I do love my vertical ships, but it makes for quite the challenge when figuring out how it lands. In this case with Grissom’s ship, is has landing struts that open up on the sides. There is also a hatch at the bottom for entry. The circular hatch in the middle of the ship is for ship-to-ship docking, as seen earlier in space, when it was docked with Roka’s ship.
runnersuniverse.com
For all things related to Runners, the sci-fi comic by Sean Wang
The landing mode looks good.
Do you have a checklist of options/situations that you run through for every ship design?
Not really. Freighter-size ships will usually get some sort of universal circular docking port on the side for connecting in space. I’ll also try to make sure I think about how a ship will land. For main ships, I will try to do some rough sections and plans, so I know where all the important rooms are. In most ships, I’ll try to have sections on the front with various widgits that can be lights, sensors, etc. I didn’t do that in this case though, since I wanted Grissom’s ship to be more of a luxury vessel with a more streamlined look.
Vertical ships are great because you can park a larger ship in a smaller docking bay, thus saving a lot of money on berthing costs.
I can only assume moving around the interior is facilitated by an elaborate series of rope ladders and slides.
Ha ha. Yeah, I probably drew it a little bit narrower than it actually would be. I did do some section sketches that I posted on Patreon that show a series of steps connecting the various levels. Probably not the most passenger-friendly layout for a ship, but awesome for those who like to do their leg day workouts!