Better Speed System

[CrusaderDeleters]

I was thinking of an idea where you can have a maximum speed, so some ships are faster than others. The current thrusters rely on the fact of who can accellerate faster, to get away from somebody. I was thinking that this did not have to be like this, and was thinking of an algorithm that could change this (while I was watching Curse of the Black Pearl).

I came up with: (Thrusters/Blocks)*CapSpeed This would mean that the number of thrusters over the number of total blocks (including thrusters) times the Cap Speed.

Now let's put this into real perspective. 100 thrusters, 500 block ship, and 200 cap speed (I know this is high, but you'll see why) (100/500)*200 = (1/5)*200 = 40 max speed.
Now let's say that you convert 100 more hulls into Thrusters (assuming you have enough energy). (200/500)*200 = (2/5)*200 = 80 Max Speed.
But perhaps you think 200 as a cap speed is high. But if you look at it in perspective, You are always going relatively faster than who you're outrunning. If you change the Cap Speed, you're always going faster by some variable. For the data above, that number is 2. No matter how you change the cap speed, you will always be going two times faster than the other.

Problems that can ensue: Big ships are outran by little ships.
This would make a better gameplay system because little ships can be used for scouting.

 

[csnewman]

The only problem i could see is that the velocity would allow for the ship to noclip through other objects/ships as in most Physics engines they calculate the new velocity updates, apply the velocity, and then check for collisions. This setup would still be much better.

 

[MrNo]

I actually came up with almost the exact same idea. And on that thread, people actually objected to it with the reason \"But big ships will be too slow then\". Before that hits here: All of you are fools. Big ships should be slow.

But anyway, yes, this is a great idea. DO IT. I have yet to see a good argument against it, and many for it.

 

[CrusaderDeleters]

That can still happen currently. I was able to fly through a 1-block wall of a space station with just a ship core at (probably less than) 50 kmph.

 

[Archer6621]

I support this, makes a lot of sense, and should be really added, also because it still gives decent control over max-speed.

 

[Beasteast]

First of all, I just wanna say that the way you explained how the function would work was flawless, even though the initial idea was simple. Secondly, just because I can be that \'guy\' who says everything should be realistic in a video game, I feel like an individual block\'s mass should have a rather large affect on it too, like a ship core would have a larger mass than say, a plex door. And finally, WARP DRIVE (to designated sectors (increases the max speed by around 300-400%)) !

 

[Kaamio]

I\'d rather see changes to acceleration than top speed, big ships have no reason to be slower, except to accelerate. Greater range of turning speeds would be good too, as now it seems to cap to slow around 100-200 ship mass (which is rather small ship).



Still, variable speeds wouldn\'t hurt the game I guess, I\'d just like to have it dependant on something else than actual ship size and in far less numbers than your 20% engine ship, but that\'s just a matter of adding suitable variables.

 

[CrusaderDeleters]

I don\'t see the Acc. being much of a problem. I mean, it works fine: Bigger ships accellerate slow if they don\'t have enough thrusters. This is a common Physics law that newton has came up with, but honestly, there IS a top speed for everything, mostly due to friction.

 

[glopso]

Gotta hate that space friction, eh?

 

[nearbeer]

It should remain the same; the cap exists so as to prevent potential problems like clipping. HOWEVER, physics decree that all objects can reach any speed (No I\'m not talking about the speed of light... we can\'t reach that in this game anyways) but more force is required to move larger objects, thus more thrusters = more force but more mass = more force required to move faster. In space there is no friction so nothing will stop you from accelerating except the speed cap which exists for, again, gameplay reasons. So, the current system is correct and should remain.

 

[Visitor]

There are already plenty of threads, like for example this one which while initially about the cap, also touched the subject of general balance (together with throwing some fluff and other explanations for picky people mentioning friction etc).

 

[MrNo]

Nearbeer: The problem is not air resistance/friction, it\'s just that larger ships are harder to accelerate, and therefore more thrusters would be required to get it up to any reasonable speed. Now, while it is true that nothing would cap their speed, we need to put a limit on it for gameplay reasons. This does so, while still keeping the idea that smaller ships are massively more mobile than larger ships. Another way to deal with this would simply be to raise the speed cap, and make thrusters more effective at accelerating smaller objects. Problems with clipping can almost certainly be dealt with later, or some way found of overcoming them.