Starfield Build: Vertibird

 

XVB-12 Vertibird

 

Introduction

WARNING: This ship uses extensive merging techniques to combine the Reactor, Fuel, Grav Drive, Shield, and Docker together. Rather than try to explain each step, please visit Crimson Flyboy's tutorial video on merging. I used the drop merging technique on those pieces.

Just for kicks, I decided to make a kind of Vertibird to celebrate the Fallout 4 Remaster that is about to be released. Obviously, it isn't going to be a 1 to 1 conversion. The scales are completely different. I was more interested in getting the general feel of the Vertibird down.

 

Head Canon/Lore

In one of the many universes out there, Earth was not destroyed by the tidal gravitational forces created with early grav drive technology. No, it's demise was the product of more direct means, by way of global thermonuclear war.

In the centuries that followed, mankind began to recover. It was a glacially slow and painstaking progress, often set back by the petty squabbles of factions trying to establish power bases and footholds. One such entity, known as the Brotherhood of Steel, led the charge.

At first, the Brotherhood's goal was to amass technology and control its use. As with many such organizations, that focus changed to not only collecting dangerous technology, but developing it. Some three hundred years later, the Brotherhood has taken to space. One of their own, Scribe Aiza, developed a method of interstellar travel that he dubbed the Grav Drive and it has enabled possibilities far beyond shepherding the denizens of a broken Earth.

The XVB-12 Vertibird is the Brotherhood's mainline personnel transport and fighting craft. Somehow the Grav Drive technology escaped the Brotherhood's iron fist, and now other factions have taken to the stars as well. The Brotherhood must be ready to face them.

 

Components

All of the components should be available at the Outpost Landing Pad with Builder. This ship was constructed on a Level 30 character with Ship Design 3.

1. HopeTech Hope 5 Landing Gear
2. HopeTech Hope 4 Landing Bay
3. (2) Horizon Weapon Mount
4. (2) Flare P 15 MW Pulse Laser, attached to Horizon Mount
5. (2) KE-20A Autocannon, attached to Horizon Mount
6. Deimos Tail A
7. Deimos Spine D - Aft
8. Nova Galactic All-in-One Berth A 2x1
9. (2) 220 B Landing Gear (Port, Starboard)
10. Armstrong 10 Cockpit
11. (2) White Dwarf 1020 Engine
12. Merged Components (see below)
13. HopeTech Nose B Fore

Merged Components

1. 110 DP Docker Top
2. 154MM Toroidal Reactor
3. R-3000 Grav Drive
4. 500T He3 Tank
5. 40S Protector Shield Generator

Assembly

Merge all of the components listed in the Merged Components section together. Let those sit, as it is easier to move the non-merged components to connect with them later.

Assemble the remainder of the components, except the Engines and the Nose B Fore. Group Select the Hope Landing Gear, Landing Bay, and Horizon Mounts. The forward connect point of the Landing Bay attaches to the underside of the Cockpit.

Group select the assembled structure and move it so that it connects to the Merged Components at the  top, front of the 2x1 Hab. 

Attach the Nose B Fore to the front of the Merged Components. It will need to be Flip Merged to get it to stick. Attach the Engines to the sides of the Merged Components.

 

Upgrade Path

A lot of the components can be upgraded directly from the Upgrade window, without needing to re-merge them. For example, when the final version of the Toroidal Reactor is unlocked or the you want to upgrade the Grav Drive to the R-4000, that is easily done.

Upgrading the Reactor class, and any of the merged components, to B-class will require the Merged Components to be reassembled.

Aside from the internals, there are two open connect points on the aft of the All-in-One Hab. These can be used to mount cargo bays, extra engines, or even some Bracer with additional weapons.

Final Build

Starfield Build: Star Vault

 

Nova Galactic Vault-Tec: Star Vault

 

Introduction

Okay, @Mtfreeman (on the Starfield Anonymous Discord) made a passing comment about making a Vault-Tec space vault. Here is my answer to that comment (he never made it an official challenge). I give you the Star Vault. 

My operating hypothesis is that Vault-Tec got a hold of some Zetan technology and did their absolute best to duplicate form and function within the scope of then current technology. They paired up with the Nova Galactic in their version of reality to create the most powerful ship that they could and put aboard a  small compliment of Vault occupants.

Head Canon/Lore

In the spirit of the malleable Fallout canon, this ship is equipped with anachronistic Engines, Reactor, Grav Drive, Weapons, and Shield. It's insidious experiment was to test the occupants' ability to adapt by Grav Jumping once every 24 Standard/Earth hours to a random star.

The very few occupants exited the Star Vault after a few of these random jumps nearly led to disaster and formed a small, now abandoned and desolate colony. The Star Vault, however, kept jumping until it was out of fuel. It remained in orbit of Heinlein 4B until it was discovered by a salvage team. Excited about finding such an interesting pre-exodus ship, the fuel tanks were restocked. The salvage team has not been heard from since. 

 

Paint

The Star Vault uses two colors. One is a custom blue and the other is the standard orange. The cursor points to the orange color, while the blue is in the Hue, Saturation, and Brightness sliders.

Components

With the exception of the Docker, all parts are available at the Titan Vault-Tec Ship Technician on Titan. The Docker can be replaced with the 100 DP Slim Docker and Connect Pro Docker.

Undercarriage

1. (2) Vault-Tec Braking Engine
2. (4) Vault-Tec VT-20 Wide Landing Gear
3. (4) Vault-Tec Cowling 2L-B (2 Aft, 2 Fore)
4. (2) Vault-Tec VT-20 Fore Landing Gear
5. Vault-Tec VT-6 Landing Bay
6. (4) Vault-Tec Cowling 2L-BM

 

Main Deck

1. (6) Vault-Tec Cowling Side: 2 Fore, 2 Aft, 2 Mid. 1 each (Port and Starboard)
2. (4) Vault-Tec Cowling 2L-BA
3. (2) Vault-Tec Living Quarters 2x2
4. (2) Galleon S202 Cargo Hold
5. (2) Vault-Tec Storeroom
6. (2) Vault-Tec All-in-One 2x2
7. (4) Vault-Tec Wing (2 Port, 2 Starboard)
8. (2) 40 T Hauler Cargo Hold
9. J-52 Gamma Grav Drive
10. Vault-Tec Workshop 2x1
11. Vault-Tec Messhall 2x3
12. (2) CE-59 Missile Launcher, attached to inner wing on either side
13. Cabot C3 Bridge
14. Vault-Tec Infirmary 2x1
15. Vault Tec Engineering Bay 3x1
16. SF-40 Sheared Flow Reactor
17. Vault-Tec Science Lab 2x1

 

Upper Deck

1. (3) Poseidon DT230 Engine
2. (2) Vault-Tec Wing (Port, Starboard)
3. Vault-Tec Brig 2x2
4. (2) Porthole - Fore
5. (8) Vault-Tec Cowling Side: 2 Fore, 2 Aft, 4 Mid
6. (2) Vault-Tec Storeroom 1x1
7. Vault-Tec Armory 2x1
8. (2) Vault-Tec Bracer
9. Vault-Tec Cargo Hall 2x3
10. (2) Blaze 2GW SX Laser, attached to inner point of Forward Cowlings
11. Odin 3050-C Shield Generator
12. (2) 500T He3 Tank
13. Vault-Tec Overseer's Cabin 2x1
14. Vault-Tec Battle Stations 2x2
15. Vault-Tec Computer Core 2x1

Structural

1. (3) Vault-Tec Cowling IL-TA (2 Aft, 1 Fore)
2. (4) Vault-Tec Cowling 2L (2 Aft, 2 Fore)
3. (2) Vault-Tec All-In-One Berth 2x1 A
4. (2) Vault-Tec Engine Strut
5. Galleon S204 Cargo Hold
6. Vault-Tec Storeroom 1x1
7. Extender Port 200 Top
8. (2) MKE-9A Auto Gauss Cannon, attacked to Forward 1L Cowling.

 

Assembly

Undercarriage reference

Starting with the Structural Layer, select everything and drag it over so that it connects to the top of the Upper Deck. The Engine Struts should rest on the forward, top of the Cargo Hall.

Group select the combined Upper Deck and Structural Layer and drag it over to the Main Deck. The Cargo Hall should rest directly on top of the Mess Hall.

Select everything on the Undercarriage Layer. Drag it over so that the Landing Bay connects to the aft connection point of the Infirmary

 

Final Build

Starfield Build Theory: Ship Scavenging: Part 1

 

Ship Scavenging: Part 1

 

Introduction

One of the methods I use to build my ships is to cannibalize the parts from one ship to make another ship. There are several advantages to this, the first being that you can very quickly change manufacturers/style without a great deal of cost. You can also build a nice starter ship that, over time, you can add to and upgrade into your end game beast.

For this discussion, I am going to do a very quick and easy transition from a Crimson Fleet Phantom II to a HopeTech Hopper custom build. If you have 10k credits and a Phantom II, this should take you about five minutes. This is a really basic example of scavenging one ship to make another. I might cover the entire process of scavenging the parts to make an entirely custom ship in a later article

 

Head Canon/Lore

The HopeTech Hopper is a small, light, short-range fighter designed to quickly intercept incoming enemies. It is HopeTech's answer to the Deimos Achilles and even shares many of the same components that make the Achilles a successful platform.

 

Assembly

Step 1: Group Select the Landing Bay, Landing Gear, Reactor, Grav Drive, Fuel Tank, Shield, and Weapons and pull them aside. Move the weapons to the side so that they are not in the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: Delete the rest of the Phantom II.

Step 3: Change the NG-20 Landing Gear to the Wide format and snap it to the bottom of the Grav Drive.

Step 4: Attach a HopeTech 2x1 Hab to the Front of the Grav Drive. Flip the Landing Bay and snap it to the bottom of the 2x1 Hab.

Step 5: Attach a 1x1 Hab and Armstrong 10 Cockpit to the top of the 2x1 Hab. Snap a Hope-11 Docker to the Front of the 2x1 Hab

Step 6: Attach Fuel Tank to top of 1x1 Hab. Attach Shield to top of Reactor.

Step 7: Attach Horizon Weapon Mounts to the front snap points of the 2x1 Hab. Attach the weapons to the Horizon mounts. You can do it however works for you. I snapped one Ballistic to either side, the Laser to one side, and the Missile Launcher to the opposite side from the Laser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 8: (optional) Group Select everything but the Landing Bay and Fuel Tank. Open the Color menu. Set all three colors to one pictured below. If you like the default colors or want to add your own flair to the build, ignore this step.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cost to Build: 6,547 Credits and a Crimson Fleet Phantom II

Final Build

 

Upgrade Path

Obviously, the HT Hopper is a starter ship with all of the potential for expansion that you could ask for. If you want to maintain the same general shape, you can upgrade Reactor, Grav Drive, Engines, Shield, Fuel, and Weapons pretty easily. B-class internal components are all the same size as A-class, so you could make a deadly little stinger.

There are also two open snap points on the 1x1 Hab. You can add cargo or more Horizon mounts. Whatever suits your fancy and will fit. Just make sure that you balance mass to your engine strength.

Alternatively, you can expand this little beast into something larger and more imposing. Add Habs, upgrade to C-class, you name it.

For the character that I built this on, I upgraded to a B-class 102DS Reactor, exchanged the default weapons for PBO-100 Auto Neutron Cannons, and upgraded the Shield to a Warden SG-200. As the character gains levels and points in Ship Design, I will eventually reach a 104DS Reactor and some powerful B-class shield. I'm not worried about cargo on this character. The default cockpit cargo, so that I can store a supply of Ship Parts, is all that's needed. Because of that, I have a secondary weapon in the form of CE-29 Missile Launchers, mounted on Horizon Weapon Pods snapped to the 1x1 Hab.

Another possible way to go is to expand upon the size of the vessel and make it into an A-class Cargo/Passenger Hauler. I don't want to go too deep into the components, but there is an image below of how it might possibly turn out. Ultimately, the end result should be something custom to you. These are just examples of the process of taking a basic, scavenged build and making it into something more customized.

 Example Upgraded Builds

And that's all I have to say for now. I hope that you enjoyed the essay. If you happened to get something from it, even better. Keep on building.