Hard Star: Progress Update

I have been floored by all the positive response!  I'm glad you're all as excited about this project as I am.

Before my update, allow me to apologize.  There have been a lot of well thought-out and complimentary comments languishing on my dashboard since the last post, and I've only today published them.  Thanks to all of you who commented, and I'm sorry it took so long to get to them.  Your comments do mean a lot to me, though my recent behavior suggests otherwise.

Moving forward, the next installment of Hard Star is taking longer than I had intended.  Fist of all, designing a spacecraft is a job of work no matter what.  Designing a spacecraft that could actually work even mores.  Designing a realistic spacecraft that looks like one out space opera...Rocketfans, it's not as easy as it looks..

But it's not impossible.  Presenting the Titan IV, interplanetary blockade runner and diplomatic courier:

This is actually not the final version

I'm sure you'll notice that the front end of the thing is much more reminiscent of the Radiant VII than the classic Corellian Corvette.  Honest, I just couldn't justify the hammer-head, cool as it is, on a ship built for speed.  I mean, it could be a centrifuge, but the mass penalty...

This is what I mean about designing realistic spacecraft that look like space opera ships.
Speaking of "design" the Titan IV is statted out - in real-world figures:
LENGTH: 150 METERS
DRY MASS: 699.5 tons
     STRUCTURE: 308.5 tons
     TANKAGE: 261.5 tons
     ENGINE MASS: 30 tons
     PAYLOAD: 100 tons
PROPELLANT MASS: 3087.63 tons
WET MASS: 3787.13 tons
MASS RATIO: 5
PROPULSION: 3x Tri-modal NTR rockets
EXHAUST VELOCITY (Triton x3): 16000 m/s
DELTA V: 25,751 m/s

That's enough change in velocity to send the Titan IV from Earth to Mars in a little under two months.  If you're willing to take a slow Hohmann orbit instead, then once you get close you can hit the gas and positively cook any local yokels trying to intercept you.  I mean that literally also- three NTRs make for a formidable spinal mount facing aft.

As always, thanks to Winchell Chung​ for the Atomic Rockets website - particularly the Basic and Advanced Design pages, the Engine List, and the Mission Table.  Thanks also to Isaak Kuo for pointing out that Titan IV is only good for short ranges.

For all of you Diaspora fans out there that have joined us, welcome.  I'm still fairly new to FATE based systems in general and Diaspora in particular, so bear with me as I learn the ropes.

Fortunately, Nat Sheppard is a much better hand with the Diaspora system than I and he has taken an interest in this project.  He has even made stats for all the Hard Star spacecraft I've designed so far, including the Titan IV :

Titan IV T1 Blockade Runner 11 bp
V-shift 2
Trade 2
EW 1
Hull [ ] [ ] [ ]
Data [ ] [ ] [ ]
Heat [ ] [ ] [ ]
Stunts,
 + Interface vehicle
 + Civilian (A military version exists with beam 2)
Aspects,
 + Blockade Runner
 + This is a consular ship, Were on a diplomatic mission!
 + If this is a consular ship, where is the Ambassador?
 + That's funny, the damage doesn't look as bad fro out here.
 + Are you sure this things safe?

If you like that, you should check out his blog...

That's all for now.  I still have to design TIE (Tactical Interceptor, Energy weapon) drones and the B-class capital ship Nebula for the next episode.  Back to work...

New Series in the Works: Hard Star

Howdy, RocketFans!  As promised, I have been working on a new article series to entertain, enlighten and en-something else my faithful followers.  When I originally made the announcement, I had an idea of developing a setting that used wormhole travel to connect neighboring star systems and how that would work economically, socially, and politically.

Then I discovered Diaspora...

Not only was my original concept covered in the Diaspora RPG, it is elegantly covered.  This game has everything - literally, in a series of mini-games that cover traditional, and social combat, war game-style mass combat, and even an abstract system for realistic space combat. And the universe VSCA publishing made to hold all that awesome is so inspiring that I bow to superior game design.

Not one to reinvent the wheel, I held off on making the Next Big Thing until I had a more unique idea.  A few days or so later, our good friend Winchell Chung of Atomic Rockets, posted an article showing some of the earliest concept art from Star Wars - so early that it was still called "Starkiller".  From this article, I was vouchsafed a vision:

Pictured: Love at first sight.

What struck me about the above image is that the spacecraft (The earliest depiction of a Star Destroyer) is designed with the narrow end aft. It looks for all the world like an atomic rocket, which by necessity must fit it's entire mass in the shadow of the reactor shield.  The dishes are obviously laser installations, and there are hangers....

My brain turned on.  All unbidden, designs began to emerge.  It could be done - realistic design for a Star Destroyer, with similar crew compliments, number of carried craft, and mission capabilities.  I could do this - I could make a Hard SF Star Destroyer.

Then I thought, "What about the other starships in Star Wars?"

So what emerged from these fevered dreamings is the subject of our next series of blog posts: Hard Star: A realistic re-telling of the Saga, with spacecraft designs, nano-fics, and character and spacecraft sheets for the Diaspora RPG.  It should be pretty exciting.  Expect the first installment later this week.

Here's a preview:

Behold! The Imperator System Control Craft

Coming up next will be the first installment: The Death's Head