Those were my instructions (more on that some other time) so that’s what I’m aiming to do. This next week is going to be incredibly busy, but I’m looking forward to it. Sadly this blog post is just a blip to keep my daily posts up. Nothing interesting’s going to happen around here for at least a few more days. What I’ll say for tonight though is that I’m going to be focusing extremely heavily on more near term projects on certain days for the next couple of weeks. There are some very overdue things that need wrapping up.
My recordings did not. Even the audio quality was choppy. It was completely my fault for not running any tests like I normally do. Instead, I opted to go through all my tier 10s for festive tokens. Racked up about 27 containers (including armory token purchases) before we started and opened them all at once. I’d say the highlights were the 7,000 doubloons and the 17,300 coal. Unfortunately we had to call it early since the servers were getting overloaded, supposedly on Wargaming’s end. That’s fine though, more free time for me~
It’s not a big report, but at least I’m caught up, now.
It slipped my mind that I needed to post yesterday, but on the bright side, knowing I had to do two posts today to make up for it was a much needed kick in the butt. So today I’m going to share some screenshots of some Space Engineers builds I’ve been working on during my unproductive hours.
I know what I wrote.
First up is the Prinz Heinrich.
This ship is based on the one-off armored cruiser the SMS Prinz Heinrich. That’s right, this has nothing to do with World of Warship’s upcoming German battlecruiser line! The color scheme is inspired by Azur Lane’s Iron Blood faction, though. So there’s that.
Anyone who’s been playing Space Engineers for any length of time probably recognizes this ship’s distinct profile. That’s because this ship started off as a modified D-37 Timberwolf. If there was going to be a tutorial ship for this game, the Timberwolf would be a great candidate. It’s been used as a base for ships so many times that it’s just shy of becoming a meme. Maybe that’ll happen if more of them get published.
Anyway, let’s take a closer look.
The first picture shows the bow, which is probably the biggest difference from the Timberwolf. It has a beak instead of a shroud for the missile launchers. Also, instead of missiles, the bow has an axial laser. There’s also an ore detector and a camera. I even put a laser antenna on top of the bow for working with scouting drones. Why an ore detector? The ship can operate completely independently as long as it’s got some auxiliaries aboard. It can fit several small ones in the hangar or external connectors. Having its own ore detector means it can find what it needs and then call up the auxiliaries and defend them while they mine the goods. They don’t have to do anything until they’re actually needed.
The second picture is the view just outside the bridge. Not much else to add, but I should probably mention the mods this ship uses. There aren’t a ton, but there are enough that I’m not comfortable publishing the ship yet. My general approach is to use whatever mods I want to speed up the building process, and then study the ship for ways to eliminate as many of them as I can. The trouble with dear Heinrich here is that I’m not really settled on anything about her, yet. Everything from the design of entire areas to her weapons and even her paint scheme are still up in the air. She’s just had most of this configuration for so long that I’m likely to settle on it soon.
The third picture showcases the primary thrusters. There are two nuclear reactors directly behind the thrusters on the flanks, not to mention a slew of hydrogen tanks that feed these hungry machines. Everything’s got a weakness I guess; at least the Heinrich’s shielded~
She’s also packing a decent suite of offensive and defensive weapons. The fourth picture here shows her main offensive weapons, the M48 Archer Pods from the Halo UNSC Ship Weapons mod. These are the one thing I’m not really considering swapping out for heavier guided ordnance anymore.
Not quite a Macross Missile Massacre, but we’re getting there. Give it time.
The 203mm batteries from the Northwind Weapons mod are also keepers at this point.
The AMS lasers are from the same modpack and 10 of these make up the majority of Prinz Heinrich’s close-in weapon systems. The rest is handled by 8 rampart turrets.
With that I think it’s time to take a look inside the ship. It looks completely different from the Timberwolf.
The bridge has four operating stations in a diamond arrangement. The captain’s seat is in the back and just has some basic control and monitoring functions. The forward most console is the helm for the ship. It also has controls for the axial laser and some of the weapons. The engineering console is on the right and can mess with things happening down in Engineering. The console on the left is the weapons console. This console has access to and control of all of the Heinrich’s weapons.
I put a picture of Elly Van Houten in the captain’s quarters of all my Kaisermarine and Kriegsmarine inspired ships as an old inside joke. She’s probably Dutch, but when did that stop Germany?
Onto more serious aspects of the ship.
This is the General Information Center. Since the Heinrich’s capable of operating as a warship or as an explorer, the CIC is referred to as a GIC. To be perfectly honest, I’m a bit iffy on the naming conventions regarding parts of the ship since there’s also a data center. It’s a server room for all but one of the programmable blocks on the ship, but server room isn’t exactly fitting either, at least I don’t think so.
The Data Center in question.
Cryo Room with monitoring.
The ship’s gravity generator is in here, too. A holdover from the Timberwolf.
The hangar.
It’s somewhat large, but not quite big enough for the current iteration of the Messerschmitt. Both of the original versions could fit in here easily, but the new version isn’t a mosquito and also doesn’t have folding wings. Fortunately they can dock to the ship from the outside and the hangar can be reserved for carrying small auxiliaries/drones.
This hangar used to have modded doors which actually gave a bit more wiggle room for large fighters, but I removed it when I realized that even with those I wouldn’t have room for a cosmo style fighter, not unless I made some huge changes to the front half of the ship. Heinrich’s not a carrier so making such a big change just to be able to keep one extra fighter onboard isn’t really worth it. I think it’s better to have a reasonably large hangar just for auxiliaries or whatever cargo needs carrying.
From left to right: Walkway above the hangar, cargo area near the forward auxiliary ship controls, portside officers quarters, and the WIP Engineering section renovations.
From left to right: The exit ramp at the bottom of the ship, auxiliary ship controls, the axial laser and its console, and the crew quarters.
So that’s the majority of the ship. There are a few more areas and things I could go over, but I’d rather save those for another time. Things like the landing gears and the far back area of the engineering section are always subject to change, especially with how quickly they were built.
I hope this tour of the Prinz Heinrich was interesting.
I’m trying to reduce the number of mods the Heinrich needs to both look and function as intended so I’ll make a complete list of the mods involved when I’ve got more time and I’m closer to finalizing the ship.
Next up is the BF-109 Messerschmitt reimagined as a Cosmo Fighter from Space Battleship Yamato.
I built this from scratch last night so this could be my fastest build ever if I stick with the general design. The picture below is the model it’s based on, but I decided to go my own way in a few areas since I’m not making a Cosmo Falcon; I’m making a Cosmo Messerschmitt.
For an idea of the scale.
She’s armed with plasma accelerators and some ridiculous/cool torpedo launcher Akiad came up with. For standard armaments across all the models, I think those work just fine. A scout variant might ditch the torpedoes, but in general these will have more weapons, not less. I’m just glad the Heinrich’s external connectors can easily accommodate these large fighters.
Like I said, the fighter’s base model still needs a lot of work, but for idle building, she’s coming along great. I’m seriously considering going for something more conventional for the tailfin unfortunately. The shape is nice but I think even a subgrid with some finagling to get some of the same angles would be a better idea at this point. I would have leaped at the chance to try that if subgrids didn’t make gameplay exponentially more complicated. I just figured since I used subgrids for the landing gears it should be on the table; in for a penny, in for a pound. We’ll see.
I’m thinking I might flatten out the nose to more closely match the cosmo falcon’s shape but for now I’m mostly satisfied with its appearance. It’s just the tailfin and some landing gear issues I need to work out. After that I might try to change a few things since I don’t have to worry about cramming this thing into the Heinrich’s hangar. Any ship that houses these internally is going to have to need 9×7 blocks of clearance at the bear minimum. I could make a ‘carrier’ version with folding wings but there area few issues I’d have to work through first and for now I just want a base version to work off of. Finishing that comes before making any specialized carrier equipment for them.
With that, we’re done for now. That’s the Prinz Heinrich and the Cosmo Messerschmitt, both works in progress, but further along than I would have expected a month ago. Thanks for reading.
Alright, this is the last LGT editing session for this chapter, which just leaves the song. I’m still not sure if I should touch it. It’s not perfect, but since Irving made it up on the spot, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s also the issue of formatting. I don’t think I can do this justice the normal way where I’m working backwards line by line. Songs require a ‘big picture’ approach. I guess we’ll edit it to try and improve the song and make Irving look like even more of a savant. We’ll go ‘chapter by chapter,’ speaking of the story in the song. I’ll insert my edits along with my reasoning as we go.
Before starting off proper I want to point out that while Irving sings this song by himself, it’s actually covering multiple perspectives and if sung in some kind of ‘official’ manner, you’d have the first part of each line sung by the lead, and the a choir or something singing the second part. Example: Irving sings, “My king, anointed and dearest Evander,” and then the choir finishes with, “returned to the earth from whence he came.” The song is structured like this for each and every line. That’s the way I conceived it, and that’s the way Irving conceived it. It’s honestly a shame he didn’t have help with this one. It would have been cool.
I also want to point out that while I don’t know if there’s a song that matches the melody of the Armor of the Unburdened, it does have a melody. I’m still trying to figure out how to express that melody in text and I’m not coming up with anything yet. Just something I wanted to mention in case this song comes up again in the future.
My king, anointed and dearest Evander, returned to the earth from whence he came.
Majestic, undaunted and peerless defender, all men fight on in his glorious name.
Prince Mnemos they shout, for I am he, his oaths heralded the gilded crown.
The Vandals raze cities in spite of me, the king’s armies would strike them down.
I could add some more context here without bloating things. That’s natural since there’s a melody everything has to fit along with and the lines can only be so long.
My king, anointed, our dearest Evander, returned to the earth from whence he came.
Majestic, undaunted, our peerless defender, Ledonians fight on in his glorious name.
Of victory and plunder the Vandals did sing, Ledonia burns, she burns all around.
Now I, Prince Mnemos am sworn to be king, his oaths heralded the gilded crown.
This was a good way to get rid of an unhelpfully vague part about Evander’s people while also naming the country the two kings ruled over. The first line is actually said once before the song starts and I’m debating whether leaving that original version in Irving’s first attempt is the right call or not. As someone who comes up with rhymes out of sheer friggin’ habit, I can’t help but feel that the song evolving even as it’s coming out is way more realistic, even for a faber. I think I’ll leave it since I’ve been leaning in that direction from the start. I also pushed the third line down to the fourth spot and tried something a little different with the mention of the Vandals.
A curse was upon me, my fear took hold, he dared not make war at fourteen years old.
The Mystic, he soothed me with tales of the bold, of men unburdened and clad all in gold.
He granted me peace and I summoned my knights, they journeyed north to find the land.
To persevere through most perilous fights, the Unburdening Armor was near at hand.
This ‘chapter’ is the first actual mention of the Armor and needed to be a bit bombastic on the intro. I think it works well enough but there’s no way a structure like this can’t be touched up at all. So we’ll try something like this:
A curse was upon me, my fear did take hold, a boy made king, a mere fourteen year old.
The Mystic, he soothed me with tales of the bold, of men unburdened and clad all in gold.
My heart was at ease, I made north with all haste, they journeyed north to find the land.
Not one man turned back from the horrors we faced, the armor was surely nigh in hand.
Changing the line about the fourteen year old will necessitate a line change elsewhere since Enya quotes it directly, but that’s not a big deal.
Here’s the line and the change:
“A curse was upon me, my fear took hold, he dared not make war at fourteen years old …” >>> “A curse was upon me, my fear did take hold, a boy made king, a mere fourteen year old …”
Now this one as a whole … wow. It may look nice now but this took hours to figure out and I don’t think it’s such a huge improvement that I can say much more about it than that. It gets more vague in one respect and a lot clearer in another, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m more focused on the structure of the lyrics than the exact meaning. It’s a tricky balance but I think the song’s holding up reasonably well despite some of the reworks. It’s definitely not getting worse, or I’d leave it alone.
How long did we tarry within that place? A season passed while they fought the grave.
The armor’s light revealed my face, no longer a boy but one of the brave.
Inscriptions tell tales of a solemn act, forsaking knowledge of every deed.
Donning the armor shall seal the pact, for power, for courage, and every need.
This is one I was hoping I could improve regardless of whether or not I did anything with the rest of the song. So, frankly, IT IS TIME.
How long have we tarried, how long have we fought? A season has past and the mountain runs red.
My fear was cast down, I have seen what I wrought, the Unburdening Armor lies just ahead.
The inscriptions make known a most solemn act, forsaking knowledge of every deed.
Now donning the armor shall seal the pact, for power, for courage, and every need.
Basically the first two lines were missing something that could really tie this chapter of the story together. So, a possible question: Was it a mountain or a grave the armor was being kept in? Both. I didn’t mention that this happened in a mountainous region since I didn’t know where to put that. The story’s also just hopelessly vague in several areas by its very nature. I decided that the mountain was the more important of the two details, so I would put it in. It’s also probably the better detail overall. A grave has implications that I can’t do much with without having Irving give more detail. A mountain is still vague but the reader isn’t being led into a complete fog that can only stand on whatever cliches people associate with graves. It’s not a detail that’s going to serve the song or the story as seamlessly as the mountain does.
The contract begins, these words did I speak, it was not of his own accord.
This armor I bear for the sake of the weak, the knights’ refrain he could ill afford.
Laughter and mocking returned with my sight, a plot most foul and for decades discrete.
Those wicked servants were full of delight, the words he did speak, the contract is complete.
This one’s always had flow problems, so after all of these edits, I’m eager to fix it up as best I can.
‘The contract begins,’ these words did I speak, these words were not of his own accord.
This armor I bear for the sake of the weak, they returned to Ledonia to lay low the horde.
Cruel laughter and mocking returned with my sight, a plot most foul and for decades discrete.
Men in my court, they were filled with delight, the words he did speak, ‘The contract is complete.’
This one isn’t as big an improvement as I’d like, especially not in the flow department. Trying coming up with a melody that fits the rest of the ‘chapters’ and then try it on this one. You’ll see what I mean; it’s a rather tight fit and not one I’m sure how to address right now. Some of the context of the story changed, though not the story itself. The knights were a bit dubious about the whole memory loss issue, but it’s probably more important to make sure to get across that they went back to fight before the huge time skip happens. Plus, the doubting knights don’t warrant a mention in the song. Maybe in a proper retelling of the story, but not in a short song, I don’t think.
The King, anointed, yet only a boy, returned to his youth by his legend’s own claim.
His memories all lost in a dastardly ploy, decrowning the king was their ultimate aim.
The armor was gone, I knew not where I erred, for him, his past they would not regale.
The Mystic appeared and my life was spared, in exile, King Mnemos would hear his own tale.
There’s a structural error in here that I’m only now noticing. The first and second lines. Every single line in the song is supposed to start from Mnemos’ perspective, and then switch to Irving’s ‘outsider looking in and back’ perspective. These two lines breaks that rule and give Irving’s viewpoint from start to finish. Now I’d make this kind of mistake easily–case in point–but Irving wouldn’t. His memory’s more precise than your average human can even imagine, so this definitely needs some work. I’m glad I decided to actually take a good hard look at this.
A reign I knew not had just come to an end, his memories lost as if only a dream.
No loyalty here, they all willed to ascend, they put to action this dastardly scheme.
The armor was gone, I knew not where I erred, for him, the past they would not regale.
The Mystic appeared and my life was spared, in exile, King Mnemos would hear his own tale.
Sheesh, this one was hard, too. Even though I only had to change two lines. Even though I more or less know what I’m doing now. Even though the word choice wasn’t especially important here so long as the tone and vocabulary were close enough. I left the last lines nearly untouched because they say exactly what they need to. For instance, the armor’s gone: implication is it was stolen. The Mystic appears and his life is spared: implication is the Mystic saved Mnemos somehow. In exile: implication is they left together. It’s a lot of important information crammed into a very small space and I’m not sure I can come up with a better version quickly enough to finish this today. However, I’m fine with coming back to older–even much older–LGT edits to make sure a good edit makes it in if I think of some. For now, this works.
That’s it. That’s the entirety of LGT Chapter 1: The Armor of the Unburdened. This is probably the only story I’m going to write where losing the plot is the plot. Then again, who knows with a setting like Praedia. That’ll be all for now, then. I’ll put more effort into getting Chapter 2 written and Chapter 3 started, but there’s a lot going on right now and until I can get back into a true morning schedule and get some stability going, it’s going to be slow going. Anyway, hopefully this was as helpful to anyone reading as it was to me.
Delayed onset muscle soreness. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I’d woken up sooner. Oh well. Now you know how my day’s been.
Oh, and in other news, apparently the Black Friday ships for 2021 were leaked by the Daily Bounce. I think that’s the site. Sadly, there is no Enterprise B, so at least until next year, I’m out of reasonable avenues for getting one of my favorite CVs. It’s just as well since they’re apparently doing Tier 10 Black Friday ships this year. Yoshino if the leaks are correct. I’m actually saving coal for Yoshino right now so if not for a few other concerns I’d be interested. This is bad timing though and I won’t be making any Black Friday purchases if this list is the final one. There are some good ships in there like Pommern and Loyang, but it’s just not worth it without Enterprise.
While I’m on the topic of WoWs, Clan Battles went surprisingly well. I think I play the game better when I’m not using a microphone. That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest to be honest, but now I’ve got a bit of evidence to back it up. Not everything went well. The first couple of matches were kind of bad on my end, but for someone trying to stay focused against lightheadedness and a random urge to sneeze, I think I adapted well. I could probably slap a couple of good clips together from the footage sometime in the future.
Also I’m going to do the next LGT editing post tomorrow. This will be #8 and just cover Irving’s song. That’s the last one until I finish the next chapter. It’s going to be a while before that’s finished since I’m multitasking across the board and haven’t quite made the shift to full morning work. We’re getting close, though. Whoever’s reading this, wish me luck, because this is a serious pain and an even more serious obstacle.
