good guides to ship building?

[Faulted Nova]

i dont mean looks i mean basics and functionality. i know i could look them up but i dont want to get outdated information or just wrong stuff. what have you guys used to get into the game?

[Doombringer]

I did the tutorials, then spent time in singleplayer-->vehicle designer fooling around to test stuff out.

[Obscure]

There are the actual from the depths game forums.

There are some highly educational tournaments... That taught me that I am good with designing hulls but bad with designing guns.

You have to google very specifically to learn that armor layering exists. They should probably mention that in game sometime.

Also, actual warship armor arrangement off of wikipedia works pretty good.

Also the Z-drive. You might want to look that one up. They make everything so much easier.

[FourGreenFields]

Originally posted by Obscure:

Also the Z-drive. You might want to look that one up. They make everything so much easier.

They also look crap on battleships, and are more difficult/time consuming to set up than just placing one or two rudders.

@OP: I haven't really used many guides I think (and those I did use are probably outdated), but feel free to ask if you have any specific questions.

[Karnivool]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_kOjStd17pkICguulFyIVAztb8U7J2QN
out dated but alot of the basics are still correct.

[Karnivool]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAs1VgA2ed8&list=PL_kOjStd17pkICguulFyIVAztb8U7J2QN&index=1

[Javelin99]

Well I may have some suggestions depending on what you mean. But you could also just follow the tutorial.

The below of this sentence is all "gun" based:
One axis turret block,
a six way connector,
then the firing piece. That is how I setup guns before actually making them. Depending how I do the process, it can be a large or very small sized weapon. However my designs are primarily in length if I decide to armor them. this works for both APS and CRAM cannons... I now use APS gun for small ships so that is what I go with. So if you're looking for that, you can just build it how you like, since it really doesn't matter unless it is absurd looking. All that matters for a APS gun is recoil, what shell it fires and how long, and it's aim and reload cycle. Literally any nub can make a 6 barreled AA gun that fires 8M clipped shells that utilize both HE, Flak, and a AP head. But it takes a crazy bastard with sheer determination to make it with a single barrel. It murders low tier "armor" and wood instantly. Although such a weapon requires a large platform anyway.

With a CRAM cannon, it is basically in size, length, and width of the weapon. This can also apply to APS guns. The smaller the weapon is in width, the harder it can be hit. A weapon smaller in height also makes it harder to hit. Thus if you build the weapon within the hull instead of on the top, you can make it as big as you want and the armor actually around the gun can make it look like it's just for show. (Because some designs can even make it look like it's just a firing piece, mantlet, and barrel pieces. Thus making it extremely difficult to actually hit in any case...) However the components still need some kind of armor. Just in case someone is a wise guy and figures out where the actual components are. (Also making a compact gun all on the same height has it's own advantages, however means it is easier to get rid of or make weaker when taking damage.) A way you can effectively troll someone, like a suggestion I gave to a friend when we were hanging out and playing once, is by making a gun like that, but making the turret's armor look like it is all built upon the deck instead. Thus while the players or AI keep blowing the hell out of it, they will only find more and more armor. I'd recommend for ultimate trolling to place a heat source/decoy somewhere in the turret, and make alot of em. This should cause some amusement when the guy's AI just keep firing at the same spot all day. Or at least that worked awhile ago, dunno about it now.

The below of this sentence is about missiles:
Make a sub.
Make it like a typhoon.
Make it have missiles all along it's length in every direction possible.
EMP, radar, sonar, and tons of frag. For more trolling, find a way to stuff a sticky flare inside it.
=profit.

The below of this sentence is about ships:

Well pretty much most designs will work, but I'd recommend the following. I have put it in summarized steps so you can figure out how you want it to go. Then you can create the ship's looks afterwards, if you didn't build the skeleton first.

A dedicated ammo room
A dedicated resource and/or fuel room
Multiple bulkheads designed in any way to help float when breached
All bulkheads for small ships should at least be 3 wide, 3 long, and 2 high. (Because 1 high would take away any room to place airpumps.)
All bulkheads for large ships should be 5 - 10 wide, and equal in the opposent dimension. With at least 5 or 15 high depending on size. If the ship is too big/heavy for the bulkheads to work, you can take a risk by making miniature bulkheads within those bulkheads.
The back of even the most basic ship should be one of the most protected. Depending on where the AI is, engine, and it's purpose. If it has speed in mind as one of it's attributes, or a frontline assult type ship, you can build it however you want. However I recommend building a block of steel above whatever propeller you inserted, another behind it, and then the rudder under it. Thus the propeller is saved from any back-attack.
Depending on ship, have buoyancy on par, or below your mass. However if you have large objects on top of the ship, you will tip over.
Depending on how you build guns, make a dedicated "gun room" or at least have it super armored. Even 7 layers of wood beams are good enough for the purpose, as while it's still crap, it will keep the gun alive long enough to actually reload.

The ship's design can pretty much be whatever if you built it right, people even made subs out of wooden borg cubes before. However, for the fastest possible speeds I would recommend something that reduces drag. However no matter the design, you will always have drag. It is only a matter of how low that specific design can reduce it. For obvious reasons, wider designs will achieve only more drag. This however can be countered by being over-zealous on things such as jets or propellers. Though you'd still get drag, and you'd be using alot of engine power.

The last suggestion/tip I can really give, is basically being like realism standards. Make a concept of a ship you want, then specify a class for it. If it's a battleship, while you can try, just keep it slow but heavily armored and armed. If you make a patrol boat or militarized speed boat, give it the smallest and lightest guns, and focus entirely on the engine and speed. If you focus on making a ship designed for one field, one purpose, and one class, then it will be more effective than a hybrid ship unless you are either a engineering genius, or know the end result already. For example, while a PT boat could be crappy besides speed, you could make it more effective by giving it torpedos or a miniature missile rack. That way you can have a high caliber light weight weapon, which can cause terror to any naval vessel.

If you build a hybrid ship however, I can only say the following to help you:
Focus entirely upon the engine and basic AI, floatation, and the armament. Depending on ship, primarily smaller ones, add in a focus of armor.
Ignore complex and big AI, side weapons, high detection, etc. As long as the ship has a engine with AI, can float, and has at least one gun, that is all it takes to save the day. Having armor only helps that goal slightly. It doesn't matter if you make a terror of the ocean that would make the bismarck blush, the enemy or other players can just wreck you from even the inside out, and overwhelm you with missile systems. So thus focusing on the armament (The thing that is actually going to save the day), Floatation (The thing that will keep your ship in play longer), basic AI (Will be stuffed into the engine room. This is why the engine must be upon the HIGHEST of priorty, as the engine allows movement, and the AI uses that movement. Without the engine, the ship cannot really move, and without the AI, you can either lose instantly or become intensively weaker. The armament can be piloted by YOU if the AI loses the ability to control it, and thus keep firing. And finally, floating is what you want to do in the first place overall unless if it's a submarine or airplane/starship.

I've followed my own rules on building ships, and while I am not restricted in making what I want and how, I am restricted to how it works and what it's purpose is. Because if I prioritize my defense/offense, and survivability over all else, then in the end I will be the one who walks away with the 500 pound golden trophy, and my enemy's brain to stuff into another AI box.

However the great thing about the game is, you don't have to listen to the above if you don't want to. It's only just mostly suggestion and opinion. You could make the death star 18 if you wanted to, and have it ram into enemy vessels or airships and obliterate them with tactical nukes, built on the outside of the hull. How you want to play is up to you, but I do believe what I've said above would help people more.

[colonelmustardgas3]

A large number of the players (including me) just fooled around in sandbox until they found what works well for them. I suggest going through the tutorials (outdated as they may be, it still teaches you the basics) and then spending a few hours in sandbox. You can pull items off the workshop and reverse engineering them to see how certain systems work.