well, mine was meant for everyone. determining what you want from a deckplan will determine any number of approach parameters. for example, eye candy drawn up just to see what happens may be quite different from something drawn up for publication that must meet certain standards, even if it's supposedly the same ship.
Deckplan design: theory and practice
- Thread starter Tanuki
- Start date
Tekrat04
SOC-11
My view on deckplans: They are an essential part of designing a starship. Designing a starship is more than calculating some statistic or drawing a pretty picture. It's a combination of all of the above, statistic/description, deckplans/schmatics and artwork. They must all mesh together as one. The function of deckplans and/or schematics is to bring a measure of realism to the design by making shure that all of the components actualy fit together within the hull of the ship. To do this the deckplans must conform to the shape and size of the hull and the components take the same amount of space on the deckplans as they were calculated by the statistics.
Unfortunatly that is not the always the case. Actualy that is rarely the case. Too many officialy published ships fail this simple premise.
Unfortunatly that is not the always the case. Actualy that is rarely the case. Too many officialy published ships fail this simple premise.
TheEngineer
SOC-14 1K
Hi !
Even if I largely agree with Tekrat, I sometimes got the impression taht deckplan design is maybe just another referee thing, which eats up a large amount of work but hardly pays back in term of gameplay enhancement.
So, often my players just didnt care very much about "all the work" I had done.
Homestly I love the things we could do now with all the tools we have, but unluckily I also recognize, that players need if often satisfied with much much less.
As a result many people do a lot of work for mainly themself or for others who like to do so.
So I would like to ask the question:
How to design and draw deckplans in an efficient way ?
What could be perhaps neglegted ?
What is really important ?
Regards,
Mert
Even if I largely agree with Tekrat, I sometimes got the impression taht deckplan design is maybe just another referee thing, which eats up a large amount of work but hardly pays back in term of gameplay enhancement.
So, often my players just didnt care very much about "all the work" I had done.
Homestly I love the things we could do now with all the tools we have, but unluckily I also recognize, that players need if often satisfied with much much less.
As a result many people do a lot of work for mainly themself or for others who like to do so.
So I would like to ask the question:
How to design and draw deckplans in an efficient way ?
What could be perhaps neglegted ?
What is really important ?
Regards,
Mert
is an artistic touch required? I have pretty much zero art sense.
your game. if your players don't need them, then your game doesn't. 'course, you may want them for your own view of game circumstances.
an efficient way is to have a library of stock components that are simply cut and pasted into a given ship's hull. but this approach does not lend itself to an eye-candy result.
What I look for in a deckplan is how well things are laid out and labeled. I use them in game either as a ref or a player to get a sense of where things and sophonts are in a ship. I’ve seen deckplans done in MacDraw and Paint that were more than adequate for this. With some patience and some imagination even ASCII text can do a basic job.
Sure I’d love a series of Traveller deckplan books like say the Ships of Starfleet books or DP9’s illustration books but I’d still only get as much game use out of them as printouts of 80’s era "crude" deckplans.
Casey
Sure I’d love a series of Traveller deckplan books like say the Ships of Starfleet books or DP9’s illustration books but I’d still only get as much game use out of them as printouts of 80’s era "crude" deckplans.
Casey
TheEngineer
SOC-14 1K
Hi !
Flykiller posted:
One aspect I try to apply in my drawings is to keep them somehow flexible, meaning that I could use them for different purposes e.g. as a starship deck, as a part of a building or as part of an industrial site.
So, by using CC2s layering technique I often just strip outer hull sections of fuel tankage fills in order to produce an office complex with some adjected storage facilities....
Flykiller posted:
Well, I hope CC2/CG enables me to do those things better and especially more efficient now.
One aspect I try to apply in my drawings is to keep them somehow flexible, meaning that I could use them for different purposes e.g. as a starship deck, as a part of a building or as part of an industrial site.
So, by using CC2s layering technique I often just strip outer hull sections of fuel tankage fills in order to produce an office complex with some adjected storage facilities....
I was checking out some of those sites Crow mentione din his article and came across a person who posted some Chronicles of Riddick digital matte paintings he did for the movie. The guy has some amazing stuff on his website, check it out.
Dylan Cole Studio
Dylan Cole Studio
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
I am (unsurprisingly to those who've found my website) one of those who believes that deckplans are an important part of starship design for RPGs. I find them less useful for wargame use (unless the game is about boarding combat, of course), but a sense of internal layout is important for most other uses, including model building. Where are the airlocks, and why?
As for inspiration, I find it all over the place. I'm a long-time collector of ship pictures, because any such picture can produce multiple inspirations over time. I've also found inspiration in sea life, old issues of Popular Mechanics, and the bewildering variety of toys found on store shelves these days (as well as the packages said toys come in; often more useful than the toy in this regard).
As for drawing programs, I still find a pencil and graph-paper pad is often my best first stage, but once I get rolling a drawing program has to have certain features. A fairly quick tool for changing line color, thickness, and solidity is important to me, so that these adjustments don't interfere with the idea flow. A decent curve tool is useful as well, though being able to fake it with line segments can be a useful talent to develop.
For me, this boils down to a machine-and-OS-appropriate version of ClarisWorks at the moment, but Freehand or Canvas are good options. I use (ie. dabble in) AutoCADD for work purposes, and I find it an abomination among drafting programs, both for the purposefully obscure interface (even now) and the monopolistic and elitist business practices of the manufacturer. That said, if it floats your boat and you have it, use it.
As for inspiration, I find it all over the place. I'm a long-time collector of ship pictures, because any such picture can produce multiple inspirations over time. I've also found inspiration in sea life, old issues of Popular Mechanics, and the bewildering variety of toys found on store shelves these days (as well as the packages said toys come in; often more useful than the toy in this regard).
As for drawing programs, I still find a pencil and graph-paper pad is often my best first stage, but once I get rolling a drawing program has to have certain features. A fairly quick tool for changing line color, thickness, and solidity is important to me, so that these adjustments don't interfere with the idea flow. A decent curve tool is useful as well, though being able to fake it with line segments can be a useful talent to develop.
For me, this boils down to a machine-and-OS-appropriate version of ClarisWorks at the moment, but Freehand or Canvas are good options. I use (ie. dabble in) AutoCADD for work purposes, and I find it an abomination among drafting programs, both for the purposefully obscure interface (even now) and the monopolistic and elitist business practices of the manufacturer. That said, if it floats your boat and you have it, use it.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
all one word, but yes.
Being one of those heretics who thinks practicality is important, and that designs should be form following function...
Since almost everything I design is streamlined, and is usually either a needle, cylinder, wedge, or flattened sphere... and needle and wedge are only because they are replications of canonical hulls.
So, most of my ship plans are either bullets, bullets with wings, flattened spheres or lifting bodies (Flattened spheres with wings...). Y'know, perhaps I should be designing for K'Kree ships... Nah.
Seriously, though, most BIG ships probably should be cylinders or needles... keeps the thrust axis and the center of mass fairly close at all times, and reduces the need to correct for cargo moment. As should most TL9 ships... not that we really see many TL9 designs... No A/G...
Oh, and, BTW, I also use ClarisWorks/AppleWorks (same program... name varies by edition) for doing most of my D-Plans.
Since almost everything I design is streamlined, and is usually either a needle, cylinder, wedge, or flattened sphere... and needle and wedge are only because they are replications of canonical hulls.
So, most of my ship plans are either bullets, bullets with wings, flattened spheres or lifting bodies (Flattened spheres with wings...). Y'know, perhaps I should be designing for K'Kree ships... Nah.
Seriously, though, most BIG ships probably should be cylinders or needles... keeps the thrust axis and the center of mass fairly close at all times, and reduces the need to correct for cargo moment. As should most TL9 ships... not that we really see many TL9 designs... No A/G...
Oh, and, BTW, I also use ClarisWorks/AppleWorks (same program... name varies by edition) for doing most of my D-Plans.
Drakon
SOC-14 1K
I have, since I did some research on Alquiberra's warp drive paper, and the ensuing discussion about it, come to appreciate the saucer (flattened spheroid).
But I gotta tell you, it can be a real pain to work all the stuff into the decplans. Dealing with straight lines/bulkheads is easy. When they curve, it gets a bit tougher.
But I gotta tell you, it can be a real pain to work all the stuff into the decplans. Dealing with straight lines/bulkheads is easy. When they curve, it gets a bit tougher.
Why thank you!
The 'Fish was part of the ISS Ursula campaign for a good portion of its run, but seldom actually got used. From what Bryan tells me the original "statistical design" was done by Shane McLane. Bryan Gibson did the external design. All I did was figure an approximate scale based on hull volume and overlay things by freehand in Photoshop. (After an initial hand sketch that is.) Someday I'll get around to actually laying things out in AutoCAD, but for game purposes, it was sufficient.
Capt. Blacklight
SOC-12
Why thank you!
The 'Fish was part of the ISS Ursula campaign for a good portion of its run, but seldom actually got used. </font>[/QUOTE]Oh come on Rhys, that month sitting around Arden, Hidding from Every Fedhead, Zho, and Customs puke they had... that's what you call seldom? Mind youAfter that, it was mostly used as a training vessel for Engineers and New pilots, Although I seem to recall a bit of running around in her myself.
As I seem to recall it was a blend of tech as well, the Hull and I think the power plant were bought from Darrian, and the rest was built on Arden.... Interesting use of a small boat in a mini carrier mode.
