Dev Blog : March 30th 2015

[ltmauve]

There will be blocks that you have to put down in lines that the docking block will be able to move along. They will be physical blocks, they won't disappear once out of build mode.

Awww. No diagonals. Though I assume you did that because you wanted players to have a bit more flexibility in where exactly the dock is mounted. Other questions:
I'm assuming the rail control is "activate a rail block to get the docked ship there." Will the rail blocks output high when the ship is at them? Will we be able to activate the rails directly from astronaut mode?
Will rail-docked entities share shields at the cost of not having AI (or even no active weapons?) Just thinking about all the fiddly little docking platforms that'll get wrecked if a drone sneezes in their general direction.

Sven_The_Slayer I think the best way to deal with docking ships with concave bottoms on flat surfaces is to have a docking block on a rod on the mothership or station. The smaller ship comes across and hits an activator which brings up the mount point.

 

[Bench]

Will it be possible to have THESE on slanted surfaces? I want to see "round" (as round as starmade gets) ship hulls with other objects rotating about the central section. With the inclusion of a "Track wedge" block, you could have something move in a rough circle about a central core, rather than moving in a square.

You probably will find you will get a better effect if you used a rotational block on the side in the center of your pivot, than trying to run tracks around. At this stage we have no intention of adding rail wedges.

Awww. No diagonals. Though I assume you did that because you wanted players to have a bit more flexibility in where exactly the dock is mounted. Other questions:
I'm assuming the rail control is "activate a rail block to get the docked ship there." Will the rail blocks output high when the ship is at them? Will we be able to activate the rails directly from astronaut mode?
Will rail-docked entities share shields at the cost of not having AI (or even no active weapons?) Just thinking about all the fiddly little docking platforms that'll get wrecked if a drone sneezes in their general direction.

Sven_The_Slayer I think the best way to deal with docking ships with concave bottoms on flat surfaces is to have a docking block on a rod on the mothership or station. The smaller ship comes across and hits an activator which brings up the mount point.

You will be able to use an adjacent activation module to detect when a dock module is over a specific rail block. Though all this we will go into once the docking system is finished and the rail system started on.

Activating from astronaut mode without using logic is yet to be determined.

We will have a way where shield etc is shared to docked entities so you're not building massive arrays of shields to keep your one little elevator from being destroyed.

 

[Blodge]

We'll see about putting the docking point 1 layer behind another point, however you can't comment on the aesthetics when the block hasn't even been textured yet. We realise it's going to be an external block so we're going to take that into consideration when we do the texture for it.

I wasn't worried about aesthetics in the sense that the block itself may look ugly or not blend in with the Hull colour, I was thinking more about spoiling the outline of the hull shape. For example: My compact 7x7x5 Personnel Shuttle has a pair of landing skis, similar to a helicopter's. If I have to dangle an extra block between the skis in order to land it in my hangar, then it won't look as good regardless of how pretty the texture on the block is.

However, I aim to try to get around this problem by having a raised docking point in the middle of the Hangar. It might make the Hangar less compatible with other people's ships, but so long as I have skis on all of my landing craft then it'll work fine with my own. As you said before, it just comes down to design

 

[Bench]

You could easily have a docking point built into your floor that raises up when it detects a ship or when you push a button and then it detects when it locks

 

[Lecic]

At this stage we have no intention of adding rail wedges.

These would be really useful. I hope you guys consider them.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

You could easily have a docking point built into your floor that raises up when it detects a ship or when you push a button and then it detects when it locks

That seems like a way to overly complex the simple problem "I want to dock this odd shaped ship on a flat plane"

 

[Bench]

These would be really useful. I hope you guys consider them.

That seems like a way to overly complex the simple problem "I want to dock this odd shaped ship on a flat plane"

I'll talk it through with the team and confirm what's achieveable or not and why

 

[Gamel]

OMG, the magnet dock finally come true !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Snk]

Will remote controls be able to activate non docked ships?

 

[Bench]

Will remote controls be able to activate non docked ships?

Activate in what way?

 

[CAPTAINZACH]

This... this is awesome. Even the current state of the docking revamp (if the bugs with computers and sector changes disabling the darn dockers was fixed) would make for a really awesome update (no awkward gaps, reorientable point-to-point docking with the same beam system we're used to) and rails were already an amazing thing to have on the horizon, but reading all of the plans for the update pretty much rocked mah socks off. The new logic stuff sounds amazing, and... We're getting wireless logic finally? And mass-based enhancers? YAAAASSSSSSSSS~

All aboard the hype train, folks! 'Cause this thing's bound straght for awesomeville... well, it might go off the rails if there's a bug with said rails, but otherwise it is..

Agreed. Normally I don't get hyped about updates...but this...I like this. Seriously...I practically predicted something similar in my ideas post (except mass-based docking, which I thought was too difficult to code). The new logic, while not predicted, was a nice idea, and should make things easier...and I'm glad to see the devs being so caring enough to give us these updates. I know a lot of this work normally goes on in secret, but it's nice to see you guys on top of regular updates...even if they're just dev builds. Keep up the good work!

 

[RoyalWolfe]

OK so it seems like everyone is going insane about oh no my ships wont dock now. lets get this straightened out first? are the old docking block and enhancers removed from the game as of yet?

if not lets try to calm some of the fears right now and ask the correct freaking questions please! why no one has apparently done it yet is beyond me.

Will they be taken out at the release of this new system? if they aren't, won't that mean we still get the use of the old system? if no to the first, and yes to the second. none of the wining will matter as if they keep both systems then use what the _)(&*% works and shut )*&*&(( up!

Its schema's game, but we play it so no one has told him, we cant have both work in different uses, at the same time.

so I ask now the absolutely most important question of all? who said we cant have both?

lets call the old docking blocks a fighter dock cause, lets face facts, it worked so well for small ships in the past. OK fine! if they stay in the game they work same as they always have. For fighter hangers this is ideal as they work as they always have no changes needed what so ever.

this new magnet method of docking as everyone seems to agree, they work great for large ships, and seem to adapt well to chain docking as well, allowing small ships to fit places they otherwise wouldn't. that's probably exactly what they are intended for.

so why cant both work together, it seems plausible, for specific use depending on what you need them to actually do.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

OK so it seems like everyone is going insane about oh no my ships wont dock now. lets get this straightened out first? are the old docking block and enhancers removed from the game as of yet?

if not lets try to calm some of the fears right now and ask the correct freaking questions please! why no one has apparently done it yet is beyond me.

Will they be taken out at the release of this new system? if they aren't, won't that mean we still get the use of the old system? if no to the first, and yes to the second. none of the wining will matter as if they keep both systems then use what the _)(&*% works and shut )*&*&(( up!

Its schema's game, but we play it so no one has told him, we cant have both work in different uses, at the same time.

so I ask now the absolutely most important question of all? who said we cant have both?

lets call the old docking blocks a fighter dock cause, lets face facts, it worked so well for small ships in the past. OK fine! if they stay in the game they work same as they always have. For fighter hangers this is ideal as they work as they always have no changes needed what so ever.

this new magnet method of docking as everyone seems to agree, they work great for large ships, and seem to adapt well to chain docking as well, allowing small ships to fit places they otherwise wouldn't. that's probably exactly what they are intended for.

so why cant both work together, it seems plausible, for specific use depending on what you need them to actually do.

"The old system will slowly be phased out once we release this new system, eventually resulting in the current docking beam becoming an activation beam only."

The blog post itself mentioned the old system will be "phased out" therefore yes it's been confirmed old style docking will be removed. I am looking forward to the new system but I don't want to trade out simple for complex without the new version being able to do what the old system could do.

 

[Ixalite]

used a rotational block

I think I do not understand you, or vice versa. Suppose I wish to make a part of my ship rotate around the central axis of the rest of the ship, so as to appear to simulate artificial gravity. I realize that using rails would not be the optimal way to accomplish this, but are you implying that there is a type of block that can rotate entities in the manner described? I do really want to make various portions of my ships rotate or repeatedly move...

 

[Bench]

I think I do not understand you, or vice versa. Suppose I wish to make a part of my ship rotate around the central axis of the rest of the ship, so as to appear to simulate artificial gravity. I realize that using rails would not be the optimal way to accomplish this, but are you implying that there is a type of block that can rotate entities in the manner described? I do really want to make various portions of my ships rotate or repeatedly move...

the rails system design will not only include linear movement but also rotational, all these blocks will be able to be orientated. so if you can piece it together in your head then you'll be able to build it

 

[CAPTAINZACH]

OK so it seems like everyone is going insane about oh no my ships wont dock now. lets get this straightened out first? are the old docking block and enhancers removed from the game as of yet?

if not lets try to calm some of the fears right now and ask the correct freaking questions please! why no one has apparently done it yet is beyond me.

Will they be taken out at the release of this new system? if they aren't, won't that mean we still get the use of the old system? if no to the first, and yes to the second. none of the wining will matter as if they keep both systems then use what the _)(&*% works and shut )*&*&(( up!

Its schema's game, but we play it so no one has told him, we cant have both work in different uses, at the same time.

so I ask now the absolutely most important question of all? who said we cant have both?

lets call the old docking blocks a fighter dock cause, lets face facts, it worked so well for small ships in the past. OK fine! if they stay in the game they work same as they always have. For fighter hangers this is ideal as they work as they always have no changes needed what so ever.

this new magnet method of docking as everyone seems to agree, they work great for large ships, and seem to adapt well to chain docking as well, allowing small ships to fit places they otherwise wouldn't. that's probably exactly what they are intended for.

so why cant both work together, it seems plausible, for specific use depending on what you need them to actually do.

Okay, let's get a few things straight:
#1: Yes the old docking will be removed...but not as you think. It will be a gradual phase-out like the old weapons system.
#2: Old docking never actually worked very well for anything. I tried to dock everything from fighters to capital ships, and it never worked right. What's more, it was finiky, and if the core wasn't placed "Just so", it was impossible to dock period!
#3: The magnet allows the removal of the finicky docking system entirely, while also allowing an easier to use system to be implemented.
#4: Please don't swear, as some people will get offended.

 

[lilFishy]

Hello there space travelers!
My only question is this: Will we get the enhanced turrets from this toppic?

 

[Lancake]

Hello there space travelers!
My only question is this: Will we get the enhanced turrets from this toppic?

As I mentioned in the OP turrets is the least fleshed out part of all of this. From memory you will be able to split the different movement on the axis up but the exact way this will occur hasn't been set yet.

 

[Master1398]

And now a question that has nothing to do with rails or the docking system
We have that faction exclusive blueprint system for stations already. Will we see it for ships soon?
It would be very neat to have different pirate and trading guild ships.
And when it's coming will there be a contest for default ships?

 

[ltmauve]

Activating from astronaut mode without using logic is yet to be determined.

It'd be really useful for this:

You could easily have a docking point built into your floor that raises up when it detects a ship or when you push a button and then it detects when it locks

Because then you can just do this: (M = magnet/normal dock, R = rail)
Your hardpoint is:
M
R
R
R
R
and so on (and at the bottom you have a remote logic block to bring it all the way up)

and then on the mothership or station we have the rail dock itself. (Would that even work?) And then you can adjust the height of the dock by activating the rail to lower the ship down to where the ramps will touch the platform.