New Ship Idea - Whale

[-Muse- Cullen]

TL;DR
Here's a ship that looks kind of like a whale. I didn't build it with that intention, but oh well. I built this thing to act like a sturdier, slower Squid that has the ability shoot two guns forward when correctly aimed toward a target.

Apologies in advance for the large amount of pictures. I'm a very visual person, and I suck at drawing. In lieu of that, I decided that the next best thing would to be to make a 3d model in Garry's Mod, right? Because it is Garry's Mod, though, I was restricted to simple parts, and, therefore, was not able to patch many of the holes I made, nor make better representations of systems. The balloon system is pretty easy to catch, as are the engines and the gunning spots. The furnace thing below deck is the hull. I did my best, but it is only a prototype of an idea, so I didn't want to kill myself over less important details.





The rest of the images will have to be clicked on to view, because I always feel bad loading up a post with more than three pictures.

Top deck: rear gun, two turning engines, balloon, helm.
Helm view forward: http://i.imgur.com/OZa4Z7I.jpg
Helm view behind: http://i.imgur.com/7dQ5Fvx.jpg
Engines: http://i.imgur.com/QEtTKR2.jpg

Bottom deck: Two angled guns, hull, main engine.
Front view: http://i.imgur.com/o847W89.jpg
Interior view 1: http://i.imgur.com/9rdUIpN.jpg
Interior view 2: http://i.imgur.com/hgmiyoy.jpg
Up-the-ramp view: http://i.imgur.com/sJMlA1q.jpg
Top of the ramp, main engine: http://i.imgur.com/7MZbhEJ.jpg

I love the Squid, but it always seems to act more like a pest than an actual problem because of its low health and lack of weapon arcs(Unless its a balloon popper, then it only needs one gun on the front, really). With this ship, I wanted the two front guns to be able to shoot at the same target, but still require some proper maneuvers by the pilot. Here's an MS Paint diagram of the front weapon's aiming arcs! Woo! http://i.imgur.com/tKxENGC.jpg

Behind each of the front gunner's nests is a ladder, which is the only way to get back up to the top deck. Otherwise, its just a quick drop to get to the hull. http://i.imgur.com/BwwNWxp.jpg

Other than that, I don't know what else to explain. Remember that this is only an idea, so feel free to move stuff around or whatever. Feedback, love, and hate are all encouraged~ Thanks.

[Coldcurse]

maybe 2 extra gun under the belly that point to the back?

[Captain Smollett]

First off great job. That's some awesome work in Gary's mod.

Secondly though I wanted to point out that you actually can get two light weapons on target pretty easily with the squid if you turn the ship to the correct angle and have weapons which can swing with a wide enough arc (most weapons do swing enough on a squid). 

The squid is also nimble enough that even if the guns can't reach the bifecta you can swing from one gun to the other rapidly with a slight turn to bring the right gun to bear depending on the component you're targeting.

Also I shouldn't forget to note the Squid can actually get three guns on target if it pulls up broadside to a longer ship like a Galleon, maybe not the best idea, but possible.

[-Muse- Cullen]

you actually can get two light weapons on target pretty easily with the squid if you turn the ship to the correct angle and have weapons which can swing with a wide enough arc (most weapons do swing enough on a squid).

Yes, yes. But that happens to be at an angle to the ship (45 degrees and 135 degrees), and therefore must either be at a complete stop, or be constantly turning to hit a stationary target. That leads to predictability, due to the Squid having no weapons on its left side- that means that, when passing, it will always be on its right. It will also, most of the time, 'park' at this magic distance when firing, which seems to be the same range all of the time regardless of what the two shooting guns are. I wanted this to combine my favorite traits from my favorite ships- the wide weapon coverage of the Junker, the dual front guns of the Pyramidion, and the maneuverability of the Spire.

[RearAdmiralZill]

I wanted this to combine my favorite traits from my favorite ships- the wide weapon coverage of the Junker, the dual front guns of the Pyramidion, and the maneuverability of the Spire.

Sounds OP.

I kid, and i do like the effort put into the design. Youre basically looking for a light pyramidion? I could only imagine the hell balance wise for a boat that moves that fast with two light guns on front.

The no side guns is interesting, and since the arc of those front guns looks like it could cover a little bit, thats viable. I dont see that rear gun getting much use. Maybe instead have two side guns on each side at the back, each pointing at complete opposite angles of eachother.

And obviously this would be slower than a Squid.

[-Muse- Cullen]

I wanted this to combine my favorite traits from my favorite ships- the wide weapon coverage of the Junker, the dual front guns of the Pyramidion, and the maneuverability of the Spire.

I could only imagine the hell balance wise for a boat that moves that fast with two light guns on front.

The no side guns is interesting, and since the arc of those front guns looks like it could cover a little bit, thats viable. I dont see that rear gun getting much use. Maybe instead have two side guns on each side at the back, each pointing at complete opposite angles of eachother.

And obviously this would be slower than a Squid.

I wanted this ship to have a small area in the front where both guns could fire at a single target, but for the most part, they are covering the sides. During a fight, it would be hard to keep the enemy ship in the small area of dual-gun effectiveness. It could be a problem to balance, but this ship would try to act like a stronger squid, ergo, still be light-class. The Pyramidion would win a fight head on. The Whale would rely on clever pilot maneuvers to win a skirmish. The ability to use both weapons on the same target without difficult angles was just something I was playing around with.

And yes, it would be a slower version of the Squid. I like quick, weak things in games that rely on agility, but this game seems to only have the Squid, and, with debate, the Goldfish. The Spire is a slow-moving glass drill, the Pyramidion is a train, and the Galleon is a weapon platform. While the Squid is nice, it doesn't have the oomph that the other ships have due to that 'magic' firing range and predictable movement. Moving the weapon arcs could be useful, but that would only allow for one gun to shoot at a target at a time, and therefore, only doing minimal damage to any type of ship. Whenever someone picks the Squid in the game lobby, I always find that at least one person goes 'Eeuugh, squid. Please change', because of its low health and low damage output; only its speed keeps it alive. With the Whale, I wanted to balance those things out: higher health, higher damage output(easier dual-gun lineups), and slower speed.

-EDIT-

Thinking about it, this IS a light-class ship, so having the dual-gun thing may not be acceptable. If there was a single gun on the front, and two on the back that had the same 'sort of' dual-gun arc overlap, that would probably be better. That way, it would be balanced in the sense that there is slower movement moving backwards, and it would take a little time to turn it around and bring both guns to effectiveness. It could also cover some of the port and starboard sides of the ship.

[Skrimskraw]

back gun could be one of the big guns.

[-Muse- Cullen]

back gun could be one of the big guns.

That'd be awesome! It would definitely make for different gameplay strategies. Right now, its just fly up close and stick at broadsides until one wins- flee as necessary.

[Skrimskraw]

back gun could be one of the big guns.

That'd be awesome! It would definitely make for different gameplay strategies. Right now, its just fly up close and stick at broadsides until one wins- flee as necessary.

if you look at the squid, it has the ability to line up 2 guns at the same target.

however if you have 3 guns going to each side, you wont be able to do any damage.

but putting a big gun on the back could make it possible to do a quick carronade/gatling fron and then turn the back to the enemy and finish off or bring the pain with a hwacha