How I Procrastinate...

Service Deck Done!

       Here is the finished Service Deck for the Allie B. Clockwise from the top:  One of the main free electron lasers, in a spinal mount running the length of the spacecraft; One of four emergency shelters, capable of housing up to ten people apiece; one of four electrolyzer housings that convert the water in the massive, outboard into hydrogen for the sails and oxygen for the torch; the FCR, and back on around.  There is an airlock deck one deck forward, and another service deck forward of that that is identical with the exception of having life support equipment and consumables storage in place of the Emergency Habs and the FCR. 

       Anyway, I'm also working on finishing the spar decks, which are close to being done.  It's nice to actually have ideas coming in again, and to be able to keep working.  Hope you enjoy! 

More Peeks at the Allie B.

Not all Bridges have a Viewscreen...

       The images of the Alan B. Shepard  Escort's interior sections I've displayed before now were in the outboard spar, where the spin of the craft imparts a bit of gravity.  This section is of the Flight Control Room, which is in the central core.  This compartment sits in the center of the spacecraft, with twenty meters of water, missiles, and fusion reactors between the command deck and vacuum.

       The FCR iteself is an experimental layout.  With nearly unlimited computer power, near miraculous networking, and a lack of gravity, there is really no reason for the spacecraft's command center to follow the traditional configuration.  This new layout divides the FCR into for alcoves, each of which having enough command stations to control the entire ship under normal operation.  In addition, the number four station can rotate inward and face another, curved smartscreen separating the alcoves from the central command seat.  These four "inner" consoles, along with the command seat, can also be configured to provide ship's command and control under normal operations.  What this kind of layout allows is for any quarter of the FCR to be shut down, maintained, even rigged as simulators and set up for practice wargames.  If you like the setup, or see any problems or suggesstions with the design, drop me a line.  Enjoy!  

IPV Escort Art

Zoom zoom.

Work continues on the Alan B Shepard class Interplanetary Escorts.  This is a pic of the Aurora Galleae, the corona of radiation visible as the laser beams reflect off of the magnetic sails.  This is the same model that was used for the pics you've already seen, with materials added in Bryce.  Hope you enjoy.

Space Station WIP

Add caption

       This is a mock-up of the space station I'm detailing as part of my d6 Magazine article for the next issue.  If you recognize some of the pieces in this drawing, I'm not surprized; with the exception of  the sheild at the top (with its checkerboard of radiators) the entire station is made up of pre-existing map elements used in my various deck plans over the years.

        This is a tiny station, which is basically a truck-stop for intra-orbital traffic.   In The Black Desert, propellant is typically stored as simple water, then electrolyzed in to oxygen and hydrogen as needed.  Because the power and mass requirements for such a system are rather high, specialized stations exist to re-fuel spacecraft instead of having every private station in orbit need to install the equipment.

        Anyway, the article itself will only have a bit of info on the station; the station itself will be released as its own PDF around the same time.  Work continues... 

A Hull Breach is never Pretty...

Oooooooh, crap.

                This peice used Daz Studios 4 Pro for the people and background, Bryce 7 for the blood globules, Photoshop Elements 9 for the tint and debris, and GIMP for the fuzzy whisps of your life leaking away.  God, I love making this kind of stuff. 

For your viewing pleasure...

Modelling like a BOSS.

I give you a model of a militerized version of the Utility Laser I've mentioned before.  I'm rather pleased with how easily I managed to get the file into Bryce and reder the image.  This is especially good news, because I like to make my own designs for props and such, and will be able to include images of all this junk in future posts and, even better, products.

Speaking of which, I'm making a space station for my D6 Magazine article.  It's great to be working again!

A sort of shaky, provisional return...

              So, what do you call it when your vision tunnels, doubles, your wife swears that one of your eyes drifts independently of the other randomly, and you completely forget what you're doing?

              Nothing good, that what.

             It could  have just been incipient retinopathy, but I got that checked out.  It could be evidence of seizures, or possible transient ischemic attacks - "mini-strokes", in other words.  Anyway, I am no longer allowed to drive at night, and Monday will be my fifth doctor's appointment since last I posted on the site.

             I wanna thank all of you RocketFans who have asked after my health; I wish I had better news.  I do intend to continue working on Black Desert stuff, but I cannot give any reliable schedule of products for the foreseeable future.  The next major project I'll be involved with will be some sort of article for the next issue of D6 Magazine, which is a sci-fi issue.  I am also going to continue working on the IPV product, but I can't say when it'll be ready.

            More updates, and hopefully some actual content, will be forthcoming soon.