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Designing Facility


Archonious

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Hi,

 

NQ very often speak about nice looking ships. But after I played Space Engineers survival mode, I realised that it is hard to build something nice looking if you do not have solid plan. Even if you have it, there are lot of rebuilding and resizing durring the process. It is real pain in ass for many players (if not for all).

 

If to look for some requests, people require something like "Creative Mode". It is very necessary for many of players, to create something nice looking. But since we would have only one world, it is impossible. But I would like to share my vision, what can be created.

 

Designing Facility - what is that?

-This is end game block, similar as Respawn Unit or territory Defence Unit. Expensive and available on high levels of researches.

 

What is main task?

-Designing Facility is special programm which allow to design and create blueprints.

 

How it works?

In my vision, player enter program (yes, this is like sub world, but physicly player still in global one-shard world). This program looks like infinite surface*, no walls, no roof. Only floor. Visual example:

shinysphere1.jpg

As soon player enter this programm, he/she can use all sort of items and blocks (if they are available to use - unlocked (if game would have locked items)). No resources needed to build, everything for free. This can be fully client side, because player do not produce anything at all (NQ knows more about server side and client side, so I leave it for them).

 

So player can design any size, any ship or building. Move object up and down (necessary).

 

What is player control in this program?

-Player moves freely in this surface area, like in god mode. I'm not sure will it be available fly through the object itself, this is question about game opportunities.

 

What happens if I want to make blueprint?

-As soon object is ready, player can create blueprint (will it be for free, I don't know). It works similarly as making blueprint from ready ship. As soon blueprint is ready, player will need all necessary resources and items to create it.

 

Can I uload blueprint to make some changes?

-I think, if system like this can create blueprints, it easily can upload players blueprints for upgrading.

 

_____________________________

* - block could be upgradable. For example, level 1 allowes 50x50 (meters) surface, level 2 150x150, level 3 500x500, level 4 2000x2000, level 5 unlimited. When every level is more and more expensive and require more energy to run.

 

The main goal, to give tool for creative people (and not very creative) to design nice looking ships or building. If you are designer, you must know, that final version of object require a lot of changes durring process. So that's why, designing (nowadays) is digital and only then physical.

 

Thanks,

Archonious

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There will have to be a mode like this. If people want to design the kind of epic ships that I'm sure they do they won't be able to without a "creative" mode. I for one, intend to make some fairly elaborately shaped hulls that will require a good amount of time to get right and I would hate to have to do that in the world.

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Creative mode - nope.

 

Designer mode - definitely yes. You will be able to work on your blueprints in some kind of virtual space.

 

In my eyes these two are the same, but what developers thought was simply that the game will have only one shard, one mode, so there will be no other separated mode like Creative. But it doesn't mean there won't be same functionality that Creative mode would offer, it will just be as a tool inside the game, not standing aside. This game needs players to be able to build more complex construct blueprints and they already confirmed that.

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I know my explanation is a bit clumsy.

It sound like, you found known words in text and wrote opinion about them.

 

1. There is design feature only. Player do not create ship, player create blueprint. Simply to say - Design

2. God Mode is example about movement while player in designing window. So players moves freely. No jetpack, no acceleration or slowing down.

3. About crafting overall, it will be like in Minecraft, no weld/grind, it will be place or remove. (Maybe opposite was stated somewhere, I didn't see. But all videos make that expresion).

 

Thanks,

Archonious

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It sound like, you found known words in text and wrote opinion about them.

 

1. There is design feature only. Player do not create ship, player create blueprint. Simply to say - Design

2. God Mode is example about movement while player in designing window. So players moves freely. No jetpack, no acceleration or slowing down.

3. About crafting overall, it will be like in Minecraft, no weld/grind, it will be place or remove. (Maybe opposite was stated somewhere, I didn't see. But all videos make that expresion).

 

Thanks,

Archonious

Oh yes I know. There won't be the possibility to move as a God but to remove parts easily, compared to when you actually craft in normal mode and have to break your ship if it isn't well done.

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What I was thinking personally that could def work would be a type of overlay during gameplay for creative works. Once you go into the overlay it would provide information about the construct your working on size, number of blocks/entities, etc. and hopefully a way to be able to move around without hindrance.

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What I was thinking personally that could def work would be a type of overlay during gameplay for creative works. Once you go into the overlay it would provide information about the construct your working on size, number of blocks/entities, etc. and hopefully a way to be able to move around without hindrance.

 

 This would work perfectly, kinda like the planning thing in Prison Architect, if you're familiar. And as others have stated, it wouldn't go against the whole "one shard" thing 

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What I was thinking personally that could def work would be a type of overlay during gameplay for creative works. Once you go into the overlay it would provide information about the construct your working on size, number of blocks/entities, etc. and hopefully a way to be able to move around without hindrance.

Move without hindrance? How that?

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Creative mode - nope.

 

Designer mode - definitely yes. You will be able to work on your blueprints in some kind of virtual space.

 

In my eyes these two are the same, but what developers thought was simply that the game will have only one shard, one mode, so there will be no other separated mode like Creative. But it doesn't mean there won't be same functionality that Creative mode would offer, it will just be as a tool inside the game, not standing aside. This game needs players to be able to build more complex construct blueprints and they already confirmed that.

 

Maybe they envision something like an infinite, featureless plain where people can design their constructs in peace. Edit: Just noticed OP was talking about exactly the same thing, sorry for only skimming the OP post. I believe the devs are already on the same page here.

 

I agree it would be pretty sweet if you could only enter this virtual space through an actual in-game element, so as to properly ground the feature in the game world. And maybe other players could even boot you out of your designer mode by destroying it or cutting the power (your WIP should be saved, naturally).

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We all agree that something like this will probably exist, or need to exist for the game to work well.

 

I'd say though that there should be some functions they will want to add, for example the ability to create a plane on which it will mirror your additions. This will allow us to create complex symmetrical components. Space engineers has a system like that for creative mode, and you can move the "center" of the plane so that what parts are symmetrical and where can change.

 

The ability to have complex voxel elements stored in your library might make that unnecessary, but only if there is a way to invert/mirror the elements instead of just rotate them. 

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We all agree that something like this will probably exist, or need to exist for the game to work well.

 

I'd say though that there should be some functions they will want to add, for example the ability to create a plane on which it will mirror your additions. This will allow us to create complex symmetrical components. Space engineers has a system like that for creative mode, and you can move the "center" of the plane so that what parts are symmetrical and where can change.

 

The ability to have complex voxel elements stored in your library might make that unnecessary, but only if there is a way to invert/mirror the elements instead of just rotate them. 

 

If they really go for the promised realistic flight model, mirroring will absolutely be essential. No, actually I feel mirroring would be an essential feature no matter what. In 'coarse' voxel games like Space Engineers you can easily eyeball symmetry, counting voxels in finely grained voxel game like DU would be a nightmare.

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If they really go for the promised realistic flight model, mirroring will absolutely be essential. No, actually I feel mirroring would be an essential feature no matter what. In 'coarse' voxel games like Space Engineers you can easily eyeball symmetry, counting voxels in finely grained voxel game like DU would be a nightmare.

 

If it has any aerodynamics at all gonna need precice symmetry.

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If it has any aerodynamics at all gonna need precice symmetry.

 

I don't think aerodynamics are planned, but supposedly they want to make it so that thruster placement matters in relation to the centre of mass. So presumably your ship could be hard to control or even spin around wildly if you get this wrong.

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I don't think aerodynamics are planned, but supposedly they want to make it so that thruster placement matters in relation to the centre of mass. So presumably your ship could be hard to control or even spin around wildly if you get this wrong.

There were going to be some differences between Atmospheric flight and space flight. Mass is probably going to interfere much more in atmosphere than in space, but I don't think the've fully ironed out how it'll work.

 

I just don't think they'll have enough power to make this a realistic flight simulator AND an MMO, so I would agree that aerodynamics probably won't be a thing, but they might end up with really really simplified system for drag for example.

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Here is a feature that I would like to see incorporated into a virtual builder such as what is being discussed here: a means of simulating how a ship will perform under various conditions.

What actually got me thinking about this was a thread I was reading about stealth ships: https://board.dualthegame.com/index.php?/topic/637-some-thoughts-on-stealth-ships/?hl=stealth

Now, there are all sorts of really cool suggestions in there, but these are the things I came away with from a design standpoint:

  • Passive visual stealth: pretty much just creative ship design to remain low-profile, hide your thermal footprint, and maybe a good paint job.
  • Active visual stealth: some form of camouflage that requires power to run, be it invisible cloak, color-shifting panels, or thermal-shielding tech. The downside is that the amount of power it draws would be easily detectable.
  • Passive system stealth: again, low-profile ship for minimum radar signature, special anti-detection coatings that minimize visible heat and radar signatures.
  • Active system stealth: essentially system jammers that block or confuse radar, thermal, and energy detection utilities on the targeted ship.

So, what if you could test the stealth of a ship in the design center before you even built it? You could run all sorts of system simulations, energy, thermal, and radar detectability under various circumstances: engines on, engines off, full stealth mode, viewed from behind, viewed from below, etc.

 

And it doesn't have to be only stealth tests. It could calculate all kinds of other stats: speed, hull strength, etc.

You could even run a simulation where you intentionally "damage" parts of the ship with various weapons to see how it would handle it. You might find a weak spot you didn't realize was there: the biggest baddest ship in the sky is no good if a single hit to the wrong spot disables it's weapons, or thrusters, etc.

Or maybe, you will be happy to accept the weaknesses in the design because of other advantages to it, but at least you will be aware that they exist.

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Part of this devblog talks about a feature like this:

 

 

- Virtual Simulator: enabling player to enter a virtual world (call it �inception syndrome�!). While in that virtual space, the player would be able to design any construct, in a completely peaceful setting. This would help builders to design their construct and create their blueprints safely, without being interrupted by any PvP action. For ships, it will also be possible to test their flight mode, without risking a crash or wasting resources!

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