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With any or my FanFictions, particularly ones that I cannot bring myself to share to light of day, I like to do research. Where I can I like to ground in familiar threads more than making things up willy nilly. I spend copious hours studying TFWiki.

This obsessive curiosity presented me with a question that had to run down. In my particulsr canon, Metroplex is playing the role of "Autobot Flagship" and I wanted to know, really know, what that might entail. Understanding the ship meant I could maybe better shape the crew. Rather than just picking random Autobots I like (which is still a large portion of the casting) I could see how the dynamics might work together. It also keeps me from going over overboard on too many Autobots (which I am close to already)

To start with, I needed to know a size. T30 Metroplex tends to look a lot like an Aircraft Carrier, so that was my initial adsumption
But I needed more certainty. A cursory look online didnt show much consistancy though, so I turned to the figure itself. Specifiaclly, the Collarbone Bridge window.

There are 2 Autobots present in the Bridge, Ultra Magnus, which TFwiki tells me is roughly 22' tall (which seema small to me given a 53' trailer but mayne the length compacts that much) and Arcee. Most Autobot Cars average about 15'-18'. Ultra Magnus is roughly 2/3 as tall as the window, so a good approximation is that the Control Bridge has a floor to cieling height of roughly 30'.

So now out comes Mr. Tape Measure. And wouldnt you know, the collarbone bridge button is almost 1" tall. So now I ha e a scale of 1"=30'

This is interesting, becaude it means that Metroplex is roughly 630' tall to his head. Two things happen here:

[list=][*] Thats not far off of the G1 Comic height of 698' and given the estimates its close enpugh to me for Government work.
[*]surprisingly, Metroplex is not actually that big. 630' tall, and not all of that height translates to length in Carrier Mode,eans that Metroplex is more in line with the US Navy Arleigh Burke Destroyers than an Aircraft Carrier. (Yes, I am a Last Ship fan, why do you ask?)]
[/list]

See how size matters?

So, with scale in hand, I determine that Metroplex id roughly 8 decks or 240' tall, 210' feet wide, and and has a habitable space of. 630' long (not including the flight deck extensions). I estimate a crew complimwnt of 33 infantry bots, plus officers, visiting Dignitaries, and Slammer Scamper and SixGun's personal space. Mefroplex's head is tall enough to constitute 2 decks, but I am not counting that as a full deck, I figure the Head is a Cockpit, and reserved access to only Slammer Scamper Sixgun and Optimus Prime. Maybe Windblade, but I prefer the RID15 take on her as "Warrior Princess" and if I were to ever write my stuff down there is something I would rather do with Vicrorion as the first Camien to make contact, so I dont think we need her as a CitySpeaker here. I also figure that much of his head probably collapses into the lower half to housr the Bridge/Ops Center.

In my head canon, I am assuming that Metroplex is dormant but aware of his status and envirn. Ship's functions and automated systems run as part of his own subconscious subroutines. Meanwhile an artifical Teletraan-like Computer interface operates as an overlay, and Metroplex himself relies on Scamper, Slammer, and SixGun to make decisions and execute actions. But even in a detached state, they probably still hear him, and I suspect if Prime ever asked for a Consult he would be there, and it wouldnt take much to rouse the Titan if thr time ever required.

Now, I am taking some liberties with Metroplex, arguing that the rather anatomic torso on T30 Metroplex collapses or fills out into a more useful box shape, and that the arms collapse a bit more than the toy can and does. For now, the sketches very loosely cover assigned areas, and I don't nexcesarily have any idea what internal guts Metroplex would be required to have, so this is as much general Autobot vessel as it is Metroplex.

This is a work in progress, so I VERY MUCH want to hear suggestions on what you think a ship like this needs. Remember it IS a Warship, but it is also Prime's Flagship. So feel free to speak up.

Box grid is 1 box=15'
Without further ado...

UPDATED AUGUST 9TH Version1 has been moved to a Spoiler Tag. Below is my Revised V2 design.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/CRA5QUl.jpg[/img
[img]https://i.imgur.com/SmyRZTq.jpg[/img
[img]https://i.imgur.com/lmttzET.jpg[/img
[img]https://i.imgur.com/lmttzET.jpg[/img


Deck 1 is the command deck. The main area is broken up into war rooms for the Galactic, Fleet, and Local Fronts, with Prowl serving as Chief Strategist, Ultra Magnus's Duties as City Commander encompassing the other vessels in the Convoy (I couldnt help my self) and Skids serving as Overwatch for teams in the field. There is also a space alloted for "Communications", but I dont have a bot in that role right now.

In Metroplex's left shoulder is a staircase to the helipad seen on his toy, and quarters for Humanoid Organic species (split into two decks to make use of the vertical space), as well as a split level room where Humanoids and Autobots can meet eye to eye across a table. (humans on second story, Autobots on standard level) there are Quarters for Prowl on this deck, as I figure he will want to be near the action in case of emergency.

In the left Pectoral region is a 2x2 (30' square) area marked "Lift". I wasnt entirely sure how Cybertronians handle moving between floors given the heights vary from the 8' tall Motorcycle Arcee to bots like Magnus, so an Elevator seemed the most practical, even though a single elevator doeant seem the most reliable on a warship, although one must remember this is a living ship, so if someone knocks out the Elevator there are probably more pressing concerns anyway.

In Metroplex's Right Shoulder are offices and Quarters for Ultra Magnus. Along the back is an access to the red gun/Tower/Ship dock.

Speaking of those... The detail scale on those is way, way off. But following the 1"=30' scale these make nice deep space transports or blockade runners, the semis of Interstellar Travel, with the tower section becoming a 2 bot inline cockpit area. Ships like rhsese could probly whisk a dozen bots and their gear to a battlefield quickly. A fleet of ships like this zipping about the Galaxy means that Metroplex and potentially other Titans like Fort Max could be kept well armed as needed anywhere they go, no matter who is aboard them at the time.

For now, I do not have Metroplex's two gun ships assigned to teams, although if I were to give the Dinobots a larger vessel ot wpuld be this style. My expanded Protectobot/RescueBot Alpha 1 team is also probably flying a a ship of similar construction, only in different colors more in line with galactic Red Crossesque markings.

If I am being honest, I am not completely sold on the current layout of the various War Rooms. But thats why Version2 is in Pencil.

Metroplex's Forearms house the primary FTL Drivers on a sibgle deck strattling Decks 1 and 2.
=========================

Dexk 2 is the SpaceBridge Deck, roughly corresponding to the glowy thing on T30 Metroplex. There is also a large briefing room in the Left Shoulder. Prime's Quarters and Ready Room occupy the Righr Shoulder, Jazz has a small office next to Auxilliary Bridge Control across the Room.


In the right Pectoral starting on Deck 3, ypu'll see a space holder for a large area marked "Lift". This is the Hangar Elevator. For runabout ships I estimated a cieling height of 60' (2 decks). While I dont intend for the lift to go to Deck 2 all th time, and there is not the cieling height usially budgetted, on occasion Metroplex could probably collapse the floor as needed and raise the Hangar Lift up into Deck 2 to quickly move Troops or Supplies to the Spacebridge, or supplies down to Storage on Deck8 or the Med Bay on Deck 7.


The Middle section of Deck 3 is reserved for the "Guts" of Metroplex, things like his Spark Core and fuel processing. In the left shoulder are quarters for Visiting Cybertronian Dignataries. I figure those to be representatives of unaligned Refugee colonies, pther mechanical lifeforms, and maybe the larger organic species sometimes seen. The right shoulder provides living space for Autobot Ambassador Crosscut and his Bodyguard/Mechanic/Confidante RoadRage. Otherwise, there is still a lot of untapped space here.


Deck Four is the Flight Deck and Entry Way. As youvwalk in, you'll find a Large storage room for flight deck equipment. Take the Hallway on around and one will find a Shrine and Reliquary, where Bots can mourn or remember those who have fallen, or meditate in hopes that Primus might whisper some valuable clue.

The Scribbled out portion on the bottom of Decks 3 and Four are spaces for Impulse Drive Thrusters and related hardware.


As we head below the Runway we gwt into the much larger habitable spaces of the Ship.


Deck 5 is the Quarters Deck for the main Autobot presence. Each room is approxomately 45' square, with one smaller room for the smaller Autobot Arcee -[Prime] there are 33 berths. Each room has a recharge slab and a desk. Since this os War, I doubt most Autobots have a lot of belongings, but they may have a few or simply wish a work space depending upon hobbies.

The Autobots in my cast include
[list=][*]Jazz
[*]Cliffjumper
[*]Tracks
[*]Crosshairs
[*]Hound
[*]Ironhide
[*]Bumblebee
[*]Rollbar
[*]Sideburn*
[*]Ratchet
[*]Bulkhead
[*]Kup
[*]Wheeljack
[*]Perceptor
[*]Arcee
[*]Grimlock
[*]Slag
[*]Swoop
[*]Snarl
[*]Sludge
[*]Slash
[*]Skids
[/list]
If those names seem familiar, my Castlist is botn oit of an idea of Ptime/Aligned Casts made up of Classics/Neo G1 characters with a few extras. SideBurn gets a pass as he was my first toy in 2001. I did not initially intend to include the Dinobots but as my storyboarding progressed, the story evolved into a Dinobots Story. So even though thry do not feature much eatly on I made sure to give them bunk space.

I do not want to widen my cast any more as I feel like they would just be underutilized characters, but other Autobots I would include are Seaspray, Cosmos, Beachcomber, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, and Hot Shot (beacuse of the new Siege Toy) Slamdance (again, toy) would also cameo but I dont know if I would give him a bunk or one of the visiting suites on Deck 3, or if he would just live out of his ship.

Speaking of ships...
====================

Deck 6 is the primary Hangar Deck, in the back section, housing a dozen small to medium sized scout craft and runabouts based on the Jackhammer from TF:Prime, and troop transport ships similar in nature tobthe Quinjets of MCU, as well as the personal transports of Optimus Prime, Ultra Magnus, Crosscut, and maybe the Dinobots, not decided on that yet. Additional visiting craft would pribably be kept outside on the flight deck, which even in space is probably protected by a force field.

The main part of Deck 6 houses the science wing. The MedBay is adjacent to the Hagar lift. In times of emergency, wounded can be brought through the Spacebridge and whisked en masse from Deck2 to the Medbay via the Hangar Lift.

Next to to the Medbay is a the Science Lab, handy for stydying what ails ya.

Adjacent to THAT is the Morgue, whrein the Lab can assist in the Autopsy and Dissection. Not sure how a Cybertronian Death in Space is handled. I imagine the body is eventually loaded into a torpefo and shot into space, but I imagine that any upgrades and sensative Technology would want to be stripped of the corpse, npt just because of the Decepticons but also to avoid spoiling the technological evolution of any other species who might find the body.

Next to the Morge is the Armort, with a firing range runningbthe width of the front of the ship. Given many Cybertonians have weapons integrated intobtheir body, it made sense to me that the Armory would need to be near the Medical. Removing an integrated weapon would be like Surgury.

Across from Medical are a number of Training Areas. At first I had nothing there, now I may have gone a tad overboard, but again, its in pencil for a reason.

To denote them, I marked the smaller training rooms by letters.

A: This small room is a close range targwt practice arean. One to two bots stand in the middle od the toom and hit as many targets as they can, all around them. Individually, this is both great Target Practive and Reflex training. With another Bot on your back, it also becomes a great tool for Teamwork.
B: Room Bs are designed for Immersive Vehicular Simulation. An Autobot walks in, Transforms, and becones supported by their wheels on suspended platforms with rollers, allowing them to move through or be moved by the Simulation. Kup intended to use them for Maneuvering Drills, but mostly the younger Bots use them for Racing Games.
C Rooms are holo assisted sparring rooms, and can be configured for a number of Rings, game courts, and the like.

The largest Holodeck functions as you might expect one would, and is often used by Ironhide to conduct Breaching Drills


Much of Deck 7 is dominated by the Mess Hall/Common Area. This is probably a common place for Autobots to hang out, talk, play Cosmic versions of Poker, whathaveyou. I reserved space for whatwver passes as a Galley, against the Flight Elevator so that goodgrade supplies can be moved in bulk grom the Basement levrl. Givwn most Autobot fuels are drank, I dunno what this space entails, other than stprage of food grade fuels and Energon. My guess is its probably automated, but maybe Metroplex has a Foodie side and studies Mixology? Otherwise I had thought about using the character Spinout, since his arc is pretty much my experience in the food world (although in my case, the guys above me didnt so much die as had the good sense to leave. ) At the far end of the Deck os Security, with 6 prison cells and a large Vault Space. Between Security and the Commisary is a Library Space with an Archival wing.


Ask Scamper or anyone, Deck8 is a danger zone. The scary Basement Dungeon.This is the Engineering and Fabrication Deck, home to Wheeljack and his many amazing inventions, after they have blown up a few times. Suffice to say this is not a place Scamper, who is responsible for the Titan, likes to think about. There is a second hangar dexk here, with stprage capacity, and Wheeljack keeps his "Jackhammer" ship down here, but largely the space is reserved for repair and upgrade work. On the occasion that I decide to use Skyfire (and why not, the Commander Class figure is amazing) or we get a Commander Skylynx, I built intovthe lower hanger their quarters. By my estimates, and the toy shelf I am using for this cast of Autobots, the cieling should be *just* high enough to accomodate the towering Skyfire, but I opted to give he larger bot more space, at least for his own private quarters.The rest of the deck is storage and freight.

===================
UPDATE July 29 2019: Added Side View Cutaway sketch.


So there you have it. A Study of Metroplex, if you will. I feel there is still more to add, but once I am happy with the rough floorplan, my next plan is to maybe integrste this into some photoshop images of T30 Metro plex. I am not by any means an artist and I ha e tried to trace the outline of Metroplex, its not pretty, but maybe with Photoshop I can create an overlay. Thank you for reading this far.

This is really well thought-out, and a pleasure to read. Unfortunately, I think an image or two failed to load on the post! Also, I have a few suggestions:

Is there a security room on the ship, where a bot could view camera feeds from all the other rooms? Or is this unnecessary because of Metroplex's nature as a living ship?

Are you considering a story where Metroplex turns against someone inside him? All this detail could come in handy for plotting a Decepticon spy's daring escape, Prime's journey to cure Metroplex of the Hate Plague, or some such scenario.

I was about to ask about visiting quarters for other Transformers and similarly-sized things, but saw you already included them!

Is the "ready room" on Deck 1 where mission briefings and the like happen? If not there then I'm sure there are other good options. I looked for the term in your write-up, but maybe you used a different name for it?

If you're on the fence about incorporating the holodeck, I'd always say yes. It expands your possibilities; characters could train there, or go there when they aren't needed for the story at-hand. Helpful if you're thinking about a large cast. Worst case scenario: it somehow gets in the way of your story. If it does, you have a plot where it gets deactivated/destroyed and the 'bots have to cope with the loss, or replace it with something more convenient.

Latebrus-K wrote:This is really well thought-out, and a pleasure to read. Unfortunately, I think an image or two failed to load on the post! Also, I have a few suggestions:

Is there a security room on the ship, where a bot could view camera feeds from all the other rooms? Or is this unnecessary because of Metroplex's nature as a living ship?

Are you considering a story where Metroplex turns against someone inside him? All this detail could come in handy for plotting a Decepticon spy's daring escape, Prime's journey to cure Metroplex of the Hate Plague, or some such scenario.

I was about to ask about visiting quarters for other Transformers and similarly-sized things, but saw you already included them!

Is the "ready room" on Deck 1 where mission briefings and the like happen? If not there then I'm sure there are other good options. I looked for the term in your write-up, but maybe you used a different name for it?

If you're on the fence about incorporating the holodeck, I'd always say yes. It expands your possibilities; characters could train there, or go there when they aren't needed for the story at-hand. Helpful if you're thinking about a large cast. Worst case scenario: it somehow gets in the way of your story. If it does, you have a plot where it gets deactivated/destroyed and the 'bots have to cope with the loss, or replace it with something more convenient.

"Ready Room" is a Star Trek reference, as an Office for Prime, probably to take private calls in or to think/meditate while still having the "formality" of not being in his quarters. Disciplinary Hearings, if they went beyond Magnus (City Commander)
I figure the Plannig Stages, likely between Prime, Magnus, Prowl and maybe Jazz or whomever is leading in the field would be held on Deck 1, but there was a larger briefing room tucked into Deck 2 in the Shoulder for prepping the Troops prior to deployment, and it was really more of an alcove off rhe main Bridge Room so a large force could just huddle around the door frame.

I consider Metroplex to be pretty passive, maybe not as dormant as he was in the video games but powered down enough where he is reliant on his "City Speakers", Slammer Scamper and SixGun to make manual inputs while automated "subconscious" systems do the rest. I had not planned a "Revenge of Autobot City" story, although Ivdid briefly have a vision of Scamper forcibly "dissuading" Wheeljack from blowing up his lab and by extension a portion of the ship engaging another test run. I have a companion piece I will share.

Actually, the Arc I wanted to take Metroplex on wasnt even his own. I very much enjoy mashing up my various fandom 8nterests and I had a vision of Magnus and a then greying Director Faireborne discussing options facing a massive alien invasion and she basically says

"Magnus, I appreciate the gift of Plausible Deniability you have given me these many years, but its time to play that Ace I know you're holding."

"I don't follow your metaphor?"

"The Ship, Magnus. We all know. I've worked with you long enough to know when something is "just" a machine to you people and this ship isn't that."

"...you ALL know?"

"Well, myself, Fowler, Lennox, a few of his right hand men. A few more had their suspicions I never confirmed; We never said anything, but the little car guy isn't subtle about carimg for his "charge""

In that vein, a Security Room is probably something I shpuld add, although I feel like that would be Slammer or SixGun's territory and probably tucked into the head. I have a fairly large cast of Autobots, but my feeling of the Human equation is that Director Faireborne probably cringes every time someone says "You know who we should assign to Earth? Let's bring ANOTHER 15' tall walking war machine disguised as a rediculous Supercar to Earth" and not the G1 Cartoon "Giant Alien Robots for Daaayyyyyzzzzz" approach.

The problem I run into with Holodecks, is that Human Holodecks all we can do is walk around in them, and in something that is probably 45x45 thats okay because the computer can distort and move walls as needed to keep up and if need be steer someone away from a wall or another person's experoence. But what happens if a Transformer... Transforms? Even though a Computer can process and render fast enough, physically he's gonna run out of room pretty fast, even if you triple the room size in proportion, and someone who flies, forget about THAT. Unless I guess the floor could morph so that it moved like a mption simulator but thats a lot of moving parts to either be hidden by projection and would havr to time perfectly with a transformation, or To say "Well you can't Transform in this adventure story" is like telling a runner he has to walk. Or ypu limit it to say a virtual target practice ring or how some of the Trek ships used them as sport courts, but that seems limiting by comparison.

Maybe not though, ypu have given me something to think about.

Since we are on Earth, and someplace where a 630' alien Interceptor-Destroyer crewed by giant metal men is out of sight the Car guys are probably going to have roads to rev their engines on, or do laps on a track on the flight deck if nothibg is moving. I suspect that most of the small vessles are VTOL, so the "runway" is more of an outside parking lot most of the time. And thr Cartoon has shown the Dinobots enjoy Fishing, so they are probably outside and not cooped up in the ship.

Thinking about what you said some more, There does need to be a Security Office off the Brig, and probably a small enough lab for disconnecting weaponry without bringing them into the main Medbay. And I think I can cut the Galley-Space down to accommodate that. I’ll put Slammer on that Duty, while Six Gun can remain in the Head to monitor systems overall and probably monitor the security feeds as a backup.

Adding a lon intended Side view Cutaway. Obviously my sketch is particularly boxy compared to the T30 toy and I am of course taking a few liberties, but I think the overall impression is maintained.

Transformers Generations Metroplex Gallery

What do folks think about a Library, a chapel or mediation room, or a storage vault for old aretacts?

We know there were at least some form of an Archives, as at least a few iterations of Optimus Prime worked in them. But what would a library look like or consist of? I have a hard time pictureing a Cybertronian Book, but maybe Datapads were a prevalent thing versus just downloading to your brain?

We only get a cursory look at Religion on Cybertron, and its very rare even in the Comics that we see a Devout Cybertronian (who is not just bat guano crazy) but is it worth including?

And where would you put a storage vault for rare discoveries? Some of them might be able to be “displayed” in a library, but for those that aren’t or can’t do you put them in the Cargo Deck in a special bay or do you put them somewhere in an upper level where they are closer to Prime or surrounded by people?

Also, I was originally picturing the Brig as a traditional Prison, but it occurs to me that most Cybertronian Prison Cells use Stasis Pod technology, which would et me move the Galley around a bit if we weren’t trying to feed Prisoners and condense the Prison area down considerably. Thoughts?

If a physical library's a must, I'd say book-shaped cases for cassette-like objects, containing "data tracks." This is going off the Covenant of Primus from Beast Wars. In other continuities Orion Pax has been in charge of "archives", so something similar, but smaller, would make sense for a library. I think there should be a proper prison cell somewhere, since breakouts on ships were important in the G1 and Animated cartoons.
Depending on your take on the transformers' origins and Metroplex's age, a chapel might make sense even if the modern bots don't use it. Just ask yourself: is Metroplex devout himself, or from a more religious era. If the answer to either question is "yes", then a chapel works. If included, it could also double as a reliquary.

Latebrus-K wrote:If a physical library's a must, I'd say book-shaped cases for cassette-like objects, containing "data tracks." This is going off the Covenant of Primus from Beast Wars. In other continuities Orion Pax has been in charge of "archives", so something similar, but smaller, would make sense for a library. I think there should be a proper prison cell somewhere, since breakouts on ships were important in the G1 and Animated cartoons.
Depending on your take on the transformers' origins and Metroplex's age, a chapel might make sense even if the modern bots don't use it. Just ask yourself: is Metroplex devout himself, or from a more religious era. If the answer to either question is "yes", then a chapel works. If included, it could also double as a reliquary.

A library is by no means a must, but I was more thinkibg of your commwnt earlier about "Places for Bots to go when they aren't needed".

You make two good points about Metroplex's faith and a Relicquary is probably more along the lines of what I am looking for. There are two points in the second or third arcs, hell letd call them what they really are "Seasons", as I tend to thinkbabout the story structure as adaptable to cartoon where faith would crop up, but in one its coming from Camiens, and not Cyberttonians, and in the other it woulda been backstory building for Unicron.

When I think of Religion in Cybertronian terms I have a hard time thinking of it as abything like howvwe know it. For the Camiens, sure, I can do that all day. But on Cybertron Primu seems more myth than faith, and the Original Primes (7 or 13 or the Guiding Hand it what-have-you are looked to more with respect for elders than a religious belief. Its more practical, I guess is the right wording for it. Maybe wjat I need to do is to dive into Egyptian-esqe ideas od the Pharoahs, but even then Optimus has made it clear he isnt comfortable being worshipped, doesnt see the Matrix as a religious talisman, and theres no sign that Sentinel and the othrr recent Primes were held in thT regard either.

But I DO see value in a place of meditation, or reflecti g on Bots who have passed. A place of... Well a place emboding the wisdom of the ancients I guess. I see my version of Optimus as being a bot who aa things slow down is thinking more about Legacies and what comes next.

Thsnk you! This really helps gettong to talk it out

Hey, it's my pleasure reading all this! As someone with some big headcanons it's encouraging seeing other people work the best elements of continuities together, or look at citybots and go "hey, I wonder what THAT does."

Your take on Transformer religion reminds me of my headcanon for the primes, ironically years before PotP was launched. Basically, normal transformers can be empowered or possessed by members of the thirteen - the specifics vary for each prime.

Since you mentioned the wisdom of the ancients, you could contrast a spiritual space with the library or even the lab - wisdom vs knowledge! Could make for some good character studies if Wheeljack or Ratchet visits the spiritual area and Drift (assuming an IDW-ish characterization) visits the very fact-based, mechanical library or lab.

Latebrus-K wrote:Hey, it's my pleasure reading all this! As someone with some big headcanons it's encouraging seeing other people work the best elements of continuities together, or look at citybots and go "hey, I wonder what THAT does."

Your take on Transformer religion reminds me of my headcanon for the primes, ironically years before PotP was launched. Basically, normal transformers can be empowered or possessed by members of the thirteen - the specifics vary for each prime.

Since you mentioned the wisdom of the ancients, you could contrast a spiritual space with the library or even the lab - wisdom vs knowledge! Could make for some good character studies if Wheeljack or Ratchet visits the spiritual area and Drift (assuming an IDW-ish characterization) visits the very fact-based, mechanical library or lab.

Been guilty of that before! I did some Pokemon stuff and was several pages into what I thought was a fantastic story idea... And appearently so did the Manga when they did it the year before... D'oh!

I could see Wheeljack being openminded. Prime and IDW Ratchets are probably my two favorites. I always liked the idea of Ratchet saying to Optimus "Well, you know I don't put much trust in the Matrix being some mystical conduit, but I DO trust you and your reading of things, and if you say we're here for a purpose, I will always be right beside you."

Made some changes to Decks 3, 4, 6, and 7. Among the changes, more Storage space and DOORS where I remembered to put them.


Following my Discussion with Latebrus-K. i reworked and expanded the Training Space on Deck 6, feciding to embrace my concerns over halodeck reality. I compressed the firing range a little bit, and expanded the Lab by 15' (one grid), but all of that stayed where it is. A numbrr of other rooms now fill the space.

"A" is a pistol targetting range, based on a Trek design, where in 1-2 people can stand in the middle of the room and target rapid pop up or moving targets. Adjacent to the Armory.

"B" is a vehicular simulator, 30x60, should be just long enough for most vehicle forms. Walk in, transform, and the floor will suspend you, allowing one to drive in a simulation. Although most Bots probably use this as a Racing Game, there are certainly training aspects that could come from this. I suspect it cpuld also have a passive mode, were in the floor moves you and you just sit there and enjoy the show.

Then there are three different sized sparring courts, for everything from wrestling to Lobbing to Swordplay. And finally a large room for true Holographic simulations. I questioned the practicality of that at first, but I could see someone like Ironhide using it to run Breaching Drills.

Deck 7 saw some big changes. The Galley moved to adjacent to the Shuttle Bay Lift. Since the primary storage level is on Deck 8, it made sense that the Galley should be next to the cargo lift. I also condensed down the Common Area. I want that to be the "Living Room" of the ship but I felt like it was maybe taking up too much space for a 30-40 bot crew.

Hmm... There is no Officer's lounge...

Also on Deck 7, I compressed the Brig from 30x45 cells to 30x30, and went into a block pf 2 rows of 3 rather than a row of six, creating space for the Security Office, a Vault, and a space for preparing Prisoners. It occirs to me that Prisoners are usually safest disarmed, and with Decepticons with integrated Artillery, disarming someone is probably tantamount to Surgery, so space is alloted for that purpose rather than dragging the Prisoner up through the ship to the Med Bay.

Between Security and the Common Area is the Library space with a seperate archival room. This, rather than the Chapel will lilely be the "Reliquary", although that might further depend on the context of the relic. I am not entirely thrilled by how its crammed intovthe space, it'll do for now I guess.


Deck 3's major change is that I moved the rooms for Crosscut and Road Rage and reduced them to 45×60 from 60×60 and moved Slammer, Scamper, and Six Gun's combined dorm to that level. I thought about adding a 5th Dignitary Suite to the left but I think I like havi g that space as an open Lobby for them.

Deck 4, the entryway off the Flight Deck saw the inclusion of a stprage room for hardware on the Flight Deck. Not entirely sure what all that would be but I am thinking tie downs for ships and stuff like that. Where Slammer, Scamper, and Six-Gun's old quarters were is now the Shrineroom. While I still struggle with the idea of what Cybertronian Religion might look like, it was too important I think to not include a space for reflecting or meditating or remembering those whom have sacrificed for the Cause.

Updated the top post with Version 2 Pictures for all 8 decks.

Version 2 includes DOORS! Those are useful things for getting in places. V2 was also done with the inner walls done in Pencil, so I can make further changes without starting all the way over. In that same vein, V2 also has each deck as a seperate picture.

The biggest change is that I shrunk the main Elevator from
45 to 30 feet square. The main reason for thos was to give ne more room for the Dignitary Common area on Deck 3, as I needed to add in a Conference Room for all Cybwrtronian sized Visitors. I probably coulda could have left it alone, but I got to thinking about the sizes I had alotted.

Based on Human Proportions, where a 6' man has a shoulder span of 18-20", an 18' Autobot would be no wider than 4 feet at the Shoulders. (Not accounting for Door Wings but those may or may not be adjustable in fiction) in a 45' Elevator, that means they could stand comfortably 10 abreast and several rows deep.

I dont have 40 bots on this ship.

Based on this, I am giving serious thought to shrinking the Living Quarters, although that wouldnt gain me much more than open rooms as I still dont want to add more Autobots. I am also coming to the conclusion that the Command Deck has far too muxh space alloted for its War Rooms (more on that in a mo.) And some other spots.

Speaking of the War Rooms, I really dont like how Deck 1 fell into place. Its not Logical, and for as few people who are actually probably going to be up there, thats a lot of unused room. Hmm.

I am adding Skids to the cast as an "Overwatch" role, someone in a strike team's ear providing tactical assistance. I am thinking about adding a "Cook" to the Galley, but its a bit part so I dont want to use IDW Swerve. Maybe Spinout? I feel like he is a kindred spirit, seeing as how he was a Cook prpmoted to Battlefield Command because everyone else got dead and I went from Server to Manager because I was here the longest...

Also added a spot on Deck8 in the Repair Hanger for Living Quarters for the big bot Skyfire. By my calculations, Skyfire should *just* fit but I thoufbt he would appreciate not having the cieling 3" from his backpack in his own living space. If we wee to get a Commandet Sky Lynx I would put him down there too.

There are a LOT of Holodecks now of various sizes and uses. Mayne too many, I might back it down if I come up with otber neccesities.

Check it out!

Hey! Looking good.

I had one idea from ships. Going back and forth they would either 1. be loaded down with heavy cargo OR 2. have to carry heavy "ballast" in the bottom of the ship to keep it weighted down and keep it from popping up out of the water. (ie. otherwise too light.)

In olden days they would use spoiled wine in casks to weigh the ships down. (Could be Energon? ha ha.)

You might plan for some heavy cargo and ballast space in the very bottom down there with Wheeljack's Lab.

gothsaurus wrote:Hey! Looking good.

I had one idea from ships. Going back and forth they would either 1. be loaded down with heavy cargo OR 2. have to carry heavy "ballast" in the bottom of the ship to keep it weighted down and keep it from popping up out of the water. (ie. otherwise too light.)

In olden days they would use spoiled wine in casks to weigh the ships down. (Could be Energon? ha ha.)

You might plan for some heavy cargo and ballast space in the very bottom down there with Wheeljack's Lab.

I have a future resign that will drop a big aft vault down there, probably for volitle cargos, so that is a great idea. The Back-heavyness is something I have wondered about for a while sinxe Metro's entire torso is over the back 1/4 of the ship. One solution could be that in Transformation the torso is able to slide down the thighs on rails a bit, to even of Center of Gravity, but obviously thats not something the toys can do and most fiction follows the toy design.

In Space, Weight Distribution is probably a non-issue though, so as long as the Meanuving Thrusters (which would be...uh, hus butt) are up to the task, all you really have to worry about is Takeoff and Landing, but this is not a ship design thats gonna lend itself to a dogfight in Atmo unless you can out-climb your opponent, or just rely on thr heavy turrets and support craft.

Sounds good. Really excited to see someone working on blueprints like this. It would be a great start for a role-playing game centered around the cities... or just cool eye-candy to print and put on your wall.

Keep up the good work, man!

gothsaurus wrote:Sounds good. Really excited to see someone working on blueprints like this. It would be a great start for a role-playing game centered around the cities... or just cool eye-candy to print and put on your wall.

Keep up the good work, man!

Thank you! And thanks for Jumping in! I got all giggly when I saw the Post Notification email.

Very glad! Always excited to see people taking on a detailed project like this. Cheers!

gothsaurus wrote:Very glad! Always excited to see people taking on a detailed project like this. Cheers!

You should know that I now have visions of Metroplex trying to escape a planet with a Star Destroyer Blockade overhead and 60,000 little Tie Fighters picking at the shields like Mosquitos. So thanks for that visual...

Thinking of Metroplex reminds me I've wanted to do these for years:

1. get a customizer to make an extended building piece (the one that pegs into the back)
2. customize a Metroplex to look like my home city's buildings

Someday!

Version 3

Given the amoint of time this has sat since I drew it, I think I finally have the designs wjere I want them, so unless something pops up I am going to call this "Final."



Big change to deck one, one of the things that bothered me was having the mix of Highly secure war room area is mixed in somewhat haphazardly with the Ambassador areas and not one but two entrances into the ship. So I move those down to deck two and put both Optimus Prime and Ultra Magnus has offices up on deck one. Has mentioned previously the organic habitat remains where it is there are now officially 7 Ambassador Suites for cybertronians and like sized species on the first floor, although two of them are already occupied. There is also a guest lounge on the first floor so that ambassadors don't have to go mix with the common folk and the soldiers down in the bowels of the ship. There is a small Communication Center and the main astrometrics lab is up on deck one only because I figured both of those need to be fairly close to their sensors on the highest point of a ship. And if you use Star Trek Voyager as a reference, the astrometrics lab is more of a map room than the laboratory anyway, so having that near the bridge seemed like a good idea.

On Deck 1 you may see a coupke lottle butterfly like shapes, this is roughly approximating the scale and appearence of an Autobot Car's chest and door wings, showing relative size.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/rq38waW.jpg
[/img]
Deck to remain suspase bridge deck play Space allotted to a briefing room and Storage of equipment for Missions. There is a cic for away teams working directly out of Metroplex,. Now, I mentioned before wanting to move the war rooms with the sensitive battle plans away from major entrances, abd as Entrances go a SpaceBridge is a pretty big one, but its controlled and Deck two makes more sense than anything else.

New to the design, off each "engine" is a long narrow control room for manual controls and guage readouts.



On Deck 3 you will now find the Reliquary and Chapel Room. I may further divide this up into 2 rooms, only because I am imagining the same space 2 different ways and I like both. One features where an Alter might be a large animated sculpture of the Allspark either on a pedestal or in an putstretched hand representing Primus (or the Guiding Hand) in something like the Movie style where its surface is subtly always moving. The other image that came into my head was a room with a holographic or physical representation of Cybertron, and I think I have the room to spare for both. There is a set of Parsonage Quarters set aside, but as I dont have a religious Autobot, they are unoccupied.

Across the hall is an Officer's Mess. Given how few Autobots there are I am not sure we need an Officer's Mess, but I dont have anything else to put there.

Also new to the designs, and owing entirely to the upcomi g Battlemaster, is an office and conjoined Quarters for Psychiatrist Rung. No, I am not doing the "Rung is Primus"thing. Thats just too wierd for me for him to have an office down the hall from the shrine to him. Nope. Not gonna do it.

The rest of Deck 3 is quarters for Team Leaders and other Officers, including Prime but not Grimlock. The Dinobots were not originally intended, the others probably didnt want Grim there anyway, and Grimlock would rather be with his Dinobots.

Oh, and on Decks 3 and 4 I expanded the very back section reserved for ship parts from 30' to 45'


Deck 4 reverted to an old design, with Slammer, Scamper, and SixGun now taking up residence on the floor.


In the last version of Deck 5 I decided to cut Living Quarters down from 3x3 to 2x3. Since then I fpund a FAR more efficent layout that allows me to greatly increase the compliment... And despite adding almost 15 new bots, more than half the space is unoccupied. At first I didnt like it, then I heard a voice (probably my Dad, he would oveethink stories like this too) say

"Well that's the cost of being at qar for 5 million years, a lot of empty cots".

Spooky. And humbling.

About those living spaces...
https://i.imgur.com/bOOIbyx.jpg

I decided to draw one. Because I am nuts. Almost all of the standard 2x3 (30'x45') living spaces will use this layout, rotated or mirrored to fit the space. The door will always be in a corner, either bottom right or left. As you walk in is a 15'x15' square area that would be analogous to a Cybertronian bathroom. We know of at least a few bots who are vein enough tovregularlybwax and buff themselves, Sunstreaker, Tracks, the Decepticon Knockout. And despite the crude humor, TF07 Bumblebee leaves the potential that not unlike most human vehicles, at least some of the fluids in their bodies are consumable and need to be cycled. Certainly probably not as frequently as organic bodies, but the potential is there. Further, Prime Arcee makes mention of "Oil Baths", and describes them more like a Bathhouse concept than a personal bathtub (now THATS something to think about adding) and makes it sound an awful lot like submerging bio-mechanical jounts in lubricant is good for the joints. So at a minimum, providing a space for self lubrication seems justified.

Next to the Lubrication Room (Service Room?) is a Closet, and a Desk is wedged between the first Closet and the Recharge Slab (don't laugh thats how mine is at home.) There's another closet at the foot of the Recharge slab (probably removable in case of larger Cybertronians). A TV like screen hangs on thr wall of the Lube Room facing the Slab and Desk. There is also a small card table with 3 more chairs along the wall that can probably be collapsed to open the space up. Simple and utilitarian, but it works.


The only real change to Deck 6 is the inclusion of 2 Labratories. One of them is currently empty, the other I decided is a Geography Lab. Given that in most media Energon shortagea are a driving source of conflict, and Energon exists usually in a crystalline state, a Geography lab might be a good thing to have. Even substitute oils probably still fall under the category of Geography, even if only in how to mine it. Suddenly Beachcomber becomes less "Rock Guy" and more "Forager".

Hmm. Maybe the other lab should be "Energom Substitute synthesis".


Not much on Deck 7 changed. I have debated back and forth if I want to put Spinout's quarters in the Kitchen or with everyone else on D5, Its not vitally important unlike say making sure Ratchet is always near the Medbay.


Deck 8. No change. Unless you didnt know I put a larger living apace down there for Skyfire

Thoughts on the improvements?