Originally by: Marine HK4861

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Originally by: Ly'sol

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symmetry is really moot in space.

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Not when construction plays an important part in hull integrity and strength of the ship. A curved or otherwise slanted surface can help deflect incoming fire or otherwise mitigate the damage.

If the ship is symmetrical or otherwise uniform, then you need less different construction methods as Mercy said. As a very basic example, a cube would only need 1 assembly line to manufacture its 6 sides, while a box could need up to 3 (ends, sides, base and top).

The correct shape would also help reduce signature radius of a ship, the effective size of a ship. A large cube is far easier to shoot at rather than a slim bullet shaped ship.

Originally by: Ly'sol

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As far as mass fabrication. Things tend to be built at the molecular level up. Think of it like a 3D printer.

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Which leads me to think that you believe that ships are manufactured in a manufacturing slot that produce one ship at a time?

Mercy (I assume) and I both think that there are manufacturing lines that the ships trundle down, one part being attached on at a time.
Yes, the parts can be pre-fabricated as you mentioned, but how are they going to be assembled together?

A small team of people multi-disciplined to build one ship would require a lot of training and as they have so much more to remember/perform, that one vital mistake which renders the ship useless is far more likely to occur.

If on the other hand, you had lots of one-discipline teams, things are much more likely to go correctly as each team is responsible for their own little part of the ship. They require less training and mistakes are more likely to be picked up.


I agree that asymmetric ships make a good change from regular sci-fi fare, but there's a reason why things are generally designed to be symmetrical.

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