Core Placement?

[Krougal]

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Sorry, had to get that out of the way.

So where are we placing them these days with the new HP system and all that? Does the conventional wisdom of placing them deep inside still hold?

I'm tinkering with building the RP bridge to be the traditional core room, putting all the computers there, heavily armoring and securing it. Most importantly placing it away from the center of mass.

Of course this makes the usual core placement woes of "FUCK! I need to move the core over 2 blocks and down 1...time to start over" to an all new level of anxiety. Since there's a lot more aesthetics to worry about, and even more so if you want to keep it "driveable".

So what are all the cool kids doing lately?

 

[StormWing0]

Normally on the bridge but you can put them anywhere you want without much worry other than keeping people out of them.

 

[faylew1012]

I myself only build small ships because of my short attention span lol... so that means it isn't too hard moving the core around to get it where I want it.

 

[Dire Venom]

The core IS where the ship actually 'turns' if im not mistaken.
While I LOVE building bridges, placing your actual computers there is quite dangerous as 1 lucky missile shot is liable to blow them all up.
Id suggest using decorative computers instead and sealing the actual ones as far from the outside as possible.
I personaly still love build cool 'Warp core' type rooms around them ^_^

 

[Aynslei]

The core IS where the ship actually 'turns' if im not mistaken.

That is the center of mass now.

 

[Krougal]

The core IS where the ship actually 'turns' if im not mistaken.
While I LOVE building bridges, placing your actual computers there is quite dangerous as 1 lucky missile shot is liable to blow them all up.
Id suggest using decorative computers instead and sealing the actual ones as far from the outside as possible.
I personaly still love build cool 'Warp core' type rooms around them ^_^

That is the center of mass now.

Yeah, I just realized it doesn't shift. I kinda remember talk about having the center of mass actually be calculated but I guess they never got around to it, or canned it, or I am thinking about another game.

Well what I was thinking was several layers of adv/crystal armor, but having the center of mass elsewhere would have provided more protection against turret AI & lock-ons, so players would actually have to aim and hit the bridge.

It makes more sense moving everything important away from the core, except it's too inconvenient really to move the computers away, since I have a tendency to relink systems on the fly.

 

[Krougal]

So I was working on my old WIP cruiser, and I noticed that the center of mass actually is not aligned to the core. It is a block above on 1 axis and 8 blocks behind it on the other 2, which given the design of the ship seems about right (core room is old school deep in the ship, around the center but there is a long neck and large wings, I was going for a Klingon BoP look). So I'm not really sure what the deal is.

 

[Ithirahad]

The center of mass calculations actually do exist... If they aren't working, which isn't entirely unlikely, it's a bug.

 

[Krougal]

The center of mass calculations actually do exist... If they aren't working, which isn't entirely unlikely, it's a bug.

I'm wondering how often they are run. I suspect it doesn't update continuously, since that could add a lot of load. Would make sense with the new system if it's tied to blueprinting & shipyard. I'm only just getting my feet wet with the shipyards, have been doing old school build on the fly mostly. I did drag the old girl into the shipyard when I made that observation. I'll try spawning an older version outside and see what it does.

 

[Edymnion]

Yeah, core placement is pretty much anywhere you want it now. Core drilling is no longer a thing, as killing the core is no longer an instant I Win button. AI weapons don't even lock onto the core anymore, they lock onto the highest density of systems (so the weapon/power/shield blocks).

You can bury the core, you can make a nice bridge for it near the surface, or you could stick it on the outer hull, the results in suitability are all pretty much the same.

 

[Krougal]

Yeah, core placement is pretty much anywhere you want it now. Core drilling is no longer a thing, as killing the core is no longer an instant I Win button. AI weapons don't even lock onto the core anymore, they lock onto the highest density of systems (so the weapon/power/shield blocks).

You can bury the core, you can make a nice bridge for it near the surface, or you could stick it on the outer hull, the results in suitability are all pretty much the same.

Well if the core gets taken out you die still right? Or can the core now not be taken out without killing the ships system HP first?
Since boarding is a thing now I'm trying to take internal security into account as well.

 

[Gristle]

Also weapons no longer target COM and target SYSTEMS instead. This was done to address donut ships.

 

[Edymnion]

Well if the core gets taken out you die still right? Or can the core now not be taken out without killing the ships system HP first?
Since boarding is a thing now I'm trying to take internal security into account as well.

I think it just kicks you out of the core if it takes enough damage, it doesn't actually destroy the ship.

 

[Krougal]

I think it just kicks you out of the core if it takes enough damage, it doesn't actually destroy the ship.

Which is likely going to result in your imminent demise, so the core is still worth protecting. Getting it away from the center of mass definitly seems like the way to go then.

Also weapons no longer target COM and target SYSTEMS instead. This was done to address donut ships.

Errrr...getting it away from systems then.

 

[Edymnion]

Which is likely going to result in your imminent demise, so the core is still worth protecting. Getting it away from the center of mass definitly seems like the way to go then.

Errrr...getting it away from systems then.

Only marginally. Putting it outside the hull was an exaggeration, but not by overly much. The only way to hit a core now is to manually aim for it, as none of the automatic weapons will look twice at it. Turrets won't target it, pirates won't target the core, etc. Plus I believe it only takes 1 damage per hit regardless of weapon power, just like faction blocks, so someone intentionally aiming for the core is going to have to sit there with perfect aim for a minute or two to actually take it out. Time and firepower which would have likely overheated the rest of your ship through hp damage.

The core just really isn't a viable target anymore for anything but a boarding party.

 

[Krougal]

Only marginally. Putting it outside the hull was an exaggeration, but not by overly much. The only way to hit a core now is to manually aim for it, as none of the automatic weapons will look twice at it. Turrets won't target it, pirates won't target the core, etc. Plus I believe it only takes 1 damage per hit regardless of weapon power, just like faction blocks, so someone intentionally aiming for the core is going to have to sit there with perfect aim for a minute or two to actually take it out. Time and firepower which would have likely overheated the rest of your ship through hp damage.

The core just really isn't a viable target anymore for anything but a boarding party.

I think it's still only like 30% armor, but the description could be out of date. So moving it away from where it is going to take incidental fire (because it's between incoming fire and the bulk of your systems) would protect it from AI targeting. So a star-destroyer type bridge and an anti-personnel turret for boarders seems like a good idea.