Starship Interiors

[Scarecrow]

Or to put it another way, as long as you don't increase the capabilities of the ship, draw your deck plans however you like.

Well, that's exactly what I'm saying really. The ship's stats have to be correct as per the rules for the purposes of play. The deckplans on the other hand don't really need to have exactly the correct ammount of squares as long as it has the correct amount of components.

...for some folks, that is part of the game, coming up with a workable deckplan, staying within those restrictions. They take pride in "play the game" and can feel not playing by the rules is kind of cheating.

Agreed. As I say, I'm not suggesting Traveller is broken in any way. I'm not advocating changing the ship design rules, just not adhering strictly to the volume rules - but only with regards to deckplans.

I actually get the feeling that you and I feel the same about this, Drakon but from different perspectives

Merry Christmas

Crow

 

[Drakon]

I actually get the feeling that you and I feel the same about this, Drakon but from different perspectives

Merry Christmas

Crow

Yup, think you got it there. Don't blow the suspension of disblief, make the ship as cool as you can in the inside, but don't sweat it too much. As long as the stats stay the same and your luxury stateroom does not have a Duex ex Machina in it, you are cool.

Some will complain that you "cheated" just tell them house rules allows the changes you made. And if your GM agrees, well no problem. If you are the GM, should not be too hard to get him to agree

 

[vegascat]

My interiors are closer to naval, depending on intended usage.
Small craft resemble airlines with extras
Frieghters will have exposed pipes, wiring runs, designed with ease of maintenance in mind. Cooridors of painted metal, grid floor grates, heavy duty lights at intervals. Crew staterooms are easily configured. Colors widely varied depending on captains taste, or lack there of.
Liners, think cruise ships. Lots of white paneling, carpets in passenger areas. Staterooms, mid passage are cookiecutter, high passage has wood panneling, and good quality fixtures. All compartments of any type will have pressure equalization holes for depressurization. Exterior color schemes are determined by the corp paint scheme.
Military vessels are military vessels patterend after modern naval ships. Why mess whith what works? Exposed pipes and wiring tied down in channel runs. Inside surfaces of exterior walls kept as clear as possible of anything that would prevent repair of damage and leaks.

 

[lucasdigital]

For me, the old adage 'form follows function' applies. No two ships will necessarily have the same interior arrangement or styling. Passenger liners will look, at least a little like contemporary ocean liners, warships are definitely going to use some of the design conventions you'd see on board large modern warships.

As for how accurate your deck plans are to the ship's stats, I'd say that you make best endeavors to conform to your ship's stated volume, if you find you've made a slight error, don't sweat it. I'd discourage people from designing without putting in some effort to 'keep it real', things could eventually slip and your 100 ton scout ship might start looking more like an wedge shaped TARDIS...

 

[Patron Zero]

For me, the old adage 'form follows function' applies. No two ships will necessarily have the same interior arrangement or styling.

Aside from the constraints of such 'necessities' as location of bulkheads and the ship's compartments for drives, power, fuel and such, I tend to allow player to do reasonable interior renovations to suit their tastes and personalities.

I do a good bit of tinkering with standard designs and deck plans IMTU so even the most commonly encountered vessels will have some unique signature feature all it's own.

 

[Gvadakoung]

My interiors totally vary, depending on the ship. The interior of an Imperial cruiser looks different from a tramp freighter, which looks different from a Vargr scout ship, all of which pale before the ostentation of a Destiny-class starliner (coming soon to a forum near you).

Look at it this way - in our own world, what does the interior of a building look like? I bring that range and depth to my Traveller world.

Imperial Navy sheeps are utilitarian, but tend to be clean and well-maintained.

Tramp freighter - much like Firefly

Vargr craft - like an Italian car - lovingly over-engineered, requires constant maintenance.

Luxury starliner - Like a 5-star hotel, yacht club and opera house in space.

 

[Enoki]

I use a mix.

Naval / military vessels look more like modern naval vessels. Wiring and piping exposed, heavy bulkheads, lots of hatches many manually operated, and horridly drab color schemes. They are cramped and packed with men and equipment.

Small merchants: More like Firefly to maybe cleaner and brighter interior-wise depending on the crew and captain. They are utilitarian and much of the equipment is basic rather than fancy. So, they might be clean and be kept in good repair or they might resemble Dark Star with the crew living in "temporary" quarters because their own are unlivable...

Yachts and other high end ships: Something beyond modern yachts in luxury. Larger staterooms than standard, more common space, and the crew has separate quarters on a lower deck.

Large merchants and passenger ships: These range from utilitarian to opulent depending on function and they are maintained to a reasonable standard. Unlike small merchants like free or far traders, the crew wears clean uniforms and rank is observed.

 

[Condottiere]

Wall to wall to ceiling shag carpeting.

Yeah, baby!

 

[Condottiere]

Wall to wall to ceiling shag carpeting.

Yeah, baby!

 

[Timerover51]

I go with naval architecture requirements.

 

[coliver988]

I use a mix.

Naval / military vessels look more like modern naval vessels. Wiring and piping exposed, heavy bulkheads, lots of hatches many manually operated, and horridly drab color schemes. They are cramped and packed with men and equipment.

Small merchants: More like Firefly to maybe cleaner and brighter interior-wise depending on the crew and captain. They are utilitarian and much of the equipment is basic rather than fancy. So, they might be clean and be kept in good repair or they might resemble Dark Star with the crew living in "temporary" quarters because their own are unlivable...

Yachts and other high end ships: Something beyond modern yachts in luxury. Larger staterooms than standard, more common space, and the crew has separate quarters on a lower deck.

Large merchants and passenger ships: These range from utilitarian to opulent depending on function and they are maintained to a reasonable standard. Unlike small merchants like free or far traders, the crew wears clean uniforms and rank is observed.

Wish we had a like or something....pretty much my concept as well. There are millions of ships and they range from the grungy free trader barely hanging on to the uber-elite yachts all chromed out (and some with floor to ceiling shag carpet, indeed).

Locations for me are like warp drive in Star Trek: they go at the speed of plot.

Although I do maintain the tradition that all Scout ships can never get rid of the smells, even fresh off the line.

 

[Enoki]

Wall to wall to ceiling shag carpeting.

Yeah, baby!

Oh come on... The original on that was Barbarella...

 

[Timerover51]

I should add that most of my ships resemble submarines with flattened bottoms, some aerodynamic structures, and multiple hulls linked together by passageways and streamlined by external structure.

 

[Drakon]

Wall to wall to ceiling shag carpeting.

Yeah, baby!

Like Barbarella's ship

 

[McPerth]

IITR I already commented that once in another thread, but one thing I miss in all Traveller art depicting starship's interiors (at least all that I've seen) are the handholds so talked about in most Zero-g maneuver and combat rules.

As is told in those rules, those handholds should be in every corridor (and probably in most other ship interior areas too).

 

[aramis]

IITR I already commented that once in another thread, but one thing I miss in all Traveller art depicting starship's interiors (at least all that I've seen) are the handholds so talked about in most Zero-g maneuver and combat rules.

As is told in those rules, those handholds should be in every corridor (and probably in most other ship interior areas too).

Most ships in MTU have handrails not unlike those in some hospitals - about 20cm wide, 5cm thick, and 10cm proud of the wall. Safety illumination is a line of LED's on the back side of the panel, lighting the wall and bouncing that light to provide soft red indirect lights. Light duty power/data connectors (think USB) are located along the handhold bar in strategic locations.

Passenger spaces are generally carpeted on floors and ceilings, often on walls. (For noise abatement, mostly.), and all have the aforementioned handhold rails.

Engineering spaces are all bare or non-skidded metal, with recessed tie-down slots and power connections. Hand-holds are recessed circles - 15cm across, 5 cm deep, with a 1cm lip on the 10cm opening. Tie-downs are folding 5cm diameter, 1cm thick rings. Power connectors have flip lids. Handhold rails present in some areas.

Cargo is bare metal with recessed tie-downs, and on TL9 designs, recessed extensible rollers; recessed power connections are present but in far fewer numbers than in engineering. A standard cargo connection (similar to the ISO Container corner connectors) is used. The fitting is a flush "+" shape, with a retracting center pin. (That allows feeding a bight of rope into it. Or you can use a T-head, without fear of it coming loose.) These are placed about every 1.5m floor and ceiling. No handrails.

 

[Condottiere]

An interesting branch of ergonomics to apply yourself to, if you like customizing your spaceship's interiors.

You could also have pliable plastic handholds attached, so that it's not a hard object that you can fall or crash into.

 

[Enoki]

On engineering spaces: I always describe these as crammed full of equipment, hot, noisy, and bewildering to anyone that isn't an engineer. There's no real reason to make them quiet, starships aren't submarines and the bad guys aren't going to be using sonar in space. Heat is a normal byproduct of having lots of things using lots of energy.

As for their cleanliness, that will vary. On larger commercial ships and warships the spaces will be kept clean and neat. On small ships like scouts, free, and far traders these spaces will be greasy and grimy as the engineer(s) doesn't have the time to clean and keep what is likely older machinery working properly.

Decks and walkways would be something akin to diamond deck steel or open metal mesh. There would likely be a control room(s) on any ship to allow operation of all the systems. Even something like a far trader really would need a central operating station to handle all the remote valves, the refueling and fuel processors, not to mention the engines and auxiliaries.

 

[Timerover51]

On engineering spaces: I always describe these as crammed full of equipment, hot, noisy, and bewildering to anyone that isn't an engineer. There's no real reason to make them quiet, starships aren't submarines and the bad guys aren't going to be using sonar in space. Heat is a normal byproduct of having lots of things using lots of energy.

As for their cleanliness, that will vary. On larger commercial ships and warships the spaces will be kept clean and neat. On small ships like scouts, free, and far traders these spaces will be greasy and grimy as the engineer(s) doesn't have the time to clean and keep what is likely older machinery working properly.

Why would this be so? All of your controls are going to be electronic, your power plant is going to be isolated from the interior ship environment, and most of your jump drive space is going to be occupied by capacitors. Your engine room sounds like a compartment filled with Diesel Engines, not a fusion-powered star ship.

Decks and walkways would be something akin to diamond deck steel or open metal mesh. There would likely be a control room(s) on any ship to allow operation of all the systems. Even something like a far trader really would need a central operating station to handle all the remote valves, the refueling and fuel processors, not to mention the engines and auxiliaries.

Basically similar to the control room on a submarine. Have you ever been onboard of a submarine and seen the control room? Your comments might have had some relevance on the early WW1 boats, but not for the current nuclear boats.

 

[Enoki]

Why would this be so? All of your controls are going to be electronic, your power plant is going to be isolated from the interior ship environment, and most of your jump drive space is going to be occupied by capacitors. Your engine room sounds like a compartment filled with Diesel Engines, not a fusion-powered star ship.

Controls are the least of it. You still need a plethora of systems on a ship in Traveller. For instance, I did these of an Empress Marava class far trader:

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Gallery/index.php?n=1285

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Gallery/index.php?n=1284

http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Gallery/index.php?n=1283

That's just three systems on a small ship. Electrical generators, pumps, motors, compressors, and a whole range of other systems all generate noise and heat in operation. You have a jump capacitor system that stores and discharges megawatts or more of power. That generates heat making all that energy.
The Star Trek version you imply is nonsense. You still have to have a sanitary waste system. You need a way to treat, heat and distribute potable water all over the ship. You have to generate electricity. You need to lubricate moving / rotating parts with something. Fusion or not, all these secondary systems still have to exist and take up most of the space in your "engine" rooms which are really "engineering" spaces.
A onboard refueling system requires large compressors to turn gaseous hydrogen into liquid. You might need nitrogen to pressurize tanks and oxygen for breathing. Compressors are horribly noisy and hot.
All that stuff needs heat exchangers. Large generators emit a hum at whatever frequency they run at. Ever sit and listen to a 400 Hz one hunt by + / - 5 hertz for hours...? I have. It's annoying like a dental drill.

So, while the rest of the ship might be nice and quiet, the engineering spaces aren't. They also won't have much space to move around in. Open space will be dictated by access to equipment for maintenance and repair. There won't be large open areas as these amount to waste volume that could be spent in a better manner.

Basically similar to the control room on a submarine. Have you ever been onboard of a submarine and seen the control room? Your comments might have had some relevance on the early WW1 boats, but not for the current nuclear boats.

Yes. I'm a Navy nuclear power field Chief (retired). I can still draw an S5G, S5W, or A1W plant mostly from memory. Sub plants are quiet by design, but that comes at a cost. A merchant ship isn't going to pay that cost. A pair of foamy ear plugs are cheaper than noise reducing all the machinery.