Hover Carrier

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I'll be re-texturing her from scratch and and maybe remodeling a bit. Suggestions?





[edit] Re-sized.

[Gaidin]

This one kinda weirdly is starting to look like its taking inspiration from the Final Fantasy 12 airships. Though I can't really say much more without really knowing what's what. Presumably the fins hanging off the bottom have a legit engineering design requirement(turning?)? I see the ring has artillery and point defense, though I'm not sure why use the ring design for it. Is the exhaust on the front a functional reverse output? Is there any output on the sides for sharp turning that we just don't see?

[Fuzzy_Modem]

This one kinda weirdly is starting to look like its taking inspiration from the Final Fantasy 12 airships. Though I can't really say much more without really knowing what's what. Presumably the fins hanging off the bottom have a legit engineering design requirement(turning?)? I see the ring has artillery and point defense, though I'm not sure why use the ring design for it. Is the exhaust on the front a functional reverse output? Is there any output on the sides for sharp turning that we just don't see?

This one?

It seems the closest of the options, but I'm still not really seeing it. Never played any FF, but enjoyed "The Spirit Within"

Not really any inherent purpose for the long fin/vertical alignment, no. What purpose might it serve?

The weapons (mainly the missiles) are mounted far away from the body in case of accidental detonation.

That's just an intake for reactor cooling on the front, though I could make it a giant retro-thuster.

Turning is achieved by thrusting with one of the rear engine clusters more than the other, and is quite slow.

[Gaidin]

This one?
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Well I said inspiration hopefully for a reason. It was just the first thing that popped into my mind.

The reason I included the word 'steering' with the question about the fins on the bottom, unless these are space ships, is that they literally could be used to turn the ship as well as using more power out of one side of the engines than the other.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

The reason I included the word 'steering' with the question about the fins on the bottom, unless these are space ships, is that they literally could be used to turn the ship as well as using more power out of one side of the engines than the other.

It's atmospheric. How would that work?

[Gaidin]

It's atmospheric. How would that work?

Basically use it like a rudder. Though I've hardly got any numbers for how much more turning power that would give you. You'd get more out of having extra, smaller, engines on the side of the ship I would think.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

It's atmospheric. How would that work?

Basically use it like a rudder. Though I've hardly got any numbers for how much more turning power that would give you. You'd get more out of having extra, smaller, engines on the side of the ship I would think.

Well a rudder works by swiveling and channeling the water to effect trajectory. That part of the ship is fixed, and channeling the air as it passes through would make it want to fly straight, rather than turning.

Maneuvering thrusters may well be in order. Where would I place them? If it were a spacecraft I would say on the outermost edge for greatest effect, but I don't know about atmospheric manuvering.

[Gaidin]

Airplanes use them all the time, but I don't know the design differences as it's not my field of engineering. As a carrier I'd want the maneuvering thrusters no matter what for emergency maneuvers anyway, and be content with the slow turns when I'm doing standard maneuvers. And they'd largely be placed where when fired in time with each other could leave the ship pulling a 180(or greater if necessary, say if guns are taken out and you need to present weaponry in a certain direction) if done for long enough.

[Simon_Jester]

Hm. All those protruding structural features on the ventral surface make it impossible for this thing to land in anything other than a very specialized, very big docking cradle. They also raise interesting questions about how the thing was ever built in the first place.

It looks fantastic- both in the metaphorical sense of being beautiful, and in the literal sense of "this thing looks like a fantasy"

[Sea Skimmer]

Nice art, pretty and interesting to look at, but if I saw this without the 'hover carrier' bit I'd assume it was a sci fi Elven handgun, minus the rear glow that does kinda invoke engine . Nothing much a bout it suggests carrier to me, except maybe the less then logical deck markings, and only then because I know to try to make sense of them. It looks like you have two different lengths each of takeoff and landing run? Was that intentional? Two short takeoff runs, and two longer landing runs would make more sense.

[phred]

How do they land on that thing? Is it VTOL only? Do they come in from the front? Because if you're coming in from the rear you probably don't want all that stuff behind the flight deck in the way.
Also, the fins on the bottom seem really unnecessary if they're not some sort of rudder setup. Other than that it's fairly pretty

[Lord of the Abyss]

Cool looking.

As far as the fin goes, you can just say it's a coolant system, or part of whatever system lets the ship levitate, or it's the "primary shield generator", or some such handwave.

[Terralthra]

Yeah, there's a reason (more than one, really) why most carriers of any size use angled flight decks. It took less than 30 years after the very first flight deck for the angled deck to be innovated, and it's so much better that it's used by essentially everyone.

[Lagmonster]

I'd say it depends on what kind of feeling you want to evoke when people see the technology itself. What is it supposed to convey about the builders/owners?

If you want to evoke the idea that something is delicate and exotic (someone said 'elven' already) then you've got it. If you want to evoke the idea that the ship is rugged and sturdy, you might want a brickier, less luminescent shape.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I think I need to model a giant building to cradle the vessel's ventral vertical hull, and allow for entrance and egress from the ground.

Hmmmm, the angled deck does make sense, but looks goofy imo.

I definitely trying to give a "technology as magic" vibe.

[Lord Revan]

I have to say it looks a bit like the updated Protoss carrier from StarCraft II especially the Tal'derim version which has the silver and green color scheme rather then the yellow and blue of the normal protoss.

[Lagmonster]

I keep looking at it upside-down, like I expect the protruding part at bottom to be a command tower. The "hanging powerplant" theme is something I've seen before in sci-fi, mind you, so it works as set.

It's excellent work, mind you. Unless you change the theme, or want to identify utility among the parts you've already got, nothing outstanding leaps to mind that I'd change.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I have to say it looks a bit like the updated Protoss carrier from StarCraft II especially the Tal'derim version which has the silver and green color scheme rather then the yellow and blue of the normal protoss.

The design is from 2007, and so predates SC2, but may have been influenced by the original StarCraft, which is my favorite game.

I keep looking at it upside-down, like I expect the protruding part at bottom to be a command tower. The "hanging powerplant" theme is something I've seen before in sci-fi, mind you, so it works as set.

It's excellent work, mind you. Unless you change the theme, or want to identify utility among the parts you've already got, nothing outstanding leaps to mind that I'd change.

Thanks Love your avatar

[Cykeisme]

As has been said I think it makes more sense of both ends of the runway were open.
It doesn't have to be offset at a different angle (it can be along the centerline), but both ends should be open so aircraft could take off and land from either end.

Also, if an aircraft can't stop, it won't it anything but just go off the other end and possibly just circle around later (especially since it's a floating carrier, if it fails to stop, the aircraft just goes off into the air and can dive to recover airspeed and normal flight).
Here, an aircraft (perhaps a damaged one) that fails to stop will hit the structures on the ship.

Also, what's the point of making the ship that long if only a part of the length is devoted to airstrip? The ship should just be shorter then, right?

[Fuzzy_Modem]

I'd like to keep the structures on top, but maybe lose the "walls" around the deck, and angle the runway away from the towers?

[Terralthra]

Well, the angled thing on a large carrier also splits the launch ramps from the landing approach, so that if a landing craft fails to get arrested, it can do a touch-and-go and take back off without interfering with launching aircraft. There are other ways to achieve this non-interference thing, but the slightly angled deck has the closest allowance to both taking off and landing with a headwind.

The thing is, if your ship is an airship, and is expected to be airborne while launching...there's no reason your aircraft have to launch from atop it, other than as a "just in case we need to launch when landed."

[Lagmonster]

Wouldn't it also depend on the types of vehicles launching? If he has reliable VTOL-type aircraft, I'd assume a runway isn't even necessary, and the space on top would just be "a shitload of parking spots" for a swarm of vehicles that could all launch or land simultaneously.

[Terralthra]

Even British carriers operating Sea Harriers had real launching and landing pads, because horizontal launching and landing used less fuel and allowed heavier launch weights.

[Fuzzy_Modem]

Most of my aircraft have vtol capability, but not all.

[Gaidin]

Here's what I'm wondering now. Does your aircraft VTOL systems come based off the same tech as this carrier's hover system? Just miniaturized? If so, that kind of energy capability would kind of make modern energy considerations somewhat moot as far as what Terralthra is saying, though launch runways are still useful for emergency landings, nonetheless.