Read by Schine Changes for planets

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    CUBE SHAPE:
    Schema already tried cube shaped planets and decided they wouldnt work because they looked like this:

    Notice that there are no edges and corners to the planet making it look ugly, This could be fixed by adding Wedges, Corners, Heptas, And Tetras as well as slabs and diagonal gravity to all the natural terrain blocks making it possible to slope over those edges making planets into rounded cubes, Now you might think this impossible considering the current roughness of planets, that could be fixed by making the planetary surfaces primarily minecraft style planes. And the diagonal gravity would make the edges and corners of the planet habitable as well, But the biggest advantage to this would be that planetary block grids would remain entirely uniform making separate plates on a core unnecessary and making the standard HP system applicable to planets, As well as reducing lag.

    REMOVE COLOR ORBS AND FIX SCALING ISSUES:

    You can see multiple errors with this feature, For one thing the glassy orb surrounding planets looks nothing like the planetary atmosphere, And you might also notice that the planet model is larger than the planet itself. When generating planets even from long range the first thing calculated should be size so the model can be scaled to it and the planet when generated so it all remains properly in sync.

    MAKE CURRENT PLANET TYPES A MINORITY:

    When a player discovers a Terran planet or any of the other kinds They should be happy to have found a rare resource rich planet rather than bored at another random green world, The solution to this would be to introduce a percentage to what kinds of planet are generated and add a new kind of planet. To replace the current classes of planet a Barren class would be introduced, it would be completely lacking in life of any sort or even atmosphere, its surface would compose of primarily rock and would have very few minerals or shards Basically like the moon. Also for ever 100 or so planets generated only one would be a terran (See graph below):

    This would greatly reduce the abuse and over-exploitation that every planet of the original classes receive because of their rarity and beauty compared to the barren worlds they will be highly valued as faction bases and mining colonies and efforts may be taken to protect them rather than use them for target practice.

    MOONS:
    I know that the devs already intend to add moons to the game but my suggestion is slightly different, Moons would have the same single-entity cube shape that i suggested before and they will be generated from the same planet classes However they will be significantly smaller and the benefits of being a single entity is their mobility meaning that they will be attached to their mother planet with a wireless Rail like attachment system allowing them to orbit the planet itself.

    RINGS:

    These will sometimes show up in place of a moon, Basically a random block noise generator within a general ring shape, it would rotate around the planet in the same way as a moon, except it wouldn't have gravity.

    MINOR FACTIONS:
    This would probably be added with the fauna update, all planet classes with the exception of barren have the chance of generating small semi-tribal settlements, these would be very sometimes hostile and other times very friendly they make good trade partners because resources such as ship cores and other standard resources would be unavailable to them as they have no factory tech, so you will be able to trade these simple space items with them for large amounts of raw minerals and shards which they have very little idea what to do with, Militarily they would be very weak however each villager would be armed with its own laser pistol likely provided by the trading guild meaning that players early into the game without any sufficient shields or armor could be driven off, But even a simple isanth would still be enough to wipe out their settlements.

    MILITARY OUTPOSTS:
    AI faction would have military outposts on every planet within their territory, these heavily armed structures would ensure protection for the planet and anyone on it, Any players being pursued by pirates could escape by traveling to a Trade-Guild planet, And pirate planets would be also armed but very rare to find as pirates prefer hiding in void sectors.

    ROGUE WORLDS:
    In void sectors there woould be a 5% chance of finding a barren planet there, They would be very dark and would frequently contain pirate bases.

    SELF HEALING PLANETS:
    This is a very simple idea, all weapon damage that a barren planet takes will slowly heal itself, this means that players will no longer come across worlds griefed beyond recognition, The Nerfing of build blocks that happened a long time ago combined with self healing would mean that all planets with the exception of barren worlds will heal and griefing will slowly become a thing of the past. As any veteran player will tell you, Planets are use for capital ship target practice, and while not removing the ability to shoot planets, The damage would not be permanant, Habitable worlds like terrans would not heal, meaning that players may be required to protect them.

    I hope you guys like my suggestions. :)
     
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    Valiant70

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    I like these ideas overall, although I would like to see a bit more variance among default barren worlds, such as various colors of rock, different mineral compositions, etc. Rogue worlds are a good idea, but generating in 25% of all void sectors would be way too many rogue planets! Maybe a 1% chance of spawning one in any void system would be better.

    The problem with cube planets was not their shape, but rather the gravity transitions, which Schema thought were too abrupt. (It's like jumping off a cliff.) Recently he mentioned ideas for completely redesigning planets both in a podcast interview and in a Starmade news post. I'm curious to see what's up his sleeve.
     
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    I like these ideas overall, although I would like to see a bit more variance among default barren worlds, such as various colors of rock, different mineral compositions, etc. Rogue worlds are a good idea, but generating in 25% of all void sectors would be way too many rogue planets! Maybe a 1% chance of spawning one in any void system would be better.

    The problem with cube planets was not their shape, but rather the gravity transitions, which Schema thought were too abrupt. (It's like jumping off a cliff.) Recently he mentioned ideas for completely redesigning planets both in a podcast interview and in a Starmade news post. I'm curious to see what's up his sleeve.
    The sharp gravity is why i suggested using wedges and corners to patch up the transition and diagonal gravity to essentially make each transition zone a face in its own right.

    but you are right about barrens and rogues.
     

    Bench

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    Thanks for your suggestion, the barren planet thing is interesting. I'm not sure what Schema's thinking in regards to planets but from the news post and interview it sounds like he has some ideas. Faction wise we've got some sweet plans some of which play into your ideas.
     
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    Thanks for your suggestion, the barren planet thing is interesting. I'm not sure what Schema's thinking in regards to planets but from the news post and interview it sounds like he has some ideas. Faction wise we've got some sweet plans some of which play into your ideas.
    Thanks for responding bench :) whats your impression on the self healing aspect?
     
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    We need some relative gravity in this game, so no matter what orientation, you always get pulled towards the planets core. Then we could have round planets. Things would get angled in some areas due to blocks being blocks, but I think that's better than a transition between multiple gravity fields.
     
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    We need some relative gravity in this game, so no matter what orientation, you always get pulled towards the planets core. Then we could have round planets. Things would get angled in some areas due to blocks being blocks, but I think that's better than a transition between multiple gravity fields.
    Round planets won't work in the game because spheres in a block game are simply impossible :)
    Relative gravity already exists.
    [DOUBLEPOST=1453778132,1453777593][/DOUBLEPOST]

    Plays into some other planned mechanics, so there might be a place for it, we'll have to see
    [/QUOTE
    BTW what is dev opinion on removing those color orbs?
     
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    Relative gravity already exists.
    -
    Are you referring to the wormholes? Perhaps we should call it spherical gravity on planets.

    If the player was constantly aligned to the planet's spherical gravity, then the planet plates could just be bulged in the centers making the whole planet more spherical. When the player is being pulled at an angle to the top block surfaces, they just have to trudge up and down the jagged terrain, just like floating against hull of a ship in space when not aligned to it. The player moves against the surfaces until one is too steep to move up. And then you have to jump/climb up, just like when you hit the vertical side of a block now.

    Here's a gravity mock up gif: Gravity GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
     
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    Are you referring to the wormholes? Perhaps we should call it spherical gravity on planets.

    If the player was constantly aligned to the planet's spherical gravity, then the planet plates could just be bulged in the centers making the whole planet more spherical. When the player is being pulled at an angle to the top block surfaces, they just have to trudge up and down the jagged terrain, just like floating against hull of a ship in space when not aligned to it. The player moves against the surfaces until one is too steep to move up. And then you have to jump/climb up, just like when you hit the vertical side of a block now.

    Here's a gravity mock up gif: Gravity GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
    Thats nice but isnt it kinda clunky? wouldnt it be better just to make a cube with rounded edges? using wedges corners heptas and tetras as well as diagonal gravity systems, you could make a planet that is just one single entity but works better than the dodecahedrons?
     

    Keptick

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    Are you referring to the wormholes? Perhaps we should call it spherical gravity on planets.

    If the player was constantly aligned to the planet's spherical gravity, then the planet plates could just be bulged in the centers making the whole planet more spherical. When the player is being pulled at an angle to the top block surfaces, they just have to trudge up and down the jagged terrain, just like floating against hull of a ship in space when not aligned to it. The player moves against the surfaces until one is too steep to move up. And then you have to jump/climb up, just like when you hit the vertical side of a block now.

    Here's a gravity mock up gif: Gravity GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY
    Walking and building at an angle from the player's perspective would be incredibly immersion breaking and just a bad experience in general.
     

    Lecic

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    Schema already tried cube shaped planets and decided they wouldnt work because they looked like this:
    That wasn't an experiment with cube planets. That was the un-warped base for the spherical planets test.

    Regardless, really not a fan of cube planets.

    As for everything else- I like it, except for the massive number of barren worlds over living worlds. There should definitely be barren worlds, but they shouldn't outnumber the living ones because barren worlds are BORING.
     
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    That wasn't an experiment with cube planets. That was the un-warped base for the spherical planets test.

    Regardless, really not a fan of cube planets.

    As for everything else- I like it, except for the massive number of barren worlds over living worlds. There should definitely be barren worlds, but they shouldn't outnumber the living ones because barren worlds are BORING.
    I kinda disagree the point of barren planets is to be boring, Exploration becomes far more exciting when you come across a RARE terran planet and pat yourself on the back for your luck, Rather than just saying "*sigh* Another random green planet, Too bad there are already like, A billion.)
     

    Lecic

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    I kinda disagree the point of barren planets is to be boring, Exploration becomes far more exciting when you come across a RARE terran planet and pat yourself on the back for your luck, Rather than just saying "*sigh* Another random green planet, Too bad there are already like, A billion.)
    Maybe in singleplayer, but in multiplayer? As if there isn't already enough reason to ditch the spawn galaxy.
     
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    Maybe in singleplayer, but in multiplayer? As if there isn't already enough reason to ditch the spawn galaxy.
    It could be good in multiplayer too, Factions would have to actually search space in order to find a planet worth mining or settling rather than being spammed with worlds that realistically should be rare as hell.
     
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    Lecic

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    It could be good in multiplayer too, Factions would have to actually search space in order to find a planet worth mining or settling rather than being spammed with worlds that realistically should be rare as hell.
    I think you don't understand the scale at which factions devour planets. My faction frequently eats multiple solar systems A DAY. The loss of a planet's worth of resources is something you can laugh off. By decreasing the amount of resources you can get from a planet, you're just going to further encourage the migration out of spawn galaxy, leaving behind nothing but a barren galaxy.
     
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    I think you don't understand the scale at which factions devour planets. My faction frequently eats multiple solar systems A DAY. The loss of a planet's worth of resources is something you can laugh off. By decreasing the amount of resources you can get from a planet, you're just going to further encourage the migration out of spawn galaxy, leaving behind nothing but a barren galaxy.
    Perhaps. but then again arent we all just wanderers?
    Plus planets would be self healing, Any damage done to a planet with weapons or salvagers would slowly repair, Just wait for a world to regenerate :)
     
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    Lecic

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    Perhaps. but then again arent we all just wanderers?
    Plus planets would be self healing, Any damage done to a planet with weapons or salvagers would slowly repair, Just wait for a world to regenerate :)
    And what happens if the entire planet gets eaten and the core gets nuked?