Modular ships, good or bad idea?

[Abisius Xarvenius Carbensius]

i am thinkign atm about buidlign eb a modular ship so that i can change the modules dependign on what i want to do.

for example:
a base module with connecitonpoints and minimal engine and energy
cargo module
minign module
jumpmodule
battlemodule
constructionmodule
...

and i stick them together how i need them like if i want to tranfer cargo between earth and moon i would stick a jumpmodule, a cargo module, a planetlanding module and a space engine module together so that i can start and land on earth and moon.
when i then want to go min soem asteroids in space i woul take down the planetlandign module, set a jump module instead and o nthe nose comes a minignmodule

now the biggest question: is it a good or a bvad idea, cant decide it

and if it is a good idea, any tipps o nconstructing such a vehicle would be nice

[Sanquin]

It will take a lot of trial and error I think, but it can definitely work. Just make sure only merge blocks connect to other parts or you won't be able to disconnect it again. As for how transfer of items through conveyors would work, you can go with 2 connectors connecting the ship and module conveyors together.

I personally prefer building specialized ships and one large small ship with everything in it as a mobile base.

[Abisius Xarvenius Carbensius]

so you prefer an motherhsip together with smaler ships on board, there i have atm a problem: i cant turn or move a ship were another ship is landed on, dotn know why, it ahppens whenever i leave a natural ravity field and is regardless if i play with or without mods in a new or old world on stable, happens in singleplayer and multiplayer

[Pembroke]

I can see the modular approach working if the modules are designed well. You need to take care to make them either general enough or small enough so that you actually can build with them to solve the specific problems you encounter.

I prefer more flexibility, though, so I have chosen the other possibility in standardized design and have a few generic empty hulls as blueprints that offer good volume usage and the basic infrastructure and linkage. Then I just refit them to purpose by adding the machinery I need. Modifying an existing ship also turns into just "take out these, add these".

[Maddo]

I think a shipping container sort of design would be cool. Have shipping containers for cargo/refineries/assemblers/jump drives/hydrogen/drone carrier ect... Make them all a standard size and able to be chained together. Then design several different types of tug boats to move them around.

I'd rather have dedicated mining and combat ships though. I haven't done much atmospheric landing, but it's generally been a pain and I think I'd rather have a dedicated ship for that as well.

I've had trouble in the past docking ships with both a merge block and a connector. You want the merge block so it behaves as a single ship, but you need the connector to move resources between the two parts. Anyways, stuff usually ended up exploding.

Also just connecting merge blocks in general takes a lot of time because you have to match them up so precisely, and keeping track of what connector/reactor is a part of what module quickly gets confusing. Make sure you label everything clearly.

[dga8705]

While its entirely possible to do it this way, I'm not sure I'd say it's the best idea. In my experience, a tool that tries to do everything rarely ever does any one thing particularly well. I've tried to do ships that do everything, and they generally end up being massive things that are hard to fly, and it's very tricky to do any thing like atmospheric landings or even asteroid mining in such a huge ship. Instead, it's easier to have a base, or five, and take the ships back to them. Even a mothership has this issue, unless all you do is jump it between predetermined points.

[Sabre One]

The trick is realizing you need a bit more then a ship and a few parts to attach. You have to design the overall system before you can fine tune the parts of it. Modular ships can be highly effecient but require a detail plan on a entire logistical system.

For example

How will you store the parts when not needed?

Can your ship easily connect them on it's own? or will you need some secondary system to position them? I.E a crane, piston, rotor, ect.

You might find yourself designing just a storage base before you even get started with your ship.

[Dynamite Dinosaur]

It's an interesting idea. If i was going for a modular ship, I would probably build the ship for a primary role, and then construct its starting modules to help fulfill that role, like mining for example. If the ship was needed for another task, lets say combat, I could eject the starting modules used for mining, and build some modules that had more of a combat role, like weapon platforms or fighter docks. Once the threat was gone, I could reconstruct the modules used for mining, and the vessel would work at full efficiency again, as it is doing the role it was built for.


Just another note: Modular ships may not do too well in combat, as hostiles can target the merge blocks in-between modules, unless some complex armour is created around the merge blocks.

[ShadedMJ]

As others have somewhat stated : Nice idea, but I think the connecting/disconnecting/merging/unmerging will be quite frustrating even for just two modules. When not in use, each module will have to be held somewhere with a landing gear or other merge block.

Also, the more resources you gather, the more it will come to mind that instead of connecting a cargo module frequently, you could just make a bunch of cargo modules and have them more permanently merged with other modules.

I suggest setting up a creative world and just making a simple ship in sections, then split it into modules, and try disconnecting and reconnecting all the pieces. You can then figure out more of what works and what doesn't and how much time all that takes and if it is something you want to do.

I am trying something slightly similar myself at this time. It is a mothership as a general frame with detachable fully functional mining ships. When merged, the mining ship thrusters combine with the other thrusters. The nose of the mothership is a detachable fighter. Other small ships are connected for grinding or welding or item transport.

[BroadsideRenegade]

I've wanted to do this for awhile but have yet to come up with a design that isn't unweildy with extra armor between modules, and that doesnt lose too many thrusters or weapon hardpoints. From an immersion standpoint would be really cool though, even with lost effeciency. You should post what you come up with on the forum, I'd be interested to see.

[Abisius Xarvenius Carbensius]

i have finished a prototype for a military engien compartment that doesnt look completly like a piece of crap, maybee i shoul stop trying to build the stuff in survival it would make it eventually a faster process ;)

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1617453358

its designed to be build togetehr with other parts i na ikea like style, so it gets projectet directly onto the rest of the ship or the other shipparts on it with the orientation of the projection overlapping at the airlocks with another.