KICKS standards discussion

[Kai]

Hello! I am messaging all Corp managers who are interested in the KICKS project!

Hopefully this thread can be a place where we can drop ideas or discuss what we might want for standards, in a bit more permanent manner than Discord. It will also help with the fact that we're in a bunch of timezones that don't always line up, which can make these discussions harder. Hopefully, in the spirit of helpfulness and creativity, we can come together and work out standards bits of kit that anybody can draw from, which helps us have a commonality that players can have with knowing stuff will just work, as well as familiar settings and locations regardless of where they go. These standards are meant to be somewhat mundane things that can end up taking a lot of time and slowing down creative processes, such as figuring out how many rooms you can fit in your starship, or how exactly does this computer plug in, or if this weapon's going to work on my new starfighter.

As such, I'm hoping that these standards will help newer creators and veterans alike with an easy to use set of common items, connections, and standards so that our roleplay can continue to have the wonderful level of tech design while allowing for smoother, faster creativity and design processes!

 

[Kai]

To kick off discussions, I would like to start a conversation on: starship interior cabins.

Specifically, I'm wondering if anyone has any solid ideas/suggestions on sizes of cabins in specific categories, as well as how we should be outfitting or laying out these cabins. Perhaps the most useful tool would be to define classifications for cabins based on size, at least in my mind, like having all cabins that are described as 'Small' being the same dimensions, regardless of intended use.

In my head sizes would be categorized in the following order: (With suggested sizes listed)

• Compact (2mx2mx2m)
• Small (2mx3mx3m)
• Standard (3mx3mx3m)
• Medium (3mx5mx3m)
• Large (5mx5mx3m)
• Extra Large (10mx10mx5m)

I know some of you have some of your own 'standard' sized compartments and interior components and would love everyone's suggestions and input! thanks!

 

[SirSkully]

I've been wanting to write up some civilian crafts, so knowing how much space I have to cram stuff into would be nice, no objections to those measurements.

 

[Kai]

I just realized a somewhat relevant size discussion would also be the size of "Lockers/Closets" though it's easy enough to make those subjective.

 

[Alex Hart]

You already know I'm behind you on this project, but there's just one thing I wanted to ask about for the interior cabins thing

In my head sizes would be categorized in the following order: (With suggested sizes listed)

Is this a LWH orientation? I'm slightly confused if the heights of the cabins are going to be different.

 

[Kai]

Yeah, LWH, sorry.

And yes, it does make for a difference in cabin heights. Since most ships seem to have 5m decks, the heights are sort of based around a couple ideas; The Compact cabins are small enough to be stacked on top of one another, or fit in spaces where there's less height available (such as toward the hull edge on a rounded hull) the 3m height on most cabins allows a comfortable standing height for most species, but leaves room for things above and/or below the cabins such as ducts, conduits, cables, and machinery. The 5m height on the Extra Large cabin maximizes space, whether being used for storage, or for a common room, or even as a more luxurious/upscale crew cabin like a VIP room or captain's cabin.

EDIT:
And of course these are just initial suggestions. if you have better ideas and/or reasoning, I'm all for it!

 

[demibear]

What are the dimensions of berthings on US Navy ships? Something I have always been curious about since they are peak sardine cans even in modern ships.

I have been personally doing a blanket 5.4x5.4x3 with bunks built into walls and 2 wet bathroom "closets" so the space people actually see is about 3x3 meters. Height is 3 meters since that is the height I use for decks (1 meter in between for the usual engineering stuff). VIP would make use of all of the space.

 

[Soban]

So I think one question is deck height. I think if a standard deck height is 3m, then the XL should b 6 meters tall, not 5.

 

[Kai]

So, Looking quickly through existing Origin ship classes, the majority seem to use 6m decks, with those that don't typically only counting the available vertical space per deck rather than the actual space each deck takes, with some quick math putting most of those at 6m as well.

As for for the dimensions of berthings on U.S. navy ships, I had to laugh. I've been on the USS Midway, and a couple of destroyers and battleships. there is no space. they will shove 6 people in a 2m wide, .5m deep, 2m tall space if they can get away with it. officer cabins are about the same space, but for 1 person, with more important people getting an absolutely *luxurious* 2m cube that is often intruded upon by pipes, bulkheads, structuring, or what have you. Everything we have in SARP for rooms is downright luxurious compared to IRL naval vessels.

 

[demibear]

Indeed, I was looking at what they have on the USS Gerald Ford and laughed that it was supposed to be more "roomy".

 

[Wes]

Officer's cabin, USS New Jersey. Enlisted berthing below:

 

[raz]

Officer's cabin, USS New Jersey. Enlisted berthing below:

Not much to say about KICKS because I enjoy the sovlfulness of every ship having bespoke made-to-purpose elements, but these pictures reminded me of some of the inspirations and intents behind the Fuji-class Expeditionary Gunship.

Unlike most Star Army gunships, the Fuji-class' officer cabins are double bunk standard enlisted cabins, and its enlisted cabins are quad bunk berthings similar to the examples above. In contrast, gunships built prior to the Fuji-class had single occupancy officer cabins and double enlisted cabins (though the later Type 40 enlisted cabin seems to have taken inspiration from the Fuji's 4-man berthings).

One's immediate thought about this arrangement might be that Star Army crew serving aboard a Fuji-class have less access to luxury, with officers having to hot rack with each other. But that couldn't be farther from the truth. The Fuji-class' arrangement stems from its design at the outset of the Kuvexian War and designation as an "expeditionary" gunship intended to serve alone without squadron support. With the war in full swing, ships of the Fuji-class would be packed full of extra crewmen up to its maximum complement of 100 soldiers. But in years of less intensity, the standard crew complement is stated as half, exactly enough to fill its accommodations to the Star Army standard of one officer per cabin and two enlisted per berthing. Perhaps some of the Fuji-class fleet has even been upgraded with Type 40 crew cabins and those fancy telescoping bunks to save on space and maximize comfort.

Sorry for the tangent but it seemed like a good opportunity.

 

[Kai]

I do suppose it is getting a little off topic but I appreciate the examples.

And I suppose I should clarify, I'm just trying to hammer out common sizes for compartments of any type, not specifically crew cabins, and as always, KICKS isn't a hard and fast rule nor mandatory among even members, so the bespoke cabins and custom fit compartments still have their place.

 

[Wes]

First, since there's no alternative suggestions for the sizes you proposed, why don't we just go with those.

Second, I have a request: I would like to see some sort of floorplan graphics for these compartments that would allow people to put them to put them together to make ship maps. They don't have to be super detailed. Think grid paper or blueprints - very simple.