Ship Types in TEP

Kim + Porphyre + Jades + Marksman + Maksim + others

If you designed a ship, have a look what category it's in. If it's got a question mark beside it, send me a mail reassuring me that I placed it in the right category and/or asking for it to be placed in another category...

Also, it might be beneficial to discuss the system by which we intend to divide like categories, and indeed classes also. I will devise the standards if no one else is interested.

Airfighter: Spacecraft which are specially modified for superb atmospheric flight.

Airship: A lighter-than-air vehicle, which does not nescesarily need to expend energy to remain airborne, normally quite large and can sometimes seen as serving as spaceports or gas mining platforms on gas giants. Balloon: Helium balloons might be employed as atmospheric probe vehicles and tourist attractions. Colony ships: Ships which are built to carry the spark of life to far-flung worlds. Can be modified for terraformed worlds or airless worlds. Have a 'deploy' function that either releases the people and equipment contained inside or breaks up the ship for use as a colony. Courier: A spacecraft with light shields and hull, but with very powerful thrusters and hyperdrives. This to allows quick delivery of passengers and packages across the inhabited systems. Cruiser: This is the medium attack craft. It has neither the speed of a Light Attack Craft nor the bulk of the Heavy Assualt Ship. Dreadnought: Well, I would 'nought dread' if I had big fat shields, multiple external turrets, a hull as thick as a planetoids crust, powerful engines, and let's not forget The Big Guns to boot. These ships weigh upwards of 1000 tons, but you don't notice this in the size of the cargo bay. Dreadnoughts have speed and maneuverability comparable to that of a (perhaps slightly sluggish) fighter. (= very good for a ship that size) Drone: Unmanned craft, such as probes or Tharglets. Elite Ship: (Also known as Freighter/Fighter) A good cross between Fighter, Freighter and Explorer spacecraft. Vehicles like the Asp and Fer-de-Lance fall into this catagory. Elite Ships are called so because they are often used by Elite-rated commanders. They have a good balance between weaponry and some room to allow one to trade for equipment too. Explorer: This kind of spacecraft requires very little by way of maintenance , is efficient on fuel and has a large Hyperspace range. It is also easily repairable and has good long range nav systems. Very useful for long range exploration. Flying sub: A submersible spacecraft. Can land on water and 'fly' underwater, as well as performing normal aerial and space flight. The flying sub often has relatively heavy hull, due to the fact that the vessel must be able to withstand both internal _and_ external pressure. Garbage collector: This ship collects space debris and flotsam in order to prevent ships from being destroyed by high velocity impacts. Generation ships: Before the development of the hyperdrive, in all its various forms, interstellar travel occurred in large, self-sustaining environment ships - Generation Ships - most of which have now been logged and their progress monitored. Many of these ships exist, but most are currently in interstellar space, traveling at high speeds. Some, however, have reached and/or will soon reach their destination. The penalty for interference with such a vessel is marooning. Heavy Assault Ship: These ships are the big bad mother of all the attack craft. It is similar to a dreadnought, but with a few distinguishing charateristics: it's not in a hurry to get anywhere (not as fast), it has system to fire missiles without pylons, and it has cargo space even after its massive guns are mounted. Interceptor: Similar in concept to a fighter, the interceptor's job is to get into position to engage hostiles at a moment's notice. Also known as a Hunter-Killer. Light Attack Craft: Small spacecraft with high G capabilities and little cargo space (But with many hardpoints and sensors). They usually won't carry shields (But don't come to me if you find one that does) and depend on their speed and maneuverability to stay out of harms' way. Medium Freighter: Fair sized ship, with perhaps a single turret and a couple of hundred tons of cargo space (See also Trader). Military carrier: Massive ships made for the transport of troops, vehicles, and/or smaller spacecraft. These ships are used mostly by the military, and are often heavily armed. Miner: A ship specially made for mining. It usually has the cargo space equivalent to that of a medium freighter. Modular Vehicle: This kind of spacecraft can easily be upgraded and modified by bolting (or unbolting) on parts to the outside (or sandwiching bits inbetween, of course). Multi-role: A ship that combines several categories to try to please a wide audience. These always have 'flaws' as what's well and good in one category may not be acceptable in another. Sailing ships (Stellar wind sailing ships): Ships that are propelled by stellar winds. Sea Ship: Many kinds of ships ply the oceans of a terraformed world. The main economic fucntions are trade and tourism, although on some worlds you might also see them employed as mobile weapons platforms. Often ships are equipped with sails to make them operate even more economically. Shuttle: Small craft, specifically designed for travel in-system, the cheaper models only for surface to orbiting space stations. Starliner: A large, beautifully designed vessel which allows the creme de la creme of society to enjoy a well deserved holiday in luxury. Special Mission Craft: Craft available on a per mission basis. Stealth vehicles: A spacecraft whose prime purpose is stealthyness would be characterised by it's hull design and by the material costs involved in repairing that hull if things go wrong. A stealth craft usually has an outer (aerodynamic/fluid dynamic) hull made of a relatively light material transparent to radar and an angular inner hull which provides streangth and armour to the craft. In many places this combination isn't enough to make a craft stealthy, and RAMs (Radar Absorbant Materials) are used as well. The shape of a stealth vehicle is determined by the requirement that radar emissions directed at the craft are concentrated into several narrow beams directed away from the source. Often all the lines and angles in the hull are painstakingly matched. Have a look at an F22 or a B2 to see what I mean. Note that Stealth craft are not invisible to radar. They are only less visible. Submarine: Several submarine types might be spotted supplying underwater habitats, science stations and such on worlds that have water. One might differentiate between deep sea subs and continental shelf vehicles. Supertrader: Very large trading spacecraft. These vessels can't actually land anywhere, but have to just kind of 'Hang Around' in orbit or stationkeeping while other ships do all the transporting to and from the planet or space station. Towing craft: Ships that tow. They may tow a craft because it is damaged, slower, or not capable of hyperspace travel (the last is only for towing craft with hyperdrives). Trader: A trader is a large and often dented and dusty spacecraft, with an absolutely cavernous cargo bay. Traders aren't the worlds most maneuverable spacecraft. Even so, many trade craft have turrets, and some devious commanders even load up on the big guns. These ships are not to be taken lightly.

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