Josephine

[Jay Beeskow]

A tourist riverboat I created as the location of a role playing game/murder mystery. Hailing from St. Louis, Josephine is one of the largest riverboats ever created. In appearance, it looks very similar to the American Queen
http://www.steamboats.org/aq.jpg
except Josephine is a sidewheeler. Oddly, Josephine isn't a real Steamboat (The smokestacks are just for show, as they don't connect to the engine room) Below is a link to a side view deckplan I made for the role playing game, mentioned above.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/SteamboatJoesphineLabeled4.jpg



It's like the Atalanta, just alot bigger.

[Sr. Dela]

I like the idea of a steam boat actually. I can just imagine the boobie traps on that one... :shivers:.

[marcquish]

The side map looks nice too, nice layout, and very possible in this game...
Love it! I'm sure the developers meant for these kind of suggestions to be made in this division of the forum!

[Gutan Tag Hop-Clop]

Cool. We need another riverboat in this game, because I just love the Atalanta, and a steam boat would be a good map. Very good side map BTW.

[SlaktarPizza]

Whenever I look at that one...I feel like I'm playing Hitman Blood Money. :D

[Jay Beeskow]

Actually, when I designed the interior layout, "Emily" was a bit of an inspiration. Mainly because it's the only riverboat of this size I've been on!Thanks for the comments, Right now I've started working on top view deckplans, with a few modifications being made, to include the necessarys for "The Ship" (Bank, brig, etcetera)


Plus I belive the developers of Blood Money based "Emily" off of the American Queen.

[SlaktarPizza]

They probably did.
But, that picture just gave me flashbacks. :D

Anyways, in my opinion (It seems I forgot to add it) it would be sweet to have such a ship.

[Jay Beeskow]

Okay here is the "Bottom Deck", or should I say "G Deck". I've shrunk it down a bit from the side view, and made a few alterations. Sorry, that's it's a rough drawing, I didn't really fell like making a pretty one like I did for the side view. I hope everyone can read/understand my handwriting! More are on the way, I'll be working from the bottom up. I'll be glad to answer any questions!
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-BottomDeck.jpg

[SlaktarPizza]

Looks good, keep in mind to have several ways to get to places.
Having too few routes can really kill a map sometimes. :)

[Jay Beeskow]

Looks good, keep in mind to have several ways to get to places.
Having too few routes can really kill a map sometimes. :)

I don't think this should be much of a problem on the upper decks, at least I hope not, but we'll see how things turn out. The decks with passenger cabins will follow a similar format to the Bottom Deck, because I always like to go for accuracy, and I believe that when designing a ship, you want to make sure passengers will have a view! Meaning, central acces through the middle, and passenger cabins revolving around that. Anyway, here is the Cabin Deck/F Deck. This deck is above the water level, and has portholes in most of the rooms. The room labeled 'Shops' is a sort of, mall, combining the different stores found in the game in one room. The tiny little unlabed rooms in the cabins are bathrooms. And lastly, that little room to the left of the staircase looks a little hard to read, it says 'Laundry/Storage'.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-CabinDeck.jpg

[Jay Beeskow]

Here is the Promenade Deck/E Deck. 319 is a First Class "Deluxe Suite". It has a sitting room, a dining room, a kitchen, a hallway, two bedroom, each with their own bathrooms, an office, and a private promenade. Next up is the Restaurant Deck!

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-PromenadeDeck.jpg

[Jay Beeskow]

The Restaurant Deck/D Deck. This deck houses a five star restaurant, merely titled the "Restaurant". On occasion the restaurant will serve a buffet, but only when a private party requests it, or on a special occasion. The Lounge is a large, open room, with cozy chairs and coffee tables scattered throughout. The Lounge is manily used for people to gather in before going to dinner. The Bar is Josephine's nightclub. There are two bar counters on either side of the room, fully equipped with drinks for drinking and barstools for seating. In the middle of the room is a decent sized dance floor where passengers can strut there funky stuff... Although they shouldn't be too funky, as Josephine's resident band plays swing music, and on occassion, some ragtime, jazz, and classical. The Cafe situated in the stern is a open, airy room where passengers can have breakfast. It is decoreted very much like Titanic's "Cafe Parisien"
http://rivetcounter.txc.net.au/Tutorial/Titanic_Photos/Cafe_Parisien.jpg
And right outside the cafe is a large, open promenade. Weather providing, the band sometimes will play here during the day. It's considered part of the cafe, and there are tables out here where passengers can eat, or socialize.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-RestaurantDeck.jpg

[Jay Beeskow]

I'm sorry, I forgot to add a set of double doors leading from the kitchen to the Cafe. My mistake!

[Jay Beeskow]

The Private Deck/C Deck. Tourist Class Passengers are confined to the Entrance, and it's connected promenades. Only First Class passengers are allowed on this deck, and keys are required for the doors leading to the suites. There are two deluxe suites on this deck, on at the bow, and one at the stern. Each suite on this deck is equipped with a sitting room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a private section of the promenade, or 'balcony'.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-5PrivateDeck.jpg

[Jay Beeskow]

The Bridge Deck/B Deck. Passengers aren't allowed outside the entrance without an invitation from Captain Sam Metzger. Captain Metzger also owns Josephine, so when he had her built he was sure to give himself the best accommodations. The Captain's Quarters have a sitting room, a large bedroom, a private bathroom, an office, and a private library the Captain brought from his home in St. Louis. He didn't want a kitchen and dining room in his quarters, as he insisted to eat his meals with the passengers and his fellow officers. The Captain's Quarters also has a large amount of deckspace, providing fantastic views of the Mississippi, as well as the people below, on the Cafe Promenade. The Bridge Deck also accommodates Josephine's five Officers providing them with rooms the equilivent of a cabin on the Promenade Deck. And of course, the Bridge deck houses the bridge, and everything that controls Josephine.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-6BridgeDeck.jpg

And The Observation Deck/A Deck. High up above the rest of the riverboat, the Observation Room on this deck provides a place for passengers to relax and enjoy the view. There is seating in here, much like in the Lounge, passengers are permitted to play cards, or other games here, as are they in the lounge. But there is no smoking allowed anywhere inside Josephine. If you must puff on that cigar, or what have you, head outside to a promenade. The Sun Deck is filled with deckchairs, as well as space for playing deck games. A small closet is here for storing the games, the closet is unlocked from dawn until dusk, where a crewmember will then lock it.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b137/Snipsville/Josephine-7ObservationDeck.jpg

[Gutan Tag Hop-Clop]

Your deck plans look great, but isn't 7 levels a bit too much for a river boat? Maybe 5, 6 might be pushing it, but 7 seems like too much (I've only been on one riverboat so I might be completely wrong).

[dak]

I think 4 MAX for a riverboat. Looks okay though. Only one way to get places though. There needs to be at least 2 or 3.

[SlaktarPizza]

Check the sketches more carefully. There's more than one route to places. :p

[Sr. Dela]

I like what you're doing here. But in my opinion the kitchens in the lower decks seem a bit misplaced (if they're kitchens. I might have read wrong). And although it's cool to try to be accurate, try not to have too many rooms. Outerlight discussed this before, that they don't want people to feel overwhelmed by a lot of rooms to search for weapons in. Take a few out and make the rest bigger. Oh, and don't forget to add environmental traps and hidden passages. We so very DO love those things. ;)

[Jay Beeskow]

Your deck plans look great, but isn't 7 levels a bit too much for a river boat? Maybe 5, 6 might be pushing it, but 7 seems like too much (I've only been on one riverboat so I might be completely wrong).

It is a bit steep. The highest I've ever seen is 6, I believe.

I like what you're doing here. But in my opinion the kitchens in the lower decks seem a bit misplaced (if they're kitchens. I might have read wrong). And although it's cool to try to be accurate, try not to have too many rooms. Outerlight discussed this before, that they don't want people to feel overwhelmed by a lot of rooms to search for weapons in. Take a few out and make the rest bigger. Oh, and don't forget to add environmental traps and hidden passages. We so very DO love those things.

Kitchens are wherever there is a dining hall. One for the Crew's Mess on the Bottom Deck, one for the passengers on the Restaurant Deck, and one for the Officer's Mess on the Bridge Deck. It would seem a bit silly to be running meals between the dining areas. Unless they had super mega dumbwaiters! I've shrunk down Josephine as much as I possible can. I can't get myself to take anything else away!

[Jay Beeskow]

keep in mind to have several ways to get to places.
Having too few routes can really kill a map sometimes. :)

This shouldn't be a problem on the upper decks. The promenades that wrap around the exterior of the riverboat are helpful, except where there are suites. There, the promenade is divided by walls, so that passengers can have their own, private balconies.

[SlaktarPizza]

Yeah, I predict it would be like that. (kinda obvious in the picture :D)

But one very important thing is to think about the distance between different areas, like bathroom, kitchen and so on.
But I think you've already been thinking about. :)

[mtaylor]

I love the idea of a steamboat. I have only played a few times so far, but I think I played on a paddle-boat map (albeit a more modern paddleboat than the mark-twain atmospheric boat I am envisioning)

It would be interesting to keep it a riverboat, as there could be some passing, if distant scenery. (The mississippi river for instance, is very wide, wide enough that the riverside scenery wouldn't have to be complicated, or close up, but close enough to see as a riverbank. Huck finn could float by on his raft.

[Jay Beeskow]

I love the idea of a steamboat.

But Josephine isn't a steamboat! ;)