An FP-45 Liberator but as a space ship.

[Jasperagus]

Would it work? Any ideas? How cheap could it be?

 

[Jasperagus]

A super cheap fighter class ship that's not strong but can still fight. (for more explanation).

 

[XenoCow]

You could probably modify a vasama to have a single autocannon strapped to the underside. It would take some rebalencing, but it could work. That would only cost ~300,000-400,00. You could afford that in about an hour of job work.

 

[Killer_Rabbit]

I would say weapons are probably not a cheap investment so it doesn't make much sense to try and put them on something as cheap as possible

 

[Jasperagus]

You could probably modify a vasama to have a single autocannon strapped to the underside. It would take some rebalencing, but it could work. That would only cost ~300,000-400,00. You could afford that in about an hour of job work.

I would probably remove all armour too and unnecessary stuff.

 

[Jasperagus]

I would say weapons are probably not a cheap investment so it doesn't make much sense to try and put them on something as cheap as possible

I could just get people to stand on the ship with guns instead it would be much less expensive like you said then having guns. Also just bolting a rocket to the front then ramming would work.

 

[Killer_Rabbit]

indeed although you would also want to increase the engine size of the vasama so it could catch up to other ships to ram them

 

[Jasperagus]

Or just start from scratch. It would be super light. Probably the lightest ship in the game so even just 2 maxed out triangle thrusters on either side of the frame would work (or 1 what ever is better).

The ship could also be treated as a boarding ship if you already have 2 or more people on it, plus it's fast.

 

[Quinc]

You could fly and turn with only 3 or 4 rear facing thrusters, though you could not turn in place or move sideways. Ships in SB require differential thrust to turn, so a ship with 1 thruster could at best fly in a straight line from when it launches, unless you could aim the ship before launch it would just move out in a random direction. With 2 thrusters it would be limited to a 2D plane, but space is 3D. With three thrusters it could turn properly, but turning could be confusing as your three options are at 120 degree angles. With four you finally have a button for each left, right, up, down; which makes aiming with WASD much easier.
I would go with the missile launcher as it can unload all of the ammo in a few seconds but do a significant amount of damage in those few seconds. An exposed pilot seat above the launcher, then a battery, fuel tank, and four maneuvering thrusters behind.
A dedicated ramming ship is possible, but even the smallest, most minimalistic ship is going to be vastly more expensive than a torpedo I think. Though it would have vastly better range. Of course the enemy could easily shoot down those small cheap ships, so you might need several. You would need a lot of explosive power to justify the cost, or noted above, a boarding party.

 

[Sowneyy]

Why would you do that its a waste of money you work 4 hours longer or less and you can buy a ship to make money much faster

 

[Jasperagus]

Why would you do that its a waste of money you work 4 hours longer or less and you can buy a ship to make money much faster

This ship idea is meant to be a disposable fighter class ship.

Of course the enemy could easily shoot down those small cheap ships, so you might need several.

Of course.

The thing is buying regular fighters is a waste. They get taken down in what, two shots? the fighters aren't cheap so if you had something that cost 100k to produce, something disposable.

So far I kind of know what the ship would look like. A rectangular frame with fuel and important parts in it. 2 triangle thrusters on either side or just a box thruster in the back of the frame, two seats on the back half of the ship and 4 maneuver thruster on the front on each side of the frame.

 

[CalenLoki]

You can theoretically make a ship with just one thruster, by shifting center of mass. You won't be able to roll, but it's not really needed that much.

That's my next experimental project on the list BTW, so I'll know if it actually works.

 

[Jasperagus]

You can theoretically make a ship with just one thruster, by shifting center of mass. You won't be able to roll, but it's not really needed that much. That's my next experimental project on the list BTW, so I'll know if it actually works.

Talking about shifting center of mass maybe you could try to make a gyro scope too. It would probably require those tractor beam things and some yolo (a floating block in the middle of a room with beams holding onto it) by having the yolo make it so the distance of all the beams are equal in relation.

 

[CalenLoki]

Turntable-based gyro-turning.

I have 2 ideas for shifting CoM. One is sliders, the other is cargo lock beams. But those use a lot of power and require sturdier structure. But may be better for bigger ships.

 

[Jasperagus]

Oh damn talking about that I just realized how useful a gyroscope would be for larger space ships. Balance is a big deal in the game for space ships but a gyro scope would just eliminate that. This was actually a better idea than I thought.

 

[Meetbolio]

You can't really make a fighter under 100k that does any significant damage to ships. To damage ship plating, you need either heavy hand-based weaponry (which have terrible bullet velocity, therefore being very hard to aim at moving ships), or you need a ship mounted gun, which costs 115k (iirc, haven't been in the weapon section of the designer in a while) by itself. That doesn't include any of the power, thrusters, controls, propellant, beams, potential plating, anything that makes a ship... well a ship.


However don't let this discourage you from making a super compact fighter. It's possible, just not under 100k Pips.

 

[Jasperagus]

you need a ship mounted gun, which costs 115k

That's why I decided a mounted gun is not needed. Just get some people to shot at the ships with rifles and stuff (sorry for classifying it as a fighter). Also because hand helds = du du against ships just having a really fast craft with people with guns could be used for boarding by jumping onto the ships.

 

[Meetbolio]

That's why I decided a mounted gun is not needed. Just get some people to shot at the ships with rifles and stuff (sorry for classifying it as a fighter). Also because hand helds = du du against ships just having a really fast craft with people with guns could be used for boarding by jumping onto the ships.

Oh, in that case, a boarding ship under 100k could be feasible.

 

[Jasperagus]

After going through the thread this thing could've been split in 3 different threads sorry for the confusion. Also I made this assuming everyone knew what a FP-45 Liberator was.

Also just realized how good a maneuverable boarding ship would be you only need a small time frame to attach your legs to another ship.

 

[Varien101]

From watching the videos, if you really want to dmg a ship on the cheap just use those cutting beams lol.