Three-dimension Ship Interior Design

[Toka-MK]

Since there is no gravity in space, I've always preferred ship designs that utilize all interior surfaces, much like the real-life ISS, rather than to dedicate a "floor" and "ceiling" and let yourself be bound by Earth's rules.

For example, for a one-room personal craft, it could have couches, tables, and other furnitures on the "ceiling", while all the ship controls, flight seats, etc. are on the "floor", thereby essentially having both a full-size living room and control room occupying the same space, yet without interfering with each other. I have tried to implement this idea in Space Engineers before, however the mag boots implementation wasn't the best in that game, so I ended up using several gravity generators to change orientation on different parts of the ship, which was a bit of a hassle.

So far from what I have seen in Starbase, magnetic boots seem to be very reliable, snappy, and overall well-implemented, which allows the game to forgo the need for artificial gravity entirely, so I think if there is any game to get this concept right, it would have to be this one.

I would love to hear other people's opinion on this concept. If you're a CA tester and have already spent time with the ship design tools, do you think this idea is feasible? What are some challenges that might impede its practicality?

 

[Nyefari]

I like this idea a lot. Having a work orientation and a luxury orientation.

 

[RedPine]

The most practical design for small-medium sized ships is an "open space" design that forgoes the need for walls and a ceiling entirely. It isn't until combat, corrosion, and warp class become relevant that we will need walls. Even once we need walls, optimal design will place delicate components (fuel, generators) on the inside, and cheap replaceable components (endos) on the outside.

I'm thinking a nose cockpit for max visibility, a bridge cockpit as a backup, walls, all delicate parts internally accessible via a single open shaft/walkway, and rows of passenger seats bolted to the outside armor.

Placing seats on the outside will be especially important in unsafe areas. Every passenger not keeping an eye out for pirates is dead weight. Besides, why would you want to be stuck inside a ship staring at walls when you could be walking around on the outside looking at space?

 

[Toka-MK]

The most practical design for small-medium sized ships is an "open space" design that forgoes the need for walls and a ceiling entirely. It isn't until combat, corrosion, and warp class become relevant that we will need walls.
...
Placing seats on the outside will be especially important in unsafe areas. Every passenger not keeping an eye out for pirates is dead weight. Besides, why would you want to be stuck inside a ship staring at walls when you could be walking around on the outside looking at space?

That's a bit extreme... By that design philosophy every non-combat ship should just be an open-top plank with some seats plotted onto it; and there won't even be couches and tables on the ship, because they are only for decoration and roleplaying, you don't really need them.

Even though our endos are indeed cheap and replaceable, when you die and respawn, you may not be able to get back to your ship in time to save it. I would say even for a game where death isn't consequential, a ship's crew is still its most important asset; I'd want to keep alive at least the minimum amount of crew that's needed to fly the ship to safety.

In addition, if I'm flying an unarmed civillian ship, I'll only want to be travelling to relatively safe areas. Flying an open-top non-combat ship into an area so dangerous that you need everybody to be on watch just seems a bit reckless to me.

Finally, even for a normal ship with interior space, there is nothing stopping you from sticking some extra seats and viewing decks on the outside.

 

[HarrisonB1210]

love this idea too, viewing decks and interior design

 

[Mr.Silver]

The most practical design for small-medium sized ships is an "open space" design that forgoes the need for walls and a ceiling entirely. It isn't until combat, corrosion, and warp class become relevant that we will need walls. Even once we need walls, optimal design will place delicate components (fuel, generators) on the inside, and cheap replaceable components (endos) on the outside.

I'm thinking a nose cockpit for max visibility, a bridge cockpit as a backup, walls, all delicate parts internally accessible via a single open shaft/walkway, and rows of passenger seats bolted to the outside armor.

Placing seats on the outside will be especially important in unsafe areas. Every passenger not keeping an eye out for pirates is dead weight. Besides, why would you want to be stuck inside a ship staring at walls when you could be walking around on the outside looking at space?

I can see your perspective on this not gonna lie, especially since from what I hear pvp is kinda uncommon right now in the roids and people just making functional ships

 

[Quinc]

With the way magnetic boots work making the ceiling work as a floor is almost necessary. I am surprised none of the developer made designs don't feature this. Unfortunately it wouldn't necessarily double space in your ship. If you want to save space by putting one object directly above another, the vertical distance has to be greater than their combined height. Ideally this means a floor to ceiling distance more than double the height of a player endo-skeleton, which means a room so tall you could almost split it into two stories. Of course the ceiling-floor would have to be just as flat and spacious as the below floor. Though you would still need less height and less mass compared to splitting the space into two separate decks, since you don't have to build the walk-able surface in the middle.

 

[TASADAR101]

From some of the prior games I've played ( space engineers, empyrion ), having an open interior or at least ease of access to repair core systems is really important for larger vessels. Additionally for pvp, redundant/spare components are essential so you're not crippled too easily and from what I've seen on stream you can hook a lot of items around eachother. Smaller ships will always have trade offs for their size but a larger ships strength is having the ease of redundancy in these games. The longer you can keep focused on a target without getting crippled is key. You can have an open inside or a few halls but always make sure there's ease of access and redundant components and connections.

 

[MrFaul]

Placing seats on the outside will be especially important in unsafe areas. Every passenger not keeping an eye out for pirates is dead weight.

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