Changes To Naturally Generated Stations

[Lecic]

I would like to suggest some changes to the naturally generated stations.

I think that stations should have a total of 8 defensive turrets docked on the black power drums, 1 on the top and one on the bottom. These turrets would belong to the trading guild. They would attack pirates, and be neutral to you, provided you didn't attack them, the station, or nearby trade guild ships.
The stations should also have additional power in the drums, and then the empty space in the drum filled with shields.
Stations should also have a shop built in, numerous trade guild NPCs who wander the station, as well as a handful of helper/quest giver/crew renting NPCs.
Finally, stations should have automatic gravity, like planets.

 

[Megacrafter127]

Finally, stations should have automatic gravity, like planets.

I think, this should also apply for playermade stations, once their mass exceeds a certain value.

 

[karkinosz]

I think, this should also apply for playermade stations, once their mass exceeds a certain value.

Or when they have a gravity unit installed. (As an option for the station since having sections of the station with gravity in different directions should be possible still.)

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Players/server operators should be able to specify what spawns and not just these boring static structures so I really don't see the need for this minor change. I would much rather specify a sment to spawn so I can make my own stations and have them populate the galaxy.

As for gravity, Jimmy Jamba has stripped out a planet and build a station with permanent gravity in it's place and I have to say I find it more trouble than it's worth. I hope logic and area of effect activators should fulfill the need for station gravity and when the game remembers gravity settings properly.

 

[ltmauve]

This does sound more like something for a shop then the abandoned stations you find. Still, I agree that we need more lively activity

 

[BasicPaul]

I dont necessarily agree with your proposals, though changes to the generated objects would be nice.

Not so much adding turrets to the abandoned stations, because we already have pirate stations.

I would like to see a bigger variety of generated structures, and each of these look a little more like stations we see in popular culture and media.

More variety and more fidelity to the designs.

 

[psteiner]

I dont necessarily agree with your proposals, though changes to the generated objects would be nice.

Not so much adding turrets to the abandoned stations, because we already have pirate stations.

I would like to see a bigger variety of generated structures, and each of these look a little more like stations we see in popular culture and media.

More variety and more fidelity to the designs.

Well, I'm going to have to agree to you.

PS: Isn't schema making it so you can modify default structure files anyways?

 

[Lecic]

I dont necessarily agree with your proposals, though changes to the generated objects would be nice.

Not so much adding turrets to the abandoned stations, because we already have pirate stations.

The turrets won't automatically fire on players, only if you've done something to make the trade guild/whatever npc faction that lives there angry for whatever reason. They're there to prevent people from just flying up with salvage cannons and scraping every station they come across for all the hull they'll ever need.

There could still be abandoned stations, but I think they should have some of the power already scavenged, and various pieces of structure missing from asteroid collisions and weapons fire.

It doesn't make much sense for every station in the universe to be abandoned as they currently are.

I would like to see a bigger variety of generated structures, and each of these look a little more like stations we see in popular culture and media.

More variety and more fidelity to the designs.

Yes, a wide variety of stations would be nice. My basic suggestion, regardless of the station type, is that they not be abandoned, and have defences against pirates and raiders and generally have a use beyond being there for salvaging.

Well, I'm going to have to agree to you.

PS: Isn't schema making it so you can modify default structure files anyways?

I believe that will be an admin ability in the future, yes. However, there are certain players who will want to be able to play with just the standard vanilla spawns and not need to edit some in themselves, so it would make sense to make the vanilla station(s) more interesting than they currently are.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

I believe that will be an admin ability in the future, yes. However, there are certain players who will want to be able to play with just the standard vanilla spawns and not need to edit some in themselves, so it would make sense to make the vanilla station(s) more interesting than they currently are.

Well when the system is in place for the rest of the player base to have the ability to choose what stations populate their universe it will be a simple matter for the devs to expand on what is in vanilla. Before that it is kind of a low priority and pointless, IMHO, for a temporary change to be made.

 

[Reilly Reese]

I want a station that is more reasonable than the current one. It is old and illogical.

 

[Achriel]

I'm a proponent of allowing factions to claim sectors, it would be handy IF this came to pass that a faction could set their own default station/shops within their claimed areas. Really it's just a change in blueprints to load but I'd like to see a default faction change if/when that comes about. (See Faction & Empire)

I'm actually surprised this hasn't been done yet.. this default shop & stations are getting kind of 'old'.

 

[CyberTao]

I'mma throw an excerpt from the 0.14 Update notes, cause I think it's relevant

Spoiler: Lua Excerpt

Lua Interface
StarMade now has support for the scripting language Lua. For now, the interface is only used officially for the conversation system, but will be expanded onto other parts. This especially will help modders to make changes to the program without having to dive into the code and having to create a custom build.

Conversation system
The conversation system is fully based on Lua and gives a first taste of what is to come. The scripts are located in /data/scripts if you want to experiment (please backup first). The conversations are fully networked so when an admin modifies them, the text and options will be transferred to the clients without them needing the scripts. Also, all decisions are executed on the server for maximum security. Please be careful when modifying the scripts, as there is no real debugging yet, and script errors might result in a server crash.

Plans
As Lua is a script language, doing complex operations can be very expensive. That's why I'm trying to provide several interfaces to make Java do most of the work. One plan is, for example, to create an interface for the structure generation. Admins can then place generation scripts for space stations (even using a random generator) in the game, leading to space stations being created from that script. This will take care of the problem that space stations always looking the same.

So basically it is planned, and I thought the reason that the Default stations were so empty was cause of new players? Fill them with too much stuff, and there is less of a challenge for new players (and might Hinder the new crafting system, whenever we get it).

But much yes for custom stations (which would be set by the server), as it could lead to More exploration server-side possibly even Fun events or RP stuff * ^*

 

[Blodge]

I think this is a good idea but I'd like to take it a step further by suggesting 3 different types of Space Station:
Trading Guild - Has Turrets, NPC Traders and a Shop. Begins neutral but spawns hostile Trading Guild ships if attacked.
Pirate - Has Turrets and NPC Pirates. Is hostile and Spawns Pirate Ships when Player comes in range.
Abandoned - Has no turrets and is missing random blocks due to damage. May contain hostile NPC alien monsters.

Both the two existing "Wheel" and "Box" station designs should not be limited to Pirate and Abandoned types. Both should be able to appear in any of the above 3 states. I'd also like to see a 3rd, smaller Station design which looks like a hollowed-out Asteroid. This combination of 3 designs and 3 states would allow for a total of 9 different types of Space Station encounter and make space seem a bit more varied

 

[Reilly Reese]

We need to replace the current stations. The "box" station is illogical and way to big inside.

 

[Blodge]

We need to replace the current stations. The "box" station is illogical and way to big inside.

Way too big? LOL I barely have enough room in the 4 hangers for all my crazy design experiments as it is!
I agree the central tower section could use some re-designing though. Takes too long to get to the top and it's too big and empty when you get there. Would like to see some new catwalks connecting the lift shaft to the existing ones between the generator rooms, and some rooms put into the top of the tower to break it up a bit?