Custom Ship: 400 ton VIP Courier

[Sageryne]

Hi all,

In this thread, https://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/threads/what-type-of-ships-are-gms-pcs-looking-for.125900/

I asked what type of ships are GMs and PCs looking for? I also offered to design it for them. The first person to take me up on the offer was Limpin Legin.

Okay I have a starship in mind for you. See what you think about this.

I want to know what the build and cost would be for a VIP carrier that can outmanoeuvre in any difficult situation, to transport and protect the onboard VIP and his entourage (max 15 persons total). The client for this vessel puts forth a requirement for a high jump drive, high manoeuvre drive vessel, with sandcasters and possibly shields of some description, and zero attack weapons.

Some of the entourage may double as ship's crew. There will be a minimum of 3 emergency low berths to support life in case of illness on ship or assassination attempts. Hopefully, there will be enough cargo space to furnish a small flat and garage. However, the request for this feature may be scrapped at the last minute.

The ship's drives should be protected by armoured bulkheads, and there should also be an emergency power systems that be easily called upon from backup. Other features can be added at the Architects discretion, provided they can justify why they are adding them. The contract shall be awarded to the most robust VIP or statesman friendly design! Good luck.

So, here is the first custom designed ship, the 400-dTon, Manoeuvre-7, Jump-4, Arrowhead Class VIP Strategic Courier. If price is no object and you need to get where you are going quickly, this is your ship.



Check it out: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1St6zbj98wDJj3QeuPH6PgVIy9GQKyywD/view?usp=sharing

Thank you to Limpin Legin for playing along. We had some fun PMs back and forth as the naval architect tried to meet all the client's requirements. I think the end result is very cool.

I have another request from Reddit to work on next.

I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks

- Kerry

 

[mavikfelna]

Absolutely beautiful! Love the design and the write-up.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Hi all,

In this thread, https://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/threads/what-type-of-ships-are-gms-pcs-looking-for.125900/

I asked what type of ships are GMs and PCs looking for? I also offered to design it for them. The first person to take me up on the offer was Limpin Legin.



So, here is the first custom designed ship, the 400-dTon, Manoeuvre-7, Jump-4, Arrowhead Class VIP Strategic Courier. If price is no object and you need to get where you are going quickly, this is your ship.

View attachment 5691

Check it out: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1St6zbj98wDJj3QeuPH6PgVIy9GQKyywD/view?usp=sharing

Thank you to Limpin Legin for playing along. We had some fun PMs back and forth as the naval architect tried to meet all the client's requirements. I think the end result is very cool.

I have another request from Reddit to work on next.

I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks

- Kerry

Is there a video of your process? I have the pdf of the elements--I think--but how do you get all the parts in their places? Photoshop?

 

[Sageryne]

Hi Terry,

I haven't done a video, but I can write out the process and share the documents I use. I do my ships on Powerpoint! Surprising, but it is remarkably flexible (though I am sure I am using it in ways it was never intended!).

I will put something together tonight and post it on a separate thread.

- Kerry

 

[Anstett]

I do my ships on Powerpoint! Surprising, but it is remarkably flexible (though I am sure I am using it in ways it was never intended!).

I have done a LOT of mapping over the years in Powerpoint. A decade or more ago it was able to export to so many different formats that it was better than Campaign Cartographer for 90% of the maps I needed in my game.

 

[Terry Mixon]

Hi Terry,

I haven't done a video, but I can write out the process and share the documents I use. I do my ships on Powerpoint! Surprising, but it is remarkably flexible (though I am sure I am using it in ways it was never intended!).

I will put something together tonight and post it on a separate thread.

- Kerry

Thank you!

 

[coolAlias]

Is there a video of your process? I have the pdf of the elements--I think--but how do you get all the parts in their places? Photoshop?

Not who you asked, but I personally use GIMP (a free photo editor that is maybe slightly worse than Photoshop but very usable, and free).

Here's the process I used to create a template that can easily be reused to build different deck plans:

1. Open a new project
2. Use e.g. A5 template for the image size
3. Advanced Options, choose fill with White
4. Filters -> Distorts -> Mosaic, Tile Geometry: Squares, Size: 40, Height: 2, Neatness: 1, Color Var: 0, rest default
   Note: Play with the Tile Size to find one you like, generally anywhere from 32 - 64 works pretty well.
5. Layer -> New Layer, Fill with: Transparency, name as you see fit (e.g. Deck 1)
   Note: If you have an existing ship outline, copy/paste it as a New Layer instead, then play with the layer size to match it up with your mosaic tile size. If there's stuff inside the ship hull, such as white, you should delete it.
6. Image -> Canvas Size, increase it by e.g. 500 pixels in any direction - this is where you'll paste all your different interior decoration elements for easy access.
7. Copy/Paste all your decoration elements (beds, chairs, hatches, engines, etc.) as separate layers with transparency; move them off to the designated area. Don't worry about their size right now, these are just templates.
8. File -> Save. Now you a good base blank template with all your decoration elements ready to go.

Then, whenever you want to make a new ship design, open this file, go to File -> Save As and give it a new project name, and go to town.

Use the pencil to draw borders as needed (click, release, then hold shift and use the mouse to move around and you can draw nice straight lines easily).

Copy any decoration element you want to use and paste it as yet another new layer, then you can easily scale the layer bigger or smaller and move it around easily if you change your mind later.

When you're satisfied, GIMP can export directly to PDF, or JPG, or whatever, which will drastically reduce the file size for sharing.

I find it easiest to build each Deck in its own project, but only after getting the initial main deck template (at least the outline and tile size) all sorted. Even better if you can finish the main deck, merge all the decoration layers down, then Safe As -> Deck 2, add a new layer on top and you can quickly toggle the visibility of your main deck(s) with the eye icon in the layers panel. It can really help to see how everything lines up between the decks.

Hope that helps, and looking forward to seeing your designs!

 

[Terry Mixon]

Not who you asked, but I personally use GIMP (a free photo editor that is maybe slightly worse than Photoshop but very usable, and free).

Here's the process I used to create a template that can easily be reused to build different deck plans:

1. Open a new project
2. Use e.g. A5 template for the image size
3. Advanced Options, choose fill with White
4. Filters -> Distorts -> Mosaic, Tile Geometry: Squares, Size: 40, Height: 2, Neatness: 1, Color Var: 0, rest default
   Note: Play with the Tile Size to find one you like, generally anywhere from 32 - 64 works pretty well.
5. Layer -> New Layer, Fill with: Transparency, name as you see fit (e.g. Deck 1)
   Note: If you have an existing ship outline, copy/paste it as a New Layer instead, then play with the layer size to match it up with your mosaic tile size. If there's stuff inside the ship hull, such as white, you should delete it.
6. Image -> Canvas Size, increase it by e.g. 500 pixels in any direction - this is where you'll paste all your different interior decoration elements for easy access.
7. Copy/Paste all your decoration elements (beds, chairs, hatches, engines, etc.) as separate layers with transparency; move them off to the designated area. Don't worry about their size right now, these are just templates.
8. File -> Save. Now you a good base blank template with all your decoration elements ready to go.

Then, whenever you want to make a new ship design, open this file, go to File -> Save As and give it a new project name, and go to town.

Use the pencil to draw borders as needed (click, release, then hold shift and use the mouse to move around and you can draw nice straight lines easily).

Copy any decoration element you want to use and paste it as yet another new layer, then you can easily scale the layer bigger or smaller and move it around easily if you change your mind later.

When you're satisfied, GIMP can export directly to PDF, or JPG, or whatever, which will drastically reduce the file size for sharing.

I find it easiest to build each Deck in its own project, but only after getting the initial main deck template (at least the outline and tile size) all sorted. Even better if you can finish the main deck, merge all the decoration layers down, then Safe As -> Deck 2, add a new layer on top and you can quickly toggle the visibility of your main deck(s) with the eye icon in the layers panel. It can really help to see how everything lines up between the decks.

Hope that helps, and looking forward to seeing your designs!

Thanks! I have Photoshop, so I'll have to play around with this a bit. I've copied Mongoose ships and changed things around, but it was a pain. Starting with all the elements to work with will be a change for the better.

 

[Sageryne]

Hi Terry,

This process is for custom ships built with individual symbols, but it can be used with the larger Adventure Class Geomorphs and Starship Geomorphs.

Both versions use my Powerpoint "graph paper." I created a very large page in Powerpoint (43.3 inches x 33.5 inches, or 110 cm x 85 cm). Then, I went into the slide master and laid out light grey lines 4mm apart. The "snap-to-grid" of Powerpoint is 2mm, or exactly half a square of the grid. I did this so that it is very easy to layout squares and rectangles exactly to measure.

I have uploaded a sample Powerpoint with the VIP Courier here:
https://docs.google.com/presentatio...ouid=116695676360017109459&rtpof=true&sd=true

NOTE: I recommend you download a copy of the Powerpoint slide, as anyone can edit and change it.

Once I have completed the design of the ship, I create three by three boxes. These represent a 1.5m x 1.5m grid. Each box equals 0.5-dTon.
Using the ship design, each element of the design gets the number of boxes equal to its displacement (a 5-dTon item would get 10 boxes).
At this point, I figure out how many decks I want and do a rough layout of the boxes. These boxes will later become the grid lines.

When all the boxes are laid out, I start to select items.

I prefer to use Eric B Smith's high-resolution symbols without grid lines.

Traveller Geomorphs

It is important to scale them correctly. In the attached Powerpoint, the symbols have to be reduced to 23% of size. Then, I move everything around until I am happy with how it looks.

When I am all done, I save the all the elements as a picture (usually a PNG file).

Because the "graph paper" is part of the slide master, it doesn't save as part of the image.

I hope this is of some help.

I kludged this system together, so it may not make a lot of sense to other people. However, I hope having a sample of a ship will make it a little clearer.

- Kerry

 

[Terry Mixon]

Hi Terry,

This process is for custom ships built with individual symbols, but it can be used with the larger Adventure Class Geomorphs and Starship Geomorphs.

Both versions use my Powerpoint "graph paper." I created a very large page in Powerpoint (43.3 inches x 33.5 inches, or 110 cm x 85 cm). Then, I went into the slide master and laid out light grey lines 4mm apart. The "snap-to-grid" of Powerpoint is 2mm, or exactly half a square of the grid. I did this so that it is very easy to layout squares and rectangles exactly to measure.

I have uploaded a sample Powerpoint with the VIP Courier here:
https://docs.google.com/presentatio...ouid=116695676360017109459&rtpof=true&sd=true

NOTE: I recommend you download a copy of the Powerpoint slide, as anyone can edit and change it.

Once I have completed the design of the ship, I create three by three boxes. These represent a 1.5m x 1.5m grid. Each box equals 0.5-dTon.
Using the ship design, each element of the design gets the number of boxes equal to its displacement (a 5-dTon item would get 10 boxes).
At this point, I figure out how many decks I want and do a rough layout of the boxes. These boxes will later become the grid lines.

When all the boxes are laid out, I start to select items.

I prefer to use Eric B Smith's high-resolution symbols without grid lines.

Traveller Geomorphs

It is important to scale them correctly. In the attached Powerpoint, the symbols have to be reduced to 23% of size. Then, I move everything around until I am happy with how it looks.

When I am all done, I save the all the elements as a picture (usually a PNG file).

Because the "graph paper" is part of the slide master, it doesn't save as part of the image.

I hope this is of some help.

I kludged this system together, so it may not make a lot of sense to other people. However, I hope having a sample of a ship will make it a little clearer.

- Kerry

Thank you so much. I build lots of ships but haven't done deck plans and I'm excited to try.

 

[AndrewW]

I use GIMP on occasion but not for deckplans, I prefer a vector based program for that. Inkscape (another free one) is what I use.

Inkscape