Ship Classes - Generalized

[Venixer]

According to standard naval classifications, around WW2 as a basis

Small Craft:
Scouts
Fighters/Interceptors
Bombers

Ships - by order of size, usually.
Gunship
Corvettes
Frigates
Destroyers

Capital Ships - by order of size, usually.
Cruisers
Battlecruiser
Battleships
Carriers

Dreadnoughts.....well that's more of a very loose term in Sci-Fi for something beyond Battleship.

Mothership...again more of a term for an all around mobile base vessel, builds and functions as a mobile headquarters

Transport: a VERY loose term for something that specialized in moving goods and manpower as opposed to being practical vessels for warfare. May be armed aka Assault Transport, but that is only to increase combat capability, but main function is still to transport goods of manpower.

And then there's always the various adjectives for ships that determine their more specialized function, like Escort Carrier, or Assault Cruiser, or Light Frigate.

 

[CalenLoki]

Seems like a good classification... start.

Some suggestion:
1. You kept adjectives out of main classes. That's good. But why including "torpedo bomber" there?
2. Move capital ship line between destroyers and cruisers.
3. Maybe the main groups should be named "boats", "ships" and "capital ships"? To follow naval naming.

 

[Freelancer]

Corvettes are not capital ships usually, among others. I can get you a full list we use in our community if it helps.

Classes will always be defined by the group themselves, but general universal terms are always necessary. This is a good thread.

 

[CalenLoki]

Corvettes missing, among others. I can get you a full list we use in our community if it helps.

Classes will always be defined by the group themselves, but general universal terms are always necessary. This is a good thread.

Corvettes are there.

Bring it on. Brainstorming is fun.

 

[Freelancer]

Yea sorry, didnt expect to see them under capital.

 

[Venixer]

Its just a general list, to form some type of accurate continuity in ship naming.

Because some Sci-Fi series really mix up names pretty seriously, like Star Wars, where a "Star Destroyer" is called a Destroyer, but is much more like a Battleship.

 

[CalenLoki]

It's good as general list. We just disagree on using term "capital ship" for all small and medium sized ships (smaller than cruiser)

 

[Whiteagle]

It's good as general list. We just disagree on using term "capital ship" for all small and medium sized ships (smaller than cruiser)

Problem there is the largest Ship the Dev's have made was dubbed a Frigate, so we aren't even at the Destroyer size for Ships...

 

[Venixer]

Yup, that will be up to the creativity of the player community

 

[Quinc]

Ultimately everyone who can design a ship can call it whatever they want, though I get kinda annoyed when fiction writers ignore the real world meaning of these words. Read wikipedia at least.
Destroyers: Ironically, always refers to defensive ship. Originally short for "Torpedo Boat Destroyer" the first destroyers were short range corvettes. Later destroyers were larger, had better range, could destroy submarines, air craft, even missiles in order to defend the ships around them.
Dreadnought: Refers to a specific ship in 1906 which marked a sudden change in how battleships were built. Pre-dreadnought ships had a variety of weapons and were driven by steam pistons. Post-Dreadnought ships had a "all big gun design" and were driven by steam turbines. Because the main guns were all the same, they could more easily hit an enemy at long range.
Mothership: Actually only designates the relationship between two ships, i.e. If ship A is launched, deployed, or carried by ship B, then ship B is the mothership of ship A.
Battlecruiser: The size and firepower of a battleship, but the speed of a cruiser.
Gunship: Refers to a ship with a single oversized gun. A boat meant for bombarding land targets and nothing else. An airplane that uses big guns instead of dropping bombs, and also circles instead of strafing.

Problem there is the largest Ship the Dev's have made was dubbed a Frigate, so we aren't even at the Destroyer size for Ships...

The problem is that the people who labeled that thing "Frigate" were thinking of the Star Wars universe and similar fiction. Obviously a civilization spanning a galaxy is going to create bigger ships than a civilization spanning a gas giant's asteroid belt and moons. The real world "HMS Dreadnought" was 161 meters long, the developer's "Frigate" is 150 meters long. I will not be disappointed if I never see any ships much larger than that in this game. The ship sizes described in epic space opera are not a good guide to how big ships in Starbase should be.

 

[Vexus]

Don't forget the vast amount of logistic ships and their classes. Even though they fall under "transport" there's a big difference between a fuel-carrying ship that lags behind the main fleet a little bit and a huge fuel tanker transporting resources from continent to continent.

 

[TheMarksman]

Eh, no.
Capital ships, by conventions, are any ship that's a frigate, or above the classification of a frigate.
Anything below the frigate is its own terms.

Edit: Yes, I know there are issues with that. But notice I didn't ask for it to be changed.

 

[Quinc]

The dictionary definition of "Capital ship" is just "The navy's most important warships, typically the largest" which is vague. Wikipedia explains that it was applied to first rate ships of the line, Battleships, Aircraft Carriers, and nuclear missile submarines. Halo wiki uses the dictionary definition above. Star Wars wiki labels anything longer than 100 meters, which includes Corvettes and Frigates.
A possible definition of "Capital Ship" in Starbase is a ship that represents a long term project to a faction, which has some importance to every member. I think in this game most of the ships will be designed to fullfill an immediate need. You need to do a particular thing, so you build or buy the ship that can do that thing as soon as possible. However you need a long term goal to motivate your immediate actions. You enter the sandbox to build a sand castle. For some that would mean building a really big ship.