Flight of the Gregarious (WARNING: HUGEASS PICTURES)

After a year and a half of working in Second Life, I finally have a place to call home. Observe:


On the right is my office, on the left is Club Metropolitan's.




My office and some of the clutter.



A lovely view of the interior of the building.



Club's office.

An interesting die-cast model of a fantastic airship. It'd be nice if those things existed.




Lounge and some couches. Very relaxing atmosphere; that's a copy of the official HoboTech Industries magazine... the aptly titled "HoboTech Magazine."



Here's a comfortably furnished room with two bunks, a writing desk, a modest dresser, and two bunks with a nice window view. There are four of these rooms on this level of the building, with amenities for eight in all. I suppose you could say these rooms are for the higher-ups in the corporation, the "officers" if you will.

So they're the officers' quarters.

Up to the second story now...



Up the spiral staircase, we see another picture of that curious airship. I sense a theme here...



Wait a minute; this isn't just any room. For one, there's a ship's wheel, a map, some engineer's dials...

Oh.
Huh.




Guess those airships do really exist.

Up the second stairway is the observation tower, with signaling flag, radio wire, and gigantic audiophones for being loud. Over the railing, you have a good view of the things surrounding the ship, as well as a good place...
to launch...
signal.
flares.



Wow.

Okay, now that we've thoroughly built up the massive scale of the ship, let's move outside, shall we?



The prow of the ship, with the main mast. Can also be used as a powerful ram in times of danger.



Here's an exterior view of the officers' quarters and the bridge, as well as the massive foglamps used to light the way for the ship in inclement weather.

Moving toward the back now; this pic aughta give you a good idea of the complexity of the lower decks. Also visible are the huge plates of heavy armor lining the sides of the ship, protecting valuable compartments from both the elements, and possible enemy fire. Also notice the smokestacks attached to the large cylindrical condensers.




Some shots of the rear flight deck and lift shaft for aircraft from the hangar. The flight deck, though somewhat short, can be used to quickly get small scout aircraft in the air.

Or you could have a picnic on it, your choice.

Moving down, here's the front of the mess hall. Wait, who put that ladder there?



Why it's none other than the lovable Nova Albion, third wheel of HoboTech Industries! We were kind enough to provide him with a comfortable living space.

Our mess hall. Well, technically, it's a delicatessen. As a result, we have a ton of tchotchkes hanging around the walls, and a very comfortable atmosphere for dining, meeting, or just plain hanging out.



HoboTech Industries' first dollar ever.

The kitchen. Or, more specifically, the bitchin' kitchen.

Moving on, here's the hangar. You can see our modest flight of HB.03 Mosquito light gunships, as well as my personal HB.04D Drache gunboat, seen getting ready for an excursion through the main shaft to the flightdeck, doubtlessly for some excellent adventure and hijinks.




As we move more and more below deck, the mess of scaffolds and rickety catwalks gets even more complex.

Moving into the crew's quarters. These are the rooms for the non-officer members of the crew. As a result, they're slightly more cramped:



Four bunks each, with a modest dresser and a nice lamp, along with a very wide view of the inside of the armor plating. This shot also shows off the bitchin' new lighting effects.




Some exterior shots of the crew quarters, as well as a good view of the "Great Ribcage" that bolts it firmly to the deli above.

Moving even further down, we reach the aircraft mechanics' quarters.




These lovable characters service the aircraft that grace our hangar. As a result, they are rewarded with this very cozy, albeit rusted out, room from which they can relax and read up on their HoboTech Magazines.

Bolted firmly beneath the mechanics' quarters, and protected by sheets of heavy armor plating is the rudder assembly and the main exhaust tubes. The exhaust ejects high-pressure steam outward, propelling the craft forward. The rudder is of an unbalanced design, allowing for unparalleled maneuverability, though at the cost of stability, especially in rough conditions.

The main engineering room, as well as a shot of the thrusters it provides steam to. The thrusters themselves provide variable amounts of downforce, allowing the ship to rise. The levitation coils in the center provide a constant, buoyant force, allowing the ship to rest on a "cushion" of high-pressure steam constantly ejected out the coils. There is a smaller set of coils attached to the rudder to enhance stability.



A slightly-vertigo inducing shot from the Engineering balcony.




The inside of the Engineering cylinder. A hammock for the main engineer, as well as the boiler core itself. This powerful device instantaneously boils tanks of water into high pressure steam, which is then quickly piped through the bowels of the ship to provide lift, thrust, and heating for the Gregarious.

As a result, it's a bit high-maintainance.
But what powers this mighty reactor, you ask?



Why, none other than the naturally occuring fossil fuel of the metaverse, plywood cubes! These simple cubes provide a deceptively massive amount of energy, provided one is careful in harnessing that energy.



Spare cores are also handy.



Even our engineer likes to read HoboTech Magazine while making adjustments to smaller, scaled down power cores!



Despite the noise, heat, and humidity, there is nothing quite like a hammock to help a man relax.

(disregard this)

Here's the entire engineering structure, a complex marvel of mechanical might, powering a graceful and majestic aircraft.

Now, some background: The SS Gregarious is the result of a three-month collaboration between myself and fellow HoboTechnician Club Metropolitan. He did the majority of the interior work, while I designed and built the majority of the grungy exterior. It was developed because HoboTech Industries, by name, is landless. As a result, we never had a place to really call our own, though for a time, we were squatters on the second story of the Baffin Island coffee house. The Gregarious, then, is our mobile headquarters, our way of using sandbox resources to the fullest in order to make our presence felt. It is also an exercise in the design philosophy we at HTI follow fully; the blending of technology with tradition. Unlike most other technology-oriented groups on the grid, we attempt to meld hard engineering grunge and rust with the simple, subtle beauties of wood and light. As a result, we believe in a more inviting, relaxing atmosphere when it comes to building ships, rather than a drab, militaristicly sparse battleship, bristling with weapons but not much else. This is the philosophy behind the Gregarious, a not-quite-steampunk, steam-powered airship that is both majestic and atmospheric.

Now, some hard facts: The Gregarious is 2550+ prims. It's kind of hard to keep count anyway.
The ship is 144m long, 44m wide, and 100m tall from the highest mast to the bottom of the rudder. It comes in 42 separate pieces, and is held together by the mighty rez-faux box. It does not currently move, and given how many sections it comes in, I doubt it ever will. If you want to know more, just take a look around the ship yourself. It's usually located in either Cordova or Goguen, at variable altitudes above the surface.
Try not to fall off.





Welcome to the SS Gregarious.

Absolutely unbelievable work and attention to detail! Fan-bloody-tastic!

Very nice, well done.

Thanks for sharing, it's a super fantastic air ship.

My word.

Bravo!!!

Shockingly Impressive!!!

Technology with style!


If Second Life ever gains a respectable archvillian, THAT would be the perfect platform for his or her monologues!

Thanks for sharing your build with us. Truly it is a work of art and engineering.

I worry however, 6-7 more projects like yours by others and we will reach the prim limit of cordova. I don't want to rain on your parade here, so let me be a dark cloud instead:

Maybe we can get you all a sponsor? Someone who's got more prims than they need where you could park your ship on a semi-temporary basis rather than squatting in high altitude on sandbox premises?

We should brainstorm how we can preserve your build and still offer others the equal opportunity to use the sandbox resources.

Thanks again, and keep up the good work.

Troy

Aww, another one beat me to it - though at this point I really shouldn't be surprised ^_^; I also am building a massive airship for pretty much the same reasons you have: a mobile place to call home for one without any land of their own - but never the less, fantastic job you've done, Hobonicus! I actually got a chance to explore around it not too long ago and it was amazing!

I think my ship (when complete) will be roughly the same size as yours. If we ever get them moving, we should definately make it a priority to meet in the sky. Hopefully I'll be up there soon.