How do you plan out and execute your builds?

[Atrocious]

I've been playing Space Engineers for about a year now, and I still haven't really created anything that I'm truly satisfied with just yet. Everything I've made so far has just been bulky and bland. I tried making a frigate at one point (in creative mode); it functioned well enough, but it was big, bulky, and just felt too bland for a good Space Engineer's creation. I feel like a lot of my creations (ships, stations, awkward contraptions, etc) are like that: inefficient and full of wasted space.

As such, I'd like to get some external advice on the ship-planning and -building process from people who may yet be more efficient, creative, and artistic than myself. How do you plan your builds out? What do you start working on first when building it? What are some good ways to troubleshoot and resolve mistakes in your builds?

[M.Red]

for me i start making a scetch of what i am planning to build. i usually start "inside out" in a step by step manor. dont get into doing to much detail at the beginning. When something goes wrong i remove and replan it. sometimes i found something is not right i remove it and build somewhere else on my creation. often i found a nice solution on my build later on.

[woodsguide]

step 1
its not an all in one craft.. it doesnt do EVERYTHING. decide on the function

step 2
build core mechanics first.. basic frame, driver seat, conveyor systems, o2, power, etc..

step 3
cover the important KEY pieces with armor if i plan on going into tight spaces or a combat area

step 4
test flight for stability, max load, manuverability etc

step 5
add flavor and flare armor to dress it out and get rid of that borg cube boxy look

rinse repeat until satisfied

make blueprints often


====
often times i end up with something totally different than what i started with as my original design.. due to need more thrust/ need more armor/ too slow etc... they grow and evolve during the building process.



but most of all.. have fun with your ingenuity and creativity

and its ok to have a box with thrusters on it... so long as it does what you want it to do ;o)

[Buzzard]

Personally, the only hint of artistry in my builds is that they're roughly symetrical. They are, quite frankly, ugly, utilitarian monstrosities that ... just keep coming back to base, no matter what I throw them at. (Although there's been a couple that took a bit of skill to get back home)

I figure there's a certain beauty in not having to rebuild something completely, just for the sake of 'pretty'.

Hell, my ugly monsters have had to go rescue some of the pretty builds from new holes in the landscape often enough...

My advice: Figure out what YOU want to do with this new thing, and start planning from there. Creative mode can help with things, as well as some of the nifty build-assist mods. (Shipyard by Telamont, Nanite builder, Build and Repair, etc.)
Sketch out what you want, where you think it should go, and adjust from there. Maybe add in a little redundancy, just because ...'stuff happens'.

Oh, and don't forget the 'Repair Projector' as part of your build. One vanilla projector, loaded with a blueprint of your craft all lined up, with the option to keep the blueprint after completion. It will save you a LOT of pain down the road, when you've got a good part of your pretty (or ugly) hull shot to hell.

[M.Red]

Originally posted by woods:

step 1
its not an all in one craft.. it doesnt do EVERYTHING. decide on the function

step 2
build core mechanics first.. basic frame, driver seat, conveyor systems, o2, power, etc..

step 3
cover the important KEY pieces with armor if i plan on going into tight spaces or a combat area

step 4
test flight for stability, max load, manuverability etc

step 5
add flavor and flare armor to dress it out and get rid of that borg cube boxy look

rinse repeat until satisfied

make blueprints often


====
often times i end up with something totally different than what i started with as my original design.. due to need more thrust/ need more armor/ too slow etc... they grow and evolve during the building process.



but most of all.. have fun with your ingenuity and creativity

and its ok to have a box with thrusters on it... so long as it does what you want it to do ;o)

well said

[Xilo The Odd]

i'll sometimes list things on paper i want it to do, come up with a basic shape design i know i can build reliably, then list challenges for things to attach to it as extras if i can.

like my current project is an octohedral sphere (pretty sure im saying that right) so it has 6 main faces for structures, easy thruster attachment, and is fully self sustaining, and due to is shape, has GREAT turret coverage. currently i have planned out a hangar bay that can fit any small block ship that can fit in a 3x3x2 large grid with ease. (with recent changes i can park 8 of them in there.) a big collector side with artificial gravity, so any lost ore rocks will simply fall into my processing plant on the other side, a solar side to point at the sun for free power, a planned side for a big gun, still deciding what it'll be design wise. finally the last sides will be a side to park vehicles exterior to drop off cargo, and a small printer side to build drones to utilize or other weapons of mass destruction.

to be fair this build is fairly sizeable, each face is a 13x13 but its kinda like driving around a small asteroid. but its shape means it has its own gravity with a spherical gen in the middle. so you can walk on the outside or inside if need be no magnet boots required.

[Mr B.]

My best advice - work on the sticky outy bits. make them into something, for AGES I tried to make all my builds 'smooth' and streamline. But SE doesn't cater to that.

Make features out of bits you think look bad, you'll be suprised. And look at the workshop for inspiration.

If you google image 'starships', you can get loads of ideas. Not a copy, but features.

[ZERO]

Personally i would say, for a giant mobile base style vehicle, even though it does everything, decide on a primary function.

Step 1: What is going to be the core feature? Aircraft carrier? Refinery? Miner? ect

Step 2: What shape do you want in the end? To avoid the dreaded box think of a shape Thurster compartments? above cockpit? A tube? will it be curved? will the cockpit be inside? on the front?

Step 3: internals, make the internals to compliment the shape you want it to be (leaving space for an pleasing interior if thats your thing

Step 4: Decide on an armour style. not paint job but armour, do you want ridges? spaced armour? curved sleek shapes? industrial hard angle armour? and how would it effect the end look? if curved is it possible to get them shapes?

Final Step: Redesign,
Ships are large engineering and logistical nightmares. atleast large grid ones. (if your going truly huge) my Mobile base rover (my current favourite) is on MK8 right now, and has been made in 2 different survival worlds to test functionality and usefulness (built from scratch) it takes time to be truly happy with something, and often requires many redesigns and rebuilding of parts.

Bonus points: make parts and save blue prints, of the parts, ♥♥♥♥ pits wheel housing, and just bolt it onto stuff, gives you a nice base to work with when your stuck

[M.Red]

i was thinking of a lambda shuttle once. made a scetch and got everything i think my shuttle needs (ended up with the black shuttle to the right) i loved it...but then i found things i want to improve (ending with the shuttle to the left) sure thing i want to have are those upfolding wings XD

but the main purpose of the shuttle is transportation

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2017065960

i found that i can try to create those "fake thrusters" wich are are only lights

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2019525606

then i found how cool it might look if i drop out bright lights and added spotlights

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2019525479

its up to each and every one what sort of creation you want to have. let you inspire by things around you. try to rebuild them. i think you would be surprised what you can make out of this idea

[Scheneighnay]

I disassembled the vanilla ships to get ideas, modified them to make improvements, now I'm building my own from the ground up using what I learned.

Of course I still usually have to have a gimmick with each model. My current gimmick is the "mission module", where the ship has a bay intended to be refitted for different purposes, including making cargo drops onto planets, holding a skiff, or deploying weapons.

[TotalAbyss]

I find a wreck, or pieces of a wreck or even abandonded ships from friends and build off of them. Basicly my uploaded ships i have so far. 2 of them are from ships a friend built and gave up on. and one is from a severed bow i found in game.

"one persons trash is anothers treasure"

[Scheneighnay]

Originally posted by TotalAbyss:

I find a wreck, or pieces of a wreck or even abandonded ships from friends and build off of them. Basicly my uploaded ships i have so far. 2 of them are from ships a friend built and gave up on. and one is from a severed bow i found in game.

"one persons trash is anothers treasure"

That was the initial concept of my current build before it got more creative with the modules.

I wanted to build a dedicated salvage ship to make it easier to build off of wrecks, then figured I could expand it to surface salvaging by dropping rovers and cargo containers from the edge of a planet's gravity well. Then I realized that the module for making those cargo drops could easily also fit a skiff to get closer to wrecks for space-salvaging.

My current build only has one mission module, but I plan on scaling it up to bigger ships that can fit enough modules to practically air-drop a flatpacked base onto a planet, or act as a carrier.

[FlynnTheFearless]

Buildings wild in this game. If you really want something to be proud of and enjoy I suggest you build it yourself. Creative mode is a good start but you won't be happy with something you can just throw together in two secs with no prior thought as to its layout or design. After you make the initial craft of what it needs take some time to customize it move stuff around find a good way to get it functioning smooth. Good ships aren't made in a day or even 3 days. I point to the downloads you can get with ships with vents on the outside of them. Or some other malformed idiocy. If you take your time build it and work on it youll enjoy it.

[Scheneighnay]

Originally posted by uac.flynn.taggart:

Buildings wild in this game. If you really want something to be proud of and enjoy I suggest you build it yourself. Creative mode is a good start but you won't be happy with something you can just throw together in two secs with no prior thought as to its layout or design. After you make the initial craft of what it needs take some time to customize it move stuff around find a good way to get it functioning smooth. Good ships aren't made in a day or even 3 days. I point to the downloads you can get with ships with vents on the outside of them. Or some other malformed idiocy. If you take your time build it and work on it youll enjoy it.

Excuse me, but the vents on the outside of my ship are deliberate and tasteful.

[M.Red]

lets just say if one likes placing vents on the outside to suck out O² from a planets (mostly earthlike)atmosphere to fill some O²-Tanks then it's ok for me ^^

[FlynnTheFearless]

If its large grid you have h2o2 gens on it. If its small grid you dont have any O2 tanks on it and dont need them as theres no pressurized zone. If your using hydro small grid you need it even less as the h2o2 small grid will produce. Cockpit also doesnt require input on small grid. Basically an astetical fauxpas. Youll never come across a time youll need vents on ships.