A giant robot in Starmade?

[Lonnehart]

Just one of my "crazy" ideas now that I've seen the docking system at work and how they're used in building turrets. I'm sure it would be awkward to implement, but would it be possible to dock five or six ships together to create a large humanoid entity and still be capable of combat?

I do realize this would be pretty impractical, as such a maneuver would make your ships a larger target despite becoming stronger when combined...

 

[Crashmaster]

Many have done so. However, as well as the larger target profile as you mentioned, the humanoid form suffers a very poor volume to surface area ratio in comparison to conventionally shaped spacecraft of similar mass. So much so IMO that reasonably sized mechs are not really 'capable' in combat on equal settings vs. ships. Still ton o' fun though.

 

[KiloZulu]

Certainly docking the ships together is doable, but making the "robot" animated in anyway, swinging arms, turning head, etc., isn't going to result in anything practical. Every action would require you to switch on/off a new set of logic functions.

 

[AtraUnam]

Spoiler: Robot Robot Robot Robot Robot Robot Robot Robot RO-bot RO-bot

 

[Lonnehart]

I was thinking more of a Voltron/Devastator/Superion/Ultra_Prime type ship combination.

 

[Thalanor]

Holy shit I didn't know the last one yet Atra.

 

[Captain Tankman]

I was thinking more of a Voltron/Devastator/Superion/Ultra_Prime type ship combination.

The last gif in Atra's post is exactly this. The bot consits out of several autonomous ships that dock together as far as I know

 

[Lonnehart]

It's a shame we don't get to see its "docking" sequence though...

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Mine isn't as complex as yours AtraUnam. But here's some robotic eye candy nonetheless.

The arms operate like forward facing turrets when the AI is set to "ANY". They work pretty well so far.

https://starmadedock.net/members/atraunam.304179/

 

[godmars]

a FUNCTIONAL giant robot?

like someone else mentioned you can do it but it will probably be worse than a normal ship since you don't have as much space to cram stuff into. Since the main ship can't inherit anything other than thrust from anything its docked to it probably wouldn't be stronger than a single ship, either. I made a not-GM myself

Spoiler: pix since everyone else is doing it

Anyway, you can probably still wreck AI with a giant robot, but in starmades current state its more hassle than its worth unless you just want to do it because it looks cool. I gave up because turrets in this game are just too dumb and if you give your mech arms they will clip into the body endlessly

 

[Dr. Whammy]

a FUNCTIONAL giant robot?

like someone else mentioned you can do it but it will probably be worse than a normal ship since you don't have as much space to cram stuff into. Since the main ship can't inherit anything other than thrust from anything its docked to it probably wouldn't be stronger than a single ship, either. I made a not-GM myself

Spoiler: pix since everyone else is doing it

View attachment 34048

Anyway, you can probably still wreck AI with a giant robot, but in starmades current state its more hassle than its worth unless you just want to do it because it looks cool. I gave up because turrets in this game are just too dumb and if you give your mech arms they will clip into the body endlessly

Actually, I've been experimenting with turret arms a lot lately. With careful planning, a small entity docked to the gun barrel, plex-door/force-field and a teeny bit of logic, you can make a turret that will target whatever you point it at and hold its fire until you press the "death button". When you're finished building, you'll have a gun with a 'safety' on it so you can aim at a target but not fire until you're ready.

I find that it helps cut down on accidental war declarations while allowing you to focus all your fire power on a specific target. It's FAR more accurate than any human gunner; especially at range and while mobile. The catch... I think a radar jammer will break your lock. But that's why we always install scanners onboard... :D

 

[Lonnehart]

I imagine something like this would be possible as well, but the level of coordination needed to to handle the combined machines would be a headache...

Spoiler

[/spoiler

Oh, and yes. That's definitely Peter Cullen's voice in there.

 

[Star-Boy]

I made this beauty a while back.

I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a new project that will put this one to shame.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I made this beauty a while back.
View attachment 34594
I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a new project that will put this one to shame.

Oh hell yeah...

 

[kupu]

I made this beauty a while back.
View attachment 34594
I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a new project that will put this one to shame.

yisssssssss

 

[Lonnehart]

I made this beauty a while back.
View attachment 34594
I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a new project that will put this one to shame.

I'd be very impressed if you made this to dock with it.

Spoiler

 

[MacThule]

I made this beauty a while back.
View attachment 34594
I'm currently putting the finishing touches on a new project that will put this one to shame.

Oh, damn!! That's a beauty! Now if it can haz even some modest armor and weapons... You're putting that to shame now, eh? You building the SDF1 or something?

My mechs are ugly - I build always with an eye to performance first - but I do occasionally build them. The protective field around the cockpit of this advanced-armor mech is linked to an inner-ship remote and makes it pretty durable for its size even with just shy of 10k shields. When your jammer & shields drop, activate your profield and you should have a little more time to fall back a bit (you can fly with it on, but it makes vision a bit messy). His little T-rex arms that are functioning point defense turrets, and that helps a lot too, especially in groups, since they move fast enough not to be sitting ducks for beam or projectile weapons. Twin missile systems with lock-on + 25% explosive, and a nice fast railgun using armor piercing rounds make it a great all-purpose small mech / fighter alternative. It's just... a little... special looking. :D

 

[kikaha]

Certainly docking the ships together is doable, but making the "robot" animated in anyway, swinging arms, turning head, etc., isn't going to result in anything practical. Every action would require you to switch on/off a new set of logic functions.

Not if each arm/leg/head was player controlled. I mean one player per limb.

 

[MacThule]

This thread is about Voltron, isn't it?

 

[Star-Boy]

I'd be very impressed if you made this to dock with it.

Spoiler

I'd love to build a Beta but I have like a dozen projects using the new logic blocks I want to play with first so I may never get around to doing a Beta. I'd love to see someone else build a Beta and design it to link with my Alpha.
[doublepost=1479096326,1479095623][/doublepost]

Oh, damn!! That's a beauty! Now if it can haz even some modest armor and weapons... You're putting that to shame now, eh? You building the SDF1 or something?

My mechs are ugly - I build always with an eye to performance first - but I do occasionally build them. The protective field around the cockpit of this advanced-armor mech is linked to an inner-ship remote and makes it pretty durable for its size even with just shy of 10k shields. When your jammer & shields drop, activate your profield and you should have a little more time to fall back a bit (you can fly with it on, but it makes vision a bit messy). His little T-rex arms that are functioning point defense turrets, and that helps a lot too, especially in groups, since they move fast enough not to be sitting ducks for beam or projectile weapons. Twin missile systems with lock-on + 25% explosive, and a nice fast railgun using armor piercing rounds make it a great all-purpose small mech / fighter alternative. It's just... a little... special looking. :D
View attachment 34632
View attachment 34633

I had to use basic hull on this guy to keep the weight down but it still has decent shields and a ton of swarmer missiles so it can handle waves of pirates quite handily. I was going to give it a riffle as well but it won't fire on it's own unless it's docked to a turret axis and I need it on a rotator. I tried having it fire via wireless logic but without the AI it wasn't accurate enough to be useful against pirates. The way mass enhancers work makes ships like this a bit tricky. My new project is much bigger and so I have a better surface area-volume ratio. This means I can use advanced armour and a lot more shielding and still have room for the crazy amount of mass enhancers needed. I should have my new project done and posted in a few days so keep an eye out for it.