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Originally Posted by thrash
Not sure I understand this. Are you saying that each disk generates either a repulsive or an attractive force, but not both (say, attractive on one side and repulsive on the other)? Is the gravity vector oriented perpendicular to the plate (flat side up/down) or parallel to it (with the plate as sort of an end-cap on the cylinder)?
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Yes, the disk is either attractive or repulsive towards the disk in the center. The gravity vector is perpendicular to the disk, so you could stand on each side of an attractive disk with your feet being pulled towards the "Floor" created by the disk.
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Stacking like a skyscraper is the way to go. The only advantage of what you call naval orientation (besides being simpler to draw and cheaper for Earthly special effects budgets) is that it's easy to move the length of the ship -- but that turns into a disadvantage when the gravity is off.
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Could you expand on this? You haven't said what you feel the advantages of skyscraper orientation are.
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If your reaction engine system allows (e.g., doesn't spew radioactive death), it is helpful to place the main engines closer to amidships and make the hull a double cone.
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The reaction engines are fairly energetic, but mounting them off to the sides and towards the center of the ship should be possible. That does help with the turning, though I'm still thinking about using wheels to control attitude without spending dps.
It might also be interesting to mount the main gravity plate of a skyscraper layout in the middle of this ship, having the effective height. You have to switch gravity orientation once, but that might not be a big deal. A bigger deal might be that you can't easily thread things like pipes, power conduits, and passageways through the disk, Though I could embrace using lots of smaller disks rather than one big one.