Conduits to EVERYTHING!

[Edymnion]

I personally like chambers being linked to reactors via physical block lines (the conduits).

It makes it feel like I'm building a power system. I'd really like to see that expanded. Power conduits physically linking the reactor to your shield generators, your weapon systems, thrusters, etc. Even on turrets, having to put a conduit line from your weapon blocks to your rail docker to your turret axis.

Combine with this suggestion and we've got a much more unified setup where everything is a system, and all systems have to be connected to power to function.

 

[OfficialCoding]

I personally like chambers being linked to reactors via physical block lines (the conduits).

It makes it feel like I'm building a power system. I'd really like to see that expanded. Power conduits physically linking the reactor to your shield generators, your weapon systems, thrusters, etc. Even on turrets, having to put a conduit line from your weapon blocks to your rail docker to your turret axis.

Combine with this suggestion and we've got a much more unified setup where everything is a system, and all systems have to be connected to power to function.

Yeah that would be fun. Wouldn't add too much of a learning curve and it's pretty logical, unlike how currently we have the Power-magically-travels-to-all-of-your-systems-without-giving-everyone-cancer-because-logic explanation

 

[Sachys]

This would just make things overly complicated.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

I would like something that's auto generated like the existing power stream to the stabilizers around the stream. Still have the stream, but have the game calculate and generate actual blocks to surround the stream. That way they could be destroyed revealing the stream and repaired later.

 

[kiddan]

I'd dig this as a hardcore server config, preferably disabled by default as I doubt the majority wants more factors limiting ship design. There's certainly a niche for building well-functioning systems around limitations, it's an art form really.

 

[Sachys]

...as a hardcore server config, preferably disabled by default

Okay, that I could support.

 

[JinM]

I like this idea.

And I would like it, even if it would only be applied to stabilizers in substitution for the streams, with a conduit thickness.

 

[NTIMESc]

I like the idea of renaming Chambers to Subsystems in the linked post, but I don't think it's desirable to require physically connecting systems with Conduit blocks. Given the one meter resolution of the game, I can imagine that there would be more than enough space inside a cubic meter block, (of hull for example), to hide power cables. I think it would suffice to simply require a physical connection of any type of blocks in between systems. Floating/disconnected subsystems could either not function, or function at reduced efficiency.

I would like something that's auto generated like the existing power stream to the stabilizers around the stream. Still have the stream, but have the game calculate and generate actual blocks to surround the stream. That way they could be destroyed revealing the stream and repaired later.

I also like the idea of auto-generating connections, but I wouldn't want it to be in physical blocks or a power stream/conduit that just runs straight through the ship. The generation I'm thinking of would be automatic pathing through the hull or other touching blocks. This could be visualized with the block highlighting in game, allowing you to "see" where your power conduits run through the walls and structure of the ship.

Regarding conduits between subsystems taking damage, I think that it would probably have to be a system that is only calculated when building. When the ship is taking damage, the conduits would continue to function normally, even if damaged. But once the battle is "over" the connections could be recalculated (triggered by a reboot, clicking re-calibrate hp, a timer, etc). If new paths cannot be generated to "reroute" power, the affected subsystems would be appropriately crippled/disabled.

 

[NeonSturm]

I agree.
Build a survival ship with minimal effort to get desired result: to Skip the first 1-2 annoying steps.
Build a special ship with minimal effort to get desired result: have 1 special property out of quite a few.

But especially for these "This ship has everything I want", it should also require most common things others want.
FIX: Especially if the thing is built upon stuff or knowledge others made.
A framework provide should thus define the common goal of it's knowledge providers and holders.

[doublepost=1540543907,1540543577][/doublepost]

I also like the idea of auto-generating connections, but I wouldn't want it to be in physical blocks or a power stream/conduit that just runs straight through the ship. The generation I'm thinking of would be automatic pathing through the hull or other touching blocks.

For default, I agree.
Others might prefer to define it more accurately, especially when the conduit lines make up only a tiny fraction of your ships mass.
>> They could appear to be light bars, adjusting rotation to snap to a wall or corner and appear as linked pipe.

 

[jayman38]

I wouldn't mind if there was a calculation to verify that there were blocks all the way from the reactor to each system, but Starmade blocks are way too big to require dedicated conduit lines made of blocks running everywhere. I'd rather imagine that power is being transferred through conduits hidden in walls and snaking between hull/armor plates. You know, like in real life. If a builder feels that conduits are important, they can use the existing decoration blocks to create visual conduits that are not enforced by game mechanics.

Alternately, have conduit blocks fill a very tiny part of the block space. That way, they can be threaded through astronaut-accessible areas without adding too much to the space requirements. For example, you could use a re-textured lightbar (not lightstick, but I suppose you could use that as well) as a conduit block. Conduits threaded on the outside of the ship could provide interesting weakpoints that if severed, would turn off a system or multiple systems. However, that would suck a lot of fun out of the victim.

 

[NTIMESc]

Others might prefer to define it more accurately, especially when the conduit lines make up only a tiny fraction of your ships mass.

I agree that being able to tweak the path might be desirable. Assuming conduit pathing was limited to, say only hull and other non-system blocks, most of the time, the default generated path would not be the most optimal (which would be a straight line). It would run through floors, walls and ceilings, following the shortest path it could. The nice thing about this, is that the only thing a player would need to do to make a more efficient path is to add a few hull blocks in key places, which would "jump" the conduit to the shorter path.
I can't really imagine why you would want to intentionally snake a conduit in some crazy path around your ship, but for that scenario, you could use the existing Reactor Stabilizer Power Stream Node (hopefully renamed to "Conduit Node", or "EPS Node", etc), which would force the pathing algorithm to pass through those blocks.

Note: When referring to "efficiency", I am imagining (or at least leaving open the possibility of) a very small power cost incurred proportional to the number of blocks that conduits pass through.

 

[MacThule]

Make something like this a server option.

 

[NeonSturm]

Make something like this a server option.

I Agree. No need for even more lag-causes.

Not bad for some servers, but others may not like to use ressources for it.

 

[Edymnion]

I can't really imagine why you would want to intentionally snake a conduit in some crazy path around your ship

Heh, people used to love their gordian knot power reactor lines.

 

[OfficialCoding]

Heh, people used to love their gordian knot power reactor lines.

I never liked the purple crap. I hated it from the beginning

 

[Muffin_man17]

Was never a fan of the purple power conduit as well as it's all coarse, and rough, and irritating. And it gets everywhere.

All seriousness though I think it's a neat system maybe after a certain mass/size ship but not for smaller ships as the 1m block resolution would make it difficult to manipulate.

 

[Skwidz]

I personally like chambers being linked to reactors via physical block lines (the conduits).

It makes it feel like I'm building a power system. I'd really like to see that expanded. Power conduits physically linking the reactor to your shield generators, your weapon systems, thrusters, etc. Even on turrets, having to put a conduit line from your weapon blocks to your rail docker to your turret axis.

Combine with this suggestion and we've got a much more unified setup where everything is a system, and all systems have to be connected to power to function.

I like that idea but like others said earlier it would make things more complicated than Schine may want and it would be debilitating for a ship to receive a blow to a weak spot containing conduit and then not be able to fight back. A conduit system like that would be cool for Star Trek style disablements though and it would probably be a better idea to make it add a bonus power efficiency as thicker power lines feed more power than tiny cables hidden in thick armor blocks