ER L-Class Starship

The latest iteration of the L-Class Starship is ready, following the Warfare Update and lessons learned.

The L-Class is a long-range explorer, equipped to be self-sufficient and capable of performing any mission to some degree until more specialised ships arrive. It can be flown and operated by 1 Space Engineer or comfortably crew 4 or more as needed. Heavily armed with some wonderful custom turret designs learned from Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfiGDhI9O5c) it can also defend itself or form part of an attack group.

The original design was completed in Creative but has been extensively used and refined in true Survival and has been troubleshooted and proofed as far as I can think.

I have gone for as compact a design as possible, with smooth lines and easy to access components for repair or upgrade. I am really interested to see what additions and ideas people come up with and would love to see your "subtype". For reference, this is the "Endurance" subtype.

I am a huge Star Trek fan and I think the lineage of this design will be clear. Thanks to Keen for such a cracking game and working on it for so long, really enjoy it.

Stats
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Mass: 3-5 million Kg depending on load.
PCU: 27702
Blocks: 2362

Armour: Heavy and Light, reinforced with Bulletproof Glass. Decoys backed by Welders in key areas to draw fire from important locations.

Weapons: 12 x custom Turrets - 4 Turrets each with 6 Gatling Guns, 8 Turrets each with 6 Autocannon; 4 x Artillery Guns, 2 x Railguns; 24 x Light Turrets (Interior used externally). Gun Cameras for aiming.

Power: 14 Small Reactors, 20 batteries, 2 Hydrogen Engines (default off, intended as auxiliary power)

Propulsion: Ion and Hydrogen Thrusters combined, with Reverse Thrust Cutoff for cruising. 2 x Gravity Drives installed for breaking the 100m/s speed limit. 6 x Jump Drives for 3000-4000km jumps depending on mass. 8 x Gyroscopes.

Industry: Upgraded Refinery and Assembler, Drill built into Dorsal Neck for self-supply.

Cargo: 47 Small Cargo Containers, 1 Large Cargo Container - all linked to a "Items In/Items Out" Sorter system.

Support Craft: Shuttlebay with pressure control and space doors. I can fit two small shuttles in there.

Crew: Pods for 4 sleeping crew (8 if you rip out the lockers and replace with another bed), Mess Area with kitchen etc; full-scale Medical Room near Airlock. Shower, Bathroom. Fully pressurised and compartmented.

Command and Control: 4 Seat Bridge with scripts from Whip running Damage Control, Doors and Custom Turrets (https://steamcommunity.com/workshop/filedetails/?id=663612012) Some options are set on toolbars already but there is plenty of room for flexibility and your own setup.

Specialist Kit: Rescue Magnetic Pad and Camera Ventral, 2 x Ore Detectors, Dorsal and Ventral Searchlights.

*****

Updates 13/03/2022

- 2 x LCD Aimpoints installed in front of Artillery Camera and Railgun Camera
- Custom Turrets updated to prevent Kurse of Klang.
- Bridge updated with Whip's SIMPL Deck Plan Script (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2344510837), replacing Alysius' script. I have removed Whip's Turret Radar Script from this build not because its bad or doesn't work but because our survival experience shows it doesn't help this ship operate any better. It is still an excellent script and I hope you find it useful. With this update heads-up LCDs have been replaced with Bulletproof Glass.
- New Locker in Medical Room intended for Powerkits and Medkits.

Updates 16/03/2022
- New Dorsally mounted Connector to fuel Shuttles that use ventral connectors.
- To support the above, some repiping was required which helpfully has led to 3 new Small Cargo Containers for 46 in total.
- Replaced Bulletproof Glass and extra panelling in places.

Minor Update 16/03/2022
- 2 x Light Turrets were missing from previous grid, replaced. Bridge consoles are not holding typed in text, causing confusion. Have wiped for continuity.

Update 17/03/2022
- Turrets updated to remove Assault Cannons (combat proving showed they were not as effective as we hoped) and replaced with 4 x Custom Gatling Turrets with 6 x Gatling Guns each. These are in the forward 4 positions (Turrets 5,6,7,8) and absolutely shred enemy fighters and work very well with autocannons to cut holes in enemy ships. Onboard ammo etc updated too.
- Lateral thrust improved with +4 HThrusters Port and +4 Starboard. Pilots should consider using lateral thrust to keep front guns bearing on target and to slip enemy fire. Replaced Aimpoint Text with ¬¬¬¬¬ ¬¬¬¬¬. Put the target between the horizontal line and fire, this marker is much more accurate.

Minor Update 18/03/2022
- Measures to save mass in areas not likely to be hit by fire - Heavy Armour replaced with Light to improve movement.

Minor Update 20/03/2022
- Very minor system and group update for improved performance following survival lessons.
- Light Turrets settings
- Safety limits on Custom Turret Azimuth Rotors refined.

Minor Update 23/03/2022
- Ship's Plaque
- Some Console default settings updated

Update 23/03/2022
- Rescue Boom and Hinge redesigned/reconfigured following operational use to fix a fatal flaw.

Update 27/03/2022
- Added 2 x Spotlights facing forward for exploring dark spaces (asteroid caves etc.)

Update 24/04/2022
- Improvements thanks to survival incidents - Rearranged panels and bulletproof glass panes to make for easier building and to lower chance of blocks floating off in the event of damage. Projector calibration wasn't saving so have added a text panel with correct calibration for self-repair.

Update 29/04/2022
- Incorporating new blocks from Most Wanted to tidy up the ship's structure, improving lines and protection in some areas with an overall saving in mass.
- Redesigned Bridge for more visibility.
- Removed Transparent LCD Aimpoints for Artillery and Railguns to make use of Most Wanted Camera Overlay.

Update 03/05/2022
- Rescue Boom Rig Removed! It kept breaking or locking. So after some flight testing and ideas, we replaced it with a magnetic plate on a block...that was the best replacement. And it works perfectly. Benefits are easier maintenance, simpler control and a saving on PCU.
- Naming improvements to assist with maintenance/repair and replaced a missing conveyor!

Update 13/05/2022
- Mass saving by replacing certain heavy blocks.
- Replaced missing H Engine in Blueprint
- Better conveyor layout

Update 2 13/05/2022
- Drill Boom/Rig removed! Drill now sits safely inside the Dorsal "Neck" so is better protected, reduced PCU/complexity and allows for 1 block more compact design. Internal plumbing reorganised as a result with the bonus of +1 Small Cargo Container for 47 in total [If you know, you know ;-)], +1 Battery, +2 Gyros for 8 in total. Armour reorganised to save mass. Ship's acceleration and manoeuvrability have improved noticeably. Artillery guns have been moved slightly to accommodate - they look meaner but there is no change in aiming.
- Only disadvantage is the drill has less "reach". As it was intended only to help the ship supply itself and not for big mining, I felt this was okay for the advantages gained above.