From the days of interstellar space colonization

[The Chief of Braves]

Greetings and salutations. I'm posting here for the first time after some lurking and here, I would like to present to you all a ship design I have been trying to build since I first lurk here.



I present to you, the Interstellar Colonization Ark, Pioneer. Below it is a Hestia for a size comparison and another ship of my own design, a Berlin-class destroyer; both ships are ready for strict scrutiny and criticisms.

[AutoHummer]

The Berlin is ,IMHO,overstuffed with weapons.
While the ark needs some point defense weapons.


Otherwise they are nice!But i feel an excess of section 26 on the ark,not that I don't like it(I use them a lot) but others here seem to hate section 26s with a passion.

The Berlin looks like a corllean corvette
The ark looks like a fatter version of a Hiigaran BattleCruiser from HomeWorld2.

[The Chief of Braves]

I’m not going to lie that when I designed the ark, I used the Hiigaran battlecruiser and the Argonaut from the anime Heroic Age as an inspiration. The Berlin was completely random on my part and I did not base it on any ships when I first just slapped parts together and be done with it.

The Pioneer does need point defense weapons, I admit, but I wasn’t sure myself about the placements of them all. I don’t want the entire surface of the ship to be covered with it so I decided to place them sparingly and only at the ‘edges’ of the Pioneer. This is so that any incoming meteor showers or debris can be shot down earlier before the debris even reach the hull of the Pioneer itself. Likewise, if there is any way I can improve placement of the PDW, let me know. Also, here is the 'armed' version of the Pioneer:



Below is a display of Colony Escort Fleet ships, assigned to protect the Pioneer in its never-ending journey to find a suitable planet to colonize. I'm sure you all are familiar with the previous version of the Berlin-class destroyer, this time with a slightly less weapon placement, so I don't need to introduce you all to it anymore.



The larger ship above the Berlin is a Calcutta-class assault carrier, the fleet's flagship. It houses approximately 50 space fighters.

The dual-pronged hull ship in front of the Berlin is an Aller-class assault frigate. Normally acts as a frontline combat ship. Is the second most numerous class of ship found in any Interstellar Colonization Fleet.

The three ships on the far right with the same hull type but different mounted weapons and equipments are the multi-purpose Dallas-class auxiliary frigates. The most numerous ship types found in any ICF, each types has different purposes while retaining the same hull size for the ease of mass-production. The first one on the top is the 'Beam'-type, noted for the being the only ship to be armed with a mega beam cannon, the only high-yield beam weapon the humans have so far created. Its purpose however, is to clear paths in asteroid fields large enough for Pioneer-class arks to pass through unharmed. Likewise, it can be used in combat as well.

The second one is a 'Missile'-type, and as you can see, is armed with a lot of missile launchers, which is one of three weapons the humans created that they are proud of.

The last one is a 'Repair'-type, categorized as so because of the array of nano-matrix repair modules it carries. It is ICF's sole repair vessel and is very precious as they are produced in limited numbers due to the complexity, price and hig power usage of the modules.

Last but not least, is the civilian science research vessel at the very bottom of the picture. No need for an introduction or summary on its purpose as its name pretty much reveals itself what it does in the ICF.

[AutoHummer]

Hmmmm...

Ship variants.....pretty good idea,mind I 'steal' it?(The idea,not the ships!)

The weapons on the pioneer is placed well,i think.

The other ships can lose some weapons,though,try to place weapons so they don't get into each other's rotation radius.(except it's fixed/it is meant to be that way)

The basic shapes are nice,the designs are also pretty good,now we need a backstory.

[Blackhart]

I like the shape of the pioneer and it looks pretty good, I also like the design of the engines and the front, but what I don't like about it is large amount of section 26s you used for the mid section. IMHO the Berlin and Calcutta are the best looking ships in your fleet, but try reducing the amount of weapons on them to improve their overall look.

Oh and welcome to the forums

[Arcalane]

Ship variants.....pretty good idea,mind I 'steal' it?(The idea,not the ships!)

Variants are not a new concept. BSF has a couple (look at the Moiras) and I've used a few hull variants before.

[The Chief of Braves]

Some revisions were made following the showing of the first version of the Interstellar Colonization Defense Fleet. But before that, here’s a little something to start off:



This image shows two different types of Pioneer type colony ships. I’m sure those who have checked this thread are already familiar with the second Pioneer-type at the bottom. The one on the top is actually the original first generation Pioneer-class colony ship. This was my first take on designing and building a massive ship unlike I’ve ever done before. It has an old type of engine block design and the overall length of the hull is actually shorter compared to its second generation sibling.

The new design, which most of you are already familiar with by now, is dubbed the New Pioneer-class. The one only change I’ve done to it so far was trying to deal with what some have claimed to be an excessive use of Section 26. I tried removing some of them while trying not to change the overall hull shape too much. Some of the Section 26s are parent parts so complicated; I could only try to cover some of them up with other Sections so as to not make the Section 26s too stand out.



Next is the new version of the ICDF I have tried to change for a while following their first showing. Overall, I changed the design of the Aller-class assault frigate and the three Dallas-class auxiliary frigates so they look sleeker and follow somewhat the design mentality of the other ships.

I’ve also tried to re-arrange their overall weapons load out and placement following some critics that some of the ships are overloaded with them. Hopefully, the new arrangements would be less over than they were originally.

There is also a new ship I would like to introduce I didn’t get to show last time because frankly, I didn’t like the original design very much. Between the Calcutta and Berlin, is a dual pronged hull type Gloucester-class assault cruiser/pocket battleship, a capital ship type no less and is usually fielded at the front line with Berlins and Allers in formation.

[The Chief of Braves]

The best part of any shipbuilding it seems: making up the fluff behind the ships! I'm going to start now providing each and every ships I have made so far with background history and what not. Criticisms of the ship designs and maybe even the background history are welcome, I don't care; I strive to improve to be a sci-fi writer so I'm expecting lots of CCs to go through if that is what it will take for me. I may not listen to some of them but I at least I do!

So start it off, I began with the ship that started it all...

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Ship Type: First Generation Interstellar Colonization Ark
Government: Unified Earth Sphere Federation
Operator: Pioneer Interstellar Colonization Project, Pioneer Colony Defense and Escort Fleet
Manufacturer: HyTech Shipyards; under the HyTech Research Institute
Ship Class: Pioneer
Ship Name: Pioneer I (ICA-001), 1st Pioneer Colony Fleet; Pioneer II (ICA-002), 1st Pioneer Colony Fleet
Commission Date: January 2610 AD
Number of Class Commissioned: 14
Complement: crew 5,000; approximate civilians 55,000 (approximate 5,000 under cold sleep stasis)
Dimensions: approximate length 2,200 meters; approximate width 400 meters
Mass: standard operating displacement 24,000,000 metric tons
Power Plant: 3x HyTech advanced fusion reaction reactor system
Primary Systems: 2x HyTech main engine thruster blocks (aft), vernier thrusters, HyTech fleeting jump drives, advanced chemical plant life-support system,
Armament: None
Space armored fighters: Unkown

Description and History: Late in December 2570 AD, scientists have discovered a massive derelict alien space vessel deep under the ices of the Martian Northern Polar Regions. Preliminary investigation prompted by the New United Nations discovered that the space craft could have crashed on Mars some three thousand years ago. The spacecraft was dubbed as the first Alien Space Vessel and further investigation following months after uncovered even more startling discoveries. Remains of what could possibly be human-like life forms crewed the vessel, and that the ship seems to be a transportation-type spacecraft carrying many of the human-like life forms or so their remains seems to tell. Most important of all the discoveries found from the alien vessel was its abundance of sophisticated technology far beyond any humanity could possibly achieve at that time. Dubbed as ‘Hyper Advanced Technology’ or HyTech, the New United Nations organizes research quickly to understand it.

Two years later, in 2572 AD, several nations under the New United Nations collaborated to establish a research institution for the study of the alien technology and its possible applications in current times. The HyTech Research Institute was established in early April and two years later, the HRI commences a project to restore and reconstruct the Alien Space Vessel to be commissioned as a capital type spacecraft for the New United Nations. Various plans were proposed to its eventual role and among the choices reviewed by HRI were for it to be either a capital warship or some type of interstellar space vessel.

Two major proponents of both plans argued heatedly to the alien ship’s eventual conversion role to humanity, and it was decided rather unfairly in the end that the ship would be turned into a space warship of immense scale unlike anything humanity has ever built at that time. The proposal eventually redesignates it to Dreadnought-1. Incredible advances in technology from detailed research and reverse engineering of the Alien Space Vessel are made, including the fusion reaction power system used to power the alien vessel, the gravity control system and the fleeting jump system for faster-than-light travel. These Hyper Advanced Technologies are adapted quickly and soon, HyTech is being utilized in dozens of industries, notably the ultracompact fusion reaction reactor and the development of fusion reaction powered and based weapons. Despite these unprecedented leaps in humanity’s progress however, problems soon arise and threaten to undermine the restoration of D-1.

Originally set to be completed and launched in 2580 AD, civil unrest within the Earth Sphere from New United Nations’ mismanagement of the already Solar System spanned human civilization slowed the D-1 restoration project. There are even groups opposing the restoration of the Alien Space Vessel into a warship. These sentiments were doubled when a similar second Alien Space Vessel was discovered deep under the ices of Antarctica on Earth, and it was decided quickly that this Alien Space Vessel would also be restored into the Dreadnought-2 under the pretense to quell the ongoing unrest of the Earth Sphere. It was this decision however that led to the first ever Solar System War.

Fifteen years later, in 2595 AD, the first Solar System War finally came to an end and the New United Nations was duly replaced by the Unified Earth Sphere Federation. The original projects to restore the two Alien Space Vessels into warships were ideally scrapped and one of the original plans to convert them for interstellar colonization purpose was followed instead, under the pretense that humanity should start going beyond the borders of the Solar System and eventually to find new world to inhabit and spread humanity in the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond.

And thus, the project was re-designated to the Pioneer Interstellar Colonization Project, which followed by the renaming of both vessels as the Interstellar Colonization Arks, ICA-001 and ICA-002. Luckily, the restorations of both vessels were alterable to meet the new specific demands for the project instead of its original war capable specs. Nevertheless, they are massive ships, easily dwarfing anything humanity has ever built before. Thereafter, the UESF funded Pioneer Interstellar Colonization Project construct two Pioneer-class vessels in years to come and these colonization fleets with the Pioneer-class arks serving as flagships would be routinely launched to find and build settlements on habitable planets throughout the galaxy.

On 25th January 2610 AD, the first interstellar colonization fleet was launched, led by the two Pioneer vessels and carried approximately 100,000 colonists in total towards the closest star system to Earth, the Alpha Centauri.