Amazing Ship Generator

[kilemall]

Traveller Reddit had a recent posting on a random generator site that normally focuses on fantasy topics/aids. However, this one is right up our alley- a random ship generator.

This doesn't yield ship stats, more a description, much of it with flavor text that doesn't specifically fit Traveller. But what it DOES do is generate floor plans.

The ship plans are again more scifi then Traveller so some results include transporter pads for instance, but the great part is it puts together logical design elements in line with it's defined mission. It's a pretty amazing FREE generator.

▷ Random Spaceship Generator | Rolegenerator

The Best Spaceship Generator for Science Fiction and RPGs ☑️ A spacecraft creator with Star Wars and Star Trek type ships. ☝ Enter here!

www.rolegenerator.com

 

[mike wightman]

That is a very useful resource

 

[Silverhawk]

Traveller Reddit had a recent posting on a random generator site that normally focuses on fantasy topics/aids. However, this one is right up our alley- a random ship generator.

This doesn't yield ship stats, more a description, much of it with flavor text that doesn't specifically fit Traveller. But what it DOES do is generate floor plans.

The ship plans are again more scifi then Traveller so some results include transporter pads for instance, but the great part is it puts together logical design elements in line with it's defined mission. It's a pretty amazing FREE generator.

▷ Random Spaceship Generator | Rolegenerator

The Best Spaceship Generator for Science Fiction and RPGs ☑️ A spacecraft creator with Star Wars and Star Trek type ships. ☝ Enter here!

www.rolegenerator.com

Absolutely, useful resource for a quick ship needed to fulfill an encounter event. Nice find. Thanks for posting.

 

[kilemall]

The ships end up being waaaaaaaay different then what GDW/FASA ‘taught’ us ships should be. Useful just for a rethink about what plans can be, and of course creating different.

Going through several spins I see a disconnect between flavor text on passengers/crewing and staterooms. A minor inconvenience for what we get.

 

[Nightwind1]

Traveller Reddit had a recent posting on a random generator site that normally focuses on fantasy topics/aids. However, this one is right up our alley- a random ship generator.

This doesn't yield ship stats, more a description, much of it with flavor text that doesn't specifically fit Traveller. But what it DOES do is generate floor plans.

The ship plans are again more scifi then Traveller so some results include transporter pads for instance, but the great part is it puts together logical design elements in line with it's defined mission. It's a pretty amazing FREE generator.

▷ Random Spaceship Generator | Rolegenerator

The Best Spaceship Generator for Science Fiction and RPGs ☑️ A spacecraft creator with Star Wars and Star Trek type ships. ☝ Enter here!

www.rolegenerator.com

Gee, those deck plans look VEEEEERRRRRYYY familiar!

 

[HanleyTucks]

Pretty good. I wish it did tail-sitters, too, though hardly anyone does those.

 

[kilemall]

Playing with this, I’m not sure it’s procedurally generating deck plans but rather applying randomized flavor text to built and cataloged plans. Still useful, just maybe not so whiz bang.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Pretty good. I wish it did tail-sitters, too, though hardly anyone does those.

Yeah. Someone really ought to get back to drawing up tailsitter versions of CT belly-lander ships while waiting for his PbP thingy to move forward.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Tail sitters are fun and all, so long as you don't need to load/unload large quantities of "solid" stuff from them.

Just look at that form factor and think to yourself ... if I need to roll an ATV out of that, where am I going to have to put it? Is there enough "room" to put a ramp there for the ATV to drive down for a "self dismount" ... or is it going to need to be extracted by a cradle and crane from somewhere up the side in order to get lowered down to the surface?

Wthat about "immobile" cargo, such as shipping containers and break bulk cargo? How are those going to be lifted out of a tail sitter? By (grav) forklift? By crane? By air/raft operating as a forklift/crane?

What happens if you need to deliver a "substantial amount of cargo" to an austere location (type E or for all practical purposes X class starport facilities)? If you aren't at a downport berth, can you still load/unload cargo at an unprepared "wilderness" location?

What about ocean refueling? Does the tail sitter "land in the water" tail first and retain its tail down orientation while opening the fuel scoops? Does it lift off from the water vertically straight up?

CT RAW is pretty agnostic on all of these questions, but once you get down to the nitty/gritty of deck plans these types of considerations start becoming kind of important. Obviously, with sufficient "ground support" none of these questions is an issue in a dirtside environment under gravity ... but (again), what if you're landing at an "austere" location that is little better than wilderness with little (to no) ground support to speak of? What then?

Conceptually speaking, with grav tech maneuver drives, a lot of these kinds of "landing logistics" questions substantially solve themselves as far as deck plans go with belly landers, but remain somewhat nagging questions for tail sitters. Both are certainly viable options at TL=9+, but there are some interesting implications for logistics and "ground operations" depending on which option you choose for your deck plans.

 

[Dragoner]

I don't see much difference between unloading. Then again most of my ships are tail sitters.

 

[kilemall]

I don't see much difference between unloading. Then again most of my ships are tail sitters.

Imagine a C17 as tail sitter. There are issues…

 

[Dragoner]

All of them will need a gantry.

 

[Condottiere]

There has to be some advantage to sitting on your tail.

Less parking fees?

 

[whartung]

Land on low g worlds, and shove 'em out the side.

I mean, it's no different from a modern container ship. Those are very tall as well, the tail sitter just isn't that deep.

 

[Dragoner]

Tail sitters have less of a foot print, natural VTOL.

 

[Condottiere]

Pre manoeuvre drive, pre ship gravity field.

Reaction drive too expensive for the medium term, except for kamikaze pilots.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Pre manoeuvre drive, pre ship gravity field.

Reaction drive too expensive for the medium term, except for kamikaze pilots.

If delta-v is costly in terms of mass and energy, you aren't going to be taking the whole ship dirtside in the first place.

 

[Grav_Moped]

Imagine a C17 as tail sitter. There are issues…

Look at the cargo variants of the 747. Yes, there are issues, but they're solved at TL-6 if the infrastructure is present.

If not? There are oceangoing ships with their own cargo-handling gear.

 

[Dragoner]

This is something I drew up for andromeda dragons:


The crane is a tracing from a harbor freight ad, basically swings in, lifts it up, and swing out. I used to have one on the back of a truck to pick up engines, when I used to build V8's.

 

[HanleyTucks]

I've certainly considered those issues. I think it's mainly an issue when you're wanting a quick turnover of ship and cargo. If you don't mind if it takes a day or two then it's not an issue, the stevedore wages simply become part of the cost of the cargo. Modern ports want a quick turnover because they have a high volume of cargo going through. Well, there's your type A port of London, rather than your type E of Mogadishu.

And if it's really, really high volume, then there's probably not much room for a tramp freighter. Efficient systems are going to push out the little guy, welcome to (more or less) free market capitalism.

But anyway, it all depends on the physics you're using in your Traveller universe. If the physics says they have to be VTVL then that's that, however inconvenient it is for the stevedores. If your physics says they don't have to be then they probably won't be.