I usually post in WIP because things aren't done, because they are way too complex, but this was a simple one:

Rendered with the in-sketchup Maxwell Fire, nothing fancy. Just a flat-pack coffee table. It is meant to be sturdy, look nice (hopefully as nice in pine), store stuff below, and accommodate most puzzles. The top is 42"x25", minus ears.

The biggest idea is that it is simple enough that I might be able to make it. That being said, anybody want to lend me their laser cutter? I hate making imprecise cuts, and as I don't practice that is all I do.

Some more detail, the reactor is based on a non sustained reaction idea and being a little over a meter across would put the Skunkworks to shame with their "tiny" trailer-sized reactor they are working on, if it worked.

Two neutrons are raced around the track and then collide as femto-second laser pulses hit the same spot. The inner layer collects the waves of energy. The second is magnetic shielding and the third is secondary heat shielding if the first layer fails.

This is only half of the reactor. Lots of components used and manipulated.

I solved this very one in a few minutes. Needless to say it would take me longer to make it in Sketchup.

Liam,
I am planning on going to a level of detail I am familiar with in a large complex system. I work at a telescope so just the ideas of separate but interworking large systems seems reasonable. And I am all too familiar with single board computers in crates and such. Probably not as detailed as that tank someone did a little while ago.

hellnbak,
Here are a small picture and a slightly larger one. These are just using the free maxwell render as I work. I will probably go for a better renderer for the final product and those will be big...no huge, so just hang in there.

Thanks for the encouragement! No artisan as of yet, I did buy the tool but the shield generator is actually just using follow-me, though it was a beast to clean up. Since then I have found that if you make the path that the follow-me needs to traverse one polyline then it gets around smoothly and hardly needs any clean-up which would have saved at least 30 minutes with the shield generator.

A bit of down time and travel, but here is the detailed front area. From left to right are the sensors and jammers, the gyro for maneuvering (Destin from smarter every day on youtube inspired that idea.), and the computer bank. The computers still need to be populated and the support structure, cooling, power and data lines need to be designed. On a twelve meter ship I am getting down into millimeter detail sometimes, this is probably why larger projects don't get very far. Practice makes perfect, right?

It looks like it still there, just directly behind the column.

Thanks for the comments!

Here is a shield generator with waveguides out to the projectors. I am getting detailed....

@unknownuser said:

Do you know this one ?
(Bi language)

I know a simpler one based on the crane-base.

There are half a dozen or more in the warehouse, but it still is interesting. I started with a few drawings and a lot of movie shots. Had to decide between a lot of variants, so this is its own variant. Also going really internally detailed so I might be able to set up a scene in a hangar with a few in varying states of dis-assembly.

That is awesome! Sim City has to be one of my all time favorite games.

Awesome!

Looks good. I am not a render guru, so I can't give more feedback than that.

Awesome! I played the 7 day free trial and wanted to explore more, see more of the world, but there were a lot of weird quests (kill 7 of these, bring back their hides) that I had to do in order to advance and not just get smooshed if I went to the next area. It really looks like quite a bit of fun that you are having, I need to get back into sketchup and such but I have a ton of things I need to do before I have any time again.

I look forward to seeing more!

Definitely dabbling in the code to use existing components, or make them if they don't exist. First foray into ruby, I already dislike that it doesn't do much with curly braces and semicolons. I usually program C and PERL.

I just thought that it could be setup to save in a tree of folders, might make the code quite a bit longer, but might make saving components easy and finding them individually. Now to figure out how to only save the geometry in the components file and still load it into the trunk of the tree. My ideas are getting far beyond my grasp of ruby and the API. I should keep it simple for a bit.

When I get somewhere with it would you like me to post it or send you the code for perusal/editing?

I heard about it because I play the game. It would be nice to see some more ships out there.

There are some NPC corporations or factions that don't have any ships to their credit. Sisters of Eve (careful with any web searches) is a humanitarian faction that does rescues and relief efforts, but it really doesn't have any of its own ships. Something along the lines of white ships with red (like the red cross) decals. The ship(s) wouldn't have to be quite as complex as your awesome one so they might not take as long.

One thing I noticed is that even though the rules are similar it definitely sounds like the 6 views plus the one colored (hopefully rendered) one is all they want. Also it is a bit more of how the ship would fit into the game so that whole Sisters of Eve thing might not be a good way to go. So if you want ideas just let me know.

So about that awesome spaceship:

Another chance has come up, very similar rules but this time all Eve community feedback. http://www.evecontest.com/finalvote/

I might try but a 3 week window is really too small for someone with many ideas but no solid spaceship experience such as myself. Hope you resubmit, it would get my vote.

Let me know if I should post a separate thread or something.

What if you could make an image file that could encode for overhangs?

Basically it would be a flat image with a curvy perimeter within the rectangle that when smooshed would make a rectangular-based object that would include overhangs, and potentially tunnels (A perimeter within a perimeter, matched with another across the map.) Also a different color perimeter or lack thereof would create sphere or bumpy boulder, or even a planet if your memory can handle it.

So right now is is black and white for basic z-height. How much information could be encoded using rgb? Red values might indicate what pixels it lines up with, blue indicates order and green indicates height or distance.

Using the perimeter as an encoding medium for the flattened surface for distance it must go for the final product.

This was just a random idea I had a few minutes ago while thinking about this plugin, it is possible but the way might not be very straight-forward. The image format might have to be something more than a .bmp. Also a good thing that might come out of this is large scale compression potential. Also organic shapes...

Bryan

When I am on the back of the telescope dish no more than 20 feet off the ground I move slowly and definitely no "free climbing." I don't like fall harnesses, they have a one-use bungie that just keeps you from dying, I would much rather have a rock climbing rig where the rope is always in tension. Could you imagine a 3400 foot rope that would be able to be more than just a hindrance? The give would be monumental, it'd probably snap, guess I am not doing that job.

I managed to watch the entire thing but I am glad I ate more than a few hours ago, sweaty palms, quick breathing... Fortunately there was comic relief in your comments.

So before reading Chris's post where he said he was doing building B I was already modifying it and so forth, but fortunately the most work I have done is one component with many sub components that can be moved to just about any building foundation. I might move it to that water one.

Also I was thinking about the story. Just my thoughts no need to adopt them. Originally it was a well guarded retreat for several of the world's top scientists. A scientist that was never allowed to go there, manipulated his country defeat the defenses around the island and then capture it. Not much damage was done to the island, and the 'evil' scientist was finally in control. Soon after the hostile-takeover all of the scientists disappeared including the 'evil' one. Since all of their transportation had been taken away, no one knows how they disappeared. The country that had captured the island opened it up to International Investigation and the player is one of, or the, investigator.

Just an idea, it also sort of pushes away from the over-used exile theme, more like the scientists had plenty of time and materials to build to their fancy, including puzzles and other interesting things that delight the mind. However with the disappearance there is a definite possibility for a bit of darkness.

I would like to help... this should be intersting.

I will let you know when I have something.