With the scale image complete, I can further understand what each part of the ship can do. With the image sperating each part of the design and silhoutte it allows me to research each look and keep it cohesive as well as delve into more detail.
City Plan:
The city that surrounds the tree runs in a similar way to Venice. The hydroponic liquid that runs at the base of the great tree spreads out from it as well as down into the pool that the tree thrives upon. This in turn allows a cleaner look for the city, which is the aim, hence avoiding an industrial staged city.
Whilst the inspiration comes from Venice, the differences will be found in the size of the streams and the land. The water will function similar to that of the Thames with larger water masses passing thorugh the city, with a hint of Venician influence with offshots coming from the larger body.
I am currently working on a 'City Plan' for the base of the ship that will show how the water and land will interact and intersect. The land/water ratio will be 80/20.
The Building Arctitecture:
I've already posted a handful of silhoettes of the buildings desired look so here I'll show the influence and how it works with the world around it.
This image helped me craft and gather ideas regarding a luxury high rise building. The Image uses water around its base which directly links to my ideas for the city.
This image lends itself very well to the style of 'Yggdrasil' with what almost look like pods on the side of the building. This also influeces the habitat pods and creates a cohesion between the parts.
The building lends itself more to the skyscrapers in the city. They look clincial and evoke the look of a building while at the same time have a futuristic edge. The 'pod' theme will again be utilised here as it is also a living quarters for the residents of the vessal.
The image was the influence for the cathedral found in the city. It looks like it consists of two seperate buildings whist joining them to create a single look.
I used these images as a refernce point because of there clear sci-fi inspiration as well as there clear/clean look.
The Alien Erg - The Erg Container:
The aliens called 'ergs' are what propels the ship forward (or any way it needs to). These are housed underneath the base of the ship away from the population. I went back and reread the text defining the creatures and have deduced that the creatures would be kitten sized. I cam to this conclusion due to one of the main characters carry one around in a container in the sequel book.
It had to be small enough to carry around, yet large enough to create the force needed to move a collosal ship. The Erg are collected in vast quantites.
Having said that, there look would be very different. They are sentient, silicone based lifeforms so they would follow more closely to parasite or insects. Due to there telepathic nature (hinted at by the author) I deduced that they would follow a more slug like apperence with a more glossy sheen. This is due to the silicone basis so it would have a more glassy look. With there telekinetic abilities and they life in caves on there home planet, I believe that the evolution of the creature would follow a similar path.
The container pods that lie underneath the base that house the Erg, are on a rotational system. Due to the large number of the creatures on board the ship and the power needed to move it and keep the force field in service, the erg will be swapped around and stored in the central column to rest. This process would repeat.
The exterior of the pod would closely resemble a nut or acorn with the top mainly being technology and the lower being where the erg live and are stimulated to produce the required energy.
A slugs habitat is normally wood based with a series of shallow networks underneath in certain parts of the world, mainly with heavy wood land.
Due to this I envision the habitat pods as a series of networks inside that allow the Erg movement but also keep them under control and extract the needed energy.
The Habitat Pod:
The habitat for the humans on the side of the tree will closely resemble that off a proposed Mars living quarters and the visual design of the 'Eden Project'.
The Tree:
The leaves found on the tree vary in size depending on there proximity to the ground. They are larger then the average leaf as is the tree that they belong to. This will be demonstrated better with the Solo Scale drawing that is incoming.
The Elevator that doubles as entrance to the interior of the tree as well as tether to the ship. The influence stems from space shuttles joining in orbit and NASAs proposed Space Elevator.
Support Structure:
The structures that support the underside of the ship and keep the pod containers in place. From a variety of movie sources I have opted for an intertwining metal look. The main influence is the space ship from the film 'Silent Running'
This kind of design is useful on a practical level as well as being compact so the metal structure doesn't overshadow the rest of the look.
These ideas and designs will be fleshed out in the next day or two to show how I want the final design of 'Yggdrasil' to fit together.
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