#2
by Warhawk
Hey there! Mission-oriented subs are always something I'm focused on, so I took a look.
- From an overall construction standpoint, you have the "zig-zag" system going on. This means your decks are more like interlocking puzzle pieces rather than purely horizontal. This can save space, but the result is that you have to climb up and down a ladder to get to different consoles, put pumps at the bottom of those sections to make sure they can be bilged, and so on. The pumps are probably the worst consequence of this because you could have a single pump in a ballast tank at the bottom rather than 5 pumps scattered about. All of those have a potential to fail, and few of them have the ability to carry the others' loads.
- Likewise, having ballast tanks behind doors as opposed to in the floors under hatches may save space, but it also prevents you from using the pumps within to bilge; open the door and the ballast tank will just flood the boat as it tries to maintain a certain level. Water flows down due to gravity, and like a house with slanted roofing and gutters, you want to be able to direct it away from key locations and then out of the boat. Anywhere this can't happen is like a flat roof that accumulates water in the middle until it starts to sag and eventually collapse. When you have a "hull casualty" and the boat is screaming down into the abyss, getting the water out ASAP is essential for survival. Any compartment that can't be blilged, at almost any time, from almost any pump, is a liability.
- The above shoehorns you into a certain design that's not very stylish, so moving on!
- Be sure to leave those extra pumps turned on and set to pump out from the start! Might as well go -100% as well to give your reactor better static load.
- On that note, increase the automatic shutdown temp of the reactor. The stock one can take up to 9500, and 1800 isn't enough to cover your fluctuations from running the engine hot and cold.
- Could also set the batteries and supercapacitors to charge from the start.
- All of the above can be seen as "stuff for the crew to do when they hop onboard," but you could also just cut the middleman. Your call.
- I notice you left a lot of items on the floor. These will get tossed around as you run into things (or things run into you), and the more important ones (fuel rods) are going to be a real hassle when they get lost. Even if you just use a footlocker, a large box is easier to account for than a bunch of scattered objects. Likewise, I noticed you have detonators down in the compartment with diving suits, but these are already mounted to the walls. You can go into Character mode in the editor, equip a wrench, and then pick them up for storage into containers. Saves folks time.
- The medical fabricator being hidden behind the engine wasn't expected. If it weren't for the syringe gun laying there I'm not sure I'd have noticed it. Perhaps raise it a bit, give it a label, or move it down a compartment to where the raw materials for it are stored.
The emergency lights were a good touch, and having the reactor on one of the top decks than the lowest ones was a good choice (do the same with the oxygen generator, too!) The airlock being nice and small was a good idea as well; your ship doesn't have the volume to stay buoyant if a large airlock gets flooded. Keep that in mind moving forward.
Hope this helps a bit!
"I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm's way."
United Colonies Navy Ship Pack - UPDATED: 28 MAY 18
The Sailor's Manual - UPDATED: 1 JUNE 18