Suggested Alternative Turret Docking Ideas

[Edymnion]

The ability to add a turret to a ship/station from build mode is an often requested feature, primarily because of larger ships having larger numbers of turrets (in the dozens or more) and the time wasting hassle of spawning one in from blueprint, flying over to it, flying it back, etc.

So, assuming for a moment that there is a technical reason why simply spawning one in directly from blueprint while in build mode is currently unfeasible, what other methods could be explored to alleviate the base need for reducing the time spent flying turrets around?

First thing that comes to mind for me is that we have (fairly poor) rudimentary AI with pathfinder that allow drones to find a docking point and move to it, could that AI be harnessed?

Say by hitting C on the docking block to select it, and hitting F on the floating turret, and having the turret then snap into place on the rail without the need for additional power/thrust/piloting? Kind of like saying "Okay turret, aim your docking beam here" without anyone needing to be in it at the time to point it (and given ship sizes, without the range limitation of the beam)?

Or perhaps instead of always having the spawned entity (aka the turret) appear at a fixed direction outside of the bounding box (which is almost always wrong), have it appear at the closest point to the astronaut that is outside of the current bounding box? Would still have the "go fetch it" problem, but at least the distances involved would be greatly reduced in many instances.

Or maybe we could hit C on the rail to select it, and then have a blueprint spawn option to "Spawn on Rail"? Still wouldn't be able to just pop them in quickly in build mode, but it would still be a far better option than what we have now. Have it preform the collision checks to make sure it can dock, and then if it passes, spawn it in right on top of the rail so that magnetic docking can click it in?

Lets brainstorm some ways to make turret docking easier!

 

[terra mining corp.]

what about making turrets as a template and paste/copy ,only issue is logic systems need to be set after.

 

[MeRobo]

Or maybe we could hit C on the rail to select it, and then have a blueprint spawn option to "Spawn on Rail"

The biggest technical problem I see with this is the handling of entities with multipe dockers.

 

[HolyCookie]

The ability to add a turret to a ship/station from build mode is an often requested feature, primarily because of larger ships having larger numbers of turrets (in the dozens or more) and the time wasting hassle of spawning one in from blueprint, flying over to it, flying it back, etc.

So, assuming for a moment that there is a technical reason why simply spawning one in directly from blueprint while in build mode is currently unfeasible, what other methods could be explored to alleviate the base need for reducing the time spent flying turrets around?

First thing that comes to mind for me is that we have (fairly poor) rudimentary AI with pathfinder that allow drones to find a docking point and move to it, could that AI be harnessed?

Say by hitting C on the docking block to select it, and hitting F on the floating turret, and having the turret then snap into place on the rail without the need for additional power/thrust/piloting? Kind of like saying "Okay turret, aim your docking beam here" without anyone needing to be in it at the time to point it (and given ship sizes, without the range limitation of the beam)?

Or perhaps instead of always having the spawned entity (aka the turret) appear at a fixed direction outside of the bounding box (which is almost always wrong), have it appear at the closest point to the astronaut that is outside of the current bounding box? Would still have the "go fetch it" problem, but at least the distances involved would be greatly reduced in many instances.

Or maybe we could hit C on the rail to select it, and then have a blueprint spawn option to "Spawn on Rail"? Still wouldn't be able to just pop them in quickly in build mode, but it would still be a far better option than what we have now. Have it preform the collision checks to make sure it can dock, and then if it passes, spawn it in right on top of the rail so that magnetic docking can click it in?

Lets brainstorm some ways to make turret docking easier!

What about the shipyard? If it doesn't already, save a design (shipyard style) before battle, then when you lost turrets or something just put it in the shipyard and press repair (or deconstruct the ship and construct the saved version)

 

[Madman198237]

But the shipyards are glitchier than all else right now---using a shipyard gives a chance that your ship might disintegrate into nothingness the next time the shipyard is used to load/build a ship.

 

[Master_Artificer]

last time I used a shipyard to repair a ship it caused the ship to jettison all the turrets once it was done and undocked.
:|

 

[ltmauve]

What about the shipyard? If it doesn't already, save a design (shipyard style) before battle, then when you lost turrets or something just put it in the shipyard and press repair (or deconstruct the ship and construct the saved version)

That doesn't help when you are constructing the ship for the first time, or refitting the turrets.

Honestly, even having the ability to only place blueprints with one docker would be very helpful.

 

[HolyCookie]

That doesn't help when you are constructing the ship for the first time, or refitting the turrets.

Honestly, even having the ability to only place blueprints with one docker would be very helpful.

Though it will be difficult to use as player, I can see that it is needed.
And to add to that, here is a thread: Recognized by Council - placing turrets from build mode from the blueprints

You can see this suggestion as recognised by council but it will be tagged as suggested.

(I had forgotten about that thread because of my holiday)