Have just one hull colour and instead select colour in build mode

[AlveKatt]

With just one hull colour and the ability to freely select the hull colour in build mode I think would add to the game. Having to fiddle with many hull colours or save to buy the right hardened hull for the details you want adds very little to gameplay and stymies creativity.

Instead for gameplay, for those special build blocks that you would have to go through some gameplay to get, add a few more kinds of the ambient glow crystal blocks other than Ice crystals (and Lava). Examples; Jade (Light green), ruby (wine red), and Lapis Lazuli (Dark Blue with golden specks). I bet there are more crystal blocks people can come up with.

 

[-Moose-]

With just one hull colour and the ability to freely select the hull colour in build mode I think would add to the game. Having to fiddle with many hull colours or save to buy the right hardened hull for the details you want adds very little to gameplay and stymies creativity.


The advantage of doing this is that it streamlines building and reduces inventory space.

The disadvantage of this is that it destroys trade and economy among players because all anyone ever needs is the basic hull block. This results in smaller factories because less output is required, and less salvaging because less raw materials are required. Because less raw materials, and less inventory space is needed, we will have less people using stations to store materials.

Which one is the better option is up for debate.

I don\'t see how it \'stymies creativity\' though. Creativity happens when there is a limiting factor such as \'I have no more brown hull left but these red ones look smashing\'.


Instead for gameplay, for those special build blocks that you would have to go through some gameplay to get, add a few more kinds of the ambient glow crystal blocks other than Ice crystals (and Lava). Examples; Jade (Light green), ruby (wine red), and Lapis Lazuli (Dark Blue with golden specks). I bet there are more crystal blocks people can come up with.


Why don\'t you just pick the color when you\'re placing the block as you would in your above suggestion?

 

[NeonSturm]

I think limited color for hull blocks limit creativity.

Too tight inventory space restrictions are a bad thing - you may get a ship which you can\'t pay with blocks.



We would then need only 1 paint per 5 block types - 1 more item for just one color (except gray), but 4-5 less items for each additional color.

Players would trade paint!



And with similar for textures, we could have 1 more texture for each block we have less.

Playyers would trade textures!



And with \"inject-able\" power, thrust, or hull function, we would have many different types of power blocks.



Maybe:

• Injection: hit points. (and a small icon on the texture)
• Color: does nothing.
• Texture: amour. The more expensive the basic block, the more texture units you would need.

I think it uses 11-15 bits for object type and 9 bits for hp - at least. Just use 4 bits for function, 4 bits for color variant, 4 bits for texture variant, 4 bits for whatever else you want = 16^4 possibilities

 

[-Moose-]

I think limited color for hull blocks limit creativity.


The suggestion asked that we have a basic hull block and we pick the color from the list of available colors already in the game. I see no suggestion about adding hull colors.




inventory space restrictions are a bad thing.


Whether inventory restrictions are good or bad is irrelevant to the topic. They exist now, and Schema has shown no signs of removing it, so we should work under the assumption that they will persist in the game.


We would then need only 1 paint per 5 block types - 1 more item for just one color (except gray), but 4-5 less items for each additional color.

Players would trade paint!


While this is a solution, it does not satisfy the suggestion, the player would still have to much about with half-a-dozen block colors or paints.

 

[ltmauve]

Painting, I agree with, since it would improve inventory problems and would be relatively easy to implement.

I\'m iffy about injectable blocks, though I am interested. Injectable functional blocks would make RP ships more comparable to their PvP couterparts. However, in the interest of balence, injected functional blocks should have double mass, and reduced armor and HP. Assuming hull is eventually balenced, injected blocks should be more like current normal hull - one-shotted instantly by almost anything.

Also, Moose, having paints would free up space in inventory - right now if I want to have 4 colors on my ship, I need 12 blocks (20 with the prebuild). With paints, that drops to 7, or 9 with the prebuild.

Also, can we have a \"glass\" paint?

 

[NeonSturm]

However, in the interest of balence, injected functional blocks should have double mass, and reduced armor and HP


I thought with the function injection more about PlexDoors (with color).


should have double mass


First, enable 1/2 weight (and hp) for wedges. Or make all reactor/thrust/shield/amc and other vitals have 2 weight and balance for that, so that all hull basically has 1/2 weight - if you care about wedges used to lag-delay AMC shots.

 

[ltmauve]

How about instead of \"injecting\" components into hull, we can \"paint\" components into a mostly texture? I don\'t know how many bits are in the block, but perhaps some can be reserved for color? maybe only check some of the bits in the ID (so normal power is 2, gray power is 2 + 1024, black power is 2 + 2048, red power is 2 + 3072, and so on.)

 

[NeonSturm]

The-rebel-Alliance has blocks with 510 hp. That are 9 bits.. dunno if it does not cut the 0/1 value bit instead.

And USE from NASS has blocks in the 1024+ range (they jumped to this value range because default blocks are already at 430 or something similar). That are 11 bits (1024 to 2047) for the block identifier.

And somewhere I heard, every block uses 3 Byte in memors. What are the other 12 bits?

 

[marcus87]

I would like this, this would make changing the colour of finished ships so much faster.