Curious how the SCP is coming along!

[6740bf1e2c498Olfred]

I've seen bigger ones

[6740bf1e2c767unn_atropos]

Could not resist

[rockets_and_long_wrenches^^.jpg expired]

[6740bf1e2c977ZylonBane]

Just thinking again about that ridiculous huge area underneath Engineering. Logically it should be (yet another) cargo bay, but that would make it a cargo bay with glass sides, and no way to actually get cargo in or out of it.

On the other hand, it would make for an excellent crew lounge/mall area, with the huge picture windows, elevated platforms perfect for setting up tables and chairs, etc. But only accessible via Engineering deck? And only two slow, tiny lifts to get in and out? Still doesn't make sense.

Maintenance access would make sense, but again, why the hell the huge windows? And there's nothing down there to maintain.

[6740bf1e2cbefvoodoo47]

yeah, that place is completely nonsensical, but as you've just pointed out, there is probably no way of fixing it properly without starting to reconstruct the ship. and once we open that can of worms, god/universe/whatever force you believe in help us.

one of the lifts does lead directly to the core though, so maybe we could make it sort of a small parts storage area by throwing some junk around (stacks of small crates, maybe inactive/undeployed turrets? one log did mention a turret storage that is not really anywhere, maybe we could kill two birds with one stone). in beta2, I might add, we don't want the first release to be a xmas gift at this point.

[6740bf1e2cf48RocketMan]

The inner lining of the hull should be occupied by utilities like propellant tanks, electrical busbars, cooling systems, insulation, gears/linkage, pyrotechnics, shield generators (I presume) and perhaps access doors/ports/ramps outside.  Being directly under engineering, it should also contain a plethora of support systems and machinery.  Dunno if it'd be the choicest place for a high traffic crew area like a mall.

Agreed about the giant windows though.

[6740bf1e2d3a0Join2]

Just thinking again about that ridiculous huge area underneath Engineering. Logically it should be (yet another) cargo bay, but that would make it a cargo bay with glass sides, and no way to actually get cargo in or out of it.

On the other hand, it would make for an excellent crew lounge/mall area, with the huge picture windows, elevated platforms perfect for setting up tables and chairs, etc. But only accessible via Engineering deck? And only two slow, tiny lifts to get in and out? Still doesn't make sense.

Maintenance access would make sense, but again, why the hell the huge windows? And there's nothing down there to maintain.

Good points. What about inaccessible cargo doors (like those in Engineering B) at either end to give the idea it's for moving cargo around the ship, or even out of the ship, since there are no loading bays in engineering after all? Would be a quick fix.
Though some geometry would probably have to be altered to fit cargo doors of believable size in. Damn.

The Level designer really didn't think this one through, it really is empty.

[6740bf1e2d4f0voodoo47]

this is a workable idea - a fake door would fit pretty nicely right next to the lift leading to the core. add some junk, and the place will be much more sane (the windows would still make little sense, but oh well, one can't have everything). I'll try this out when I get back from work.

[6740bf1e2d63fJoin2]

Well it's the future, we can assume the windows are made of super strong materials somehow, all the windows about the ship would have to be anyhow, probably the original designer's thoughts.
Still not good for cargo transport but a view of space is awesome

[6740bf1e2d747ZylonBane]

Given that the area is V-shaped, it might make more sense for any cargo doors to be near the ceiling, with a lift and rail system for getting things in and out.

[6740bf1e2d873RocketMan]

The entire space really isn't suited to any particular application.  Windows don't mix with machinery and cryogenic tanks while sloped walls don't mix with storing crates.  Anything we do to this area should be superficial (like adding a fake hatch), otherwise it'll stand out as something that we shoehorned in.

[6740bf1e2dc22voodoo47]

Given that the area is V-shaped, it might make more sense for any cargo doors to be near the ceiling, with a lift and rail system for getting things in and out.

that would requite moving around them friggin' long pipes (923, 715). the sec door fits exactly into the corridor - looking at the place, I'm starting to think they've actually planned to have it there (the light placed right above the non existing door would also support this). airlock door would make more sense, but that would require more reworking.

[6740bf1e2dd35Join2]

Nice.

[6740bf1e2de0eZylonBane]

I've decided that whole area was intended to be a swimming pool.

[6740bf1e2df2cvoodoo47]

there is a midwife in that area, her mecha-p*ssy would rust.

[6740bf1e2e0a7Kolya]

They may have had the door there and then took it out again because it's misleading the player into thinking he should be able to open it somehow. Good gameplay is more important than realism.

[6740bf1e2e18cvoodoo47]

that can be fixed easily by making them broken - either a broken button right next to them or some damage decals slapped over the door.

[6740bf1e2e586Join2]

They may have had the door there and then took it out again because it's misleading the player into thinking he should be able to open it somehow. Good gameplay is more important than realism.

that can be fixed easily by making them broken - either a broken button right next to them or some damage decals slapped over the door.

Ah, yes. Forgot about this. I've had to do it a good few times.

[6740bf1e2e699ZylonBane]

The base game always marks inaccessible paths by clogging the doorway with debris. A shame they didn't do more of it... would have made both ships feel more realistic.

[6740bf1e2e79bvoodoo47]

throwing in a broken pipe wouldn't be a problem - although the pipe would make the added door stand out more.

[6740bf1e2e8a2ZylonBane]

The debris is always on the other side of the door, if there's even a door at all. Think of the barricaded rooms in Ops crew quarters, the pile of trash blocking access to Nacelle A on the Rickenbacker, the blocked door I added to the start room in MedSci, etc.

Anyway, we can iterate on this.

[6740bf1e2e9a1Kolya]

Maybe that room was built to study the cool light effects during FTL travelling. In a seriously scientific way.
It would certainly look great if the long windowed walls were lined with computer consoles, a few chairs and soda cans. Like an observatory.

[6740bf1e2ead3voodoo47]

"lets study the stars today. I'll bring the crate, you bring the turret."

that would require to change the area completely, something we don't want to do just yet.

[6740bf1e2ebc4System Shocked]

Vote for reduction of over-sized items.

[6740bf1e2efbeDrone-Dragon]

that would requite moving around them friggin' long pipes (923, 715). the sec door fits exactly into the corridor - looking at the place, I'm starting to think they've actually planned to have it there (the light placed right above the non existing door would also support this). airlock door would make more sense, but that would require more reworking.

If the hall had a door or door at each end, it could have been primarily used as a sort of 'easy access' to the Engineering deck while the ship was docked at Earth to allow maintenance crews to move easily from the earthbound port or orbital dry-dock(probably the latter) to the engines.

As for how actual cargo got into the cargo bays, that big room that had the elevator that led to where you put in the 45m/dEX board would be a good place for a big door(don't think there was one in there) that allowed small cargo ships to land inside one at a time possibly, though the dimensions might be a tad bit small...might need a bit of a redesign of the dimensions and the wall opposite the corridor door.

Overall the corridors themselves seemed big enough for cargo to be moved through them.

The main problem with some of the V.B.'s design was that the design team wanted to make it a certain way in their head's but couldn't get it to ideally work in certain places because of what realistically needed to be there. While the V.B. is a big ship, I don't think it is big enough to just say that certain things lead off into other places that have the actual parts of the ship that lead to where we would imagine. This is probably why in the Dead Space game, the Ishimura was a freakin' huge ship...so that certain seemingly nonsensical designs might seem to make more sense if you imagine that they lead to an unseen part of the ship that would realistically be designed to connect to what you are seeing...also it was a super mining vessel, that is also a good reason for its size.