Read by Council Deployables, Boarding, and Entity Vehicles

[nightrune]

There are quite a few threads on this. These are the ones I've found. I'd like to expand on them and harmonize what I've read. I think we can get all of these things with a single block, and without lots of lag.

Here are some of the sources:
Read by Council - Rolling Vehicles

Read by Schine - Wheel Block

Read by Council - Boarding and Breaching Additions

Initial Idea that started me thinking about it.

I really wanted to be able to fire/launch a pod at an asteroid and have it deploy as a turret. I'm sure I could cook up some half-***ed scheme using forcefields and activation gates to get it to stay in place but that sounds like lag hell and I wanted to avoid it. I'd also like a way to deploy a building onto a planet/station or really a drop pod of people/NPCs in a way that didn't create a ton of lag.

Idea:
Create an anchor/grapple/hover block that attaches to any block. Power drawn would be in proportion to the speed of the docked ship, the mass of the attached ship.

Docking would be based the bounding box of the attaching entity. Its likely it would not be perfect, and would likely be one or more blocks away. This is to help placing it since there would be no rails and there needs to be an easy programmatic but fun way to place it. It would always stay one block away.

Here's where it gets interesting. If the block the attacher is attached to gets destroyed the attacher detaches and loses the anchor. If the anchor block gets destroyed or the attached ship is overheated while attached it becomes permeantly attached to the other vessel and inherits its faction.

If an attached entity has thrusters it should be able to move around in two dimensions along the surface of an entity one block from the surface.

Non associated factioned Attached Entites do not share power, shields like the standard rails.

Interaction with Logic:
Can be slaved to a button or activator - This can activate it or deactivate it.
Cannot give a signal if attached due to possible exploits.

Reasons
This would allow me to depoly objects to areas in the system without odd shenanigans as well as act as a cool boarding mechanism and create possiblilities for drop pods, buildings, tanks, cars, mechs, etc...

 

[Madman198237]

Interesting idea, potentially useful. However, perhaps a better system for permanent/semipermanent attachment. Logic-signal-based permanent attachment, perhaps? Then you can send another signal later and it will form another entity with all the original blocks, and be capable of detaching again.

This would make it an excellent way to make modular ships. Build the frame, then attach a module. Detach module, put another one in. This allows you to make weapons packages that aren't logic controlled, hangar bays that will work with the current carrier system, whatever.

 

[Lecic]

It would need the ability to rise in the air a few blocks to get over slopes. Otherwise, great idea.
[DOUBLEPOST=1461791967,1461791880][/DOUBLEPOST]

Interesting idea, potentially useful. However, perhaps a better system for permanent/semipermanent attachment. Logic-signal-based permanent attachment, perhaps? Then you can send another signal later and it will form another entity with all the original blocks, and be capable of detaching again.

This would make it an excellent way to make modular ships. Build the frame, then attach a module. Detach module, put another one in. This allows you to make weapons packages that aren't logic controlled, hangar bays that will work with the current carrier system, whatever.

Like SE's merge block? Yeah, that should probably be something else, and not the same as this.

 

[Madman198237]

What?

I don't play SE, so I don't know what you're talking about.

 

[jgames666]

I do like the overall idea. Was a bit wordy to read in a few places. I had to read it twice :p but I get the idea, and I definitely agree it would be neat. I think it could be made better by specifying a little more of how it would work, how it could be balanced, how far is the range, ect. I would love to see this implemented as a weapon system, so it would have computer and modules. Modules could then control how far the range is. Just a thought though. Or maybe I'm not understanding the idea.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

I like this idea.
Perhaps this could be incorporated into a tractor beam computer/module instead. That way, we would not require any connecting parts and the balance could come from power supply to the computer/modules. If there's no power, oops floaty floaty...

You could also incorporate logic control over the computer and have feed back from the computer to logic.

 

[Nickizzy]

There are quite a few threads on this. These are the ones I've found. I'd like to expand on them and harmonize what I've read. I think we can get all of these things with a single block, and without lots of lag.

Here are some of the sources:
Read by Council - Rolling Vehicles

Read by Schine - Wheel Block

Read by Council - Boarding and Breaching Additions

Initial Idea that started me thinking about it.

I really wanted to be able to fire/launch a pod at an asteroid and have it deploy as a turret. I'm sure I could cook up some half-***ed scheme using forcefields and activation gates to get it to stay in place but that sounds like lag hell and I wanted to avoid it. I'd also like a way to deploy a building onto a planet/station or really a drop pod of people/NPCs in a way that didn't create a ton of lag.

Idea:
Create an anchor/grapple/hover block that attaches to any block. Power drawn would be in proportion to the speed of the docked ship, the mass of the attached ship.

Docking would be based the bounding box of the attaching entity. Its likely it would not be perfect, and would likely be one or more blocks away. This is to help placing it since there would be no rails and there needs to be an easy programmatic but fun way to place it. It would always stay one block away.

Here's where it gets interesting. If the block the attacher is attached to gets destroyed the attacher detaches and loses the anchor. If the anchor block gets destroyed or the attached ship is overheated while attached it becomes permeantly attached to the other vessel and inherits its faction.

If an attached entity has thrusters it should be able to move around in two dimensions along the surface of an entity one block from the surface.

Non associated factioned Attached Entites do not share power, shields like the standard rails.

Interaction with Logic:
Can be slaved to a button or activator - This can activate it or deactivate it.
Cannot give a signal if attached due to possible exploits.

Reasons
This would allow me to depoly objects to areas in the system without odd shenanigans as well as act as a cool boarding mechanism and create possiblilities for drop pods, buildings, tanks, cars, mechs, etc...

You could use the rail magnet system to latch onto things. But what about collision checks?

 

[kiddan]

I'd be using this to make racetracks, deployable turrets, and stuff 24/7 tbh!
10/10

You could use the rail magnet system to latch onto things. But what about collision checks?

This is why it would 'hover' a block or two above what it attaches to.

 

[nightrune]

You could use the rail magnet system to latch onto things. But what about collision checks?

This works for known locations. I don't really want to know where to dock it to, just fire and forget. Also the pickup points require the same faction.

 

[Madman198237]

Maybe a separate block to allow modular ships to be easily constructed, then.

I suppose the other option for modular ships is to build one of each possible ship, and make it a BP so you can use it in a shipyard....but then if you have multiple options on a ship it gets complex fast.

 

[nightrune]

What?

I don't play SE, so I don't know what you're talking about.

The way I see it. This would better as a type of one time use rail docker and rail.

The reason for the attachment is one of physics lag. Moving the blocks into the Entity you are attached to means you lose the entity and reduce the amount of lag from an object rolling on the surface.

This also creates a neat dynamic when you have tanks on a carrier. If thier anchor is destroyed then they become a part of the ship.

 

[Madman198237]

I agree with the bit about permanent attachment, but I'd really like to see a form of semi-permanent attachment that allows for the combination and recombination of modules on a ship.

In other words, you can, with a reactivation of the module, create a new entity based on a design inside of an inert version of the core (Everything within the blocks that bound the design in the core becomes part of a new, docked entity), that can then be separated from your ship, leaving an open space to allow you to switch out missiles for salvagers or crew quarters for detention facilities.