Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

One nifty thing about perfect spheres is that while deckplans tend to expand and contract, you know exactly how much space you're dealing with.

Sphere Shape

Sphere Diagram with r = radius and c - circumference

r = radius
V = volume
A = surface area
C = circumference
π = pi = 3.14159
√ = square root

As an example, a ten tonne polished planetoid:

total space:
r = 3.22117 m
V = 140 m3
A = 130.388 m2
C = 20.2392 m

usable space:
r = 2.99027 m
V = 112 m3
A = 112.365 m2
C = 18.7884 m

hull plus armour factor two = 0.2309 m width

 

[dragoner]

Spheres are good for internal pressurization, as a square will bulge in the center.

 

[Condottiere]

Probably more of an issue for commercial and unarmoured hulls.

However, that does bring forth a thought.

How deep can this little diving bell submerge, either in our oceans or the swirling maelstrom of a gas giant?

 

[dragoner]

Physics plays across the board, it doesn't stop per uses, even military. Nevertheless, the military would like spheres for their external structural stability, compare kicking a ball to a box.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

Seven eighths of an inch steel.

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Sixteen millimetres of high grade steel, plus MacRibs; three hundred metres.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

1. I could be wrong, but my estimate of iron nickel alloy is that it's about two thirds the strength of Krupp armour plating, so twenty three centimetres would be about six inches, and constant atmospheric braking should make the surface case hardened.

2. Dents probably just have the same alloy poured in and sanded down, probably with a laser.

3. You're going to need a cockpit, though two issues arise, whether it's covered by a canopy and/or if a windscreen gets embedded.

4. Telescoping tripod landing gear seems most appropriate, though I doubt you need much ground clearance.

5. In theory you could have two decks with about three metres clearance, or three decks with about two metres clearance, or a two and a half metre central deck with everything else squeezed in the attic or the cellar.

6. At default, you have an external hatch, but no airlock, which would require a separate two tonne appropriation.

7. Artificial gravity is inherent; it's possible that it would be embedded in the walls, but you could have the field realigned along the equator, rather than follow the curve of the wall, giving a definite up and down.

8. There's a choice between two tonnes of batteries, or a tonne each of a power generator and a fuel tank.

9. A fixed point is a freebie, a turret at default will require a tonne, a power point and cost double.

10. At technological level nine, you have a self sealing hull, and levitation.

11. You could lighten the hull, which makes it twenty five percent cheaper.

12. Then armour plate it, anywhere between five to twelve factors.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Why are there no portholes in military submarines (the warships not the exploratory and salvage jobbies)...

one of the silliest tropes is a great big window on the bridge of a starship (Star Trek nerds have been arguing this one for decades) - one laser and your entire bridge crew is blinded, fried or just evaporated.

The CIC should be buried away in the deepest most protected part of the ship - see the Expanse rather than Star Wars...

 

[dragoner]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

1. I could be wrong, but my estimate of iron nickel alloy is that it's about two thirds the strength of Krupp armour plating, so twenty three centimetres would be about six inches, and constant atmospheric braking should make the surface case hardened.

Very Dieselpunk making spaceships out of steel.

 

[Condottiere]

I refer to the chemical power plant as a diesel motor.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

13. Usable space is eight tonnes; three decks with the attic and the cellar each having one and a half tonnes, the central deck would have five tonnes at two and a half metre ceiling, and as per tradition, the sloping sides could be the fuel tanks.

14. Since a sphere has by definition curved walls, any hit not head on would be subject to sloping armour recalculation.

15. Two and a half metres may be too much height, you could reduce it to two and a quarter metres.

16. Basically, you have a cockpit, a computer, one tonne fuel tank, and a one tonne power plant; so that leave four and a half tonnes for either cargo or features and options.

17. One of which could be solar panelling, at a minimum of half a tonne, but promising unlimited usage at basic power plus factor one manoeuvre drive, with or without propulsion, or seventy five percent power efficiency.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Scouts and Scouting

I get the impressions that scoutships are considered as part of the milieu. But how do they fit in exactly?

In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration outside an area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about natural features and other activities in the area.

Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmishers, Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, U.S. Army Rangers, cavalry scouts, or military intelligence specialists), ships or submarines, manned/unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, or by setting up covert observation posts. Espionage normally is not reconnaissance, because reconnaissance is a military's special forces operating ahead of its main forces; spies are non-combatants operating behind enemy lines.

Traditionally, reconnaissance was a role that was adopted by the cavalry. Speed was key in these maneuvers, thus infantry was ill-suited to the task. From horses to vehicles, for warriors throughout history, commanders procured their ability to have speed and mobility, to mount and dismount, during maneuver warfare. Military commanders favored specialized small units for speed and mobility, to gain valuable information about the terrain and enemy before sending the main (or majority) troops into the area, screening, covering force, pursuit and exploitation roles. Skirmishing is a traditional skill of reconnaissance, as well as harassment of the enemy.

Types of reconnaissance:
. Terrain-oriented reconnaissance is a survey of the terrain (its features, weather, and other natural observations).
. Force-oriented reconnaissance focuses on the enemy forces (number, equipment, activities, disposition etc.) and may include target acquisition.
. Civil-oriented reconnaissance focuses on the civil dimension of the battlespace (areas, structures, capabilities, organizations, people and events abbreviated ASCOPE).
The techniques and objectives are not mutually exclusive; it is up to the commander whether they are carried out separately or by the same unit.

Scout - tactical
Reconnaissance - operational
Spying - strategic

Pathfinding - scouting in realtime
Surveillance - constant observation
Intelligence - collected data
Probe - poking the bear

When referring to reconnaissance, a commander's full intention is to have a vivid picture of his battlespace. The commander organizes the reconnaissance platoon based on:
. mission,
. enemy,
. terrain,
. troops and support available,
. time available, and
. civil considerations.

The default scoutship is a legacy design from Classic, but may also be one twelve centuries prior to the present era and doesn't reflect current needs and capabilities.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

18. Light hulled planetoid of ten tonnes has eleven and a quarter hull points.

19. It also has a default cost of thirty thousand schmuckers.

20. An airlock would have a default size of two tonnes, though I would assume it is possible to make amore tighter airlock.

21. A door doesn't take up space; I think it would be a plug, like an airliner, pressure differential wouldn't allow it to open unless it's equalized.

22. A hatchback or a cargo hatch would make it easier to load cargo; you could also embed the plug door in it.

23. A docking clamp would allow an external cargo load, as well as hook up to a larger hull, optionally in assault mode.

24. Adding twelve factors of armour plating displaces nine hundred and sixty kilogrammes, and cost twenty eight thousand eight hundred schmuckers, for a total fifty eight thousand eight hundred schmuckers - which is a bargain.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

24. A six and a half metre tall beach ball is hard to hide, though they are ubiquitous enough in the Confederation that they're used as armoured fighting vehicles.

25. If you have the default central deck, the door is going to be about two metres off the ground.

26. A two metre ladder is going to be needed, unless you have a two metre high ramp or platform.

27. Specific ones catering to space/balls could be called cup holders, or ball holders, or jock straps.

28. You could tilt the space/ball at thirty, fort five or ninety percent degrees, to position the door closer to the ground, or just drop off the personnel directly; of course, the pilot should be strapped in.

29. The ladder could made of rope or be collapsible; you could also rappel down, or have a winch act as an elevator.

30. If a lifter is installed (and it should), at default it would require one power point and a hundred kilogrammes of volume.

31. At higher technological levels, a higher factored lifter would also act as propulsion, probably in addition to any dedicated thruster.

 

[WingedCat]

If you're looking for a space ball, I wrote one up here.

 

[Condottiere]

Hi,

a. The principle is the same, however:
i. going by Fire Fusion Steel, the rule of economies of mass meant that fourteen cubic metres was required to obtain default energy output from the power plants, something not mentioned by the current High Guard
ii. flattened sphere probably was subsumed into streamlined configuration

b. currently, spheroids are the most viable choice balancing performance against price

c. a sculpted planetoid in no way either gets benefits or disadvantages from being configured as such; the easiest way would be an Apple brick with rounded corners

d. however, the spheroid shape is to ensure any argument regarding twenty percent wastage, which I presume is to maintain structural integrity, in that it cannot be reshaped is removed, as no one can argue against the perfect symmetry demonstrated by the sphere and it's inherent strength

e. it should be obvious that this is a proxy to explain why the Confederation suddenly massively switched to planetoid spaceships

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

32. The computer model would depend on how much bandwidth you need, and presumably your budget.

33. If your software costs more than the carft it is supposedly crafted for, wouldn't it be smarter to just have more skilled crewmembers, or just celebrate the fact that you could buy more balls for the money saved?

34. Evade one costs a million schmuckers, and fire control one bimegaschmuckers; interestingly, jump control only costs a hundred thousand schmuckers per factor, for a calculation that should be increasingly complex.

35. A barebones space/ball probably costs a quarter of a million schmuckers.

36. A bandwidth five computer costs thirty kiloschmuckers, but if you can't take full advantage of that bandwidth, can you downgrade it for a lower cost variant, as library and manoeuvre require no bandwidth?

37. Virtual crew has a requirement of five bandwidth and costs a megaschmucker, the more specialized virtual gunner has a similar bandwidth requirement and cost, but needs half the bandwidth per virtualized crewmember; if you can break that up, you only need one virtual gunner if it's decided to outsource that function, costing a hundred kiloschmuckers and half a bandwidth but possibly saving a crew space; it's possible that other crew functions require more bandwidth, having to cater for and deal with passengers being rather complex.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

38. Despite appearances, having fixedly mounted your weapon system in the hull doesn't mean it takes up on volume, only that as a fixtures it requires no additional space.

39. The fact that High Guard doesn't feel it necessary to spell out the exact tonnage of turretted and barbetted weapon systems allows this illusion, though practically it does mean no space is taken at face value.

40. Smallcrafted drill lasers cost only one hundred and fifty kiloschmuckers, a beam laser costs three times more, has the same range but deals out only a quarter of the damage; though admittingly, is far more accurate.

41. A budgetted variant one hundred twelve and a half kiloschmuckers (any size increase for a mounted fixture is still only virtual).

42. A technological level ten variant can have a slight accuracy increase, modifying by plus one, or an intensified focus cutting through an additional two armour plated factors, or a rather high yield; I'd go for accuracy. This would be at the nominal price, assuming you still budget, of a hundred and fifty kiloschmuckers.

43. Is it worthwhile to make it energy efficient at high technology, it only saves you three quarters of an energy point and would bump up the price to one hundred eighty seven and a half kiloschmuckers; your energy budget would have to be very tight, or you might be considering continuous fire during dogfighting, since you still have to pull power for each shot taken, since turns are now happening a lot faster, but shouldn't ignore the laws of physics.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

43. Basic sensors cost nothing, and require no tonnage, though you're penalized with a minus four modifier.

44. They are listed as radar and lidar; possibly that's a laser pointer twirling around, and the ship's cat identifying any reflected red spot.

45. Civilian grade halves that but at a cost of three megaschmuckers and a tonne of space.

45. A BALL Fighter, which capitalizes on being the cheapest combat craft, would be unnecessarily burdened financially and spatially.

46. That would necessitate a closer tie with a command and control centre for tactical information and direction.

47. You could have a dedicated reconnaissance variant.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

48. Depending on intended function, which corresponds to expected energy budget, you can tailor the type and output of the onboard power plant(s) and energy banks.

49. While it's not mentioned in High Guard, the minimum tonnage for a power plant for the default energy output is one tonne; it's approximately half that from about five to nine tenths of a tonne.

50. The most bang for buck is an early fusion reactor at technological level eight.

51. However, in this specific instance, a case can be made for a budgetted enlarged one tonne chemical plant, if the designer's intent is for a short range, short endurance vehicle that has access to a fuel supply, for two possible reasons, initial capital cost and a wish to keep the space/ball on a short leash.

52. Not an issue for planetary operations, orbit to dirtside connector, or short range taxi (because I expect a shuttle to have a bit more capacity).

53. Batteries are an option, if propulsion is by rocket, and for a BALL fighter, the armament is primarily ordnance.

54. A BALL fighter would need a fusion reactor to power armament and the manoeuvre drive, because it's at minimum double energy output at a very efficient fuel rate, though that does make that one tonne fuel tank seem like a waste of space, with the possibility of it being used as a turbocharger if you add in a rocket booster, for those times when you might want to outrun a missile.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Hulls and Space/balls

55. Reactionary rockets are available from technological level seven onwards, and are always a bad choice, since they suck gas at an unconscionable rate.

56. At best, at technological level ten you can have a factor three rocket that has a sustainable fuel consumption, though by then, you have manoeuvre drive factor three.

57. At technological level nine, with the introduction gravitational based drives, you could install all three variants, which would provide factor three in near orbit, factor two upto hundred diameters, and factor one to however far away from a gravitational well the current rule set allows.

58. Also, changing the size of the rockets made any rational for them nonviable, except on a pure tactical level.

59. The best role you can have is as a point defence fighter, and then only as an extension of a missile shield.

60. With a ten percent bunkerage, you could use a factor three rocket for three hours, a factor six for ninety minutes, a factor nine for an hour, a factor twelve for forty five minutes, or a factor fifteen for thirty minutes; finding thirty percent volume may be problematic, and again, seems only suitable as a missile platform.