MCI Galaxy (SC)

Welcome to the Galaxy – the first generation SLV (Small Large Vessel) by MCI Shipyards, built as part of the Anvil Designer Challenge January 2023 for Reforged Eden and (ideally) for servers allowing interstellar travel for SV jump drives.

Co-authored with my long-time co-pilot Sigma7s14 – without him this ship would have been stuck in dry dock for weeks more!

A Small Large Vessel

Inspired by the yet un-released namesake in SC universe, Galaxy is a long-range strategic deployment corvette, designed for maximum autonomy, flexibility, and upgradeability. She is 3 decks, 50 meters, almost 270 tons – fast and agile, thanks to the light Steel/Carbon hull and a balanced drive system. She has a spacious hangar, large enough to fit a couple of small prospecting craft, or a medium fighter SV/HV (like the Matador or Kataphract). She also features ample storage and the inbuilt space for cargo modules, so she can carry everything you need – for long-term independent operation or even the Millennium Falcon-style SV-only play-through. In base RE scenario, the Galaxy is perfectly suited for long system missions. On the servers where SV jump drive has interstellar capabilities – she is a home away from home!

Fully Autonomous Modular SLV

Galaxy’s independent operations are supported by the dedicated CV module, replete with an Advanced Constructor and a Clone Chamber (!), that can be docked through the opening on the ventral side of the ship (see pics). This will allow you to set the CV module as your home-spawn and respawn there at will without the need for undocking it . Link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2924230023

To dock the module, level the ship by pressing O, then fly the module under the opening and carefully lift it up while holding O button; once it hits the ceiling, ease up and wait for the gear to latch on – it may take several tries and gentle thrust taps.
NOTE: once the CV is docked and you reload the play-field – it can’t be undocked manually – the game will consider the CV blocked. Instead, it can be undocked via the console command “undock ShipID” and then the SV “lifted” off the module. It is not a smooth process, however: the module can get stuck inside and the game will go bonkers. It is therefore recommended to strip the six thrusters on the bottom of the docked CV module and seal the opening, permanently embedding the module inside. Remember though that this will remove the ability for you to dock the SV to anything – think of how you want to operate this (i.e – scrap thrusters, but keep the docking aperture open, scrap CV module when wanting to move the ship on a carrier, then respawn and re-dock the module).

Galaxy also comes with two cargo modules and a pair of dedicated slots for these in the hangar – just fly them in, turn to align with the opening and slot in, while holding O (Galaxy also needs to be levelled of course). Link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2924229892

Lastly, Galaxy also sports two dedicated HV drop-pods – shielded, with a clone chamber and a turret on top – these can support your POI operations. Pods are housed in the dedicated pod hangars on either side of the ship and can be deployed manually by a co-pilot when the galaxy is in the air, or by using the same “undock ShipID” command as shown in the video. Deployed pods can be respectively recovered back: drive them into the main hangar and then move them to the Pod hangars in space, or even jump-boost them back in on the planet (2 player ops). Link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2924230131

The weight distribution on Galaxy is such that docked modules will impact mostly just the frontal acceleration, but not the yaw.

A Smart Fighter

Despite her size, Galaxy is tested and combat capable from the start – stock, she carries a compliment of 4 embedded Plasma Cannons and a Plasma Turret and can take on lower end OPVs and POIs with ease. Note though that due to the limitation of the Core 9 CPU Galaxy comes with just a Heavy Shield that won’t take well to sustained face damage, and a drive system balanced to maximise the frontal acceleration and yaw but lacking in pitch and strafe.

It is recommended to fly Galaxy in flat orbits in combat : turn the auto-break off, the pilot mode on and use your frontal thrust to orbit the target in plane with its flat side while keeping the nose pointed at the target and shooting. Once the shields are stripped – angle the orbit against the plane of the target to start taking shots at the core area or move to disable the drives and defang the target for parking and boarding. Takes practice, but works wonders )

For further upgrades, Galaxy will require Auxiliary cores. The good news is – she is already capable of killing drone scouts and harvesters in space and taking out planetary harvester complex POIs to obtain the processors for these cores.

Core 9, upgradable to 10A+10Q (+10H)

Stock, Galaxy comes as a Core 9 and operates at 87% CPU efficiency, but she has space to for all 10 Auxiliary Cores, 10 Quantum Cores (and 10 Hamster Cores for Anvil server pilots 😉 – come to us, we have hamsters! 😉 ). The first recommended upgrades are extra drives and generators to ease the handling of the ship. Later, she has slots for full shield part (8+8) upgrades, up to 21 turrets and a full weapon compliment to make her a truly deadly space huntress.

Weapons programming: Galaxy comes with the signature MCI Shipyards’ reactive pilot display and programmed functionality to assist in combat operations. Weapons are split into 3 groups: PDC grid – miniguns, togglable by the respective custom signal, Fixed Weapons and Turrets – both togglable by the Assault Suit custom signal. PDC group is independent, but, as Galaxy also comes with a Boarding Mode function (BM), the Fixed Weapons and Turrets respond to Combat and Boarding Mode toggles together: weapons slaved to AS1 programmed signal will power up in Combat Mode, while weapons slaved to AS2 programmed signal will power down if Boarding Mode is toggled on top of Combat. This will allow you to seamlessly switch from full complement of weapons active (Assault Suit +Combat Mode green) to just one turret active for shield suppression (AS+CM+BM green) to minimise the damage and save energy when boarding. Reactive Display works to show you active mode and weapons without having to go into the control panel – to preserve this functionality, program the newly added weapons accordingly 🙂

Features

– Core 9, upgradable to 10A+10Q+10H

– 4x Embedded Plasma Cannons, 1x Minigun, 1x Plasma Turrets. Space for 19 more turrets and maximum fixed
weapons

– Heavy Shield Generator, space for full SV shield upgrades

– Jump Drive, Long Range Radar

– Flat-orbit oriented drive system and designated space for additional lift, strafe, forward and reverse drives

– 6x Advanced Small Generators spread between fore, port and starboard generatoriums. Space for 11 more generators

– Storage: 1x 14kL, 2x 32kL (CC and HC), 1x 32kL Ammo and an assortment of small containers, WiFi

– 2x Constructors, Food Processor

– 3x Armour Lockers, Oxygen and Trauma stations

– Open View Cockpit for 2 pilots and 2 passengers, with MCI’s Reactive Pilot Display displaying system status

– Enclosed Craft hangar, 2 Pod Hangars, slots for 2x cargo modules and a CV module

– Front ventral and dorsal exits

– Two unfinished rooms at the fore for hull access and cargo expansion

– Pretty interior for you to explore 😊

Galaxy is not the simplest ship to fly stock but her armour is forgiving enough of mistakes in the beginning. If you take care of her, upgrade her, and learn with her – she will give you the stars!
Welcome…
…to the Galaxy!