Hey folks!
First off, here's a link to a relevant thread on the subject, of which I am sure you are all aware.
http://starmadedock.net/threads/the-docking-paradox.4033/
Second, here is my personal suggestion on docking units:
Instead of dimensions, let's use mass. The more enhancers, the more mass/blocks you can put on the dock. I'll leave the other details to be decided later - this just seems the most logical course of action for the simple issue.
The second part of this suggestion will solve the other problems with docks - mainly, the use of docked ships to add extra durability to your mothership., which leads to internal docking module designs, which leads to clipping out the wazoo. The solution is simple: remove the motivation to make these modules by making them less efficient than just a single solid ship. I know, I know - I'm encouraging we buff power and fix the missile mechanics for docked entities. Heresy, right?
Once you hit the power cap, making an efficient ship is literally ( no longer possible. Thus, making a modular design with multiple smaller, more efficient ships powering a titan makes a ton of logical sense. In my Titan, the Leviathan, I do just this by placing around ten modules that each provide 750k power regen to the ship. It's a bonus of around 215k per module. That's TWO MILLION extra power regeneration, on top of the ~5 million that could have been provided by power blocks alone. I do not use the slightly less popular method of surrounding your core with heavy shield modules, which is just spammy and dangerous for servers.
Titans aren't the only problem, mind - I use these modules all the time in smaller ships to boost their efficiency and artificially inflate their weight class. My latest ship, the Dream Runner, is 34k mass, and equipped with some fairly powerful torpedoes and cannon arrays. It would not be able to field these weapons without the modules present inside my ship. They more than double the power regeneration of the vessel. These weapons allow me to go toe-to-toe with and even destroy ships of 100k+ mass, but without the cost of say, my Death Star at 200k mass.
Given the tools, the community will push the limits of the system. If you eliminate the benefits to pushing the wrong limits, we can solve the problem by reserving it for edge cases and exceptions.
Here, have a proposal:
Schema, can you guys PLEASE start taking a serious look at fixing the docking system? I know it will be difficult and a ton of folks won't be happy, but most of us just want it fixed.
Schema pls.
First off, here's a link to a relevant thread on the subject, of which I am sure you are all aware.
http://starmadedock.net/threads/the-docking-paradox.4033/
Second, here is my personal suggestion on docking units:
Instead of dimensions, let's use mass. The more enhancers, the more mass/blocks you can put on the dock. I'll leave the other details to be decided later - this just seems the most logical course of action for the simple issue.
The second part of this suggestion will solve the other problems with docks - mainly, the use of docked ships to add extra durability to your mothership., which leads to internal docking module designs, which leads to clipping out the wazoo. The solution is simple: remove the motivation to make these modules by making them less efficient than just a single solid ship. I know, I know - I'm encouraging we buff power and fix the missile mechanics for docked entities. Heresy, right?
Once you hit the power cap, making an efficient ship is literally ( no longer possible. Thus, making a modular design with multiple smaller, more efficient ships powering a titan makes a ton of logical sense. In my Titan, the Leviathan, I do just this by placing around ten modules that each provide 750k power regen to the ship. It's a bonus of around 215k per module. That's TWO MILLION extra power regeneration, on top of the ~5 million that could have been provided by power blocks alone. I do not use the slightly less popular method of surrounding your core with heavy shield modules, which is just spammy and dangerous for servers.
Titans aren't the only problem, mind - I use these modules all the time in smaller ships to boost their efficiency and artificially inflate their weight class. My latest ship, the Dream Runner, is 34k mass, and equipped with some fairly powerful torpedoes and cannon arrays. It would not be able to field these weapons without the modules present inside my ship. They more than double the power regeneration of the vessel. These weapons allow me to go toe-to-toe with and even destroy ships of 100k+ mass, but without the cost of say, my Death Star at 200k mass.
Given the tools, the community will push the limits of the system. If you eliminate the benefits to pushing the wrong limits, we can solve the problem by reserving it for edge cases and exceptions.
Here, have a proposal:
Schema, can you guys PLEASE start taking a serious look at fixing the docking system? I know it will be difficult and a ton of folks won't be happy, but most of us just want it fixed.
Schema pls.