As a study for Safe Haven, which I posted back on May 12, I did a few designs for spherical spacecraft. So for Friday amusement and posterity, here is one of the ones I didn't use!
Designs that didn't make it past the drawing board. Even though their weird shapes improved the travel jump by reducing shakes and vibrations, they were deemed too inappropriate, and it was preferred to avoid any potential funny nicknames.
When otherwise reliable Gravync engines fail, the field disturbance can lead to an extreme warping capable of tearing the fabric itself.
One can only imagine how stressed the engineers aboard this ship must be while trying to fix this glaring malfunction before it gets worse.
A half backed mess and lacking lots of basic features for the type, the SOCO deep research lab was finally launched after years of misguided development and budget miscalculations.
But what a hell of hull design!
The sturdy floating system is one of the few things still working on this stranded little explorer machine.
The onboard AI collapsed long time ago, and now only the wind decides the next horizon to wander.
Concept Art from #elitedangerous, these were some of the super early pieces of key art trying to hit the major beats of 'feeling'.
Some Combat (Our earliest builds were dogfighting around an O'Neil cylinder)
Some trading in the insides of huge spinning stations.
Flying your ship exploring the vastness of space.
Cargo ships like this were unique handmade pieces and rear sights. Made of recycling scrap yards cheap spare parts, they were not safe or reliable but allowed their owners to make a living.