Favorite Deckplan Style
- Thread starter BytePro
- Start date
Since you mentioned it, I had to look it up:
First impression: pretty nice.
Pros: I like the detail, It shows a lot of info on the ship in a small space.
Cons (mostly nit picks): Prints should be white lines on a blue background or blue lines on a white background ... blue lines on a blue background means that you need to slow the machine down to burn off that background.
Too much of the side view is covered to really appreciate what the ship looks like.
I prefer the fuel area to be filled solid to make it clearer where people go and where they can't.
To the OP question:
I can tell you easier what I don't like ...
I am not a fan of the Campaign Cartographer tiles look. Lots of people really like that, but I find the texture on texture on texture look lacks the hierarchy of lines that I enjoy in a good work of art.
I am not a fan of the MgT type empty grid rooms with crude symbols. It answers basic questions about the location of spaces, but I want more than a grid for wargames with miniatures.
Was there supposed to be a poll attached, with choices to vote on? If so, I don't see it.
Same nits here!Since you mentioned it, I had to look it up:
First impression: pretty nice.
Pros: I like the detail, It shows a lot of info on the ship in a small space.
Cons (mostly nit picks): Prints should be white lines on a blue background or blue lines on a white background ... blue lines on a blue background means that you need to slow the machine down to burn off that background.
Too much of the side view is covered to really appreciate what the ship looks like.
Personally like the fuel areas, but that's a really good point - they do need some better visual separation.
Ditto again. The typical cartoonish look of the tiles is another turn off for me.
Thanks for the feedback - I should have phrased the OP better!
Sorry, no multiple choice 'poll', per se - its a pretty broad question.
I should have asked more explicitly what folks like or don't like in deckplans and any examples...
Yeah... also a convenient place to stash stuff to avoid casual detection. 
The deckplan in question has an 'interlinked' 'cellular system' of tanks (presumably for anti-sabotage; damage mitigation) illustrated in a way that leaves the fuel cells 'crossed out'.
Its nice detail and could be useful (shows interconnections), but as atpollard pointed out, would benefit from some better emphasis, such as shading/hashing. Probably the reason there is an inset which shows 'live zones'.
The deckplan in question has an 'interlinked' 'cellular system' of tanks (presumably for anti-sabotage; damage mitigation) illustrated in a way that leaves the fuel cells 'crossed out'.
Its nice detail and could be useful (shows interconnections), but as atpollard pointed out, would benefit from some better emphasis, such as shading/hashing. Probably the reason there is an inset which shows 'live zones'.
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
The original GDW style was similar, and is the style I aim for. Furniture moves around, and not very many of us are real architects to be able to convey the real size of some of these spaces.
If you will permit me a moment of over-sensitivity:
Absolutely, I mean no criticism of Mongoose Traveller for using it.
That has been the dominant style for as long as Traveller (in any version) has had deckplans ... and with very good reason. First and foremost it is generally quick and easy to do which avoids the need for starship books to be $100 coffee table art books. It also allows PLAYERS to create their own ships which is part of the reason that Traveller has been around and enjoyed for so long.
OK, the moment has passed ...
... moving on:
That said, my complaint with that particular aesthetic is that it conveys very little sense of the character of the spaces within the ship. A section through a space will often reveal features that cannot be clearly expressed in the plan ... like a high or low ceiling or a 'split-level' space. When I create a ship, I enjoy thinking about those sort of details and how to convey the character and TL of a room. I admire the work of others who push the boundaries and, in doing so, urge me to try harder to 'keep up'.
Iron, does indeed, sharpen iron.
middenface
SOC-12
I did a new version of the Hunter for Mongoose and called it the Huntress...
Rigel Stardin
SOC-13
You can tell what my style is .
I like clean and clear plans. so I can point to a player and say you are here...
.I like clean and clear plans. so I can point to a player and say you are here...
GypsyComet
SOC-14 1K
Conveying gross geometry of a ship and its decks is one thing; the interior "pencils" DGP was known for are another entirely. One is a technical skill, the other is art. That the two go hand in hand amongst the more talented ship architects Traveller has known does not make them the same skill.
If you look up sizes of beds, tables, etc., it is no problem to correctly place them on 1.5 meter squares in the correct scale.
This is about as small of a stateroom on a cruise ship. Approx. 13.1 meters sq. A little less than 4.5 x 3 meters.
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I favor the semi furnished style that was used and developed through the DGP publications, then into Arrival Vengeance and Assignment Vigilante. These deck plans canveyed more feel of the vassel they were representing than the earlier ones by, for instance, Chris Purcell in Traders in Gumboots. They also felt like they took more account of the shape of the vessels as well.
Hi,
I do like some of the more modern and colorful deck plans that I have been seeing of late though I don't know if I have a favorite style. Over the years for stuff I've done myself though I've tended to draw most ships in three styles so that the user could decide to use the ones they wanted.
The 1st style would be close to that from the old Snapshot game, with spaces laid out with a simple grid and ID number but empty of furniture or equipment. The second would be similar but the spaces would be color coded to identify their function instead of having an ID number, while the last method would actually show line drawing outlines typical furniture and equipment.
I do like some of the more modern and colorful deck plans that I have been seeing of late though I don't know if I have a favorite style. Over the years for stuff I've done myself though I've tended to draw most ships in three styles so that the user could decide to use the ones they wanted.
The 1st style would be close to that from the old Snapshot game, with spaces laid out with a simple grid and ID number but empty of furniture or equipment. The second would be similar but the spaces would be color coded to identify their function instead of having an ID number, while the last method would actually show line drawing outlines typical furniture and equipment.
Patron Zero
SOC-13
I've always been a fan of the original deck plan style presented by GDW and FASA in the LBBs and large format deck plan sets.
Uncluttered lines and easy to understand symbols are a great formula, such made quick orientation for even novice players and experienced referees alike.
Sometimes less is more.
Uncluttered lines and easy to understand symbols are a great formula, such made quick orientation for even novice players and experienced referees alike.
Sometimes less is more.
I do my own in MS Paint on a 10x10 grid with simple lines and icons. Very little furniture except stuff that won't move like acceleration chairs and beds. I think a uncluttered view is better for gaming than the alternative.
I do MS paint as well - cheap and simple, everybody has it (pretty much), with just a few weaknesses. (Curves are the devil.) I've got an 8.5" by 11" master done in 4-blocks-to-the-inch light blue that serves for most small ships, and I do furniture - well, basic furniture.
Given that the scale's giving me 100 ... pixels? ... to the inch, and 1 inch is 4 blocks or 6 meters, each pixel is 6 centimeters, which means I can show beds, chairs, tables and such in a recognizable way - enough to be sure the room space is serviceable. i.e. a room'll fit a bed and et cetera while leaving enough room for the occupant to get around, the lounge seats enough people while leaving enough room to move between tables, that kind of thing. However, table lamps and such small things are beyond me.
On the other hand, I can print it out pretty easily.
Given that the scale's giving me 100 ... pixels? ... to the inch, and 1 inch is 4 blocks or 6 meters, each pixel is 6 centimeters, which means I can show beds, chairs, tables and such in a recognizable way - enough to be sure the room space is serviceable. i.e. a room'll fit a bed and et cetera while leaving enough room for the occupant to get around, the lounge seats enough people while leaving enough room to move between tables, that kind of thing. However, table lamps and such small things are beyond me.
On the other hand, I can print it out pretty easily.
Gallowglacht
SOC-12
Ki Ryn studios ships, by Ryan Wolfe. He did the deckplans for serenity RPG if you have seen them.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=606
Love them, but they are not actually Traveller. He uses register tons so for conversions you have to divide his tonnage by 5. The plans include colour, black and white and exterior shots.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=606
Love them, but they are not actually Traveller. He uses register tons so for conversions you have to divide his tonnage by 5. The plans include colour, black and white and exterior shots.
