[Docking Module] Modular Ship Layouts

[Friction]

Would it be cheeky of me to ask that docked ships contribute thier power and/or shields to the host ship?
This would be useful for building power modules and other components which cna be slotted into ships, and when it becomes obsolete or damaged, all we need to do is jetison it and replace it with a new one.
Our ship design could be changed to incorporate this reuseable and upgradable components to ships.
Any thoughts/Suggestions?

 

[Ferdi265]

cool idea, One could make a Power Generator Module that can be docked/undocked

 

[Friction]

Exactly.
My power generators have already gone through 3 design changes, now with recent developments i am haivng to work with a 4th design. I dont want to have to scrap my ship design everytime a newer more effective version is discovered >_<
So much easier if i could jetison the existing module, and slot in the new design (in the same dimensions of course)

 

[Ferdi265]

What exactly does your design look like (I\'m searching for a good one atm)

 

[Marduk]

I like the idea of modularizing the ship design process, but I see the solution to that being in the form of pre-made (non-ship) saved catalog designs, not in making turrets/docked ships share all resources.
Perhaps a special \"Add-on\" block that could substitute as a ship core for the purposes of saving designs and integrating them into already-built ships could be used.
Complete sharing of shields would make turrets no more vulnerable than any other part of the ship. I don\'t like that idea because then smaller ships could never do strafing runs to disable turret defenses without having to first get through the main ship\'s shields. I like the idea of pew pew ships still being able to harass (though not destroy) significantly larger ships.

 

[MrFURB]

You touch upon something that\'s been contraversial lately; The balance between small and large combat craft. Right now the only real imbalance is in power (Which powers weapons, thrusters, shields, etc.) because of the increasing gains-per-block it has with size. The larger your vessel is, the more power-efficient it is. This isn\'t a bad thing, so to speak, but it\'s a strength that needs a form of counterplay, as do all advantages.
There needs to be something you can do to utilize a smaller craft\'s agility to weaken or bypass shielding. One thing I suggested was make the dumbfire missiles EMP missiles that wreck shielding or energy regen or even bypass shielding completely. They\'re hard to hit anything with unless you\'re really close to a target that can\'t dodge.
Now back on topic!
I\'m in support of shielding being shared with turrets and docked modules, and power is already shared. If turrets were a weakpoint, they\'d just be blown away first thing by any sized ship nomatter what.

 

[Friction]

power is shared in a 1 way direction from the host ship to the docked ship,
I would like it to be the other way around too. or special blocks like marduk suggested, to specify that this is a plug-in module.