Let's be clear here; I am not an engineer.
But I am a bit of a poet, and you... did not know it.
Ahem. Moving on. I wanted to get that little detail out in front so you know what it is you're reading. I'm not running through the scientific and engineering practicalities of designing a spaceship. While I do have a general understanding of physics and a working proficiency with electronics and computers, what I actually am is a writer. So we'll be talking about the design of a spaceship that is intended primarily as the setting for a story. A sci-fi story, specifically, because if it's not actually sci-fi you can just do whatever you *cough*StarWars*cough* want.
Decide what you want your ship to look like first. Do you have a specific aesthetic in mind? Is it functional and blocky, or sleek and fast-looking? You can toss some actual science in there, if you want. Is it intended to fly through atmospheres, or is it pretty much just going to stay in space? In atmosphere you might want some wings. Maybe you want to hearken back to naval vessels and water landings, or maybe you want it to look like a plane. Maybe, science aside, you want the ship to say something about the personality of the people who own it. Maybe they're prone to overcompensation. Maybe they really like frisbees. Answer some questions like this, and then think about what the general outline of that ship might look like. Sketch some crap on a scrap piece of paper.
Next, fill in the details of the exterior. You'll want to apply a bit more science here. What sorts of engines are we looking at? Where does sub-light propulsion come from? Where does faster-than-light propulsion come from, if applicable? How about weapons, any of those? Are they even visible? Are we talking rail-gun turrets, missiles, or energy weapons of some sort? How big is the ship, roughly, 4 meters or 4000? Does it land, and if so, on what? What about windows? Cargo bays? Escape craft? How about embellishments, like paint jobs or random fins that just look cool? Keep in mind that the decisions you make on details like this will inform the design of every other ship in your story, unless this is the only ship in your story, or it's a fish-out-of-water sort of story (think Star Trek: Voyager). On the flip side, if this ship is going to get slotted into an existing universe, then the existing tropes of that universe need to inform these details (the Federation ship in your Star Trek fan fic, for instance, needs warp nacelles. And no, I don't want to read it when you're done).
Now, turn your attention to the interior. If you want you can go all out and draw up some diagrams of where everything is and how it connects, laying out stuff like the power delivery system, the chambers and hallways, defensive diagrams and maintenance tunnels, air and matter filtering and recycling stations and the associated ductwork and plumbing. Top-down and side-on decking diagrams can include all of that stuff. Or, if that level of detail isn't really necessary (up to you), you can just make a list of the amenities they have aboard, and the locations of the various settings you intend to use. If the entire story takes place in the power station and mess hall, you just need to know where stuff is in those rooms, and where those rooms are. For instance, power is on deck 1 and the mess is on deck 4. The mess has big windows right behind the bar, and the power room has a long bank of consoles down the center and blank walls heavily shielded against radiation. Use only as much detail as you need, but make sure you are thinking about how much detail you need.
This bit is a little weird, but take some time and decide what your ship can't do. It's tempting to just write up a list of all the cool stuff this magnificent vessel can do, but it's equally important to figure out what the limitations are. What's the top "speed"? What kind of acceleration/deceleration can it sustain? What's the power output versus the power drain from normal operation? Is the ship combat capable? If so, how capable exactly? Armor like paper, weapons about as effective as a squirt gun? I'm not saying your ship should be an unarmed pile of scrap held together by zip-ties and prayer *cough*Serenity*cough*, but it's almost more important to know why this ship sucks than it is to know why it's awesome. Assuming it's awesome at all.
Okay, now you can write up that list of why this ship is the dopest thing.
Right, final step. Go back and cover that whole beautiful thing you just created in a nice, thick layer of fudge. Yes, you read that right. What you don't realize now is that you did not create exactly what you wanted. You've got the main stuff, of course, and the basic gist of everything you're looking for should be in there. But there will be specifics, little details, that will come out in the course of writing your story/creating the rest of your world that you did not think of during this process. So leave some holes. Blur some lines. Make sure there's enough room for you to slot that stuff in later when you need to.
And there you go. You've got yourself a spaceship. She still needs a crew, and possibly a personality if you're going the "ship as a character" or "this thing has a brain" route. But she looks like something you could slap on the cover of a book at least. Or that someone else could slap on the cover of a book, depending on your artistic ability. Best case scenario you were creating a ship for someone else to use in a table-top RPG, or something, and you're done! Worst case you're writing a book and you're now about 3% through that process.
Well... any progress is progress. Good luck!
But I am a bit of a poet, and you... did not know it.
Ahem. Moving on. I wanted to get that little detail out in front so you know what it is you're reading. I'm not running through the scientific and engineering practicalities of designing a spaceship. While I do have a general understanding of physics and a working proficiency with electronics and computers, what I actually am is a writer. So we'll be talking about the design of a spaceship that is intended primarily as the setting for a story. A sci-fi story, specifically, because if it's not actually sci-fi you can just do whatever you *cough*StarWars*cough* want.
 |
| Don't get me wrong, it's a cool ship. Just not super consistent. |
What sorts of things go into designing a fictional spaceship? What considerations regarding actual science do we need to concern ourselves with? Where is it okay to deviate from actual physics? How do we fudge those deviations such that the audience doesn't notice or doesn't care about them? Where's the line between aesthetic design and functional design, and how do you balance it? These are the sorts of questions we're going to be addressing here.
So, step one. As a proponent of putting actual science into science-fiction, you might be surprised to hear me say that the first place you probably ought to start is with how the thing looks. Because the honest truth is, if you're building a large starship for extended space travel and you're looking for the most efficient design possible, Star Wars and Star Trek have pretty much taken all of that ground and made it functionally iconic. You can make your ship a giant cube, sure, and the engineers will all appreciate the simplicity of your "vacuum only" design, just don't be surprised when everyone else compares it to the Borg.
 |
| Planet-sized space station shaped like a planet. Huh. Fancy that. |
Decide what you want your ship to look like first. Do you have a specific aesthetic in mind? Is it functional and blocky, or sleek and fast-looking? You can toss some actual science in there, if you want. Is it intended to fly through atmospheres, or is it pretty much just going to stay in space? In atmosphere you might want some wings. Maybe you want to hearken back to naval vessels and water landings, or maybe you want it to look like a plane. Maybe, science aside, you want the ship to say something about the personality of the people who own it. Maybe they're prone to overcompensation. Maybe they really like frisbees. Answer some questions like this, and then think about what the general outline of that ship might look like. Sketch some crap on a scrap piece of paper.
Next, fill in the details of the exterior. You'll want to apply a bit more science here. What sorts of engines are we looking at? Where does sub-light propulsion come from? Where does faster-than-light propulsion come from, if applicable? How about weapons, any of those? Are they even visible? Are we talking rail-gun turrets, missiles, or energy weapons of some sort? How big is the ship, roughly, 4 meters or 4000? Does it land, and if so, on what? What about windows? Cargo bays? Escape craft? How about embellishments, like paint jobs or random fins that just look cool? Keep in mind that the decisions you make on details like this will inform the design of every other ship in your story, unless this is the only ship in your story, or it's a fish-out-of-water sort of story (think Star Trek: Voyager). On the flip side, if this ship is going to get slotted into an existing universe, then the existing tropes of that universe need to inform these details (the Federation ship in your Star Trek fan fic, for instance, needs warp nacelles. And no, I don't want to read it when you're done).
Now, turn your attention to the interior. If you want you can go all out and draw up some diagrams of where everything is and how it connects, laying out stuff like the power delivery system, the chambers and hallways, defensive diagrams and maintenance tunnels, air and matter filtering and recycling stations and the associated ductwork and plumbing. Top-down and side-on decking diagrams can include all of that stuff. Or, if that level of detail isn't really necessary (up to you), you can just make a list of the amenities they have aboard, and the locations of the various settings you intend to use. If the entire story takes place in the power station and mess hall, you just need to know where stuff is in those rooms, and where those rooms are. For instance, power is on deck 1 and the mess is on deck 4. The mess has big windows right behind the bar, and the power room has a long bank of consoles down the center and blank walls heavily shielded against radiation. Use only as much detail as you need, but make sure you are thinking about how much detail you need.
This bit is a little weird, but take some time and decide what your ship can't do. It's tempting to just write up a list of all the cool stuff this magnificent vessel can do, but it's equally important to figure out what the limitations are. What's the top "speed"? What kind of acceleration/deceleration can it sustain? What's the power output versus the power drain from normal operation? Is the ship combat capable? If so, how capable exactly? Armor like paper, weapons about as effective as a squirt gun? I'm not saying your ship should be an unarmed pile of scrap held together by zip-ties and prayer *cough*Serenity*cough*, but it's almost more important to know why this ship sucks than it is to know why it's awesome. Assuming it's awesome at all.
Okay, now you can write up that list of why this ship is the dopest thing.
Right, final step. Go back and cover that whole beautiful thing you just created in a nice, thick layer of fudge. Yes, you read that right. What you don't realize now is that you did not create exactly what you wanted. You've got the main stuff, of course, and the basic gist of everything you're looking for should be in there. But there will be specifics, little details, that will come out in the course of writing your story/creating the rest of your world that you did not think of during this process. So leave some holes. Blur some lines. Make sure there's enough room for you to slot that stuff in later when you need to.
And there you go. You've got yourself a spaceship. She still needs a crew, and possibly a personality if you're going the "ship as a character" or "this thing has a brain" route. But she looks like something you could slap on the cover of a book at least. Or that someone else could slap on the cover of a book, depending on your artistic ability. Best case scenario you were creating a ship for someone else to use in a table-top RPG, or something, and you're done! Worst case you're writing a book and you're now about 3% through that process.
Well... any progress is progress. Good luck!
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