That's understandable, yes my family paid for the tour in Mayport Florida in the mid to late 70's. You have captured the feel of that ship quite well.

I've realised that I mis-interpreted your "HMS Ark Royal" comment, Sgt Rock - I thought you meant that you had served a tour of duty aboard her, but now I think you actually meant that you paid your admission fee for a guided tour around her. Hence why I thought you were ex-RN and asked for your input. XD

Your most welcome, I'm really enjoying the whole collection. Delete away, I will check that out. Thanks again.

Oh, so you were Army not Navy?

Yes, more ships are on the way. I have a backlog of old builds to update - the Wimpomania Line - plus some additions, but eventually I plan to do a full line of military ships that will include Cruisers & Destroyers, etc. But that might take a while.

I, too, think it's a shame we can't control a group of ships. :(

Thanks again, Sgt Rock.

Sorry, I do not stream or post videos, for me a "play through" is one of the 8000+ hours of playing Empyrion. I even googled for the name of the compartment where the shower etc is called - it came back as head. In the army, we called any sanitary facility a latrine, even when it was just a hole in the ground. I enjoyed the tour video, I like the design insight and the through process.

I'm hoping you're inspired to build more ships, while I'd love one to complement the Commando with an Armored unit I can't deny wanting a battleship, cruisers, destroyers etc. It's such a shame the game does not support the ability to simultaneously warp a fleet on not connected ships.

Looking forward to more but hoping the next build doesn't cost eight months of your life!

Oh man, that comparison to the Ark Royal damn near brought tears to my eyes - not quite, ya know, "manly man" and all that bollox. XD Thank you Sgt Rock.
As I say in the tour, I tried my best to make the Commando class if not accurate then at least realistic, but as a civvy I really struggled to find correct terms and branch/unit structure, so please please PLEASE feel free to let me know if there's anything not quite right ("Ablutions Block", for eg) - but do bear in mind I've also tried to account for 350 years between now and then, including the mushing together of our Bri'ish military and the US's.
Also, when you say "play though", do you mean on YouTube? 'Cos I'd love a link. ;)

Thanks so much for the detailed answer, I completely missed there was a tour video - that probably answered most of my questions. I've been exploring it all day in creative and am very happy to say that I pretty well matched what you've outlined. Such a fantastically made ship, I am truly in awe! Makes me feel like the tour I took of the HMS Ark Royal in the 1970s.

I'm currently doing a Helios based play through and am trying to figure out a way to include this ship in it. Darn prohibited chain docking, I can't find enough deck space to unload the Commando to dock it to the helios with all small craft unloaded.

Sounds like time to start a new play through with the Commando as the main focus. Thanks for all your work with all of the craft you've built - looking forward to more.

That's what my intended auxiliary craft loadout is of a deployed Commando class serving in the Earth's military at the time set in the game, but the game's setting is that of a survival situation and I see the Commando class being co-opted for that purpose by the player's character, so you can carry whatever small ships you like, of course. ;)

2/2
In the Shuttlebay, the 2 larger marked spots are for the 2 'full size' Osteodontornis class Shuttles, while the smaller spots are for 4 Dimorphodon class Shuttlepods.
And finally, in the main "Through-Deck Landing Bay": the smaller marked spots at the bow are for the 6 Giant Maribou Troop Dropships; the marked areas down the middle beneath the top hangar doors are for the 8 Argentavis Multi Purpose Transport Craft, with the marked areas along the sides next to these allowing the Argentavis's to move aside to allow other craft to get past; and finally the other marked spots along the sides to the aft of those are supposedly for storage of the Argentavis modules not attached (in universe - of course we lack that level of functionality actually in game, but never mind).

1/2
Hello Sgt Rock, thank you for the kind words. ;)
I can't take full credit for the design - as I show in the Tour video, the exterior is based upon a mod ship (Caterpillar class Freighter/Transport) for Freelancer.

The screenshots near the end of the images above show the standard complement of small craft, albeit in a "during an average working day" style diorama, but if you want further clarification...
The 3 large marked areas down the centre of the "Quetzal Bay" is for the 3 Quetzalcoatlus class Mechanised Dropships, with the smaller marked areas along each side of the same bay intended for storing the APC/IFVs.

Wow, this is a great design. I'm getting lost just exploring the ship. Your use of shortcuts is perfect, I'll be stealing that for the other ships I use.

Do you have a guide for parking the standard complement of small craft? I'm trying to sort it out in creative and I'd like to follow your intent. Thanks for a whole line of awesome designs!