Forums » General

A capship station should appear today.

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Mar 21, 2011 missioncreek2 link
slime: regarding the stations picts - WHERE DO DOCK? heh!
Mar 21, 2011 slime73 link
Jeesh. I added a few more pics that hopefully show where to dock. :P
Mar 21, 2011 ryan reign link
"I will buy another month of gameplay this week just to check it out." PoL

I knew there'd be a downside to cappies.
Mar 21, 2011 Pizzasgood link
@ Shadoen: Depends. If you build it planetside, you have to deal with getting it up into space. That becomes much harder as the size of the vessel increases. Besides the issue of how to move it up into orbit, there is the issue of whether it can survive the trip. VO's universe does have access to magic gravitic type gear though, so the mechanical stresses and cost of lifting can probably be avoided. It would still have the thermal problem that Lecter mentioned.

And in a society where most of the raw material come from space, it could easily be cheaper to construct the vessel out there in the first place. Zero-G construction also has its advantages. And then the design would not have to be able to support itself under gravity (unless the ship will need to land at some point).

Besides, the UIT are not going to go all the way down to a planet just to build stuff.
Mar 21, 2011 incarnate link
I'm not sure if perhaps there are some misconceptions about how surface temperatures work in space.. If you have an absorptive material exposed to a nearby star (ie, Earth orbit), your surface will actually get quite hot. There's no heat dissipation from atmospherics (like air cooling) so it's all emitted as IR or reflectivity in other spectrums (or conductivity to other areas of the spacecraft). One of the big challenges in spacecraft engineering is handling the temperature transients that will happen, even across the light and dark sides of a single ship.

http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_sp_ht.html#coldspace

Regardless, coefficients of expansion are usually aspects of engineering that need to be taken into account in the design phase, rather than manufacturing. By the time you get to actually machining things, your tolerances had better be right, across all expected temperature ranges. If it's designed properly, it shouldn't make any difference where you build it.

But, umm, anyway.. I would probably build spaceships in orbit, under a big reflective canopy. And on that note, I leave you guys to settle it :). I'm off to CTIA for the rest of the week, so I may not be around much. Please be nice to the newbies!
Mar 21, 2011 PaladinOfLancelot link
@ryan

[[["I will buy another month of gameplay this week just to check it out." PoL
I knew there'd be a downside to cappies.]]]

You know, it's not my fault that this game is far from what it could be.

I criticise constructively and i give ideas how to fix things, i don't just whine around. And I seriously don't give a duck if you like it or not.
Mar 21, 2011 Dr. Lecter link
coefficients of expansion are usually aspects of engineering that need to be taken into account in the design phase, rather than manufacturing

True, but you can simplify the design phase (assuming the ship won't be moving from space to atmospheric flight) by not having to account for expansion issues created by a manufacturing phase that involves creating a ship at indoor temperatures.

Anyway, it's a debate with Alloh - there's no real point here.
Mar 21, 2011 ryan reign link
PoL, this time of year... my land floods. As a result, I do not want your duck as I have several already reveling in the lake that was, and will be again my yard. So keep your inferior.

Mar 21, 2011 lurksalot link
True, but you can simplify the design phase (assuming the ship won't be moving from space to atmospheric flight) by not having to account for expansion issues created by a manufacturing phase that involves creating a ship at indoor temperatures.

Translation: I completely failed to grasp what Inc just said.

Anyway, it's a debate with Alloh - there's no real point here.

Translation: I thought I could make myself feel superior (my favorite activity) by attacking a soft target, but now I feel vaguely uncomfortable, so I'll go look for an easier option.
Mar 21, 2011 space999999 link
pwnd
Mar 21, 2011 Dr. Lecter link
Incorrect on both counts. Yawn.
Mar 21, 2011 PaladinOfLancelot link
@ryan

[[[PoL, this time of year... my land floods. As a result, I do not want your duck as I have several already reveling in the lake that was, and will be again my yard. So keep your inferior.]]]

I don't seriously have a duck, it was just a joke.

But if you are so interested in poultry, i can get you a chicken, as my neighbour still keeps some.
Mar 21, 2011 ryan reign link
PoL... I have often thought of retiring from journalism and living the simple quiet life of a farmer. I don't think I'm quite ready just yet... but, when I do retire I wil keep your generous offer in mind.
Mar 21, 2011 space999999 link
Incorrect on both counts. Yawn.

Translation: I don't know what to say because I was just pwnd and I don't have the balls to admit that I was just blabbering, so I'm going to say that you're wrong to feel good on the inside.
Mar 21, 2011 Pizzasgood link
Okay, I finally got around to checking out the station last night (this morning, rather). I had purposefully skipped looking at the pictures because I wanted my first sight of it to be "real". I like how it looks, but to be honest I don't understand the reasoning as to why it looks that way. Are those reddish-pink slabs supposed to be some kind of weird heatsinks? Sensors? A crystalline accumulation of materials used in the capship production? Tributes to the eldritch deity of whoever constructed it?

I can't see people justifying the cost of sticking that large a volume of solid slabs on a factory purely for decorative reasons, so I figure they must fill some practical need. Even if their appearence is for decoration, they could still be hollow storage containers or something.

Will be neat to see them when they're finished :)
Mar 21, 2011 PaladinOfLancelot link
@ryan

[[[PoL... I have often thought of retiring from journalism and living the simple quiet life of a farmer. I don't think I'm quite ready just yet... but, when I do retire I wil keep your generous offer in mind.]]]

Always happy to help.
Mar 21, 2011 Alloh link
Great link, Inc. I'm reading a lot else there... thx!

Now, to complete Lelecter pwnage, remember that on an open type shipyards there would be huge temperature variations, hundreds of degrees from the side of the hull facing nearby star to opposing side ... while inside a closed, pressurized module the air ensures uniform temperature, ruling out irregular variations of materials. Better than a 'temporary' canopy.

And working in space, ZeroG, is even better than on surface of planets, as Pizza said.

Back on original topics, my considerations:
-Enlarge interconnections. Big hulls must cross there as assembly lines.
-Add small docking modules for each big box, for delivering items.
-Make major modules more simple. Factories need no decorations on its walls.
*Instead of "station", let's call it "installation", factory or shipyards.
Mar 21, 2011 UncleDave link
Holy shit. This is a MASSIVE step. Finally adding some scale to the universe!

I'm praying that the Android port takes off, because if VO got a paid up 3D artist under its belt...
Mar 21, 2011 ryan reign link
"I'm praying that the Android port takes off, because if VO got a paid up 3D artist under its belt..."

+1
Mar 21, 2011 PaladinOfLancelot link
@ryan

[[["I'm praying that the Android port takes off, because if VO got a paid up 3D artist under its belt..."

+1]]]

+1000 ^ (e^x)

This game has potential to be mind-blowing awesome and I wish GuildSW a great success with the android version.

Perhaps it will create an influx of money, which can be used to hire more programmers/graphics designers to add/improve stuff.