Please read the whole suggestion before dismissing this idea.
So I was thinking, the existing loadout of blocks is great, you've really got all your bases covered, but when building something where space/size is a factor, your options become very limited. When you're building something small, it forces you to be really creative and resourceful, but you usually end up picking and choosing between systems critical to your project. This is a good thing. However, there are times when it would be nice to give a smaller project more power or shields or etc. What I'm suggesting is creating new, more powerful blocks that would have the same effect of the existing blocks, but to a greater degree.
Exactly what I mean is, I want to be able to cram more power into a smaller ship, but at great cost. These new, powerful blocks would make their generic counterparts obsolete, but would not be available at shops, and be extremely costly to craft, maybe even costing large amounts of their normal blocks in the recipe.
Two Examples:
Advanced Generator Block: Generates much more power than normal generator blocks, but cost 1000 of these normal blocks to craft, along with a handful of other ingredients. This new block would generate the power of 100 normal blocks of its kind, and would increase in power when hooked up to other Advanced Generator Blocks, just like normal generator blocks. With this block, ships and stations would have to spend less space on power generators while still producing the same amount of power, or more, cleaning up artist's canvases, and giving smaller ships an edge.
Advanced Shield Regenerator: Much like the first example, this super-block would be much more effective than normal shield rechargers. Costing a pretty penny to craft, these blocks pay off by regenerating 100x the regeneration rate of their normal counterparts. This again would give smaller ships an advantage, while providing a large boost for larger vessels and space-stations.
I realize that these new blocks have the potential to make the game very unbalanced, widening the gap between long-time server players and new players. The expense for these blocks would have to be great enough to ensure that even advanced players could not create them en-mass, and again, they cannot be bought from shops. These blocks would be something for the player to work towards.
So I was thinking, the existing loadout of blocks is great, you've really got all your bases covered, but when building something where space/size is a factor, your options become very limited. When you're building something small, it forces you to be really creative and resourceful, but you usually end up picking and choosing between systems critical to your project. This is a good thing. However, there are times when it would be nice to give a smaller project more power or shields or etc. What I'm suggesting is creating new, more powerful blocks that would have the same effect of the existing blocks, but to a greater degree.
Exactly what I mean is, I want to be able to cram more power into a smaller ship, but at great cost. These new, powerful blocks would make their generic counterparts obsolete, but would not be available at shops, and be extremely costly to craft, maybe even costing large amounts of their normal blocks in the recipe.
Two Examples:
Advanced Generator Block: Generates much more power than normal generator blocks, but cost 1000 of these normal blocks to craft, along with a handful of other ingredients. This new block would generate the power of 100 normal blocks of its kind, and would increase in power when hooked up to other Advanced Generator Blocks, just like normal generator blocks. With this block, ships and stations would have to spend less space on power generators while still producing the same amount of power, or more, cleaning up artist's canvases, and giving smaller ships an edge.
Advanced Shield Regenerator: Much like the first example, this super-block would be much more effective than normal shield rechargers. Costing a pretty penny to craft, these blocks pay off by regenerating 100x the regeneration rate of their normal counterparts. This again would give smaller ships an advantage, while providing a large boost for larger vessels and space-stations.
I realize that these new blocks have the potential to make the game very unbalanced, widening the gap between long-time server players and new players. The expense for these blocks would have to be great enough to ensure that even advanced players could not create them en-mass, and again, they cannot be bought from shops. These blocks would be something for the player to work towards.
