Smaller-area Docking Blocks

[Planr]

Since an upcoming planned feature is for plexstorage blocks to have limited item stack space (thus necessitating "cargo crates" rather than a single plexstorage chest for thousands/millions of counts of several different blocks), people will need cargo holds more than ever to store this stuff.

So currently on the game you have to make at least a 7x7x7 interior space inside your ship if you want to store a shuttlecraft, turret, or general cargo. Which means that only much larger ships are able to store things inside.

Oftentimes getting an opening for that large 7x docking block space so the docked entities and leave and enter the ship can be tricky, especially on warships where you have to conserve as much space as possible for shields, thrusters, power and weapons.

So, why not add smaller-area'd docking blocks for storing crates full of cargo? Like, a special docking block with a 3x3x3 area space, that can be enhanced with regular docking enhancers as well.



Some could also argue, "why not instead of adding a new block just change the old one to just by default have a smaller dimension space?"
Well, that is a good point. Since Block IDs need to be conserved, it is more preferable for people to make simple refits to their ships in the future to regain the 2 lost units of dimensional space.
But what about turrets? People will also want to add internal defense turrets once boarding parties and whatnot become a thing, so why not also make that a thing too?

The only downside of smaller default docking spaces replacing the current defaults is that people will need to once again refit their ships to accommodate the change. However, I believe the impact would be minimal, as it would only require a few additional enhancers.

So what do you want to see regarding this guys?

 

[NeonSturm]

I would suggest merging turret + ship and make it a turret if:

the core is at the very bottom
it has at least one weapon computer with weapons​

Make the default being 3^3, but the first enhancer increases it to 7^3 (or is it 9^3?) as currently.

That will preserve compatibility to most of our current blueprints
It will differentiate interior turrets (vs players) vs real turrets
It will differentiate between cargo-container and ships which store these.​

 

[Megacrafter127]

However, I believe the impact would be minimal, as it would only require a few additional enhancers.

Unless you have a carrier with 2200+ docks. And yes, I was crazy enough to build one.

However I agree that we need the possibility to make docks smaller than 7x7x7. Maybe a "docking-reducer module"?

 

[Planr]

Actually a docking-reducer block is a fantastic idea. It would waste less block ID's than adding a new type of mini-docking block, AND it would mean the default docking space for things can remain the same, and people don't have to refit their ships.

 

[NeonSturm]

But it would also mean 1 more block ID forever (it will be even harder to re-do balance later).
And also it would mean that anti-personal turrets require 1 docking block + a few reducers for how many: 3^3 blocks?

Before we do that, please add a new docking block with default = 3^3 and just keep them in parallel to the old one. 5^3 would be 2 times increased instead of 2 times reduced => much easier to implement than linking to horizontal enhancers and vertical reducers for example.

They chould share the same enhancers and are cheaper for low-sized interior turrets.

 

[Lecic]

I think I like the reducers more than a whole new smaller one.