Excel Ship Designer v2025.07.22

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

I think modules should be able to contain a power plant that powers the included equipment.
When I draw deck plans, I frequently split the total tonnage into two or more separated units. The total power production is per HG/Core but the physical arrangement allows one plant to provide Hull/Basic power while the other is being worked on.
But we SHOULD have the option for multiple or dedicated plants.

The small craft modules do have the ability to have power plants for their own use. It is never clearly stated whether or not they can be used while aboard a ship or only while deployed separately.

 

[Condottiere]

It's a loophole.

I'd say it depends if the module is integrated with the primary hull's power grid.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

As I see it the assumption is that the module can receive power but not return power. So a one way integration. The ship needs to be able to provide basic power to any module and some modules must be able to self power themselves when operating independently.

You want your 100 ton hospital module to work regardless of the ship it is contained in and also when it is deposited as an independent hospital on a world in need. The typical ship would not likely have the excess power to provide to all those medical bays.

 

[Spartan159]

That’s IYTU and it sounds like very fun head canon. Not a great thing for providing hooks for external engagement, from which adventure easily flows, though, since it’s one less interaction with the world outside the ship.

I said nothing about where the raw materials for the fabricators came from, there's your interaction in the wilds of foreign territory...

 

[Spartan159]

BTW, I personally feel the 1 mil per day construction time is pulled... plucked from thin air, and I for one totally ignore it. If I absolutely need a construction time, I pluck the from thin air rules of classic Traveller. Come to think of it, I wonder what the rate of modern ship construction is, and what multiplier advanced tech would make...

 

[Arkathan]

The small craft modules do have the ability to have power plants for their own use. It is never clearly stated whether or not they can be used while aboard a ship or only while deployed separately.

The modules that do that are almost exclusively more of a habitat cargo than an actual module - meant to be deposited somewhere, either in space or groundside prior to actually being used. They seem to be more along the lines of orbital facilities or ground bases designed to be compatible with being carried and delivered by a Cutter.

 

[Arkathan]

BTW, I personally feel the 1 mil per day construction time is pulled... plucked from thin air, and I for one totally ignore it. If I absolutely need a construction time, I pluck the from thin air rules of classic Traveller. Come to think of it, I wonder what the rate of modern ship construction is, and what multiplier advanced tech would make...

Construction rate on a Ford class Aircraft Carrier is at least $5 million per day.
$13,000,000,000/ 7 years

 

[Endie]

Construction rate on a Ford class Aircraft Carrier is at least $5 million per day.
$13,000,000,000/ 7 years

To be fair that’s classically MCr1 per day at the traditional exchange rate.

Edit: I’m pretty sure that by TL12 and up our future ancestors will have picked up some tricks to revolutionise manufacture to speed things up a tad.

 

[Spartan159]

Scaffolding would be a better term. Even in a microgravity position when dealing with bulky, massive, and damage-sensitive components in precision locations free-handing a shift in position might not be best practice. When inertia is a pain, it strikes at least 4 times.



Yay! Annual always seemed too frequent for the level of invasiveness.

Deepnight Revelation might still have both of these modifications, but it’s expected to be operating alone for decades in unknown circumstances. The increased SU requirement seems a nice reflection of the non-standard maintenance situation. A bit abstract by necessity, but I would not be surprised if it appeared on other very long-range designs. The other modification needs a relabel; it’s not self-maintenance, it’s self-overhaul. It only gets pulled out for these crazy “let’s skinny-jump off the known map for a decade or more” projects.

Agreed

Ditto

Hmm, maybe some house rule increasing SU for craft using the system? Increase SU 30%?