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I've spent the last couple months thinking of potential additiions I would want to see in Starmade. Below is very rough/very brief version of my ideas. I can draw up some mock GUI's or answer any questions if anyone is interested. I'm hesitent to post loads-and-loads of detail if the rest of the community thinks its utterly worthless. So please let me know what you think either way.
GOAL: To introduce greater variety of ship arms and armaments whilst maintaining balance and fun for ships of all sizes/classes/types. Inspired by historical naval and air warfare, as well as the science fiction classics.
Multiple Weapon Damage Types:
Energy and explosive/kinetic.
Lasers, plasma, photon torpedoes, do energy damage. Shields are better at absorbing Energy damage than armor is.
Cannons, flak and ramming cause explosive/kinetic damage. Armor is better at absorbing explosive/kinetic damage than shields are.
New Weapons:
Cannons: Cannons use explosive force to fire a projectile. Canons use less power to fire than lasers do, however each shot uses up a round of ammunition (ammunition is stored in a special storage item, a magazine, placed near to the cannon). Furthermore, their maximum rate of fire is lower than that of lasers.
Projectiles range in size from 1/10 meter to 1 meter (maybe up 10m later on, this all assumes that blocks are currently 1mx1mx1m) wide. Projectiles can either be purchased from shops, or made by the players themselves, using a special crafting grid. The projectile crafting grid forms the shape of a round of ammunition and allows players to use blocks already in the game to construct the different parts of ammunition to their personal preference, or to suit a particular task. The different components of a round of ammunition are as follows.
The outside of shell can be made from any hull block. Rounds of ammunition will keep the color of the hull blocks used, so players may color code their different loads.
The propellent determines the speed of the round (along with the length of the canon) as well as how fast the canon may fire (more/better propellent = barrel heat = slower rate of fire).
The warhead/penetrator determines how and what type of damage will be dealt if the round hits an enemy ship. Rounds can be tipped with a shield block to gain greater damage against shields, or with an explosive block to affect a large area. A round may also be tipped with a hull block for greater armor penetration.
Bombs: Bomb blocks decrease exponentially in effectiveness when used in number (for example a 2 bomb block might deal 200 damage, a 20 bomb block would deal only 300). Bombs are not “fired” like other weapons. Instead when they are released, they travel forward along the same direction as the player. This makes them a much more effective choice for small, fast ships than larger slower ones. Small ships will essentially be able to execute “dive bomb” attacks WWII style.
Flak: Falk decreases exponentially in effectiveness when used in number (much like bombs). It has a medium to heavy power requirement. When a shot of flak is fired it explodes into shrapnel when within a certain proximity of a ship (the firing ship does not count in this case). Shrapnel deals very little damage, but deals it over a wide area. It is meant to be used by large ships to prevent very small ships from having too easy of a time dodging the main laser/missile/canon.
Shields and Armor:
The density of protection that shields provide is directly linked to not only their number/placement, but the mass of the ship they are shielding. For example a square of 10 shield blocks would provide more shielding to a 1000 mass ship than a 10,000 mass ship, since it has less area to protect. This will make super-oversized-post-juggernaughts more expensive, and more vulnerable. It will also make armor more practical.
Stealth and Detection: The distance from which ships appear (both on the map, the list of nearby objects and as diamond on the screen) is now proportionate to the mass and total power of a ship. Something the size of a Deathstar will now be visible for 100’s of sectors away, while stealth fighters may not be detectable until within a kilometer.
GOAL: To introduce greater variety of ship arms and armaments whilst maintaining balance and fun for ships of all sizes/classes/types. Inspired by historical naval and air warfare, as well as the science fiction classics.
Multiple Weapon Damage Types:
Energy and explosive/kinetic.
Lasers, plasma, photon torpedoes, do energy damage. Shields are better at absorbing Energy damage than armor is.
Cannons, flak and ramming cause explosive/kinetic damage. Armor is better at absorbing explosive/kinetic damage than shields are.
New Weapons:
Cannons: Cannons use explosive force to fire a projectile. Canons use less power to fire than lasers do, however each shot uses up a round of ammunition (ammunition is stored in a special storage item, a magazine, placed near to the cannon). Furthermore, their maximum rate of fire is lower than that of lasers.
Projectiles range in size from 1/10 meter to 1 meter (maybe up 10m later on, this all assumes that blocks are currently 1mx1mx1m) wide. Projectiles can either be purchased from shops, or made by the players themselves, using a special crafting grid. The projectile crafting grid forms the shape of a round of ammunition and allows players to use blocks already in the game to construct the different parts of ammunition to their personal preference, or to suit a particular task. The different components of a round of ammunition are as follows.
The outside of shell can be made from any hull block. Rounds of ammunition will keep the color of the hull blocks used, so players may color code their different loads.
The propellent determines the speed of the round (along with the length of the canon) as well as how fast the canon may fire (more/better propellent = barrel heat = slower rate of fire).
The warhead/penetrator determines how and what type of damage will be dealt if the round hits an enemy ship. Rounds can be tipped with a shield block to gain greater damage against shields, or with an explosive block to affect a large area. A round may also be tipped with a hull block for greater armor penetration.
Bombs: Bomb blocks decrease exponentially in effectiveness when used in number (for example a 2 bomb block might deal 200 damage, a 20 bomb block would deal only 300). Bombs are not “fired” like other weapons. Instead when they are released, they travel forward along the same direction as the player. This makes them a much more effective choice for small, fast ships than larger slower ones. Small ships will essentially be able to execute “dive bomb” attacks WWII style.
Flak: Falk decreases exponentially in effectiveness when used in number (much like bombs). It has a medium to heavy power requirement. When a shot of flak is fired it explodes into shrapnel when within a certain proximity of a ship (the firing ship does not count in this case). Shrapnel deals very little damage, but deals it over a wide area. It is meant to be used by large ships to prevent very small ships from having too easy of a time dodging the main laser/missile/canon.
Shields and Armor:
The density of protection that shields provide is directly linked to not only their number/placement, but the mass of the ship they are shielding. For example a square of 10 shield blocks would provide more shielding to a 1000 mass ship than a 10,000 mass ship, since it has less area to protect. This will make super-oversized-post-juggernaughts more expensive, and more vulnerable. It will also make armor more practical.
Stealth and Detection: The distance from which ships appear (both on the map, the list of nearby objects and as diamond on the screen) is now proportionate to the mass and total power of a ship. Something the size of a Deathstar will now be visible for 100’s of sectors away, while stealth fighters may not be detectable until within a kilometer.