Omigosh, David!
3D Printing !?!?
That would mean I have to go back over the model and make all objects totally 'manifold' so that it could actually be done. Big time ouch!
* Scream! Cry! Gnashing of teeth! *
Not impossible... but... Not going to happen just now, believe you me. Maybe in the future (???)
My preference is to remain anonymous (any old mouse?). Not really lookin' for recognition, just tryin' to do a good job. If you wish you may refer to me as 'Ignatz' which is the name I often use when online. [ The name is in reference to the little brick throwin' mouse in the old Krazy Kat cartoon strip drawn by George Herriman. Guess I'm just a lil' ol' troublemaker at heart. ]
You were talking about ownership rights of the model (IP) in your latest audio diary entry. Let me be clear: I'm expressly turning the rights of the end result(s) over to you, for good, bad or whatever. It is, after all, essentially your idea and your universe.
Cheers,
- Ignatz
Ignatz,
Don't worry about making the models ready for 3D printing. The guys I spoke with have experience with such things, and I believe are capable of making the necessary conversions.
Ignatz it shall be! I will proclaim the genius of Ignatz to the high heavens! (I'm an old Krazy Kat fan, myself, BTW.)
Regarding ownership of the model, for the record, I would have no problem at all if you retained the rights to it. That being said, the Stardrifter RPG, and all of its original assets, is being released under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 License, and is free of charge. (The clip art is all Public Domain stuff.) I would like to ultimately release the model under Creative Commons as well, if you don't mind. I know there are places to host and release 3D models, but I don't know much beyond that.
Regarding the drones, I'm not much use, design-wise, but as a general rule, I don't think we'd want them to be much bigger than the first size concept of the weapon pods. That would be on the high side, and likely be the size of the thruster drones. The weapon, sensor, and starjump array drones could be smaller. Just an idea. If, when not in use, they more-or-less "live" on the magnetic pads up top, and on the forward ventral hull, then there's actually room for quite a number of them.
I can see the ship requiring a drone operations specialist, or maybe even two, as part of the standard crew compliment. They wouldn't generally need to operate them directly, as they'd be largely autonomous, but I can foresee situations where they might have to take over. Once the operators have seen to it that the drones are all in place, their control would immediately be turned over to the relevant specialties of the ship (e.g., Helm, Sensors, Gunnery, etc.).
Between or among the partnered ships working the cruise, there would probably be a single specialist, dubbed the Cargo Chief, who has authority over, and the responsibility of, the freight load. This person would be trained in mass distribution techniques, and industry-standard energy calculation methods per metric tonne for a wide range of propulsion equipment. They'd know what sorts of loading/unloading infrastructure is available to the cruise at every port-o-call along the way, and they would have the job of double-checking that the shipping company has made the proper arrangements in advance. If not, that job would fall to them.
This person would have the legal authority and responsibility to enter a locked cargo box if needed, in order to confirm inventory, redistribute mass loads, and take whatever actions are required of them under Territorial Law to locate, identify, and quarantine any contraband that might be aboard. They would likely have one or more assistants, working on the partnered ship(s). "Cargo Chief", aboard a Tottenberg class vessel, is considered a command staff position on most cruises.
Just a few thoughts.
-David