Construction Ships

[MacThule]

Shipyards are great, designs are almost ready to replace blueprints excepting import/export capability & ability to build stations.

I tend to approach Starmade from a perspective of games like Eve and Minecraft. Obviously it's different though. So I'd like to make a (big) suggestion that arises from my experience with Distant Worlds (RT space strategy).

When building stations (or repairing crippled ships that cannot reach a shipyard in reasonable time) it would be nice (and, honestly, reasonable & realistic) to be able to employ construction ships. Please believe me - I understand that allowing shipyard capacity on ships carries a whole spaceport full of baggage, but at this point I would like to see some community brainstorming on what it would have to look like to be possible. Not how it's impossible, but on what restrictions would make it possible. Because ships with small shipyards are the only way designs will ever be able to absorb the function of blueprints. Maybe increase the thrust load, power load, whatever - but adapting them for ships only makes sense at this point.

 

[alterintel]

Yes, just yes

A Few Points:

1. The ship's blue print should be some how stored in the core, so that if blocks are missing, shipyards would know what block is supposed to be there.
2. Update the Astro-Tech beam as follows:

• It needs Punch-Through
• should be attachable to a storage unit for spare parts.

Astro-Tech Balance:

1. Since an astro-tech beam is just a beam, and can only fix blocks it's firing at... A ship yard would be easier, cause it can do the whole ship at one time.
2. While a ship is docked to a shipyard, it's pretty much protected by the shipyard. Not so with with a astro-tech beam repair.
3. I'm guessing a shipyard will eventually be link-able to some kind of passive resource generator? Well an astro-tech beam would have to have the part already on hand.
4. You can't design a ship with an astro-tech beam.
5. I guess you could make it like really slow, for example repair 1 hit point per second.

*** Edit ***
6. If the astro-tech beam has to replace a destroyed block, it should take the same amount of time that it would take to repair the block from zero hit points.
7. Maybe even require every block that is damaged to be outright replaced (field-repair)?

Thoughts?

 

[Andir]

One thing I credit Space Engineers for is their ship blueprints. You place a projector on your ship, load a blueprint and the projector will show you a hologram of the buildable missing parts (parts that are connected to something) I know Starmade doesn't have a connection requirement, but the idea is still pretty cool and I think it could still work. Show a holographic block where the blueprint and ship do not match and if the construction ship zaps it with either a construction beam or a repair beam it will use a block from a linked storage to build it.

 

[jayman38]

I agree, and think that if you had two variables: Max-blocks-per-second-per-beam and Max-blocks-per-second-per-entity that relate to this, and set the vanilla values very low, I think it will be limited enough to not be overpowered, without requiring ridiculous numbers of constructor ships. You might even have a third variable: Max-blocks-per-second-per-universe.

 

[alterintel]

I really hope this idea gets some attention. I love the idea of repair/support ships/drones.

 

[Valiant70]

A projector block sounds like a good idea for both ships and stations. In the future I see starmade splitting into two primary game modes, one of which is more creative and building-centered (creative/sandbox) and the other more hardcore and challenge-based (survival or whatever you want to call it).

In hardcore, the build block could be replaced by a holographic projector like you're describing. Things would be planned in build mode, but upon exiting the build block instead of seeing the structure changed, you will see a hologram of the changes to be made. To actually make the changes you have to use a construction ship.

The way I see a construction beam working is that you select it on your hotbar and all the changed blocks are highlighted on your HUD to aid construction (so you don't miss a few little blocks here or there. To change a block, the construction beam array must hit it. It can pass through blocks, and uses a reverse-hitscan algorithm to build from back to front.

 

[Asvarduil]

One thing I credit Space Engineers for is their ship blueprints. You place a projector on your ship, load a blueprint and the projector will show you a hologram of the buildable missing parts (parts that are connected to something) I know Starmade doesn't have a connection requirement, but the idea is still pretty cool and I think it could still work. Show a holographic block where the blueprint and ship do not match and if the construction ship zaps it with either a construction beam or a repair beam it will use a block from a linked storage to build it.

Another useful thing - since Astrotech Beams are a 'weapon' system, make the AI know to use them on friendly ships that are somehow 'damaged.' I would love to have repair turrets on a base that I could just fly a ship to that start welding a damaged ship back together over time.

Additionally, make Astrotech Beams contribute to a ship's 'Support' score. Right now, they do not...

 

[alterintel]

actually, my idea is probably a little OP, could you imagine a small 360 degree free range astro-tech turret in the center of your ship constantly repairing it?

 

[Valiant70]

actually, my idea is probably a little OP, could you imagine a small 360 degree free range astro-tech turret in the center of your ship constantly repairing it?

That's acceptable as long as the repair beams don't work too rapidly.

 

[Asvarduil]

That's acceptable as long as the repair beams don't work too rapidly.

Personally I'd go further, and require that the AI have line-of-sight of a damaged/missing block. An internal repair turret would be nice...for repairing internal damage.

 

[Awdred]

There could be a separate system, which basically repairs like a shipyard, but in a beam. The computer itself could hold blocks like a shipyard, but could also be linked to chests. The speed of repair would be determined by the amount of modules.

 

[Lecic]

I think the blueprint/design of a ship should be saved into the ship. Astrotech beams can pull blocks from a linked cargo-bay and repair missing blocks on ships. Maybe have some way of choosing to repair only a specific kind of block? If my primary goal is to repair a more important ship but encounter an ally, I should still be able to at least patch up some basic hull or power systems a little bit.