Can we scrap enhancers already?

[SgtFlexxx]

I really hate the idea of enhancers. I wouldn't mind so much that they're in and I can wait for them to be removed, it just seems that people, when making suggestions having to do with a box of sorts, always use the same idea of enhancers.

Currently, I think that enhancers just take up space and prove problematic when you want to dock large ships in a mother ship/station. It usually results in a 1 block tower sticking out in an "L" formation of a ship. It just feels ridiculous to be honest, and I like what someone suggested earlier.

Someone, in a past thread, suggested that they should just scrap enhancers and make a simple GUI layout to customize the dimensions of the docking box. It feels like a much simpler idea, as well as less tedious, and easily customizable.

 

[der_scheme]

I would second a GUI based on the number of connected enhancers (in arbitrary layout/shape), if that's the idea. It seems obvious that we have enhancers, so we don't dock two dreadnaughts on a ship composed of 10 blocks.

 

[SgtFlexxx]

I would second a GUI based on the number of connected enhancers (in arbitrary layout/shape), if that's the idea. It seems obvious that we have enhancers, so we don't dock two dreadnaughts on a ship composed of 10 blocks.

I forgot to add this on to the post, but I was hoping that we could just scrap enhancers all together and get rid of them, simply running off a GUI based system.

The part I forgot to add is that, in order to increase the size through the GUI, you would need to put some sort of item count into a slot in the GUI, and that would allow you to increase the size further.

Currently, I don't care how it's changed, just change it so we don't have to stack so many enhancers in an "L" formation.

 

[Ithirahad]

I forgot to add this on to the post, but I was hoping that we could just scrap enhancers all together and get rid of them, simply running off a GUI based system.

The part I forgot to add is that, in order to increase the size through the GUI, you would need to put some sort of item count into a slot in the GUI, and that would allow you to increase the size further.

Currently, I don't care how it's changed, just change it so we don't have to stack so many enhancers in an "L" formation.

Also, a ship should only be able to dock on a ship larger than it, which solves that problem stupid-easily.

 

[Snapems]

I'm pretty sure in the streamed FAQ, the enhancers were mentioned as a means of balance.
Home stations were going to cost 'faction points' based on the size (Namely, Dimensions) of the station. Therefore if you wanted to dock a big ship, the dimensions of your space station would inherently be larger because of the required enhancers.
However, this could still be resolved by simply counting the size of the green box as part of the station's dimensions.

I like the enhancers personally though. But I wish there was just only 1 kind of docking enhancer.

 

[Ithirahad]

I'm pretty sure in the streamed FAQ, the enhancers were mentioned as a means of balance.
Home stations were going to cost 'faction points' based on the size (Namely, Dimensions) of the station. Therefore if you wanted to dock a big ship, the dimensions of your space station would inherently be larger because of the required enhancers.
However, this could still be resolved by simply counting the size of the green box as part of the station's dimensions.

I like the enhancers personally though. But I wish there was just only 1 kind of docking enhancer.

I hate them. Decent in principle, extremely annoying to use in practice, not to mention ugly. You shouldn't need a massive green or red pole sticking out of the bottom of your base just to dock a large ship.

 

[Snapems]

I hate them. Decent in principle, extremely annoying to use in practice, not to mention ugly. You shouldn't need a massive green or red pole sticking out of the bottom of your base just to dock a large ship.

Isn't the point to try and build in such a way that you hide them? Just like you hide engines & power which also promote L/Tripod designs? You know that enhancers don't actually have to touch the dock, right?

 

[25hz]

I hate them. Decent in principle, extremely annoying to use in practice, not to mention ugly. You shouldn't need a massive green or red pole sticking out of the bottom of your base just to dock a large ship.

That's where using a little creativity means they are completely invisible unless you go into the guts of the ship/station. They make you think, they make you plan and they keep a conscious lid on ship size vs station/mother ship size.

 

[Ithirahad]

I do hide them, in antennas and downward-facing beacon lightbeam things and such. But it's still annoying.

 

[ltmauve]

Putting this here on this thread
The one difference I would like to see to the enhancer boxdim mechanic is that the largest x boxdim determines the x of the area, the largest y boxdim determines the y of the area, and the largest z boxdim determines the z of the area, even if they are on seperate groups.

 

[25hz]

Actually, I would like it if instead of enlarging the +ve AND -ve dimensions of an axis with each enhancer, it would be awesome if you could specify which direction/axis you want the docking area to increase in. This would be extremely useful for turrets where the majority of the length might be in the barrel direction and it saves having to have 30m of empty and unused space behind the turret, so that the docking area is long enough at the front for the barrels.

 

[ltmauve]

Actually, I would like it if instead of enlarging the +ve AND -ve dimensions of an axis with each enhancer, it would be awesome if you could specify which direction/axis you want the docking area to increase in. This would be extremely useful for turrets where the majority of the length might be in the barrel direction and it saves having to have 30m of empty and unused space behind the turret, so that the docking area is long enough at the front for the barrels.

That sounds interesting.
Working off what you just said, here's a proposal: Docking enhancers now have 7 orientations - one for each face and one "null." Null enhancers work like all current enhancers, but if you place an oriented enhancer it will increase the docking box in that direction by 2.

 

[Viridis00]

I hate enhancers too. I feel like there should just be user adjustable dimensions on the block itself (dock and turret) with a simple UI for the X, Y, and Z and a default value that allows any size as long as the docked entity doesn't clip anything nearby. That way small hangars can limit big ships, and if you wanted to dock a capital to an airlock strut on a station or something, you have the freedom to do that.

Also, getting rid of enhancers will let builders have more room for other more important structures on their station or ship.

 

[der_scheme]

Isn't the point to try and build in such a way that you hide them? Just like you hide engines & power which also promote L/Tripod designs? You know that enhancers don't actually have to touch the dock, right?

The difference is that there's no need for power to be in a particular shape. If you just build long lines, you're probably fine. You can't do that with enhancers.

Actually, I would like it if instead of enlarging the +ve AND -ve dimensions of an axis with each enhancer, it would be awesome if you could specify which direction/axis you want the docking area to increase in. This would be extremely useful for turrets where the majority of the length might be in the barrel direction and it saves having to have 30m of empty and unused space behind the turret, so that the docking area is long enough at the front for the barrels.

That's what I meant before.

 

[Zedrackis]

Currently, I think that enhancers just take up space and prove problematic when you want to dock large ships in a mother ship/station. It usually results in a 1 block tower sticking out in an "L" formation of a ship. It just feels ridiculous to be honest, and I like what someone suggested earlier.

I think the real problem here is the original poster is miss informed on his options when building docks. While enchaners do have to be physically connected to each other they DO NOT HAVE TO BE TOUCHING THE DOCKING MODULE. You can put your docking enhancers anywhere in your structure and you can also add vertical by building up instead of down. If im bothered to hide my vertical enhancers I usally stick them in the side walls of the docking area.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Surely more options would not be a bad thing, but getting rid of them completely? no. They are a balancing factor, if you want to park large ships on other ships/stations than you will need to invest in them. If you understand how they work (and that they do not need to be attached to the dock) you can incorporate them into your builds. If they are an afterthought then they may be a problem.

Now, as for additional changes I think would be nice, I think that instead of turning red and going offline when the docking area overlaps a block it should just stop expanding in that direction. This way if you are planning on docking odd shaped ships or turrets then you can easily accommodate them without having to strip away tons of ship bits. This will also be perfect for when those hangers are just not tall enough to accept a standard 7x7x7 or 9x9x9 +

 

[SgtFlexxx]

As Zedrackis pointed out, I dont think I ever tried that. I thought all the enhancers had to be touching each other AND be connected to the module as well. So you can actually put enhancers anywhere on the Y-axis and it will still increase the module's Y-axis as well? If so, that kinda solves the problem I thought existed.

 

[Snapems]

As Zedrackis pointed out, I dont think I ever tried that. I thought all the enhancers had to be touching each other AND be connected to the module as well. . . . .

I pointed that out first though ... I noticed that this is a popular belief. Anyone know if it used to be that way? Just curious.

 

[SgtFlexxx]

I pointed that out first though ... I noticed that this is a popular belief. Anyone know if it used to be that way? Just curious.

My bad, I didn't notice your post :/

 

[rece ktore leczo]

Instead of docking areas working as big green boxes, the possibility of docking should be based on ships mass.

This way we perfectly know if we could dock specific ship, get rid of green/blue boxes and still have balanced system