Yes, the spaceship is built more like the ISS, spindly and thin, rather than the bulky ships we usually think of. But there's no reason for it to be big. It's just cryo pods, no one's walking, and if the pods are shielded from radiation then there's no need for extra hull.
There's a few mods for extra ship parts, which are interesting but not important. Things like hull plates and slopes.
So my built spaceship which looks like a ribcage with cryosleep capsules attached works into liftoff?
...I sent all my people in there, including the best of the lot. They don't even have anywhere to stand or walk now. x_x No wonder our start has us from a broken ship
Humor aside, I like that imagery of yours
Went back on that save and tried a wholly non-aerodynamic and otherwise 'really not right' spaceship format.
...It worked ._. So it really may be a placeholder (Imagine a giant cascade of 'stair' lining as the skeleton; ascending vertical then horizontal then vertical, etc), as by design, this really wouldn't have worked out right. At least it provides the nice imagery of a twirly-spaceship in space, with the cryo capsules like tiny polyps and thrusters at each end of the stair step.
Combat Realism and EPOE are big enough that a lot of mods patch for compatibility. I know that Rimfire used to have a CR branch.
Does Combat Realism work without that...um, one mod that requires a library or something? I edited the scenario to have 50% the time of ranged cooldown and aim speed to be better in accurately mimicking the danger of ranged warfare (so melee w/ shield is still put in danger), because I was surprised at how fast enemy shield-bandits could go with the colonist only firing...like, two or three volleys of their gun.
I don't use Prepare Carefully myself because it feels like one of the most OP mods out there. I'm not going to judge anyone who uses it, but it feels like using it just eliminates part of the "fun" of Rimworld - of dealing with what you get at the start instead of min-maxing your colonists.
It is just too annoying to randomize again and again until I get a halfway workable team.
This is pretty much my main reason for getting that mod. It's too...broad in variables to work with specifics--and the player, other than rely purely on RNG, can create their own 'randomized' scenario themselves by giving full control to them, which in the end is what may matter more (eg control to the player).
Would love to see this mod put into the game, probably as a selection option or a choice in the options to enable if people want the 'randomize/RNG' colony crew.