Flexible Vessel Classification Method

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    I've seen both Blitzwing: http://star-made.org/content/blitzwings-guideline-ship-classifications
    and Nameless: http://star-made.org/content/nameless-guide-ship-classifications

    What they both lack is a flexible multidimensional classification system. It can be confusing to others if you talk about your "fighter" when it does not have any weapons, or you might confuse your allies when you turn up with the promised "carrier", but it does not provide any docking modules!

    That's why I decided to create a new classification system, which tackles those problems.
    I present Flex-VCM.
    Please notice that the classification as it is now is a first version, and might be subject to change. Classes might be added or removed.




    Light Ships:
    - Dinghy
    Usually for traveling purposes and nothing else. Can be as little as a bare core with nothing on it.
    - Shuttle
    A little larger. Can be armed, but might not be. Also mainly used for travel, but it can withstand a few blasts.
    - Freighter (3)
    The Freighter is meant for transport of goods. The ship itself is not meant for combat, but the freighter does carry some turrets and can be hit a few times before falling apart. A freighter can usually have up to 5 light-weight turrets.

    Light Assaultcraft:
    - Fighter (1)
    A fighter is usually suited for combat. Just a little heavier than a shuttle, it is very agile. It might have one or two turrets.
    - Bomber (2)
    A bomber is a little heavier than most fighters, or has more turrets. A bomber is an all-round assault craft with more firepower than a fighter.

    Light Warships:
    - Gunboat (7)
    A gunboat is a very light ship, but with more turrets than a corvette. The main purpose of a gunboat is to spray bullets to catch agile assaultcraft, as they may pose a threat to other light warships.
    - Corvette (4)
    A corvette is a small warship, usually not much heavier than a fighter. It can be distinguished because it has a large amount of turrets on it.
    - Frigate (5)
    A frigate is a very agile warship. It is usually suited for individual combat, because it is heavy enough to carry some proper shields. A frigate might carry turrets, but this is not always the case.
    - Destroyer (6)
    A destroyer usually carries some turrets. This type of warship is usually better armed than the comparable frigate, but is only slightly heavier.

    Heavy Warships:
    - Cruiser (8)
    A cruiser is usually the lightest heavy warship. While a battleship can be lighter, the cruiser is usually most suited for individual combat because it is so light. It may carry turrets.
    - Battlecruiser (9)
    A battlecruiser is a warship which is more suited than the cruiser to engage in a large-scale battle. It always has turrets but is usually lighter than a battleship.
    - Battleship
    A battleship is usually a heavy warship, but can be as light as a heavy assaultcraft, though it should make up for this with un unholy amount of turrets.
    - Dreadnought
    The dreadnought is always heavier than any light ships, and always carries turrets. This ship is a menace, built for war and nothing else.
    -Titan
    The titan is a ship with an unrivaled amount of mass. This class is used to refer to anything of 50.000 mass and beyond. It is classified as a "Heavy warship", but this might not always be its purpose, since a ship this size can easily be used as a faction base.


    Heavy warships can be called a "carrier" if they can carry 10 or more ships.
    Lighter vessels can be called carriers if they have room for 4 or more ships.

    Every ship that can reliably cloak/jam for 10+ seconds straight can be called "stealth".

    Heavy warships are called "hyperspeed" if they can accellerate from 0 to 50 in two seconds or less.
    If they can accellerate in five or less seconds they are called "superspeed".

    Lighter ships can be called "superspeed" if they can accellerate from 0 to 50 in two seconds or less.


    Examples:
    Stealth shuttle (Shuttle that can cloak for 10+ seconds.)
    Hyperspeed Battleship Carrier (Battleship that can accellerate from 0 to 50 in two seconds or less, and can carry 10+ ships.)
    Superspeed Fighter (Fighter that can accellerate from 0 to 50 in two seconds or less)
    Stealth Corvette (Corvette that can cloak for 10+ seconds.)
    Superspeed Titan Carrier (Titan that can accellerate from 0 to 50 in five seconds or less, and can carry 10+ ships.)
     
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    Your graph could use a bit of work, it should go up by a factor of 10 each time rather than 5. Apart from that, this classifcation might be the most detailed yet. Mass didn\'t really represent ship class well on the other systems which this has improved upon, and I like the different additional titles for certain roles.
     
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    Why should it go up by a factor of 10 instead of 5? There\'s nothing wrong with 5.



    My biggest question is: Where\'s the z axis on this graph?!
     
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    I am busy making a few changes, class will also depend on amount of weapons among other things.

    However, a 3d graph is pretty hard to easily represent, so I think I\'ll make a little calculator instead.

    I\'ll also be adding bigger classes than the Titan: Behemoth and Crusader. Although I am not quite sure which of Behemoth and Titan should be larger.
     
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    Wait, so by this graph it\'d be ok to place ONE HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT turrets on a small 3k Mass ship ? There\'s not even enough surface space to do that...



    It would need some rebalancing :P
     
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    Never say never...

    3000 mass? 30,000 blocks? Pshaw, you don\'t need anywhere near that much to hold 128 turrets.

    The easiest way is to make a big box around the core. Assuming a 7x7 base for each turret, and allowing a 9x9 area for them to fit in, we could have 4 rows of turrets on 4 faces of a square (a ring would look cool, but can you even mount anything to angle pieces? I don\'t think you can, can you? So squares.) Run four lines out from the core, up, down, port, and starboard, which can be either power generators or thrusters. Make them each, let\'s say, 81 units long, so that we will have 162-length sides.. 81*4 = 324 blocks. (162/9 = 18. 18*4*4 = 288. If I didn\'t somehow roll a natural 1 on that math, we\'re going to have over double the turrets you thought was impossible with this design)

    A set of four plates 162x36 would be 27648 blocks. We don\'t need a set of plates. Each turret only has to dock to one tile. We can put the turret dock down and run four square rings to hold them all, and link those together in one place. One square ring and turret docks (as part of the ring) would be 81*2*4 = 648 tiles. All four would total 2592. We can link them together by (a) having the lines coming from the core emerge in between two of the rings, and (b) placing two tiles in between the other two rings at one point. This adds two tiles total (we already counted those lines from the core).

    Result for standard size turrets (I think I figured the size needed to fit oversized turrets, but have not counted turret enhancers): 324 + 2592 + 2 + 1 core = 2919 blocks or 291.9 mass, plus whatever else you throw in for shields or weapons or cloak or the like, if any.
     
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    This is actually the best ship scale/naming graph i\'ve seen. Even if it does look like it was made in MS Paint.

    The only thing I would change is extend Battleship and Dreadnaut. BSs Dreads and Titans should be bigger in mass. Titans should be something very rare to hold the title.



    I put my vote for this to be the standard for ship clasification.
     
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    Welp, I finished a craft the other day that was intended to be a battleship in mass (Just under 2500 mass without turrets/docked fighters), but with the 70+ turrets it has on it, it\'s now a Hyperspeed Dreadnought by this classification system. Thanks for giving me something to brag about!
     
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    I like that this is mass/weapon based, but think you could improve it. A ship that is infinite mass doesn\'t nessecarily mount any weapons, but that still makes it a titan by your system.

    A better way would be something like this, which I hijacked from Atomic Rockets:



    Edited to add: Ideally, you\'d want to take mass into account here too, so a \"B\" ship might be a Dreadnaught if it\'s over 9000 mass, but it\'d be an attack frigate at less than that.
     
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    I think it would be helpful if in the description of each class, you specified the exact cutoffs, so it would be easier to tell if a ship with mass 39 is a fighter or a bomber
     
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    It seems like a lot of the ships can carry more turrets when they have less mass. Shouldn\'t it be the other way around?
     
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    Turret mass currently has no effect on the carrying ship. You can build a tiny ship with multiple 15x15x15 docked ships or large turrets or the like.
     
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    That\'s why chain docking still isn\'t implemented... it\'s extremely exploitable.
     
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    Really well thought out, however Titans are just the first of the mega vessels. I am currently construction a ship that will be around 150k mass for the shell, thus classing it a Titan is a bit degrading (since it will have a docking bay for a Titan).

    *i know your going to add bigger classes so YAY*

    Behemoth\'s are larger than a Titan, and are about lower middle in terms of mega ships.

    Mega ship list:

    Titan- lighter than the other mega ships however it still is a threat to most

    Behemoth- heavier than the Titan, a Behemoth boasts weapons powerful enough to completely destroy planets

    Terminatus- significantly heavier than a Behemoth this vessel has enough shielding and weaponry to single handedly destroy most fleets

    Juggernaught- Basically the size of a small star system the Juggernaught is nearly undefeatable in any engament, regardless of enemy strength

    Just some ideas for you...
     
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    Freighter class seems a bit off.... something with less than 5 mass probably cant fit 8 turrets
     
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    5 mass is 50 blocks. Setting out a flatter shape you can make it a |--| shape prongs, you can put a turret on top and bottom of each prong.