Space Duck... err Space Dock

[Ithirahad]

What if one of the enhancers gets shot off, causing the ship to no longer be valid?

The ship (or piece thereof) remains docked but stops building/repairing.

 

[Vyor]

The ship (or piece thereof) remains docked but stops building/repairing.

Ok... Alright, you've convinced me...

 

[Zeveryn]

I like this idea. Not everyone like it and that is fine so instead of having it as a core feature in the game itself. Say it could be an on or off setting for server owners.

 

[Mr. V]

I am leaning towards this idea too. It seems like there should be something to make it a little more difficult to instantly replace larger ships. I also tend to agree with a lot of the possible detractions to the idea - it's something that would have to be carefully implemented so as not to detract from the fun of the game itself. To me, part of the fun of a game is the challenges and obstacles to overcome paired with a level of realism, but part of the fun of a game is also being able to escape a lot of the tedium of reality while playing that game.

Overall I like it though.... +1

 

[Ithirahad]

It would be really cool to see newcomers to a server program a blueprint into a shop shipyard, watch their ship build from blocks, and go flying off into the universe in their shuttles and fighters, compared to the current process of loading in a massive blueprint and just poofing it... Same with people stopping at a shop or the home base for repairs rather than just scrapping, selling, and re-poofing. The only problem is that there needs to be something to do while you're waiting... Buying food? Crafting consumables? Doing research to discover more efficient designs? Talking with people at communications consoles (Would serve as World and Faction chat; standard chat would have a limited range)?

 

[Jack Caos]

Buying food? Crafting consumables? Doing research to discover more efficient designs? Talking with people at communications consoles (Would serve as World and Faction chat; standard chat would have a limited range)?

i like your ideas ^^

 

[Vyor]

i like your ideas ^^

I like the research part... everything else... not so much...

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Astro technobeams should be the primary method for increasing the build capabilities of shipyards. This could include turrets and construction ships, these would automatically build any ship in the dry dock. Additionally some massive ships may never be feasible to build in docks so building from a core with a blueprint in space with construction ships should also be an option. This wouldn't have the benefit of being automated as the construction ships with astro technobeams would need to be flown manually.

 

[Ithirahad]

Astro technobeams should be the primary method for increasing the build capabilities of shipyards. This could include turrets and construction ships, these would automatically build any ship in the dry dock. Additionally some massive ships may never be feasible to build in docks so building from a core with a blueprint in space with construction ships should also be an option. This wouldn't have the benefit of being automated as the construction ships with astro technobeams would need to be flown manually.

Sounds like a decent idea. Place a core, put a blueprint in it, and start shooting at it with an astrotech beam, and it starts building, if there are materials or credits in a PlexStorage on the ship or station?

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Sounds like a decent idea. Place a core, put a blueprint in it, and start shooting at it with an astrotech beam, and it starts building, if there are materials or credits in a PlexStorage on the ship or station?

I think it was mentioned in the Q&A that the ship/station being built would hold the blocks to be consumed but I think the ships with the astros should have the blocks. You can just load up your construction ship with every block type in the game and keep using them to build ships over and over again so that would be the best option. As for astro turrets on a space dock or mobile shipyard I would hope the system would be smart enough to consume a block supply from the mothership (I do hope we are not limited to just placing shipyards on stations as I have a really nice void dock in the works). This proposed system would also be completely capable of constructing stations from blueprints as there would be no difference between building a large ship manually or a station and I imaging a large faction with a lot of members in the construction ships could build a station in no time.

Additionally I do support the server option to be able to simply spawn blueprints because there are creative build servers out there that would not need the balancing factors of slower building.

How amazing would it be to load up your blueprint and watch an array of techno turrets go to work putting the ship together?!

 

[Jack Caos]

Sounds like a decent idea. Place a core, put a blueprint in it, and start shooting at it with an astrotech beam, and it starts building, if there are materials or credits in a PlexStorage on the ship or station?

that again could enable us to have buildblocks with blueprints on planets for making buildings.. which hen would be their only purpose and no one could use them for fastmining stuff

 

[Ithirahad]

that again could enable us to have buildblocks with blueprints on planets for making buildings.. which hen would be their only purpose and no one could use them for fastmining stuff

Hm, good point. It would also make the 1st-person block placing slightly more useful (Convenience). If only there was some way to orient blocks placed by players...

 

[Jack Caos]

Hm, good point. It would also make the 1st-person block placing slightly more useful (Convenience). If only there was some way to orient blocks placed by players...

somwhat like in minecraft where on some blocks the orientation is determined by the direction you are looking and the part of the block you are looking at?



besides i would love to have a buildblock with a blueprint on a planet and then have little workerbee like drones build it up for me with blocks they get from a designated plexstorage ( or what i more like to have, the storage area system someone mentioned here in the forums)

 

[Hanspeter Schnitzel]

Just buying the ships is kinda stupid though, I agree on that. Docks = yes, but they should build faster. It also makes sense that people need the blocks to actually build the ship, not just money. This means that people will actually have to produce ressources and thus have factories and whatnot. Shops should probably get restocked by the trading guild way more often and with higher amounts of commonly used blocks, so it is still possible to buy the blocks, but that should be more expensive. Perhaps it should be possible to set up an AI shuttle to fly between the shop and your dock, constantly supplying it with the blocks the dock needs, as long as you have credits stored in the dock that the shuttle can use to buy stuff? Just to automate it more. This would also create some kind of supply routes that factions have to protect, or they just go and buy the stuff personally. But it's kinda stupid that people with tons of money can just lose their huge ship and then just scrap the damaged one and insta rebuy it.
The dock should be useable for repairs, too. So you can stick the damaged ship into the dock, load its blueprint and the dock will begin to replace damaged blocks and missing ones. The build rate should be pretty fast though. 1 hour per 100,000 blocks highest, if not less. This would mean that small ships are quickly made, but huge ones are actually a big loss.