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Gravity/magnetic/boost pads


wizardoftrash

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Considering space elevators have a lot of challenges that will make them not feasible in this game, I got to thinking why not have an electromagnetic launch pad style element, that propels mobile constructs in a specific direction when powered. This will allow for hover trains, boost pads for hover racing, and a Launch ramp that could allow a ship whout atmospheric flight elements to be launched ino space.

 

In space these could also be used to allow for long-ish distance AFK travel by having a series of space stations that each propell you to the next, so you can AFK for a couple hours while your ship frictonlessly hurdles through the void to your destination.

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....And gets killed by pirates. I like that idea :)

 

I think such elements may be of concern later, not for the release.

 

Would be cool if you could make traps out of that too :P

Someone could fly into a loop that just directs them in a circle, or fly into a zone that just pulls from all directions into its center (and traps ships). Neat idea, but a ship with enough thrust should be able to overcome these.

 

Also this would allow for ships that are in space to deploy atmosphere-only craft by hurling them into a planet, or would allow for a craft to rapidly deploy what might otherwise be a very slow fighter or bomber.

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I'm not necessarily talking about trapping ships....More like catapults for players, pulling them somewhere, repulsing ships/players, direct their attacking vector, ....

Here is a thought, mounting two in a wedge shape on the front of a ship to apply a force to anything in-front of it either to the left or right, not unlike a SNOW PLOW for a ship! A similar mechanism could be used to repel a ship that is built for boarding action.

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Would be a broken mechanic if you just could repel everything....

But it would fix abandoned ships blocking stuff in the safezones and such. And CvC combat will allow you to target specific elements. So you could easily work around it.

 

Not sure if we will see stuff like this but it would be cool.

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But it would fix abandoned ships blocking stuff in the safezones and such. And CvC combat will allow you to target specific elements. So you could easily work around it.

 

Not sure if we will see stuff like this but it would be cool.

Potential area for abuse: repulsing a ship or player out of the safe zone that was previously there. As long as a save zone holds ships in that were parked there, then the "repulse" panels would be a fine way to tow ships without damaging them.

 

While we are on that topic, a repulsion gun that just pushes stuff? nonlethal self defense to just keep shoving them out of combat distance, or hilarious combat tactic to shove a non-atmospheric ship into the gravity well of a planet.

 

And again, these elements would require power to work, probably would be less effective against constructs that have more mass.

 

There would need to be SOME limitations on something like this, 

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Well the safezone clearly misses when you just push someone out of it. Even I as griefer/pirate find that too harsh haha

Hence there would have to be some limitations. Perhaps stuff simply can't be pushed out of the save zone from inside the safe zone. Perhaps the boost pads and repulsion guns are considered "weapons" and simply don't work inside the safe zones (this prevents them from being useful for towing). There is still a potential problem of pushing or dragging a ship out of the jurisdiction of a TU.

 

*Shrugs* this is probably too complex already lol

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as cool as this is, i don't see it happening for optimization reasons. Not to mention it could be heavily abused and used to troll players, also implementing something like this that works properly would hog a lot of DEV time and resources that could be devoted elsewhere. Good idea though, reminds me of the jump pads from planetside 2.200_s.gif

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  • 2 weeks later...

As far as AFK travel, it would be kind of neat to have an organized auto-loop at the destination.

 

Imagine this:

You choose a destination, and your ship is given some kind of physical identifier, maybe you have to get out and pilot a mini-craft to dock on/in your ship. This mini-craft has a specific signal beacon that it broadcasts to let each mag-station know where you are headed, you also have to grant it access to your energy/fuel system. This is so that it can calculate whether you have enough to make the trip. 

As you reach each station, it will detect the mini-craft signal and launch you in the direction of the next station on your route.

Before you launch, however, you have to choose from a list of predetermined speeds. If you are not going the exact speed you chose when you attempt to launch, the station will not launch you. (More on this later.)

 

There could be a different lane for each speed, or:

If someone travelling at a high speed catches up with a slower speed craft, there would be a "passing loop" at each station. Each station would keep track of the speed of every ship. If one launches a ship going 1,000 mph, then receives one going 2,000 mph, it would hold the one going 2,000 mph in a loop until it had calculated the time for the 1,000 mph ship to reach the next station and the time for the 2,000 mph ship, and then re-launch the 2,000 mph ship at the right time so it arrives at the next station exactly 1 minute after the 1,000 mph ship.

Meanwhile, it has sent a signal to the next station to hold the 1,000 mph ship in a loop until the 2,000mph ship has passed it.

 

Once you reach your destination, the receiving station puts you into an auto-loop. It could hold multiple ships in this loop, since it would know where each one was due to the mini-craft beacon. (Oh yeah, the mini-craft would have to be able to scan the ship somehow to get its dimensions, a surface-pulse scan maybe?) There could be multiple loops, with ships that are travelling different speeds in each loop. This is why you would need to choose a specific speed at launch, so all the ships in your loop will be travelling the same speed.

 

If your ship runs out of fuel while circling the receiving station, you would be moved out of the loop into a Mag-Lev bay. This would never happen between transport stations, since the mini-craft could calculate the fuel/energy cost to continue to the next station, and simply have you put in a holding loop if you don't have enough. (You could start to run low if you get put in a lot of "passing loops".) Each station would have a limited number of holding bays for fuel-drained craft.

 

OR

 

​You could pay ahead of time to have a fuel-loaded mini-craft, or maybe have a way to refuel the ship en-route.

 

It would also be cool if the mini-craft could access speed control, that would eliminate the need for so many passing loops, and once you arrive, it could shut down the engines and dock you, saving the station and you energy.

 

If a receiving station gets full, it will have a short-term overflow station it will park incoming ships at. Meanwhile it will send a signal to all sending stations not to send any more ships.

 

Every ship would be charged based on the number of stations on their route, plus refuel cost (if applicable), and then for ship storage. The longer you let a ship take up space at the receiving station, the more you have to pay. Your final charges will be calculated and your ship released when you dock the mini-craft at the receiving station.

 

Also, if a station starts to run low on mini-craft, you might be required to take more than one mini-craft with you if you are headed to that station. You would of course receive some kind of incentive to do so.

 

Sorry for the long post, but I just thought this would be a cool system.

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To;dr but imho catching up with others while they travel to other systems is a VITAL gameplay element for pirates

 

A mag-station transportation network wouldn't make the ships travel any faster, just direct them to the intended location while the player is AFK.

This is why it would be risky, since you could get waylaid at any point along the route.

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I know, I need to work on being more concise. :P

But to clarify, pirates could easily catch any ship they would normally be able to run down without the mag station. The mag station is directional guidance, nothing more.

If your concern was the fact that a ship would enter a, "passing loop," this is merely a series of mag plates. These "lanes" are not physical, and anyone can jump off the mag-station route at any point. So pirates would still have the ability to catch/loot ships in a "passing loop".

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I feel like something that can launch a ship into space should be very very big, expensive, delicate, and is made with late game tech. Otherwise it would become gamebreaking for planet entry-departure mechanic. If the planet entry-departure mechanic isn't that difficult in the first place, then I don't see the need for having something to bypass it.

 

I like your idea for an autopilot, AccuNut. You shouldn't give away such good ideas. Not for free at least. ;)

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