Ship build components

[Ripper]

This may have already been addressed, but being new, I haven't found the related post. 

 

I'm assuming there are some initial parts, functions, or requirements that would be needed to build with. 

 

Here are some things I would consider:

 

Power

Fuel

Data

Heat

Ammo

Item Health

Mass

 

Things that create or store the above items:

 

Reactor

Fuel Tank

Computer Systems

Radiators

Heatsinks

Magazines

Armor

 

Things that deplete the above items:

 

Thrusters

Shield Generator

Gravity Generator

Inertial Dampeners

Energy Weapons

Projectile Weapons

Propelled Weapons

Tractor Weapons

Sensor Arrays

Communication Arrays

Life Support

FTL Drive

Jump Drive

 

I would THINK that most of these items would need to be "controlled" by NovaQuark in the interest of balance.

 

But from there, players would be able to use the above items to construct whatever they like.

[vylqun]

in my opinion you think a little to macroscopic, i'd rather have smaller, more universal components with which we can buildmost of those bigger ones, for example energy weapons, shield generator, tractor beams and some kind of thrusters all evolve around shaping energy and emitting it. 

So you could have different types of energy scources and energy emitters, let me give u a little rudimentary example:

 

Energy scources could have the properties "Power/Fuel, Power/s , Fuel needed, waste heat, "

Energy emitters "power used/s, Power emitted, waste heat, shape, expansion/contraction speed, distance"

 

and those you could combine with fuel tanks of your choice etc.

 

so if you want to create a shield you use an energy scource with low power/fuel, moderate power/s and you probably dont care for waste heat as you can just add a lot of heatsinks, the energy scource will then be combined with an energy emitter with low power/s, high power emitted, spherical shape, no contraction or expansion and the distance defines the radius of your shield.

 

If you want a tractor beam you'd take an energy scource with high power/s, combine it with an energy emitter with high power emited and an energy emitter with adjustable shape (by the computer) and adjustable distance, the contraction speed would be the speed with which you pull the target.

 

an energy weapon would be a energy scource with high power/s and low waste heat, an energy emitter high power emitted, cone shaped and high expansion speed. The fuel tanks used would probably small, high efficient fuel cells.

 

etc. etc.

its just a rough example, but something like that would make things far more interesting and gives a lot more oportunities for creative design.

[Ripper]

Oh...

 

I like your ideas.  I wonder if the granularity would cause game balance issues.

[DevisDevine]

Vylqun, I like your ideas. 

 

Frankly I was expecting more of set systems like Ripper was describing, with a build system similar to Planet Explorers. Add more modular for various things, but free design on the shape and that determine weight and armor stats. This system seems a bit easier on CPU load. 

 

But what I would really love to see is more of what you described. Have you ever played starmade? They have something close but not quite. Certain block types and based on the number and shape you assemble them in and the interconnects it determines functionality and value.  

 

 

 

However something that I would actually like to see comes from ideas from Limit Theory. It could work with either system, but it is research. 

Having a standard set of blocks/items gets boring. It static and unchanging, just the quantities can change. But it would be nice to have a research system, maybe even requiring various kinds of labs. 

 

Say you want better thrusters, you research them and there can be a RNG system to give some various attribute modifiers to the base. Maybe higher impulse but lower thrust. Weapons could vary damage, accuracy, fire rate, range, heat generation. Then you can use your research to create and sell blueprints to others. That way the universe is infinitly variable. If it is modual over say a set turret design, the stats that that module component provide could be varied. Instead of 1e/s for a power generator block it could be 1.05. 

 

I know the indexing of this can be complex, but doable when you're considering what else the game has in store. But I am unsure of how it would effect overall performance with having every single entity on a ship possibly having different values from every other. But it would be amazing, groups could be centered solely around researching better tech for their faction. 

[vylqun]

no, i dont know starmade. And i certainly would welcome a crafting system where not every part looks exactly the same, because thats just not doable, we have different types of flash storages exactly because there are small errors within the production process wich cause slower speeds etc.

I wouldnt want those modifiers to be completely random tho, i'd like it to be something that can be trained, so if u keep researching thrusters wich weight a little bit less then the items crafted by you will have a higher chance to get those modifiers within a certain range..

[Kiklix]

All I know is that I would like to see a system that does not punish the creativef designer. What I mean is I would like to make a ship look like the way I want it to (within reason) and not be punished by the voxels in an extreme way, of course if voxels take damage than this idea is kind of out the window...let me explain it another way.

 

I don't want to see chairs on engines or 4 engines tied to 4 guns and a chair etc.

 

I think a more elaborate system would force designs to be realistic, meaning if each component needs a working chain of components to function as a whole,  then we would see cooler designs and cooler ships like the ones they showed in the pictures.

 

I know its early, but I would also like to see "fluff" elements like furniture, kitchen elements, beds etc. Ideally I would like to see these have function, as in you need to eat, sleep etc.

 

I think the hardest balance is going to be allowing people to make stuff of their dreams and be able to maintain that in a pvp enviroment. I'd hate to see large projects go bust because of griefers...and we all know the likelihood of griefers is strong.

 

Anyway. As much as I want to fight in a ship etc, I really want to explore and make a home that resides in the stars. Space Engineers ships are cool, but too...sterile, dont feel lived in. I want to be able to make the ship have some "lived in" personality. I know if these kinds of things were to be implemented it would be later on.

 

I guess essenitally what I am saying, is that I would like to see Role Play elements, not for hard core role playing, but just to give the universe that much more personality. IMO it's that personallity that creates a deep immersion and makes one want to keep coming back.