Docking Enhancer Update suggestion

[Ethoir]

I know the devs are planning to overhaul the way docking works so the game won't break older ships. They haven't said much on their ideas for how to do this since its still being whiteboarded (I think). So I had an idea of my own on how it can be updated in the meantime.

Current docking areas are dictated by the X-Y-Z setup of the docking enhancers. X long for the length of the area, Y wide for the width of the docking area, and Z tall for the height of the docking area. Connected to the actual docking module in order to get the bonus. This is how it works right now.

But what if the docking area's dimensions were not dictated by the X-Y-Z of the enhancers, but rather their orientation on a flat plane? Where if the "face" of the enhancer faces up, each block placed in congruency this way will increase the height of the docking area. Each enhancer pointing left or right adjusts the width of the area, and so on. This means you can make lines of enhancers on a 2D plane, as long they are touching each other, and connect them to the docking module to get your docking area.

This cuts down on the size of the "enhancer" groups and allows older ships to compact theirs more easily while maintaining their old docking area dimensions. It essentially removes having to build enhancers on the Z plane.

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Well, anything instead of the way we do it now is going to be better IMO, but I'm a bit special so could someone explain if OPlicious's way allows for smaller docking areas? I think that's what a few of us want, not huge 10x5x5 monsters that we have now that we can't make smaller.

 

[jayman38]

I like this idea, and think it would be a simple. Then the docking area could start with a 3x3x3 cube and the enhancer group could be any shape, to increase dimensions, based solely on the direction an enhancer block faced. The only negative I see is the need for a new type of enhancer block, so that older docking area designs aren't horribly mangled. Assuming that the new enhancer can be faced in each of the 6 directions, you could theoretically make a very precisely shaped and located docking cube area.

So my idea is that one block would increase the docking area size by only one block in the pointed direction. You'd need more blocks, but the enhancer group could be in any shape, so you could squeeze the larger blob into any sufficiently-sized area of your choosing.

For instance, you could have a solid block of these new enhancers, 20x5x10 in size, with maybe a few "tentacles" to fit extra size enhancements into available space. In this space with existing enhancers, you would have a maximum Y-dimension of 17, but with the option to use enhancer direction, you would have the flexibility for much, much more, limited only by the number of blocks, not the dimension of the group.

 

[Criss]

To be completely honest, I would bet a lot that their ideas are finalized on most things and that it it takes longest to implement them. Now that they have released that information its likely that they have something down and are sticking with it and adding to it.

This is a neat idea though.

 

[CyberTao]

As far as I can tell, it would use up slight more blocks in total, but allow more freedom in placing them.
Remember the first enhancer increases dimensions in all 3 directions, so you lose out there if it can only expand in 1 direction.

Would be a more more flexible, but a bit of a hassle in my opinion with all the rotating of the blocks you'd need to do.

 

[NeonSturm]

I think it is a BAD idea

To dock a ship of -> ratio docks/volume
> 9x9x9 = 729 blocks volume you need 2 docking blocks -> ratio 1/365
> 11x11x11 = 1331 blocks volume you need 5 docking blocks -> ratio 1/266
> 30x20x60 = 36k blocks volume you need 45 docking blocks -> ratio 1/800

See the inconsistency? See the INVERSE diminishing returns?


If anything blocks should determinate mass of the dock which has an adjustable size independent of block count.
^^ my personal opinion ^^

 

[Ethoir]

I looked at how the system currently is and it forces players to build larger ships for things 9x9x9 or 11x11x11. And you have to place the enhancers on three axis. Now personally I'm sick of it. Its either a 7x7x7 area which is basically a midget noobcube or sacrifice some functionality you want for it. If you are building a drydock in a shipyard, this is ridiculous. So my idea was simply to remove the Z axis and make is possible to build it as a flat pancake with the z dimension of the docking area dictated by some other mechanic.

Now they did things the way they did because, if I remember right, they do indeed want you to have to build larger ships and stations to dock your things to. But large things are also a problematic because they demand more from the server and client. The devs have plans up their sleeves which they haven't decided to discuss with us yet. Plans to make an overhaul that won't break older ships and stations.