We can go over the compartment space requests, but as the QM mentioned just a few posts ago doing so would make the interior of our vessel cramped and undesirable which is why I don't want to do that. Besides, we know for certain that we could quite easily meet all of their requests, so it's hardly 'unreasonable' in this case and that point is moot.
Yeah, but you know what? Both your numbers and mine show that an Aurek with two engines and standard plating will have a third of it's compartments still free to fill. We aren't in danger of running out of internal space yet.
Okay first off, I am not sticking to my argument because 'it is a super-special dream design that I got attached to' and implying otherwise does the integrity of your argument and this discussion no favors in my eyes. Secondly, yes we are losing budget by the turn which is precisely why I don't want to push off our responsibilities to the next turn in the hope that we will have enough money and time to do everything you want. We have no idea what our next budget will be, we have no idea whether or not we will need to spend additional time/budget polishing our prototype, we have no idea how much space weapon systems or shields will take up.
I am on the side of working with what we can possibly gather this turn. The way I see it we could do Shields or Blasters this turn, not both, and I personally prefer Blasters because we have other options for defense in armor.
I consider 10 or more compartment space each to be a guess as far as what those things could cost because those are extensive additions—and you'll find at no point did I present those numbers as undisputed fact. My reasoning is because it is not something small like plating or a cargo bay, it requires wiring and structural support and the main systems for it will likely take up an entire room on their own. Similar to engines, which is why I based their numbers off that. Would it be great if they were lower than that? Yes, but I'm not in the business of betting on that.
Lastly, as to your statement about how our job is to not be 'standout'... that is quite literally the entire point of the prototype. The prototype model is specifically only for entering into a competition in which us and a bunch of other more developed companies are competing over a contract in which there is probably only going to be a single design chosen. If we do not stand out from the crowd, we will not win, and the prototype was useless. This is not the final model we are selling to the public, this is the prototype build that has to compete with every other ship presented at the competition; and I really don't know how many times I have to continue saying that.
Are the engines and hyperdrive really a good ballpark estimate though? They are a completely separate subsystem that have different requirements and outputs. In addition, we're looking at large, powerful engines and hyperdrives since we are trying to make a fast ship. I find it more likely that for a civilian courier not meant to fight any guns or shields are going to be smaller than the engines or hyperdrive.
But you know what? Maybe I am wrong. Maybe the dice fail and we can't get our hands on a shield before the deadline. Or maybe we do get one, but there's no way we can fit it in the ship without removing something important. But I've come to terms with that, and tried to build my plans so that we can go ahead with the shield-less design as a fallback if my plan fails for whatever reason.
And maybe I am wrong about you, I truly hope so. But I can't read your mind over the internet and know what you are thinking. To me most of your points on why we should use the armor comes off as pulling numbers from unrelated subsystems and waving them as a reason we can't fit shields on the courier without removing some other part of it, despite the fact that we have never even seen a shield to know how much space it will take, or doomsaying that we need to push the prototype through right this turn or we won't have the budget.
And speaking of the budget, I did take into account the decrease in my plan too. We've been steadily dropping 1 per turn, so with us having 8 this turn I planned around having only 7 next turn. Of course, once again if I am wrong we still have a fall back. Even if we drop down to 6 budget, or even 5, we will still have enough budget to work on our prototype and send it in with a Blaster and armor.
The idea that we may be delayed during the prototype sub-turn is a valid concern, I agree with you there. However, given that the QM had already removed one form of RNG-derived time delay by making it so that we don't have to pass a dice roll to succeed, unless
@Jax is willing to inform us otherwise, I am inclined to believe that a RNG induced time delay isn't going to be a possibility for an issue that crops up.
Finally, it is possible to stand out in a bad way. If people see our design, and with the unique lack of shields their first thought is: "This ship is vulnerable, it's got no shields and a crap gun" that is a impression we will have working against us, particularly if the other contestants do have shields, and the kind of standout I am trying to avoid. We're already fairly certain that we can reach the customer's requirements for the important stats, so why not try to shore up the weaknesses of the courier, both real or perceived, to make it look even better versus the competition.
I get that we are under a time crunch and pressure to get this out which is why I don't want to rush this, and instead am pushing take the chance to look through all our options so we can do this right the first time, since we definitely won't have the chance to design a ship again if we get this wrong.
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