Friday, March 20, 2020

Status of the Starship Geomorphs book update

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm working on an update to the Starship Geomorph book. The book will include a new section of 60 End Geomorphs, 6 new Standard Geomorphs, a few new Specialty Geomorphs, and a couple new illustrations. I've also made tweaks to some of the original geomorphs. Once again, the PDF will be made freely available, with a separate PDF available for Print on Demand.

Work still to be completed includes:
 - Design and draw 8 more End Geomorphs
 - Design and draw 5 more Standard Geomorphs
 - Complete 2 or 3 new illustrations. Models for 2 of the illustrations are already about 90% complete.
 - Another pass at editing. There's always something...
 - Creation of the final PDFs (one for print and one for computer use)

If you have any ideas for the remaining 13 geomorphs, now would be a good time to make your suggestions known. I feel I'm starting to hit a creative wall for new ideas and it is slowing me down. If you'd like to make a suggestion, add it to the comments below or email me at pearcedesignstudio@gmail.com. Remember that geomorphs are not just for starships, but can be used for space stations and ground facilities as well. There's no guarantee that I'll use your idea, but I'll certainly consider it.

Finally, here's another End Geomorph to whet your appetite, an Xboat docking area. Enjoy!

13 comments:

  1. Loved the geomorphs. I used several of them as parts of a planetary base and buildings, so maybe something like a surface airlock, ATV garage and decontamination suite and/or a building lobby/security checkpoint? Could also be used as an interior section for large ships/stations.?

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  2. Excellent news, Mr. Pearce. Thank you for your latest gift to all Travellers everywhere.

    Regarding ideas for geomorphs, CT's Suleiman-class scout/courier is described as being modified according to the vessel's current mission. The published deck plan is of only the stripped down detached duty version. Using the plan from page 17 of "Traders and Gunboats", location 13 on the Main Deck and locations 17, 18, and 19 in the Upper Gallery are said to contain different equipment for different missions; labs and sensors for surveys, comm gear and data banks for courier work, etc. Other equipment for other missions could be:

    - Low berths in location 13 for personnel transfers with passenger luggage in the Upper Gallery
    - Sensor/survey drone launch, control, and repair equipment in location 13 with spares & parts in the Gallery.
    - A large synthetic aperture sensor array which retracts/folds into the Upper Gallery when not in use and which is operated from location 13.
    - A "morgue" of specialized hard suits complete with a decontamination and/or decompression chambers linked to the rear hatch in location 13 for hazardous or exotic environments.
    - Equipment for setting up refined fuel caches such as a purifier, storage "bladders" to be filed and positioned, transfer systems, etc.
    - Equipment for the deployment and maintenance of various navigational, sensor, and interdiction satellites and beacons perhaps including a capture arm, a true airlock in place of the rear hatch, work benches, etc.

    I'm sure there are many other missions and equipment load outs I've missed. I'm also not sure if drawing several variants of the relatively small location 13 and location 17-18-19 wouldn't be a waste of your time and skillls.

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    1. I probably won't do it for the Geomorphs book, but I am also planning to release a PDF book and CAD files of all my individual rooms, drives, symbols, etc. to help players create their own deck plans. I'll add a section of Scout load out options to that and maybe make a separate blog post about it.

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    2. Thanks for the reply. My "ideas" were much too specific. A geomorph should be applicable to many types of vessels, installations, and missions rather than being focused on one ship doing one thing. After all, that's why your book has been so helpful to so many people!

      I've been thumbing through your book and haven't been able to come up with anything you haven't already covered. Perhaps after my subconscious gnaws on things for a day or two I'll come up with a suggestion or two.

      Thanks again for sharing your work with us.

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  3. Great to see you expanding on your previous wonderful material. Thanks so much!

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  4. Some ideas that might be really cool--

    A bridge/gangway -- like a "double-ended" geomorph might be fun. Also maybe an extendable umbilicus -- a soft bridge for docking with ships? (I always tend to think of these geomorphs in context of space stations and starports.)

    A departure/arrivals gate? A long queueing checkpoint that filters people through? (customs, security, restricted area or ticketing kiosk)?

    Going way out there...A whale tank like Star Trek IV, or Cetacean Ops like on the Enterprise? (https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Cetacean_Ops)

    Hope these spark some ideas! --E

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    1. Thanks for your suggestions. I've already created several new "Connection Bridge" geomorphs for the update - I guess great minds think alike. The previous release already has a couple passenger gates and I considered including long line/TSA type security but decided no one really would want to role play that. Cetacean Ops is an interesting idea. I considered doing some alien species specific geomorphs, but decided against it. I might consider something more generic...

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  5. Thank you so much for the book. I just used it to create deck plans for my 800-ton Troy-class Far Trader and I am hooked.

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  6. I've used the previous book for multiple things - stations, ships, buildings. I also appreciate all your work that you've done for this, as it brings what I like about classic Traveller, B&W line art, to a more modern view that still has that Traveller vibe. I think as I started playing Traveller in the early 80s that the B&W line art is what I associate with Traveller. Color just does not seem right.

    But can also be used for any modern/SF game, so thanks!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for you comments. There are a lot of really great ship deck plans done in color, but I've always preferred the simple black and white linework as well.

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