Parks Star Wars: Death Star (ridiculously huge)

[elekvault]

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UPDATE (21st Oct. 2017): The park is now available in the Steam Workshop.

You will need the custom media files (sound ambiences, videos and images), download the file here (11.2 MB), it's a zip file, unzip it into the Planet Coaster custom media folder ( \Users\[user]\Documents\Frontier Developments\Planet Coaster ).
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Hey everyone!

With the summer updates and all the new pieces and stuff, my brain went all bananas and decided to build a HUGE Death Star, since the new projection screens turned out to be the kind of piece I needed for a structure this size.

I uploaded the blueprint to the Workshop divided in 2 hemispheres, upper and lower. Combine them and, voilà, you get a ridiculously-huge Death Star. Both hemispheres hit the 4K pieces limit each. The full station takes almost all of the park height, so make sure to flatten the terrain to the very bottom before placing it. The interior is hollow and ready to build a full park inside, or whatever you want. Also, each hemisphere has only 1 building-piece, so if you wanna play with the rotation, just remove it and good luck!

The equatorial trench lights and docking gates are not included -add them to your liking. Also, if you want to make the interior walkable, I recommend you use my Death Star Interiors pack, also available in my workshop.

I'd like to fully build the interior but it's probably gonna take forever (this alone took almost 25 hours), so don't wait for it.

Link to my Workshop: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198048871045/myworkshopfiles/?appid=493340

Enjoy!

 

[Crowdpleaser]

Oh wow! This is really impressive! And what? 25 hours? Even more impressive!

 

[DisneylandFreak]

Really cool[big grin]

 

[elekvault]

Thanks for the compliments! I'm definitely building a tailored interior for this, combining it with some of the blueprints I already made. Won't be available in the Workshop until I make everything I'm planning to, tho. I want to re-create the most known locations of the Episode IV Death Star, but adapted so you can fit park services, coasters and rides somehow, so it's quite a challenge and I'm not really sure how am I gonna make it to mantain a sense of design and planning, so it may take a while...

Here's a small teaser of what's comming:

 

[Restless Bohemian]

Um . . . ridiculously awesome! Wish YOU where in charge of Star Wars land at Disney as THIS is how is should be done! It's mind blowing and perfect!

 

[jamesviago]

outstanding!!

 

[Spanky]

AWESOME!!!

 

[elekvault]

Update on interiors!

I'm glad you're liking it, people!

Working a lot on this; the elevator/exhaust chamber is finished (except some minor adjustments), and it turns out it looks cool from the outside too. It's more than 3200 pieces. I'm using a custom texture for the steel and light panels, plus another custom light grid for the corridors.

The plan is building an outer deck with some bigger rooms like hangars, observation rooms and such (so far it's only corridors, but I'm just testing modularity), an inner deck with smaller corridors, storage rooms and the beam tractor controls, an upper level with a war room, a bridge/control room and maybe the superlaser firing chamber, and some lower levels with the chasm, the prison block and the garbage compactor -these last three are already in my workshop, so should be easier. Shops and services will mostly go in the corridors connecting outer and inner decks, fitting some in other areas.

My focus is now on wide corridors; I'm still finishing details, but modularity is working great (curved corridors can join pretty much seamlessly both in 15º and 30º angles). Smaller corridors will come next, and once it all is finished I should start joining the parts together and adjusting details.

Elevator chamber:

The chamber, top-to-bottom view:

Straight corridor connecting inner deck and elevator chamber:

Curved corridor:

Here you can see the outer and inner corridors connected to the chamber:

 

[Plan1]

As someone who builds a lot of science fiction stuff, I'm incredibly impressed by your work, elek. To build on that scale is extraordinary, but when I saw the first interior screen shot I thought it was a reference photo from a production still or something until I realized it was in-game.

So major props for this. It's a next-level blueprint for sure.

I have a question: What do you mean when you say "custom texture"? Are you altering game files, or are you using the new video/image billboards?

I'm also really interested in how you've gotten the curved corridors and other curved pieces to fit properly. I tried to make a properly curved piece for a modular generic SF hallway I built, but failed miserably lol.

Good luck with the rest of your project.

 

[elekvault]

As someone who builds a lot of science fiction stuff, I'm incredibly impressed by your work, elek. To build on that scale is extraordinary, but when I saw the first interior screen shot I thought it was a reference photo from a production still or something until I realized it was in-game.

So major props for this. It's a next-level blueprint for sure.

Thanks a lot, this scale is indeed extraordinary and it's taking quite some time, but it's also lots of fun and can't wait to finish it.

I have a question: What do you mean when you say "custom texture"? Are you altering game files, or are you using the new video/image billboards?

I'm using the new image billboards, with a custom image I made for the light grids and the steel wall in the chamber. This saves hundreds, if not thousands of pieces for the lights, making things easier but also better looking. No game files altered at all.

I'm also really interested in how you've gotten the curved corridors and other curved pieces to fit properly. I tried to make a properly curved piece for a modular generic SF hallway I built, but failed miserably lol.

This one was tricky at first. I'll try to explain with some screenshots.

The Death Star is so large that I must work with in-between angles, not the fixed ones that you can snap, so I have to adjust them manually. But only those in-between. So, basically, the basic corridor design starts with 3x13 floor tiles. The idea is that the whole section must be a 15º curve so it fits the next. I'm using the 16m billboards as a wall base; they're actually 16x9m, so I'm placing them vertically, this way they occupy a bit more than 2 tiles, making sure when they're angled there won't be any gaps between tiles. See this picture:

13 floor tiles means I need 7 billboards to fill it. To cover the whole 15º, I need a straight wall (0º) in the center, and then 7.5º to each side. Placing the pieces as in the picture helps me to get the right angles, starting with the fixed 15º, then getting the in-betweens manually (as many as you need). Then just displace the pieces:

Next section is just a duplicate, rotated a fixed 15º and lined up on the outer walls:

On the inside, the outer walls line up perfectly:

The inner walls intersect a little, but only a couple pieces need removing and/or placing another piece to cover for it:

This all works for a 30º angle between sections, but the inner wall needs more working:

After removing a couple billboards, one of the grid lights, some wall decoration and some of the ceiling lamps, the transition is quite good:

That's pretty much the basic stuff for the large corridors. All in all, at first was just a bit of trial and error and giving it some good thought, but now it's easier than it looks, just think of the angle you want to align the sections and decide on a length for them, and you got it! Billboards are making these kind of constructions so much easier to me than before.

Hoping to post some updates soon, although last week I worked very little on this. Thanks very much for the luck, good luck to you too in your sci-fi projects!

Cya!

 

[Plan1]

Thanks, elek, for that detailed explanation. You're awesome, dude!

I understand now what you mean. You're using a much more gradual curve than I've used when attempting this sort of thing in the past, but that's the nice thing about building on such a massive scale.

You're not kidding about those wall lights. So each of them would have been 30 pieces if you'd done it using those scifi strip lights in the game. I know how quickly those can add up and become unmanageable. Indeed, the billboards are incredible -- I didn't expect Frontier to do anything like that, and when I saw they'd implemented it in the game, my head started swimming with ideas about how to use them in unconventional ways.

To me, those chasms are quintessential Star Wars -- so many iconic scenes have happened in them. Is the lighting final, or are you going to adjust it? The reason I ask is that it's a great opportunity for that moody lighting that really brings a sense of depth to those scenes in the movies, the kind of depth that makes people squirm if they have a fear of heights. In other words, the deeper the chasms run, the more they're in the shadows, making the imagination run wild about how far the drop is.

I can't wait to see what you do with the bridge/flight deck. I'm a total geek for old-school, retrofuturistic computer systems and GUIs in science fiction movies, whether it's LCARS, or the grimy analog stations on the Nostromo, or the distinct semi-analog look of the consoles in the Star Wars universe.

I also love the way the designers used triangular windows and those sunken battle/control stations, so Vader is literally looking down on the terrified Imperial officers who do his bidding:

 

[elekvault]

To me, those chasms are quintessential Star Wars -- so many iconic scenes have happened in them. Is the lighting final, or are you going to adjust it? The reason I ask is that it's a great opportunity for that moody lighting that really brings a sense of depth to those scenes in the movies, the kind of depth that makes people squirm if they have a fear of heights. In other words, the deeper the chasms run, the more they're in the shadows, making the imagination run wild about how far the drop is.

I know what you mean, and that sense of depth I'm trying to get in other rooms, but this chamber I'm not sure if I'm going to change its lights. It's hard to get the right mood with the lit billboards, 'cause they're only "lit-non lit", so I can't get a gradient without using custom images. Maybe going for a more bluish tone, but no matter what I'll look into the lighting later on.

I can't wait to see what you do with the bridge/flight deck. I'm a total geek for old-school, retrofuturistic computer systems and GUIs in science fiction movies, whether it's LCARS, or the grimy analog stations on the Nostromo, or the distinct semi-analog look of the consoles in the Star Wars universe.

I also love the way the designers used triangular windows and those sunken battle/control stations, so Vader is literally looking down on the terrified Imperial officers who do his bidding:

Gotta love LCARS. I'm also a trekkie (yes, and I love Star Wars; they were never incompatible). The bridge you posted is from the Executor, Darth Vader's Star Destroyer (which later gave name to a complete class of Star Destroyers), not the Death Star one. But the triangular windows and general mood is probably going to be similar. In fact, now you said that, I could mabe update my Star Destroyer and build the bridge too! xD

Anyway, still going slow, some Real Life™ issues are keeping me away from my gaming computer, but hopefully will be back at it soon.

Here, a glimpse at the hangar (and a coaster I built for fun):

 

[elekvault]

Hey everyone! It's been a long while since I updated this thread but I'm still working on it, though very slowly (The Real Life™ gets in the way sometimes).

Let's see what's new! (Actually, some things are not new but I re-did some and screen-captured them to show you!)

This is a small access gate to the Death Star. I did it with a queue in mind to a shuttle or some exterior ride or coaster.

The window in the access gate shows a glimpse of a maintenance shaft. It is very simple, but it looks great through the windows:

This is a new access corridor to the chasm. The chasm itself can be seen through the windows:

After the corridor, a crossing:

This chasm is a completely new version, not the one I made for my first Death Star Interior Pack. Some views of this new chasm:

The hangar I made time ago for my first Death Star Interiors Pack, and I've used it with just some minor modifications. Some views:

Another new room is the Tractor Beam shaft, where the power controls are located. It uses the same basic structure from the chasm:

And last but not least, a new version of the main elevator shaft lighting to try and give it a more dramatic aspect:

There are still lot of things to go, but I'm happy with it so far. The chasm and tractor beam shaft need some more working on the walls, it looks a bit plain right now; also, need to finish off some corridors, and then get started on placing and connecting the prison block and the garbage compactor.

Will update ASAP! Thanks for watching

PS: If any of you want a specific part or building to use it on your own park, please tell me and I'll see to upload it to the workshop, otherwise I'll just upload the whole park when finished.

 

[elekvault]

Sorry to bump this but, can any mod please move this to the Parks and Saved Games sub-forum? Since it's currently a park under construction I think it should go there now. I don't know how to move it myself, if possible, nor who to contact to do it.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Nemmie]

This is looking superb. I can really see the immense amount of work you've put into this. I LOVE Star Wars and this is looking really authentic.

As for moving this thread, PM one of the mods and they can do it for you.

 

[elekvault]

This is looking superb. I can really see the immense amount of work you've put into this. I LOVE Star Wars and this is looking really authentic.

As for moving this thread, PM one of the mods and they can do it for you.

Thanks Nemmie. It is indeed an immense amount of work, 80+ hours and counting!

Wandering around the corridors feels great, but I've placed many windows and I thought it was time I worked a bit on making them interesting! The idea is you can see what's on the "outside" of the corridors, all the empty space between rooms and shafts, cause it really looks cool and less claustrophobic. Some examples following.

First, some services (toilets and infirmary, and an information booth):

On the outside, i covered them with some column-like structures to improve the view:

A view from the outside of the hangar:

I'm also doing some small "maintenance" corridors and shafts than can be seen through the windows in parts where the outside view is blocked or not so interesting:

Also, I'm working on this elevated path that lets peeps see the abyss under their feet! (kind of) It connects the main elevator shaft to the chasm.

I'm struggling to find a place to fit the prison block and the garbage compactor, cause at first i wanted them on a different height, but everytime I try to connect them to other corridors it feels weird and too forced. Hopefully I'll have it sorted out for next update!

 

[Joël]

I have moved this thread to the Parks and Saved Games forum section.

Wow, super impressive! You're doing an incredible job in recreating the Star Wars Death Star!

 

[cerealfruitcakes]

Woh this is pretty hardcore and insanely impressive. [shocked]

 

[elekvault]

Wow, super impressive! You're doing an incredible job in recreating the Star Wars Death Star!

Woh this is pretty hardcore and insanely impressive. [shocked]

Thank you guys! Glad you like it.

There's still a whole lot to do, but I've started placing some rides, building queues, and letting guests in to see how it works, logistically speaking.

A queue through a maintenance corridor:

Ride inside the tractor beam controls room:

Ride inside a new room:

Also, away from these rides, the prison block is getting somewhere, although the connections to the main corridor and the garbage compactor are still a bit sketchy:

So, the prison block is gonna take me a while, since I also want a coaster there (I'm not very good with coasters to be honest). Hopefully it'll be finished before the 100 hours mark (I'm almost there).

 

[Tricky1]

This is some crazy work. It's awesome!