A scalable mathematical model for ship classification

[NoK0mm3nt]

As a concept, I've put together a scalable mathematical model for ship classification. It is purely mass-based and pays no attention to the role of the ship (other stats like DPS or thrust). It uses a scale that seems to reasonably group ships that are visually similar in size.

It has a generic class name set that *could* be used as a common language, although I've deliberately set it up so that any faction can copy the spreadsheet, set their own names, while still being able to translate easily between different Faction's naming schemes.

I go into more depth in the doc linked in the spreadsheet. Love to hear your thoughts on this type of system.

Google Spreadsheet that will let you plug in a ship mass and have a ship classification spat out:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lFytmOJwUCsOmP0D0_MmiYLY7cMurXNlqz51iT3p4eA/edit?usp=sharing

Google Doc where I discuss the model and rational a little bit more:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wUhrk2AjJubYFTqzG4SZnXbE0jymVhbff916RmA9i5U/edit?usp=sharing

 

[MossyStone48]

Quite impressive. I'm liking it the more I read. And Class N fits perfectly.
I'm also a fan of the non-restrictive nature of the role. Since none is specified the builder can declare it manually.

 

[Lidren]

Ever wary of the whole ship classification drama, I approached this one slowly. Each one I've seen before was basically arbitrary and up to personal preference. You however have just thrown the math book at all those others and said "See!? There is a right way to do it!" +9000 my friend, I am going to see what my players and staff think about adopting this asap. Even though it may cause a bit of a shuffle with existing ships, I have not seen any other system that actually makes sense in so many ways. I challenge anyone to give me a good reason why this shouldn't be the standard for ship classification by the community at large, and for ship comparison across different systems/servers. It would also still allow people to privately use whatever classification they wanted, more so than any of the others Imo. Nameless's system has served me well, I think it's time for an upgrayyed.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Seeing as how this doesn't try to force any "this is a frigate, this is a destroyer, this is a cruiser" on you I can't say I have any objections to this system, all it does is add very basic massed based additions to your naming conventions/ descriptions and a way to have a basic comparison between ships using the same system. Can't say that I'll use it but good on you for it.

 

[Plazmatic]

we need to use this in conjunction with other attributes of a ship for its size, for example, adding more numbers or letters to signify how powerful its weapons are for its size, its power generation, shield systems, warp jump, speed etc. For weapons it would be something like max damage per mass or something like that. It wouldn't force it into what type the ship actually is, but would give the person a more detailed look into what kind of ship it is.

 

[Grimmcrypt]

This system fits perfectly with StarMade, love the names. It's nice to have a global mass system to compare universally, I'll be using this system for my current and future ships. The only name I would change is Drone, due to Drones being and sounding like something specific. In fact Drones can be as big as they want to be, they're just unmanned or in great number. This is just my opinion and I like this system either way. I give you many, many cookies for your great work! Suggestion Though, you could replace Drone with Isanth, I think that would put the cherry on the cake for StarMade cannon :3 Again, I really dig the system! :p

 

[Top 4ce]

I love this! A Log 10 mass system? Amazing!

I love that all you need to add is "Class III Light" to whatever the ship is and everyone can compare it easily without worrying about role of the ship.

I'm going to adopt this system to my ships. I'll only use the Class number.

This needs more attention!

 

[Keptick]

Ok, I really really really like this. It takes the ship's mass into account but spits out a class based on an exponential nature, so it still respect size increase extremely well. I also found it funny that the higher class I could get to was in the tens of millions of mass XD. While it sounds insane the ship wouldn't be "that" much bigger (dimensions wise) to the previous class of ships. I don't see anything reaching the singularity class, though :P

+1

 

[NoK0mm3nt]

Thanks all.

I agree on about Drone, it is the one that doesn't quite fit in with the rest. I don't think I'll use Isanth since the ship it self technical fits into the class above.

Very open to other suggestions though, particularly around StarMade concepts that fit in between Cores & Asteroids (mass wise).

If anyone does use it and creates their own custom name set, I've created a 3rd tab in the spreadsheet where you can put in your Faction's name along with all the class names you use. It'd be interesting to see them lined up next to each other.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

How about metor, bigger than core, smaller than asteroid

 

[Mr.Steam]

I like the general classification system, but I would like to see a standardized system just for military vessels like the Royal Navy used for Ships of the Line. These ratings were based mainly on amount of naval cannons mounted in carriages.

Example (classification during Napoleonic Wars according to wikipedia):

First Rate - 100+ guns
Second Rate - 90 to 98 guns
Third Rate - 64 -80 guns
etc.

Captains of ships were wary of taking on a Ship of the Line of a higher rate by themselves.
A rating system could help us decide when is a good time to fight and when to flee.
Of course our ratings would be not just number of guns but perhaps total damage and shielding/recharge strength.

 

[Snk]

Ever wary of the whole ship classification drama, I approached this one slowly. Each one I've seen before was basically arbitrary and up to personal preference. You however have just thrown the math book at all those others and said "See!? There is a right way to do it!" +9000 my friend, I am going to see what my players and staff think about adopting this asap. Even though it may cause a bit of a shuffle with existing ships, I have not seen any other system that actually makes sense in so many ways. I challenge anyone to give me a good reason why this shouldn't be the standard for ship classification by the community at large, and for ship comparison across different systems/servers. It would also still allow people to privately use whatever classification they wanted, more so than any of the others Imo. Nameless's system has served me well, I think it's time for an upgrayyed.

+1 to this on Ragnarok

 

[Mr. V]

Ingenious ...a way for everyone to speak a standard language in ship class while maintaining the autonomy to call ships whatever you want within different factions.. well done!

 

[Grimmcrypt]

Hmm, replacing drone will be very hard since there isn't really anything in StarMade of that size... at a first glance I thought the classic isanth was about that big... bummer I think meteor would be great. stardust or decimal sound nice, maybe even digit. Welp I'm all out of ideas.

 

[KiloZulu]

I like this, but does anyone have any tips on how I could import it into Excel without breaking the formulas?

 

[Lidren]

You should be able to use drive to save it as excel instead of gdoc. I think...

 

[NoK0mm3nt]

KiloZulu, I just added a link to download the Excel version at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

It didn't like the formula in F3 when exporting at Excel (I manually repaired), so I'll submit a bug at work today.

Mr.Steam, it would also be possible to follow an mathematical to assigning classes to aspects of a ship like Shields, Power & Weapons, however it does get slightly more complex. The biggest issue I have is that a lot of the formulas on how certain systems get calculated that I can find publicly (like Power) don't seem to align the actual values in game.

*If* people are interested and how how to get reliable formulas, I'd be more than happy to tackle it as a separate problem.

 

[Mr.Steam]

The biggest issue I have is that a lot of the formulas on how certain systems get calculated that I can find publicly (like Power) don't seem to align the actual values in game.

With all the different weapons, and their different affects it is tough to come of with something really solid. The only thing I can think of is a measure of the amount of power USED when everything is firing/recharging.

Or maybe a combo rating of offensive power consumption vs defensive power consumption. If a ship has huge shield recharging/capacity reserves it is going to take a lot of firepower to get past the shield and therefore is pretty tough, even if the weapons aren't the best.

EXAMPLE: What is the total power consumption when all guns are firing, shields are recharging, radar jamming, etc. I think this gives a pretty good picture of the survivability of the ship.

 

[KiloZulu]

Thank you, NoK0mm3nt.

 

[Drakkart]

Nice and easy generic class name system