Paint used to.. well.. paint

[Dogdard]

Ok so my suggestion is this... (not sure if I can explain it well)

Being able to change the color of a single face of a hull block. If I were to lay out an example;

B
B B B Y
B ​

(this is a supposed to be representation of a 6 sided block laid out flat)
so the block is (insert color) on 5 sides and (insert another color) on 1 side.

(B= color #1 Y= color #2)

As suggested by the title, I think one way of going about this would be;

1. equip paint into inventory
2. clicking with paint will change color of the face/side of the hull block to the corresponding color.
3. multi-slot paint/capsule would be a nice add-on feature

The reason I would like this feature is more or less because with smaller ships you have to choose between having the same interior/exterior color -or- making your walls/hull 2-3 blocks thick, which at the small scale can be... odd? Basically, I think this is a way to get more variation with fewer blocks, as walls/hull etc. would only need to be 1 block thick, while still having 2 different colored rooms/etc. This would also allow more room in general for systems, etc. etc.

**Note: I'm suggesting this for hull only as they already have their texture in all colors. I realize that this feature would be impractical for every block.

***Note #2: I also realize that the partial block (wedges,tetras,etc) may be odd. However, I believe this will still work with them as they essentially still have 6 "sides"

***Note #3: The game would still recognize the block by it's original color/id#. i.e. Grey Hull would remain "grey hull" for the purposes of advanced build replacement/blueprint recipe etc. etc. This would therefore not add any extra "cost" to the blueprint.

Thanks for reading

 

[Megacrafter127]

Being able to change the color of a single face of a hull block. If I were to lay out an example;

Idea: good
Would it work well with how the game currently works internally? no
As hull is frequently used, storing which face has which color in the same way as display blocks store their text is not an option, making a block for each combination of hull-colors per face would also take up WAY too many IDs.
Without extending the 3 byte per block limit, I see no efficient way of implementing this, sadly.

 

[Dogdard]

Idea: good
Would it work well with how the game currently works internally? no
As hull is frequently used, storing which face has which color in the same way as display blocks store their text is not an option, making a block for each combination of hull-colors per face would also take up WAY too many IDs.
Without extending the 3 byte per block limit, I see no efficient way of implementing this, sadly.

Bummer.... Well perhaps later down the line?

 

[Mariux]

Bummer.... Well perhaps later down the line?

Giving more data per block greatly increases computer load, so it might only be possible after some EXTREME optimizations.

 

[Basher]

Idea: good
Would it work well with how the game currently works internally? no
As hull is frequently used, storing which face has which color in the same way as display blocks store their text is not an option, making a block for each combination of hull-colors per face would also take up WAY too many IDs.
Without extending the 3 byte per block limit, I see no efficient way of implementing this, sadly.

Can't it be similar to Minecraft's way of using data values per block ID? For example, wheat seeds has 1 ID, but 7 data values signifying the growth of the wheat.

If it's possible, there can be a number of data values for the block (Not sure if it's 6 raised to 8, or 8 raised to 6, but basically you'll have a data value equivalent to how many sides the block has, and how many colors are possible to be added on the block)

For example: A hull grey block is id:0. The front part being colored black is id:0 datavalue:1. The front and top part being black is id:0 datavalue:2, and so on
This means that the datavalue is a huge number, because it will provide all possible combination colors that you can add on a single hull block. Not sure if it's 5000+ combinations or 250,000+, it depends on the raised number.

OR, you can apply two sets of datavalues: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 ,6, 7, 8 for paint, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for the sides of the block.
For example:
A grey hull has: id:0, datavalue:0,0;0,0;0,0;0,0;0,0;0,0
A grey hull with black paint on top has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;0,1;0,2;0,3;0,4;0,5
A grey hull with black paint on top and left side has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;0,1;0,2;1,3;0,4;0,5
A grey hull with black paint on top and left side, and white paint on the bottom part has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;0,1;0,2;1,3;0,4;2,5
A white hull black with black paint on top has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;2,1;2,2;2,3;2,4;2,5

As you can see, the format of the datavalue is (id of paint color, side of block). I think this will be better than a single datavalue, but I'm not even sure if this is possible or not.


If it is possible, I don't think it causes that much lag. The game will just tell what color shows up depending on the block's data value. Similarly to Minecraft, do you heavily lag if you have a very huge wheat farm, with different growth rates, showing all possible data values of the block? I may be underestimating though, as clearly having this many colors on Starmade could really affect performance.

 

[Megacrafter127]

Can't it be similar to Minecraft's way of using data values per block ID? For example, wheat seeds has 1 ID, but 7 data values signifying the growth of the wheat.

If it's possible, there can be a number of data values for the block (Not sure if it's 6 raised to 8, or 8 raised to 6, but basically you'll have a data value equivalent to how many sides the block has, and how many colors are possible to be added on the block)

For example: A hull grey block is id:0. The front part being colored black is id:0 datavalue:1. The front and top part being black is id:0 datavalue:2, and so on
This means that the datavalue is a huge number, because it will provide all possible combination colors that you can add on a single hull block. Not sure if it's 5000+ combinations or 250,000+, it depends on the raised number.

OR, you can apply two sets of datavalues: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5 ,6, 7, 8 for paint, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 for the sides of the block.
For example:
A grey hull has: id:0, datavalue:0,0;0,0;0,0;0,0;0,0;0,0
A grey hull with black paint on top has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;0,1;0,2;0,3;0,4;0,5
A grey hull with black paint on top and left side has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;0,1;0,2;1,3;0,4;0,5
A grey hull with black paint on top and left side, and white paint on the bottom part has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;0,1;0,2;1,3;0,4;2,5
A white hull black with black paint on top has: id:0, datavalue:1,0;2,1;2,2;2,3;2,4;2,5

As you can see, the format of the datavalue is (id of paint color, side of block). I think this will be better than a single datavalue, but I'm not even sure if this is possible or not.


If it is possible, I don't think it causes that much lag. The game will just tell what color shows up depending on the block's data value. Similarly to Minecraft, do you heavily lag if you have a very huge wheat farm, with different growth rates, showing all possible data values of the block? I may be underestimating though, as clearly having this many colors on Starmade could really affect performance.

Currently every block has 3 bytes (24 bits), 11 of which are designated to the block's ID, 8 to HP, 1 to activation-state and 4 to orientation. There is no room for more metadata unless the 3byte boundary is expanded.

 

[kiddan]

Giving more data per block greatly increases computer load, so it might only be possible after some EXTREME optimizations.

Very true. When people play with Minecraft mods that add paint... The lag!

 

[Ylliab]

Could we at least have a way to repaint the hull without taking of the block and putting it back? I was desappointed to not be able to use the paint canister that way...

 

[mrsinister]

Could we at least have a way to repaint the hull without taking of the block and putting it back? I was desappointed to not be able to use the paint canister that way...

this is what I originally thought the paint did a long time ago.....shame it can't magically " paint " (swap) the block instead.

 

[kiddan]

this is what I originally thought the paint did a long time ago.....shame it can't magically " paint " (swap) the block instead.

One of the reasons for this might be to make space stations more useful, forcing people to use factories as they can only be placed on stations and planets.

 

[mrsinister]

One of the reasons for this might be to make space stations more useful, forcing people to use factories as they can only be placed on stations and planets.

Hmm, true. lol but, magic block swapping would be nice though.....Like, what if you ran out of blocks of a certain color and had plenty of paint? you can then change the paint design on your craft.

 

[NeonSturm]

Only bad thing : Such a thing would discourage trading...

But I think there should be more important things for trading as I don't like ships with different hull colours hidden beneath the topmost layer just for the sake of using that hull.

 

[Sunkin351]

Perhaps... but it would also encourage trading of something else... Paint. Paint would be more useful, and therefore more valuable.

Another idea would be to make Grey the only paintable armor... I don't see paint on paint as clean painting. Make something that can wash paint off... That would also be useful.