The Seraphim @ Space Engineers

[Vince T]

OK so I got Space Engineers on Steam a while ago. Had it lying around for almost a year. Anyway, I had this insane idea: Since I was already modelling hi-res versions of some of my older ships, knowing that the detailed interiors wouldn't be usable in XWA, I decided to use that game to accomplish this. While it's voxel based and therefore not as prcise as actual modelling I figured I might get somewhat close to what I was hoping to achieve, having fully explorable and yet pilotable capital ships.

And, me being me, I wouldn't just start with some small-time fighter or transport. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present:
The Seraphim
or ... the first 200m

Spaceengineers.jpg

As I'm grinding my way through building this ship which I thought to be of a reasonable size, I come to realize how friggin' huge 900m are - and the work it's gonna take to build all this

[Rookie_One1]

Want to see that

[Marcos_Edson]

I do have SE, put aside with pretty much everything else since I moved to a new job months ago... It will be nice to see versions of your ships there, G_T.

[Vince T]

ok here's an update. Amazing how easy things become once you discover mirror mode

Well, 1/3 of the outside hull is done Here's a comparison shot with the HD model.

seracomp.jpg

[BattleDog]

Very cool.

[Vince T]

It's taking shape...

seraphim.jpg

[Vince T]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!

Just lost 3 hours worth of mind-bulging progress due to game crash (and deactivated autosave for performance ...)

[Vince T]

Alright, restored 50% of what I'd lost. It's taking shape!

I realized at somepoint that I'd taken incorrect measurements in Space Engineers, assuming the block size to be 2x2x2m, while it's actually 2.5x2.5x2.5m - no wonder the damn thing turned out way bigger than I expected it to be. But then again it goes in concert with the way that many games display everything slightly larger than life for gameplay and perspective reasons.

Seraphim_sml.jpg

Click for higher Resolution

[Vince T]

OK I got fed up with the current model and the way I got carried away, getting lost in the inside while the exterior model was totally going off scale.

Sooooo I started over again, this time outlining the total dimensions from the beginning and paying more attention to accuracy to the original model. Turns out, I get along a lot faster than with the original one, 40% of the exterior already completed within two or three evenings. Plus it already looks a lot more the way I intended it to. Way to go me!

Here's a comparison of the two models. The new one is going to be about 25% smaller than the oversized first one.

Seraphim2.jpg

[Vince T]

It's getting there ....
Still shuddering at the thought of starting to work on the interior ....

Seraphim.jpg

[Vince T]

This was a pain!

engines.jpg

But totally worth it! So, with that, the exterior is about 95% complete, safe for a few missing windows, turrets and other details. While there are some unavoidable limitatioins and compromises to make due to the nature of the game engine, I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out.

First flight test:
Length: 940m
Current weight: 108,644,xxx kg
Acceleration 0-100m/s in 0:00:50 O_o
Deceleration 100-0m/s in 0:01:44 O_O
Needs more engines!
Needles to say, this baby is in no way suited for landing on planets. Ever.

Seraphim.jpg

I've had some interesting ideas regarding the semi-open section in front of the first buildings. While this used to be a placement for turrets in the original model, it might also work as a sort of flight-deck / launch tube of sorts. I'll keep experimenting on that as I proceed.

[Marcos_Edson]

Awesome, G_T!
While on the subject, have you seen a game of (kinda) similar concept called StarMade? Some of the designs I've seen online are crazy...

[Vince T]

Seen it but haven't tried it yet. don't really like the blocky visual style, seems to be even blockier than in Space Engineers, although the blocks all in all seem to be smaller.

[Vince T]

OK, for the upper bow section, I reinvisioned that part to be a launch bay/catapult like on an Aircraft carrier. For that I reduced the number of heavy turrets from 2 to 1 and moved it onto the "bridge" above the launch chute. This layout also makes sense so that small building that looks like a sort-of secondary bridge works well as a fighter control station.

hangar1.jpg

hangar2.jpg

The entrance doesn't offer much space to navigate, but like I said, it's more of a launch tube rather than an actual hangar. I may connect this bit with the main hangar that is accessible from the ventral opening.

The big turrets are moderately functional as in they can be rotated along the z-axis. They're designed to either be controlled by a gunner manning them directly or remotely from the bridge. Of course, the gunner will have a more accurate view of where he's firing, so that would be the preferred way. Apart from that the ship is loaded with defensive Gattling turrets and light missile turrets. I'm also working on a concept for the mass driver cannon below the bow. That one would just be straight forward.

And here's a first glimpse of the Seraphim in combat

combat1.jpg

And its target ....

combat2.jpg

[BattleDog]

That's nuts GT - as in really cool.

Current design looks a lot like the Bengal from the original Wing Commander up top with the open flight deck. I'm not super keen on that, I have to say. It has the same sort of problems as an air strip, i.e if you bomb it, it's out of action.

Looks great though.

[Marcos_Edson]

For those interested, the Space Engineers game is part of the Humble *Survive This* Bundle at humblebundle.com, a nice opportunity to get this and other good titles and help charity while at that...

[Vince T]

I see your point BD, I did make sure to use heavy armor plating to line the vulnerable sections. And if all fails, you can still use the ventral hangar, which is connected to the launch bay through several armored blastdoors

Let's have a little sneak peak inside - the parts I've finished, ofc)

Command bridge:

bridge.jpg

Typical primary corridors

corridor.jpg

corridor2.jpg

Dorsal Hangar (more an auxillary bay than an actual hangar)

hangar.jpg

hangar2.jpg

Maintenance Corridors (These will usually be located between decks and contain machinery, access hatches and Oxygen generators.
Rule of thumb here: If you're a stranger on the ship and find yourself in an area with red lights, you're not supposed to be there

maintenance.jpg

maintenance2.jpg

[BattleDog]

I'd still bring the entrance to the upper launch bay forward, if for no other reason than to increase the distance between the aperture and the reactors and engines. Ideally I'd bring it up to the point where you have that brace and the huge turret. Then I'd place a point defence gun either side of the entrance. I'd have two sets of blast doors, an outer set forward of the turret and an inner set where you have the current launch bay. That way if the outer doors get damaged you can hopefully blow them off and still use the bay. Finally, I'd place a "lip" at the end of the landing strip so that there is no direct line of fire from the bows back to the hanger. That way if you were launching fighters and took a blast head on it's much less likely a lucky shot would pass through both sets of open doors and blow up the bay.

I mean, that's just a suggestion.

If it was my ship I'd armour the entire flight deck with folding doors all mounted on exploding bolts, just in case.

That's just me though.

[Marcos_Edson]

WOW, those interiors are amazing!!!

[Vince T]

Well the engine will only let me do so much and I don't want to stray too far from the original design.

This, however, brings up another idea, which I've been entertaining for quite a while: the Seraphim having a sort of sister ship or counter part. Sonce I have the rest of the ship completed I'd make a copy and revert that one to the original all-out destroyer design without the launch deck and lanel that the original Seraphim. Then I can go back to this one and optimize it to act as an actual carrier platform.

[Vince T]

Well bugger! The recent update pretty much put all my endeavours for the Seraphim on hold. Not only did it screw up all of my custom turret mechanics, it also causes the game to crash once I exceed a certain number of blocks. This means I can't go any further unless they fix the memory problem or I bother to buy 8 additional gigs of RAM, seriously tho, I don't feel inclined to.

[Vince T]

Heh, I just realized I've never actually posted anything about my third attempt on this ship.
Whils by now the game engine has stabilized enough to allow me to continue work on the previous version, I've decided to leave that mostly as a set piece - realizing that a full interior will still be a performance killer.

Soooo, I moved on and made a 0.5:1 scaled version. And, well.... It works much better.

ExteriorFront.jpg

ExteriorBack.jpg

Bridge & Command Deck

CommandBridge.jpg

CommandDeck.jpg

Briefing Room (I'm particularly fond of this one!

BriefingRoom.jpg

BriefingRoom2.jpg

Hangar Bay (complete with alert & Gate mechanics

Hangar.jpg

Aaaand deep into the ship's bowels!

Bowels1.jpg

Bowels2.jpg

Bowels3.jpg

Bowels4.jpg

SO far I haven't released it yet, since I'm still tweaking various things here and there, improving or revising various sections as I go. In the end, I want this one to be perfect

[JeremyaFr]

Nice

[Bman]

Neat GT. That looks good enough to be a JKA addon missions pack.

[Phoenix Leader]

Outstanding interior!