitted rather than an entirely new design--not to mention cheaper and more practical.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Originally posted by Jacen Dantarno
Why not a Marauder Corvette? A few reasons

1. Price.

2. Who uses it...its Corporate Sector...not really mercenary material.

3. Its not modular. Like all good mercenary and smuggler ships, its gonna be upgraded. The easier it is to upgrade, the better.

4. It apparently doesn't have a hyperdrive, achording to http://frankg.dgne.com/swsv/index.shtml

So...yeah. Doesn't really fit the description.


I beg to differ [/Silent Bob]

and here's why.

1. Price isn't an issure. They aren't too expensive if you steal them.

2. CorSec isn't the only ones using it - I read that there are mercs palming them and modding them out for marauding purposes.

3. Contrary to what you may believe, it's easy to upgrade; the NR does it all the time with theirs.

4. Buy a hyperdrive. If you're so focused on the price issue, wouldn't it be easier to get a hyperdrive rather than build a whole ship?



so, yeah.

[imported_STELA'SHLIT'NURUODO]

What weapons payload are you looking for?

[(Alex) Jacen]

For crying out loud...if you'd actually read, its not a "new" design. Its an old one. What's your problem with that anyway? Not only is nothing the right size, but nothing is old enough or useless enough. I'm not building a new ship. I'm making up a ship that's pre-Clone Wars. Its VERY old. Half the systems won't integrate with my upgrades. I want a ship that'll cause problems, not something brand new and build for us. I'm not designing a new ship...I'm designing an old one.

I DON'T WANT A NEW SHIP. I want a ship that will fall apart. One thats got bits missing and bits replaced all over the place. I CAN'T FIND ONE OF THOSE in the right size. But if you're all so damn bothered, I'll go for a crappy thing. The stuff won't fit inside it, but at least it'll be Star Wars, so you should all be happy.

I'm kinda disappointed...I expected Star Wars fans to be a little more accepting to new things...its an on-going saga. *sigh* Guess I was wrong.

[imported_STELA'SHLIT'NURUODO]

Hey im just trying to help. I ask a simple question. I have a few old ships in mind that will be the right size and allow for the Lambda to fit insidie it. but i just wanted more info so I could help.

[Dasquian Belargic]

Everyone has said this, but you don't appear to be taking it to heart - calm down. Stop over-reacting - as I said eariler, you brought the idea forward for discussion, to see if it would be accepted, and it hasn't been. End of. Thank for you for co-operating, in using an existing ship.

[(Alex) Jacen]

Its not just the Lambda...its the Lambda, five TIEs and two Republic Gunships. They won't fit inside. Tell me your suggestions anyway, but I'm not sure that they'll work.

Here's the deal. It took me a long time to come up with all the bits and pieces for this ship, and now I'm not getting to use them. Its pretty damn annoying. Thats why I don't want to accept an alternative. I already went over the detail stuff in ShadowFaene. Ok, so maybe you don't all look at that. But no one there complained. I put a lot of work in...and you seem surprisingly determined to make sure that all the effort was pointless.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Battlestar Galactica isn't 'pre-Clone Wars, mate. it's Battlestar Galactica

[Dasquian Belargic]

I understand that you put a lot of effort into this, but equally the rest of us have put a lot of effort into this community, most of us for a number of years. Your creativity is appreciated, though. Please don't take this as a sign that we don't like new ideas at all.

As an aside - you may have went over the details in ShadowFaene, but ShadowFaene isn't the whole community - it is a single group, it does not decide the rules. As far as I am aware, ShadowFaene is not actively engaged in the design of ships - if you had shown the design to the Imperials or NR and still gotten a thumbs up, that might have been alright (since most of their members are fleet/ship-focused).

[(Alex) Jacen]

Fine...just tell me what sodding ship to use and I'll use it. I can't be doing with this...I'm here to have fun. Why the hell do you have to make it such hard work?

[imported_STELA'SHLIT'NURUODO]

What About a Brayl Class Bulk Transpot. Or if you want something Pre Clone Wars an AA-9 Botajef Freighter Liner

either will fill your needs and both are modular and highly modifiable.

But neither is as good a choice as a Action VI Bulk Transport.

[(Alex) Jacen]

Got blueprints for any of them...sorta Vehicles and Vessels stylie?

Oh, and was the Action VI what Karrde had? I guess that *might* work...it certainly has the internal capacity to, anyway.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Jacen - there is a starship design thread in the NR forums. If you wish, please wander down there and the fleet specialists can help you out. I'm sure we can work something out to your satisfaction.

[(Alex) Jacen]

Cool. Thanks.

[Sejah Haversh]

Hey, if you want a custom ship, just head on down to some of the Nehantite shipyards. They'll cobble together a second-rate POS with all the engine power you can handle, but just don't run the microwave and the toaster at the same time, or you'll blow a fuse.

Or the ship might blow up.

Yeah, as far as customs and patchworks go, Nehantish is possibly one of the best producers. You might even score a few live-on mechanics and technicians, too. Heck, with a Nehantite ship, you'll need them.

[(Alex) Jacen]

I'm just gonna appologise to you all...I'm having a bad week, and I'm really frustrated. I enjoy designing ships, so I did one to help me relax...and then it studdenly stopped being easy and relaxing...and I kinda snapped. I'm sorry. I've written about my ship on the NR design boards, so hopefully I'll be able to get something sorted out.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by Jacen Dantarno
I'm just gonna appologise to you all...I'm having a bad week, and I'm really frustrated. I enjoy designing ships, so I did one to help me relax...and then it studdenly stopped being easy and relaxing...and I kinda snapped. I'm sorry. I've written about my ship on the NR design boards, so hopefully I'll be able to get something sorted out.

I'm sure you will, the details IMO arent all that probelmatic.

You just do have to remember people like me (for example) have been roleplaying for a long time and we have had some bad experiences with new RP'ers turning up and upsetting apple carts.

Anyway, got any questions, give me a PM or look up my AIM details in my profile. I'm as old and as crusty as they get in these here parts :)

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

hey hey hey! wait up here!

I say we're all old and crusty, and get called an oyster! Mark specifically says he's crusty, and NOTHING!

and you people wonder why I lash out :grumble

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by s'Ilancy
hey hey hey! wait up here!

I say we're all old and crusty, and get called an oyster! Mark specifically says he's crusty, and NOTHING!

and you people wonder why I lash out :grumble

That's because everyone knows I'm The Old Crusty Man of the forum, bitter, irritable and liable to pan someone in a blink. It's a mix of pathetic and terrifying that makes everyome step quietly around the rocking chair :D

[(Alex) Jacen]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm young and crusty.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Originally posted by Marcus Elessar
That's because everyone knows I'm The Old Crusty Man of the forum, bitter, irritable and liable to pan someone in a blink. It's a mix of pathetic and terrifying that makes everyome step quietly around the rocking chair :D

you better watch out then, cause I'ma take a saw to those rockers one of these days

[imported_Firebird1]

I knew when I saw the smoke comming from this thread that it was on fire...

But over a ship...

Christ let the man design his own ship...

This isn't rocket science, but at the same time it's not worth it to get everyone worked up about!

Heck we have Vampires and Werewolves around here, someone point them out in the EU or the Movies for me please!

I don't know if this is too late or not, but those are my two cents....

And finally theres something about sea food...

So whos paying for me to go to Red Lobster tonight?

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Originally posted by Firebird1

Heck we have Vampires and Werewolves around here


OMG where!!?? :p

[Marcus Telcontar]

Originally posted by s'Ilancy
OMG where!!?? :p

:: Breaks out the silver and wood stakes ::

For scientific purposes only mind.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm not a werewolf, sodon't look at me:mneh

[imported_Firebird1]

Originally posted by Marcus Elessar
:: Breaks out the silver and wood stakes ::

For scientific purposes only mind.

Right......

And don't worry S'il, it was only a matter of time till this came up again.

Either that or the fleet rules...

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

the fleet rules are fine, silly. everyone is cool with them :p I don't pay attention to the vamps all that much, and as far as werewolves orwhatever, I haven't seen them rp'ed out too much lately. Unless I'm just not looking hard enough.

But enough of that. Let's talk about me :)


<-- supreme-know-it-all who is such a sweety-pie and loves a good, cheap beer

[Morgan Evanar]

Stop hijacking the thread.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

but, it's been continued at Home One :huh

[Morgan Evanar]

Then let the thread die and respect the thread tag.

[Darth Viscera]

Jacen, just FYI, your decision to go ahead and pursue this over the objections of the moderators is tantamount to flouting the staff. You should really reconsider.

[imported_Firebird1]

Originally posted by Darth Viscera
Jacen, just FYI, your decision to go ahead and pursue this over the objections of the moderators is tantamount to flouting the staff. You should really reconsider.

This comming from the man who manipulated said fleet rules to conquer half the galaxy!

Sure thats just my opinion....

But this discussion is not about ruffleing the Mods feathers....
Espacilly the new ones who are still right out of the package!

In the end it's someone letting people know that he is building a ship company! It's not worth getting all angry over it.

As long as he doesn't build a Death Star the size of a pen we will be alright.
After all, we all pull one out of the pocket everyonce in a while anyways.

This should be fun and bring some life in the fleet stuff again...

[Darth Viscera]

Firebird, your post is coming off as provocative trolling rather than a positive contribution to the thread. Please rephrase your post to decrease the level of animosity.

Jacen, I hope you understand the motive behind our objections to your new classes of ships. We'd like to curb the deviation from classic Star Wars ships where practical in order to lessen the dependance on new forms of technology and bring things back to Star Wars basics. If you could settle for a pre-existing class of ship, of which there are many, we would be very much obliged.

[Sejah Haversh]

You know, Visc, he can have his ship. We really don't care. In fact, you're about the only one arguing against it.

But look around. The Rascal King is not a standard ship, and neither is the Skurhet or J'ktal's Shadow craft, but we still use them anyhow. I don't think he was flouting the staff at all, but legitimately asking advice, and got slammed for it for no reason.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

My main beef was the size of the craft versus what he wanted to put in it. yes, I considered it a challenge to see if I could find an equivelent in a Marauder Corvette, but my big problem was the dimensions :\

[Arya Ravenwing]

I agree with Sejah, surrrrprisingly. ;)

Heck, Arya flies a Chevvette77, and I don't even have any idea what sort of freighter that is. Ask Mark, he made it up, AFAIK.

[Brian]

Pierce flies a freighter whose details I have been deliberately sketchy on, other than to say it has a cloaking device and extended range turbolaser weaponry.

This is because I believe not going into infinite detail regarding ship components is a wise decision. It backs away from the line of bean-counting mentality, wherein everyone tries to claim the superiority or inferiority of X part compared to Y part.

My suggestion is to keep that in mind when designing future ships. We're really not so interested in exact specs as we are seeing the ship held within the bounds of believability.

[Figrin D'an]

As long as he sticks within some basic rules on ship design, and doesn't make something that has the firepower of an SSD with the dimensions of a freighter, I really don't see what all the fuss is about.

[Cizerack Hunter Forces]

And of course, the Cizerack Pride has a fleet of almost entirely non-canon vessels. Although I do try to maintain parity and comparability to some, I do use different configurations.

[(Alex) Jacen]

Darth Viscera, sir. I appreciate that the staff are objecting to my use of a new craft, and I do, in part, understand that. I'm not going against your will just for the sake of opposing you. I'm not going through the proper ship design channels. I'm getting help to make sure that the ship I end up with is usable, and unique.

Basically, if you want to tell me to use a pre-existing ship design, tell everone else to. Until then, I stand by my right to make up a whacky ship. If you try and force me to use an existing ship, but you let everyone else have new designs, its just not fair.

So, carry on if you want, but in the interests of equality, let me have my ship. Its not like its going to affect anyone else, anyway.

Wait until my ship design is finished. You never know...you might think its good enough to deserve to be used anyway. But please, be fair. All of these people have given examples of all sorts of races and ships that are non-canon. At the end of the day, we're here to have fun. OK, so maybe our ships will never show up in the films. OK, so maybe we've not got the same Lucas approval as other EU ships. But we're here to have fun. We're here to play. We're here to use our imaginations...what's wrong with using our imaginations to come up with a new ship?

And not only is my ship not as powerful as an SSD, but with the specs I'm working on right now, it could probably get taken out by a squadron of X-Wings, if they knew what they were doing. 4 Turbolaser Turrets, and one Dual Blaster/Ion turret. The Turbolasers are computer controlled (ie. the Co-Pilot tells them what to shoot at, and they shoot at it, as opposed to having a gunner per turret), so they're not as good as anything anyone else has to offer. The ship is weak. But my mercs don't need a strong ship. They need a box with a Hyperdrive that can carry their fighters from A to B, and defend itself from attack as it tries to escape to C. The design is modular, so you can alter the "pods" (thank Marcus for his Thunderbird 2 suggestion ;) ) to give extra cargo space, extra landing space, extra weapons, or space to carry passengers. You could add in another Pod module, and have eight pods instead of four, or 12 pods, if you really wanted. Or, you could forgo the Pod module alltogether, and connect the engines directly to the Command module. But you'll see all this when you see the design.


So yeah. Be fair, and give me a chance. If my ship is unacceptable when its finished, then by all means, ban me from using it. But as everyone on this thread has said so far, providing that the ship is believable, what's the problem?



PS. Thanks for defending me, guys! ;)

[(Alex) Jacen]

http://www.swforums.net/forum/showt...=&postid=654845

Go hither, and learn of the wonders of my imagination. :rollin