Empyrion pictures I promised:
Here's the new "starter" CV. I christened mine the "SkyBitch." She weighs a svelte 1350 tons. Her primary role is exploration, scouting, and bare minimal support for expanding and basebuilding.
I made one or two little adjustments... it came with two dorsal 30mm cannon turrets mounted in the rear, I added a top central rocket turret and some small ventral 5.8mm turrets to deal with any predatory animals that might venture too close when she's landed.
She's also got a tiny landing pad at the aft, suitable for a small shuttle or fighter.
Her bridge is sleek and functional, with plush appointments for comfort and good visibility.
The engine room is a little cramped, but efficient and utilitarian, all while still not harsh on the eyes. You can see her jump drive through the deck plating.
Her crew cabin has a small grow room currently planted with tomatoes, pumpkins, "space durians" and aloe vera. I'd have liked to plant coffee as well, but there just wan't room... and health kits (aloe vera) won out over coffee, just barely.
There's also passenger seating in the crew cabin, and nice large picture windows.
Now... for comparison... let's have a look at the capital ship I designed from the ground up... Meet the "Bizarre Adventure IV," or as my friend Dimento calls it, "9000 tons of concentrated Fuck You." And yes, she weighs in at a crushing 9000 tons. Most of it in armor.
Sporting more than a dozen turrets ranging from 5.8mm to 160mm and direct-fire plasma cannons and rocket launchers, its primary role is long range fire superiority, and functioning as a fully equipped and heavily defended base in and of itself.
Her bridge, while somewhat spartan, allows for unparalleled situational awareness and visibility through her thick, armored transparent canopy.
Her primary central corridor is lined with oxygen and fuel tanks, along with the primary generators, since it is the deepest, most heavily armored part of the ship.
The portside hold contains the food preparation and hydroponics facilities, and little else.
Meanwhile the starboard hold has three advanced constructor manufactoria, the gravity generator, ammunition storage, and the auxiliary generators.
The central, risen area of the upper hull has left just enough open room to accomodate one small fighter or shuttle, though I hesitate to call it a landing pad, much less a hangar. Far too generous.
The hump at the back is the armored housing for the jump drive. Its massive engines gobble power like crazy. From one full fuel load (which is about 8 times the fuel capacity of the Skybitch), you can get about 20 minutes of atmospheric flight. It's not meant to cruise around a planet. It's meant to stay in space, but it can land and take off again if it has to.