Design & Engineering Forum?

[MacThule]

Do we need a forum specifically for Starmade Engineering & Design discussion?

We have one for logic, but only for logic...

There is a "Shipyard" forum, which to me seems the place that this should happen, but I have (long ago) actually attempted to post discussions of engineering approaches, technical shipbuilding thoughts and such in that forums and been told that it is the wrong place. So "Shipyard" would seem to be exclusively for marketing content from fictional spacecraft manufacturers.

After that, I concluded that such technical shipbuilding discussions would be fine in General. They are, but... they are particularly useful to new players learning the ropes and they tend to get sunk very quickly in General (which also sometimes forces readers to sift through a lot of emotive personal invective about the "quality" of the game, which has nothing to do with solving technical problems in game, design philosophy, or the like.

So do we need a forum that is strictly confined to technical discussion of engineering systems in-game (not how the game rules should be changed)? Someplace people can share images of innovative system designs, WIP ships and stations, solicit technical advice (as opposed to value judgements), and work cooperatively on projects?

 

[DrTarDIS]

I agree. Meta-builder forums would be nifty.

 

[Depriest]

I would love to see one, there is so much out of date information out there that it has become a bit of a chore to try and find the updated information now, and having a centralized area to put it all would be grand.

 

[Sachys]

An Engineering and Design category should be there already. I also think, both Logic (engineering) and Shipyards (design and engineering) should be subforums of it.

When I put up my thread to help people overcome creative block, the General section did not feel right - and still does not. General is the kind of place such threads ultimately drown in a sea of random (and its not that i mind random).

To find and make sense of up to date information is a difficult task (wiki or no wiki), and a specific section of the dock to exchange information, ideas and inspiration would not only benefit new and older players alike, but also... perhaps... reboot a sense of community (as I'm sure a lot of the more memetastic, troll flavoured and bitey posts would not be welcome).


Edit:
Additonally, with that in mind, its also beyond time to archive community content that is not 2.0 compatible (sorted by last update?) into its own subsection, as it does not aid learning of current game mechanics, though it does remain valid on a purely artistic design level of course.

 

[Sgtwisky]

I agree with the statements above mine 100%.

 

[Celotown777]

That is the greatest forum idea I have ever heard!