TER Challenger: A Terran Megashipyard

[UnholyForager]

The Challenger is a very large station that goes well beyond what might be considered practical. The primary goal of this design is aesthetics and exploring what is possible to achieve by editing construction plan xml files. The station was designed by using Python to calculate the individual coordinate and rotation values for each module before writing the design into an XML file rather than using the in game station designer. A more detailed explanation of the method can be found here, although the method has been significantly improved and expanded since the guide was written. There are no mods required to use this design and doing so will not flag your game as modified.

Note: I have not been able to extensively test all aspects of this station. As this station was designed in a highly unconventional way, some unexpected behavior may occur. Please report any problems you have with this design here on this thread.
Known problem: With the larger variants, the build storage and ships docking with the build storage may turn invisible. To my knowledge, they will still function normally despite this.

Note: Due to the size of the station designs, the xml files have been compressed. They should be unzipped before being imported to the game.

Features:

• A unique and elegant design with aesthetic focus
• Build order optimization using a weighted intercalation of modules
• Many design variants to choose from
• Only ~1 out of 5 defense platforms are armed in order to increase performance
• All variants come with 4 Terran administration modules

Variants:

• Alpha and Beta: uses the same design but Beta is significantly smaller with fewer modules (see below)
• HQ: includes HQ module, ship fab modules moved to exterior, only available for Challenger Alpha
• Automated: does not include any habitation modules or food/medicine production
• Civilian: does not include any defence modules
• Hex: alternative style for defense platform rings, only available for Challenger Beta

The overall design of the station uses simple shapes to create an elegant, yet not overly complex design. The outer shell forms perhaps the most unique shape contained in the design and is created from rings of defense platforms. The inner shell contains all the production, habitation, storage, and docking modules and is formed by arranging these modules into rings which are then rotated around a single axis to form a spherical shape with a gap in the middle. The ship fabrication modules reside in the core of the station where newly constructed ships are able to fly through the gap in each of the outer shells. With the HQ variant, the HQ module resides in the core instead and the ship fabrication modules are moved the either side of the exterior of the inner shell.

[UnholyForager]

Challenger Alpha

A truly massive station of titanic proportions. The outer shell of defense platforms spans a diameter of over 50km. The inner production shell has a diameter of ~22km whilst the ring holding the ship fab modules has a diameter of ~12km. The standard variant has 3 XL, 8 L, and 4 S/M ship fabrication modules and over 3000 total modules. This design is not for the faint of heart!


Click here for full album


Variant information:

Standard configurations:
3 XL, 8 L, and 4 S/M ship fabrication
Challenger Alpha:
3167 total modules, 464 Terran L Hab, 1020 defense platforms
Full configuration
Challenger Alpha Automated:
2389 total modules, 1020 defense platforms
Full configuration
Challenger Alpha Civilian:
2203 total modules, 464 Terran L Hab
Full configuration
Challenger Alpha Automated Civilian:
1425 total modules
Full configuration

[UnholyForager]

HQ configurations:
4 XL, 6 L, and 4 S/M ship fabrication
Challenger Alpha HQ:
3197 total modules, 464 Terran L Hab, 1020 defense platforms
Full configuration
Challenger Alpha Automated HQ:
2403 total modules, 1020 defense platforms
Full configuration
Challenger Alpha HQ Civilian:
2233 total modules, 464 Terran L Hab
Full configuration
Challenger Alpha Automated HQ Civilian:
1455 total modules
Full configuration

[UnholyForager]

Challenger Beta

A slightly more modest design than the Challenger Alpha, but no less impressive. The outer shell of defense platforms spans a diameter of ~40km and the inner production shell has a diameter of ~14km. All variants have 1 XL, 2 L, and 2 S/M ship fabrication modules and the standard variant has nearly 2000 total modules. This design is retains the Alpha's aesthetic while being a bit more performance friendly.


Click here for full album


Variant information:

Challenger Beta:
1965 total modules, 308 Terran L Hab, 770 defense platforms
Full configuration
Challenger Beta Hex:
2421 total modules, 308 Terran L Hab, 1218 defense platforms (174 armed discs)
Full configuration
Challenger Beta Automated:
1569 total modules, 770 defense platforms
Full configuration
Challenger Beta Automated Hex:
2021 total modules, 1218 defense platforms (174 armed discs)
Full configuration

[UnholyForager]

Challenger Beta Civilian:
1259 total modules, 322 Terran L Hab
Full configuration
Challenger Beta Automated Civilian:
849 total modules
Full configuration

[Tassekaffe]

this looks fu... amazing, my pc would crash even thinking about the station, let alone load it.... amazeballs

[UnholyForager]

Challenger SotW Variants

Two variants featured in my submissions for Screenshot of the Week, Week #11 'Station'. These variants are based on the Challenger Alpha design with a few key differences:

Primarily, these variants were designed for the sole purpose of of making pretty screenshots rather than functioning as a station. All solar energy production modules have been removed. Unlike the original Challenger Alpha, docking piers with pathing boxes that overlap with the outer rings WERE NOT REMOVED. For performance reasons, none of the defense platforms or production modules are armed (may consider partially or fully arming defense modules by request).

Both the Challenger Celestial and the Challenger Thousand Eyes have an SS2 variant. SS2 variants are rotated with a yaw of -83.8 degrees and a pitch of -3 degrees. This allows them to be placed in the Savage Spur II sector during a custom game start with the central station axis approximately aligned with the star as seen in the screenshots.

Challenger Celestial:

The station contains a total of 3581 modules, 2000 of which are defense platforms. This outer shell features a double ring structure containing 5 pairs of rings.



Challenger Thousand Eyes:

This design contains a staggering 6619 modules, 5038 of which are defense platforms. The massive outer shell of this station spans nearly 70 km and has a truly unique design inspired by depictions of biblical angels. Abandon all reason, ye who download!

[moonandstar99]

Hello Intel? My CPU melted....

[chew-ie]

Ah, I get it - those are not screenshots. Those are videos taken from the game - awesome the engine still is able to draw that station at 1fps.

No, seriously - awesome work, awesome result. Can't imagine the amount of work & patience which was necessary to make those stations.

[UnholyForager]

You can still take a nice screenshot while playing at 60 seconds per frame and slowly melting a hole in your desk. . .

[SkollDrachen]

you ever see something so glorious unneeded and amazing all at the same time and are thankful to have it slowly burning a hole in your computer? thats what this is for me. for that really late game crap. when the xenon are just to much to deal with...i found this.....and now have started building it...i may lose my computer at some point....but....the xenon will burn., thanks