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Wheels and Rails


Skeeter

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From what I know there are anti-gravity engines commonly discussed for this game. The devs even have a concept drawing for a hovercraft engine found here. From the E3 trailer I can deduce that something like this is already implemented as you will see massive ships suspended in mid air hovering over a planet's surface.

 

I made this thread because I think that the hovercraft engine is cool but I don't think it should be the only means of mobility on a planet's surface. I would like to see trains and automobiles still in use as I feel like they could achieve certain tasks that certain ships couldn't. A maglev or a hyperloop train for instance would probably be very effective at hauling massive amounts of cargo or people safely, reliably, and quickly at a fraction of the cost of a full size cargo ship. Cars/Rovers would still be effective at moving individuals and small amounts of materials in a local area while being fairly inexpensive.

 

Plus the infrastructure of building roads and rails would really bring character to a planet or colonization. Hovercraft should definitely have their place but I think that there should be other forms of surface transportation.

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That's a interesting idea! I imagine wheels are already an idea well thought of but rails I imagine could lead to a number of possibilities. As well, if you were able to dock to a rail, and then it moves you into a position, that might make ship dockings to maybe a mothership more interesting. I like it.

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I like this idea.

 

It would be really useful to automate a rail system across a planet, and could even allow for a subway type system (assuming structures could be built underground). 

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I like this idea.

 

It would be really useful to automate a rail system across a planet, and could even allow for a subway type system (assuming structures could be built underground). 

 

I imagine if the planets are voxel based it would be quite easy to make underground structures.

In the Devblog the devs have also mentioned building things underground such as Territory Control Units.

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I second the notion for wheels.

 

I desire to make a semi automated rail line. and it could also be useful in the creation of a space elevator.

 

Unless the dev's feel its redundant, perhaps a maglev train of sorts is already possible if you have a series of control units and DPU's.

 

You would have to be careful and feed the units proper instructions for aligning the "Railcart" and have it move checkpoint to checkpoint.

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For Trains and Cars to be actually used they would need to have advantages and disadvantages compared to engines i think i could list some pros and contras for wheels/rails compared to engines

 

Pros

- cheaper

- efficient (less power comsuming)

- easier to hide/defend (underground rails/roads/turrets)

Cons

- slower

- weaker (less lift capability)

- harder to build and maintain

- Ships can be adjusted to dangers (pirate ambushes) rails/roads have to be rebuilt

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Definitively! Another idea I had for them would be an automated docking process. An example would be using rails on large motherships. If you had a hanger, you could possibly have a rail system inside which ships could dock to. Once they do, it would be able to escort them to a storage bay. It could also be used in reverse for getting a squadron ready. Not to mention in ship transportation for large motherships.

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From what I know there are anti-gravity engines commonly discussed for this game. The devs even have a concept drawing for a hovercraft engine found here. From the E3 trailer I can deduce that something like this is already implemented as you will see massive ships suspended in mid air hovering over a planet's surface.

 

I made this thread because I think that the hovercraft engine is cool but I don't think it should be the only means of mobility on a planet's surface. I would like to see trains and automobiles still in use as I feel like they could achieve certain tasks that certain ships couldn't. A maglev or a hyperloop train for instance would probably be very effective at hauling massive amounts of cargo or people safely, reliably, and quickly at a fraction of the cost of a full size cargo ship. Cars/Rovers would still be effective at moving individuals and small amounts of materials in a local area while being fairly inexpensive.

 

Plus the infrastructure of building roads and rails would really bring character to a planet or colonization. Hovercraft should definitely have their place but I think that there should be other forms of surface transportation.

 

I thought about wheels and rails a while back and I still don't know what my thoughts are.

 

Yes looking at it now i think that wheels will be great and making trains will be great, but will they actually be used other than for RP purposes ?, 

 

If you want a train line that carries cargo from one position to another there is the option of the lua scripting and making a train line that way using the latest of the technologies available. The thing that makes me question the need for this is 'why use lesser tech' ? ..

 

If we can lua script everything easily and setting up a connection from point A to point B, would there even be a need for anything to do with trains or wheels?

When everything has the ability to fly, would you really use wheels? even the player character has a jetpack.

 

Don't take this post as negative, i'm on the fence about wheels and rails, i'm just trying to establish the purpose of putting them in other than to be tools for RP.

 

nora,

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I thought about wheels and rails a while back and I still don't know what my thoughts are.

 

Yes looking at it now i think that wheels will be great and making trains will be great, but will they actually be used other than for RP purposes ?, 

 

If you want a train line that carries cargo from one position to another there is the option of the lua scripting and making a train line that way using the latest of the technologies available. The thing that makes me question the need for this is 'why use lesser tech' ? ..

 

If we can lua script everything easily and setting up a connection from point A to point B, would there even be a need for anything to do with trains or wheels?

When everything has the ability to fly, would you really use wheels? even the player character has a jetpack.

 

Don't take this post as negative, i'm on the fence about wheels and rails, i'm just trying to establish the purpose of putting them in other than to be tools for RP.

 

nora,

 

I think that wheels and rails could be very useful in a non rp way.

 

In today's world everyone has the ability to fly. I could go to an airport right now and fly anywhere in the world. For long distance travel flight is ideal but it is horribly inefficient for short distance travel.

 

For instance do you take an airplane to work everyday? You don't because the cost of an airplane, fuel costs, and maintenance are all horribly expensive. Not to mention the large amount of area and labor you need to operate an airport to land that plane.

 

That said the hovercraft in this game doesn't appear to have many of the problems an airplane might encounter (Mostly due to VTOL ability). But I think they should still be at a disadvantage for local travel when compared to wheels. Not to mention a three dimensional plane of travel (the sky) could be much more dangerous than a two dimension plane of travel (the surface). This would become especially true depending on how populated the sky would become with hovercraft travelling at high speeds.

 

I also think that a lot of people on here are underestimating the abilities of railroads.  Freight trains using today's technology are more than capable of carrying thousands of tons of cargo over vast distances and are very energy efficient. I couldn't imagine what trains in this game at this level of technology would be capable of. Imagine if each car was a giant kadpak able to compress matter and the train was running on an engine powered by a fusion reactor.

 

I wouldn't consider wheels and rails to be 'lesser technology' or 'primitive technology' just because hovercraft exist.

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I think that wheels and rails could be very useful in a non rp way.

 

In today's world everyone has the ability to fly. I could go to an airport right now and fly anywhere in the world. For long distance travel flight is ideal but it is horribly inefficient for short distance travel.

 

For instance do you take an airplane to work everyday? You don't because the cost of an airplane, fuel costs, and maintenance are all horribly expensive. Not to mention the large amount of area and labor you need to operate an airport to land that plane.

 

That said the hovercraft in this game doesn't appear to have many of the problems an airplane might encounter (Mostly due to VTOL ability). But I think they should still be at a disadvantage for local travel when compared to wheels. Not to mention a three dimensional plane of travel (the sky) could be much more dangerous than a two dimension plane of travel (the surface). This would become especially true depending on how populated the sky would become with hovercraft travelling at high speeds.

 

I also think that a lot of people on here are underestimating the abilities of railroads.  Freight trains using today's technology are more than capable of carrying thousands of tons of cargo over vast distances and are very energy efficient. I couldn't imagine what trains in this game at this level of technology would be capable of. Imagine if each car was a giant kadpak able to compress matter and the train was running on an engine powered by a fusion reactor.

 

I wouldn't consider wheels and rails to be 'lesser technology' or 'primitive technology' just because hovercraft exist.

 

I understand what your saying. True there could be some advantages to it. But i'm thinking of the bigger picture, there game is going to be set in a practically infinite universe, i would rather focus on methods of moving materials from planet to planet over moving materials from city to city on the same planet.

 

I do think that is i lesser technology though, although maglev i could agree with i think, you set down markers to dictate your course and 'apply' a ship to it, basically just a normal ship that is predesigned to follow a track that is laid out with these maglev markers. But again that's hover tech, wheels i still don't see a proper purpose for.

 

Also, if i could go to work in a hovercraft (proper anti-grav ship) everyday i would, without a shadow of a doubt. Hell i'd even get up early to get to work in it. That is if it was commercially available and didn't cost an arm and a leg to pilot everyday, which i'm assuming DU is going to be like with the hovercrafts.

 

But again, i'm not trying to be negative towards it, i'm just curious and discussing it. :)

 

nora,

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I understand what your saying. True there could be some advantages to it. But i'm thinking of the bigger picture, there game is going to be set in a practically infinite universe, i would rather focus on methods of moving materials from planet to planet over moving materials from city to city on the same planet.

 

I do think that is i lesser technology though, although maglev i could agree with i think, you set down markers to dictate your course and 'apply' a ship to it, basically just a normal ship that is predesigned to follow a track that is laid out with these maglev markers. But again that's hover tech, wheels i still don't see a proper purpose for.

 

Also, if i could go to work in a hovercraft (proper anti-grav ship) everyday i would, without a shadow of a doubt. Hell i'd even get up early to get to work in it. That is if it was commercially available and didn't cost an arm and a leg to pilot everyday, which i'm assuming DU is going to be like with the hovercrafts.

 

But again, i'm not trying to be negative towards it, i'm just curious and discussing it. :)

 

nora,

 

I think anyone would choose to commute to work in a proper hovercraft. The problem then is that the sky becomes populated with hundreds of thousands of people commuting in these commercially available hovercraft. Without some kind of automated flight control system on each hovercraft that communicates with other craft and an organization like the FAA the sky would quickly become incredibly dangerous. Roads are safe and easy as you can easily set up lanes and rules on a two dimensional plane. It would be much harder to do so for a three dimensional plane.

 

I suppose you could create lanes in the sky with posted speed limits through technologies like augmented reality though. I suppose all of this would be up to the players to create in game though.

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Wheels and Rails could also be important for in station movement or in high Gravity areas where thrusters/hovercrafts get so expensive thats its too unefficient to use them

 

I hadn't even thought about high gravity environments. This is a very good point.

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I feel like at the very least wheels are going to be a necessity, for taxiing maybe, or just normal ground vehicles. Rails hopefully will be another feature at some point. I mean, I would not want to be riding a hovertrain and suddenly have it lose power. Could end quite badly.

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One thing to remember when talking about transport tech in general is that, from a lore perspective, technology exists that can drastically effect the properties of matter. You may not need to deal with "heavy" or "large" loads in the same way you have to in real life. The dynamics of transportation and logistics might just be very different.

 

Whether they are or not, I agree wheels would be a great thing to have access to, though I question how useful they will really be.

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One thing to remember when talking about transport tech in general is that, from a lore perspective, technology exists that can drastically effect the properties of matter. You may not need to deal with "heavy" or "large" loads in the same way you have to in real life. The dynamics of transportation and logistics might just be very different.

 

Whether they are or not, I agree wheels would be a great thing to have access to, though I question how useful they will really be.

 

My hope is that the matter compression technology only eliminates the size issue and not the weight issue. It would make since considering the matter is compressed and still extant (I.E. the same weight with less size).

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  • 4 years later...

+1 considering NQ isnt close to getting their current very static vehicles calculations to work on a bigger scale and havent managed to optimize any of this so far, wheels (which would require even more physical calc) arent gonna be a thing anytime soon, but im def. looking forward to an addition of WHEELS, RAILS (could be less performance intense), LEGS (probably the most physical calc intense)

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I don’t like the idea of wheels, nowhere is flat enough to use them at a reasonable speed. A mag lev rail system would be wonderful, especially underground for mining where ships can’t go easily.  My only concern is the construct system, the space elevators that have been built us 30 L cores minimum to get up to 6KM so to build a working large rail system, even if your own area would take quite a few L size cores all arranged perfectly to make sure buildings lien up.

 

i have seen some nice systems using small ships with hover engines surrounded by a static structure however they didn’t seem practical except for space elevators.

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