The Seraphim @ Space Engineers

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The Seraphim @ Space Engineers

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Vince T
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Post by Vince T » Sun Sep 27, 2015 9:14 pm

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 :shock: :kopfwand:
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Post by Rookie_One1 » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:41 am

Want to see that :)
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Post by Marcos_Edson » Sat Oct 03, 2015 9:26 pm

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. :)
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Post by Vince T » Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:31 pm

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

Well, 1/3 of the outside hull is done :D Here's a comparison shot with the HD model.
seracomp.jpg
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Post by BattleDog » Wed Oct 14, 2015 2:40 pm

Very cool.
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Post by Vince T » Sat Oct 17, 2015 4:53 pm

It's taking shape...
seraphim.jpg
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Post by Vince T » Fri Apr 29, 2016 4:32 pm

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!!!!!!

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

:kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand: :kopfwand:
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Post by Vince T » Fri Apr 29, 2016 9:07 pm

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
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Post by Vince T » Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:18 pm

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
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Post by Vince T » Sat Jul 23, 2016 4:24 pm

It's getting there ....
Still shuddering at the thought of starting to work on the interior ....
Seraphim.jpg
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Post by Vince T » Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:46 pm

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.
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Post by Marcos_Edson » Tue Jul 26, 2016 3:47 am

Awesome, G_T! :shock:
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...
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Post by Vince T » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:15 am

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.
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Post by Vince T » Wed Aug 03, 2016 7:21 pm

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
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Post by BattleDog » Sat Aug 13, 2016 12:23 am

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.
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Post by Marcos_Edson » Mon Aug 15, 2016 3:51 am

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... :)
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Post by Vince T » Mon Aug 15, 2016 6:54 pm

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 :D
maintenance.jpg
maintenance2.jpg
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Post by BattleDog » Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:35 am

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.
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Post by Marcos_Edson » Tue Aug 16, 2016 3:43 am

WOW, those interiors are amazing!!! :shock:
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Post by Vince T » Tue Aug 16, 2016 8:33 am

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.
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Post by Vince T » Fri Aug 19, 2016 7:12 pm

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.
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Post by Vince T » Tue Nov 13, 2018 1:01 am

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 :D
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Post by JeremyaFr » Tue Nov 13, 2018 8:16 pm

Nice

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Post by Bman » Sun Nov 18, 2018 3:51 am

Neat GT. That looks good enough to be a JKA addon missions pack. :laserschwert:
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Post by Phoenix Leader » Sat Nov 24, 2018 10:45 pm

Outstanding interior!

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