Children of a Dead Earth

[Burning Bridges]

Still not yet but ..

one day

I .. WILL!!

 

[DraQ]

Still not yet but ..

one day

I .. WILL!!

Just do it.

 

[Beowulf]

Yep, just do it, you will be surprised, how this one is surprisingly one of the better space sim, despite belonging to "general gaming" for Infinitron.

 

[DraQ]

...despite belonging to "general gaming" for Infinitron.

Shows how much Codex's "refined taste" is worth.

 

[DraQ]

New patch arrived (adding cool stuff like multibarrel weapons, multiple engines on single gimbal, better module packing, flattened ships, custom campaign support, mission editor, some nice new stock engines, etc.) and I've been fixing my designs because of that.

Now I have finally managed to fix every stock design that won't need complete reworking or won't be easier to recreate from another rather than fixed:
https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=1371073716

 

[DraQ]

My fixed and improved collection of stock components ships (no dependency issues and a showcase what you can still do without simply outteching and outranging the enemy):

Tanker:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1369738017
10kt of mostly methane without armour to cut into precious delta-v (warranty void if exposed to enemy fire).
Used to get ships that do have weapons and armour places.

Edit: see "Sleipnir" below.

Dragon class gunship:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1362435835
12kt, functional equivalent of game's stock direct fire bruiser - if by "functional equivalent" you mean "can 1-on-1 stock gunship without losing components or taking hull damage (there will be some turret armour ablation due to lasers) while under AI control (both set to aggressive)" and "has been tested simultaneously against 5 stock gunships at gun range without taking ANY damage on manual control" - the tonnage is basically "Gunship, rounded up".

Possesses superior acceleration (almost 1G full), delta-v, manoeuvrability and armament to the stock model (including 145 flak missiles and another 145 striker missiles with 2.45kt nuclear warheads - so it doesn't strictly need to get into gun duels).


Actually, a post-battle shot, even though you couldn't tell:

In battle (1-on-1, AI controlled):

With the opponent you *can* tell it's a post-battle shot:

Finishing off the last of 5 gunships (another battle, manual control):

Specs, compared to stock Gunship:

Spoiler

Gryphon class frigate:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1362436412
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1374794326

6-7.5kt (depending on variant, A is basic, E is extended range), effectively half-a-gunship (A) or functional equivalent of game's stock laser frigate (E), delta-v included - again taking some liberties with "functional equivalent" - it's a more well rounded ship and has been tested against 10 stock laser frigates (manual control, fighting against multiple laser ships without taking (too much) damage generally takes some special techniques, like setting up protective missile screen - missiles make a good laser bait as the cost of ignoring them tends to be too high).

Gryphon-E, tanking some railgun fire (and returning some of its own):

Pair of Gryphons, soft-killing a gunship around Remus (moonlet of 87 Sylvia):

Pair of Gryphons, taking on Voitenko's fleet:

Battle against 10 laser frigs (featuring some self-inflicted damage due to too-close nuclear detonations):

Specs, compared to laser frigate:

Spoiler

Gryphon-A:

Gryphon-E:

Leviathan class fleet carrier:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1371086181
15.9kt functional equivalent (see above) of game's stock fleet carrier. Has around twice the acceleration (not as much as my direct combat ships, but still enough to, for example, dodge drone fire), 1.5x the amount of stinger drones, added small wing of beam drones augmenting its own laser defence (also extra) an a lot of missiles. A bit more delta-v too.

Specs, compared to fleet carrier:

Spoiler

All the ships listed have power generation split between forward and rear reactors, backup RTG (in case of full reactor loss and to enable signature reduction - scram, fold, launch decoys), crew around centre of gravity to better handle spins, all refractory radiators (even for the crew), diversified weapon battery and externally hardened (CVD diamond, titanium nitride, boron carbide) MgAlZn alloy whipple shields stuffed with thick layer of graphogel, with boron filament/amorphous carbon/PBO fiber sandwich as spall-lined bulk armour.

I have so far abandoned the RCS schemes, but retained the angular hulls.

Edit: Used quote tags to auto-shrink the pics.

 

[Destroid]

If only this had a strategic layer like Rule the Waves.

 

[Cael]

I saw the thread name and immediately thought, "You are the children of a dead planet, EarthDeirdre, and this death we do not comprehend. We shall take you in, but may we ask this question--will we too catch the planetdeath disease?"

But this is not AC2

 

[DraQ]

DraQ made some moar stuff - tanker overhaul and some smallish ships.
Rejoice! ...or else.

"Sleipnir" class 10kt methane tanker:

"Sleipnir" has started it's life as a modification of previous "Pegasus" that was extensive enough to warrant rename. Apart from new look the modification also increased its delta-v, mass fraction AND acceleration, making it better suited for manoeuvring along with main battle fleet or braving deep gravity wells (though taxiing officials' offspring around the Solar System is also within its capabilities).
Named in honour of its 8 NTRs (2 on standalone gimbals, remaining 6 in clusters of 3) "Sleipnir" needs to be handled with care when nearly empty, as rapid reorientation can produce enough g-forces to kill the crew. Thankfully this issue can be easily avoided by switching off some of its engines.

"Werewolf" class conventional cannon cutter,
and its twin-engine (ok, engine cluster) variant:
A direct descendant of the cannon-only design I used to beat the campaign, "Werewolf" is surprisingly versatile and powerful for such a small (<1kt), constrained (chemical cannons only) vessel, capable of handling - accompanied by "Sleipnir"(s)when necessary - any combat mission in the campaign with little to no loses, and able to semi-reliably solo a gunship in the handls of skilled commander, with its "shotgun-style" 10x 33mm spinal battery ripping hulls open with frightening ease.

"Centaur" class railgun/missile cutter,
also with a dual gimbal variant:
Based on the same core concept as "Werewolf" (and actually branching off that project), "Centaur" differs in armament, relying on quad high-velocity railguns to deal damage from afar and a pair of 15x forward blast missile launchers coming in two flavours - nuclear and flak.

 

[Norfleet]

Is Orion in the game? Can we actually make Ol' Boom Boom? And when does this get put in the SPACE! section, given that this is *THE* SPACE! game?

 

[DraQ]

Is Orion in the game? Can we actually make Ol' Boom Boom? And when does this get put in the SPACE! section, given that this is *THE* SPACE! game?

There is no Orion, although a crude and inefficient (and not usable in any practical manner) approximation has been accomplished using just the simulation mechanics and ship editor:


Normally you're limited to technologies for which there is enough publicly accessible data to model them mathematically in game (so no Teller-Ulam nukes or nuclear shape charges either, just ordinary fission and fusion boosted fission devices).
For propulsion you have liquid fuel chemical rockets (both mono and biprop), NTRs, resistojets and MPDTs - this makes the game quite a bit more interesting as you can't just piss on orbital mechanics and both thrust and delta-v are serious limiting factors for orbital manoeuvring.

As for the SPACE! section - I imagine it will get moved when the staff stops being such a bunch of horrible faggots OR when someone pesters them enough - whichever comes first.

 

[DraQ]

My reinterpretation of infamously broken Hiveship - an attempt to do something useful with hilariously vulnerable (also heavy and expensive) nuke cannons and questionably useful lancer drones and also an attempt to practically employ concepts outlined here:

"Basilisk" class destroyer:

The main idea here is a combination of hiding modules behind armoured umbrella, hybrid nose-forward/broadside design and employing additional sideways thrust during combat. The ship is meant to be oriented more-or-less nose forward (can use broadside command thanks to >9km/s railguns on the nose)and also sweeping sideways as it approaches and passes the enemy. The leading side is almost devoid of weaponry the trailing one has all the good stuff to be fired not directly at the enemy but at the point where the enemy will be at which point the ship will have moved and revolved to keep covering its (largely spherical) vulnerable bits. In particular the nukes are meant to be lobbed without line of sight to the enemy. The lateral motor on the trailing edge is meant to help with that manoeuvring.

Scattering briefly before resuming broadside orientation seems to work well most of the time, although it's not 100% reliable.

 

[DraQ]

Going a bit silly this time - the biggest direct combat stock component design I could reasonably fit into a campaign mission budget (eats up entire mass allowance and almost entire budget in Solar Ties, can also do Fall of Titan if assisted by bunch of my tankers), plus something I could reasonably try mounting those 300MW lasers on (2x for redundancy - they don't seem to be worth the bother, admittedly).

You are probably going to be better served using a bunch of my smaller ships, but it is big and dishes out a lot of punishment.
It is also an experiment at maintaining sloped nose armour with nose mounted weaponry.
Lastly, it looks quite badass.

"Garuda" class dreadnought:

Fall of Titan (slightly older model, high velocity intercept):

Solar Ties (ditto):

Older action shots:

Before (at nearly 2GW the IR signature has no chance being spoofed by any stock flares):

After (100MW flares can spoof ship's signature, ship retains enough power to supply CMs, 60mm CIWS and even one of its small 13MW lasers)

 

[DraQ]

Trying to build a rough equivalent of stock corvette:

A relatively small (for a full capital, I have made much smaller manned ships, but I was aiming to fit into specific niche this time) ship with full array of weaponry.
Due to relatively thin armour it benefits from aggressive intercepts and manoeuvring - this way it should be able to satisfy my standard 5:1 combat test regime.

"Valravn" class corvette (two variants - base and extended range):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1504348439
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1504348652

 

[DraQ]

Yesterday I have hit gold in Jovian Lunar Tour, marking the completion of all the missions with gold rating.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Yesterday I have hit gold in Jovian Lunar Tour, marking the completion of all the missions with gold rating.

Can you make ramming ships though.

 

[DraQ]

Trying to build a rough equivalent of stock corvette:

A relatively small (for a full capital, I have made much smaller manned ships, but I was aiming to fit into specific niche this time) ship with full array of weaponry.
Due to relatively thin armour it benefits from aggressive intercepts and manoeuvring - this way it should be able to satisfy my standard 5:1 combat test regime.

"Valravn" class corvette (two variants - base and extended range):
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1504348439
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1504348652

Tweaked my "Valravn" corvette a bit - adding a decoy launcher to counter enemy missile swarms (when combined with low emission mode), additional CIWS battery, and adjusting the mass and hull shape a little.

In the hands of a decent commander it can now solo Vesta without relying on any long range missile strikes or counter-intercepts (only combat launches).
It won't look pretty afterwards but not half-bad for a general purpose (>4km/s dv), <4kt, stock module only, close combat ship.

 

[DraQ]

Soloing Vesta with "Valravn":

 

[Agame]

Is this a game you can just jump in and learn with tutorials? Or would I be better playing Kerbal first? Im interested but I have no knowledge of rocketry or orbital stuffs.

 

[DraQ]

Is this a game you can just jump in and learn with tutorials? Or would I be better playing Kerbal first? Im interested but I have no knowledge of rocketry or orbital stuffs.

Well, I'd say that more than half of the campaign is an extended tutorial easing you in, so the game doesn't assume you know your stuff (OTOH this stuff actually *is* rocket science, so yeah). You also do get a lot of reading material.

Overall, the gameplay scales quite well - you have early missions where you absorb important concepts, then have to use them in increasingly difficult scenarios around our solar system. You can play with stock ships, build your own from premade components or actually design your own components too (often arriving at very OP designs compared to what is included in game).

I'd say it's a mandatory ride for any self-respecting sci-fi fan. It could use more scenarios, though. Oh well, most of the fun comes from messing around with stuff and seeing what happens. Plus, it does have level editor now, so nothing is stopping people from making their own campaigns if they want to.

 

[DraQ]

Shooting fast moving target with stock 60mm.
How fast?
Say, 40km/s.

Orbital trickery won't save you from the mighty BRRRAAPP!

 

[Galdred]

It is currently @ -75% for Steam Winter Sales

 

[DraQ]

I have decided to upload my heavy railgun I determined to be in holiday spirit.

It's X-masy because it shoots lumps of coal 1kg amorphous carbon slugs at over 20km/s each 894ms at anyone I deem naughty, gifting them 200MJ of kinetic energy (almost 50 Ricks of blam) each - I thus named it "Santa".

It is a bit on the large-ish and expensive side, but not heavier nor bigger than stock 13MW 1mm Turreted Capacitor Coilgun (which I recently ended up bolting onto my stock "Garuda" Dreadnought as it is actually less disappointing than 34mm heavy coilgun, and which I therefore consider borderline practical) and not that much more expensive, and it can actually track fast enough to keep the editor happy and warnings free.
Keeping the rails from flopping about has proven somewhat challenging (I tried osmium as it is both strong and stiff, but being so stiff it actually tends to explode from thermal expansion anyway, despite its strength - it is damn heavy too) so it isn't very accurate weapon (comparable with most stock EM guns, actually).
Link:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1607067371

Pichurz:

 

[DraQ]

BLAM.

 

[Andronovo]

Hold on, why do these super advanced future spaceships still use fission? Shouldn't they be using tokamaks and shit? I know this may trigger a lot of people, but viable nuclear fusion isn't that far away, by that I mean about about 60 to 80 years away. When is this game set? It's got to be at least 150 years right?