Posted by: Ulzgoroth
« on: March 08, 2024, 01:20:29 PM »I don't agree with some of those points about compartmentalization - reactors and shields have significant scaling factors (though in this case the reactor needed is so small doubling it is no concern) and for weapons you'll mount how many you can make fit in your design, which may be one and if it is it is. (If it's one quad turret, consider at least giving it turret armor though.) Depending on your reactor design, it also may be a deadly explosion risk that you're better off minimizing the chances of setting off, though just not using reactor boost in capital ships goes a long way to mitigate that.
Main fire controls and sensors can be very expensive and of significant size. Redundancy there is attractive but not necessarily affordable.
(I do give most warships an extra fighter-sized active sensor - 10 tons for mine - because I have those designs for my fighters and at actual fighting ranges they're more than sufficient. This also lets me cover the fine-resolution gap. Thanks to the way range scales, a resolution 1 10 ton sensor can easily still achieve a range of millions of kilometers. Not good for actually spotting the enemy or launching long-range missiles strikes but more than enough to ensure you've got an active lock at beam weapon ranges plus a hope to see missiles before they hit you.)
Fuel tanks and engineering, yes. It's definitely preferable to be able to take a hit or two there without losing all function and it costs very little.
Engines...yeah, you probably don't want a large ship with only one, even though you do get a useful efficiency benefit from making them bigger, because dropping to zero mobility is very deadly. (Also, gigantic unitary engines make it really hard to do damage control.)
Main fire controls and sensors can be very expensive and of significant size. Redundancy there is attractive but not necessarily affordable.
(I do give most warships an extra fighter-sized active sensor - 10 tons for mine - because I have those designs for my fighters and at actual fighting ranges they're more than sufficient. This also lets me cover the fine-resolution gap. Thanks to the way range scales, a resolution 1 10 ton sensor can easily still achieve a range of millions of kilometers. Not good for actually spotting the enemy or launching long-range missiles strikes but more than enough to ensure you've got an active lock at beam weapon ranges plus a hope to see missiles before they hit you.)
Fuel tanks and engineering, yes. It's definitely preferable to be able to take a hit or two there without losing all function and it costs very little.
Engines...yeah, you probably don't want a large ship with only one, even though you do get a useful efficiency benefit from making them bigger, because dropping to zero mobility is very deadly. (Also, gigantic unitary engines make it really hard to do damage control.)