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In thread Reviewing StarMade bubble shields were mentioned in post #19 and JinM asked if either a bubble or a surface shield would be better. This question was answered and later I posted some details about possible shielding mechanics in post #27. Here's are some suggestions I want to refine:
Shields:
A. The current surface shield mechanics use capacitors and rechargers to determine a sphere of influence within which a shield will be generated on the surface of blocks. This can be interpreted as a kind of bubble shield, but the bubble is just the shield bounds. The current shields work perfectly for a kind of integrity field as shown in Avorion; an integrity generator will generate a field which clings to the surface of each block of the ship or station to add more HP to the blocks. Implementing this mechanic is simple: just boost the integrity of each system within the field based on the amount of rechargers/capacitors used and maybe prevent the integrity fields from boosting themselves. Then the rechargers/capacitors can then be renamed/retextured. Since the integrity fields in Avorion add HP to blocks, the new integrity field mechanic could act as a weaker shield.
B. For a bubble shield to count as a true bubble shield, the shield has to be bubble-shaped (or box-shaped, if you want it Avorion style for whatever reason). The bubble can be calculated based on the ship's length, height, width, and maybe mass to affect the shield's thickness or distance from the hull. The bubble shield also has to stop projectiles at its surface for it to "count". Instead of shield rechargers and capacitors a shield generator customizable multi block structure could be used, maybe similar in construction to the current power 2.0 power reactor/reactor chamber setup.
C. To make things more interesting only ships/stations with the same shield frequency can pass through the shields of another ship/station. The shield generator can also be "tuned" to output a different frequency or a faction-specific frequency (maybe the sum of all the ASCII numbers of all the characters in a title?) range. For instance the default (neutral) frequency range is 0-255. The frequency range for a faction is 0 + ASCII_sum to 255 + ASCII_sum and added to a unique faction id which isn't available by normal means (except commands?). With faction frequencies only ships using the same frequency can come in contact without the shields damaging each other etc. A faction-based frequency can be created by linking a faction module to a shield generator controller and enabling the "faction frequency" option, if menus are to be involved. Then the frequency number is generated and can be displayed in display modules, ship menus, or pressing "r" on maybe the shield generator block or whatever it could be. This way the only way to obtain a faction's shield frequency is through spies. In the case of a faction's enemy (or friend?) getting hold of a faction's frequency a ship's/station's shield generator can have its frequency changed to another value (0-255, + the faction's ASCII sum and a new unique id).
Weapons:
A. This is a generic plasma/laser/rocket/shell-based weapon idea placeholder line. (insert your ideas here)
B. When a shield is set to a specific frequency, only laser weapons with that frequency can penetrate it. This applies to support tools as well, except for shield supply tools (is this going to be replaced?). Anything that's not a laser weapon will be destroyed by the shield (or damaged if the "projectile" is a bunch of blocks).
Misc. things which are relevant to the thread:
A. In the early episodes of Star Trek Enterprise Enterprise polarizes its hull to defend against projectiles and other stuff. The hull still takes some damage so this could be a good example for the integrity field idea.
B. In Stargate Atlantis Atlantis and other ships each have a bubble shield. When hit, the shield depletes some energy (I'd assume the same goes for the Jumpers) and shows "energy cracks" along with the projectile exploding where the projectile hit the bubble. Something which looks a bit like this would be cool.
Thanks for reading my big text wall. Please leave your comments, ideas, and change suggestions.
Shields:
A. The current surface shield mechanics use capacitors and rechargers to determine a sphere of influence within which a shield will be generated on the surface of blocks. This can be interpreted as a kind of bubble shield, but the bubble is just the shield bounds. The current shields work perfectly for a kind of integrity field as shown in Avorion; an integrity generator will generate a field which clings to the surface of each block of the ship or station to add more HP to the blocks. Implementing this mechanic is simple: just boost the integrity of each system within the field based on the amount of rechargers/capacitors used and maybe prevent the integrity fields from boosting themselves. Then the rechargers/capacitors can then be renamed/retextured. Since the integrity fields in Avorion add HP to blocks, the new integrity field mechanic could act as a weaker shield.
B. For a bubble shield to count as a true bubble shield, the shield has to be bubble-shaped (or box-shaped, if you want it Avorion style for whatever reason). The bubble can be calculated based on the ship's length, height, width, and maybe mass to affect the shield's thickness or distance from the hull. The bubble shield also has to stop projectiles at its surface for it to "count". Instead of shield rechargers and capacitors a shield generator customizable multi block structure could be used, maybe similar in construction to the current power 2.0 power reactor/reactor chamber setup.
C. To make things more interesting only ships/stations with the same shield frequency can pass through the shields of another ship/station. The shield generator can also be "tuned" to output a different frequency or a faction-specific frequency (maybe the sum of all the ASCII numbers of all the characters in a title?) range. For instance the default (neutral) frequency range is 0-255. The frequency range for a faction is 0 + ASCII_sum to 255 + ASCII_sum and added to a unique faction id which isn't available by normal means (except commands?). With faction frequencies only ships using the same frequency can come in contact without the shields damaging each other etc. A faction-based frequency can be created by linking a faction module to a shield generator controller and enabling the "faction frequency" option, if menus are to be involved. Then the frequency number is generated and can be displayed in display modules, ship menus, or pressing "r" on maybe the shield generator block or whatever it could be. This way the only way to obtain a faction's shield frequency is through spies. In the case of a faction's enemy (or friend?) getting hold of a faction's frequency a ship's/station's shield generator can have its frequency changed to another value (0-255, + the faction's ASCII sum and a new unique id).
Weapons:
A. This is a generic plasma/laser/rocket/shell-based weapon idea placeholder line. (insert your ideas here)
B. When a shield is set to a specific frequency, only laser weapons with that frequency can penetrate it. This applies to support tools as well, except for shield supply tools (is this going to be replaced?). Anything that's not a laser weapon will be destroyed by the shield (or damaged if the "projectile" is a bunch of blocks).
Misc. things which are relevant to the thread:
A. In the early episodes of Star Trek Enterprise Enterprise polarizes its hull to defend against projectiles and other stuff. The hull still takes some damage so this could be a good example for the integrity field idea.
B. In Stargate Atlantis Atlantis and other ships each have a bubble shield. When hit, the shield depletes some energy (I'd assume the same goes for the Jumpers) and shows "energy cracks" along with the projectile exploding where the projectile hit the bubble. Something which looks a bit like this would be cool.
Thanks for reading my big text wall. Please leave your comments, ideas, and change suggestions.
