HowTo: Basic structural integrity with /any/ hull segments - may affect turn/accel/deceleration

[NeonSturm]

This thread is about suggestions how to solve the problem of implementing structural integrity and not about arguing if some specific idea is good for the current balance with cloak or stealth



Right now, you aren't forced to use hull, thus balance of stealth/cloak is done without hull.

But how to define structural integrity in code?




Here is one example implementation suggestion:

sif: structural-integrity factor. Generated for core and on each block instance. Means that this block is attached by to the core with a strength of sif (where sif is between 0 and 100%)

• The core has a fixed sif=1. (Alternatively use a block close to the center of mass with a high sif-modifier)

sif-modifer: Depends on block type (hull [, hard hull [, interior]], deko, vital-parts, etc)

• Every other block has a sif of (highest neighbouring sif) * (the block's sif modifier)
  
  never reaches 0 as long as the sif modifier is higher than 0!

[*]After blocks maybe 75%


If a block gets destroyed/removed, put the neighbours in some ToDo-list.

On each update (maybe after explosion calculations or 10^3 block from build tool is done) check if the block is either the core/center block or for the highest neighbouring sif - and if highest-sif*self.sifModifier = self.sif, or update and put neighbours with lower sif than old sif on the ToDo list.



What to do with all the sif-values? Here we go:

If a sif-value changes, calculate group.sif + (newSif-oldSif) /group.length(=number blocks) to get a new average.

Use sif^x with x>1 for all average-calculations, if you want to give the low-sif parts more weight in the average, sif^x with x

 

[jackofo]

I think this would be good because it will make the game more realistic

 

[ltmauve]

That ship would flunk that test and while I admit it isn\'t realistic it\'s pretty awesome.

 

[MrNature72]

I think it would be good as an option. Like, not a necessity, but something people could dive into.

 

[NeonSturm]

Cold Gravatizor

That ship would flunk that test and while I admit it isn\'t realistic it\'s pretty awesome.






Even if a ship has basic hull layers each 5/7 blocks vertically, power, weapons or shield gens would only be at max 2/3 layers apart. And since big ships have less turn and evasion anyway, they don\'t need neccessarily as much stability.


1.Post / last sentence:

If this is not enough, give blocks some sif-modifier-bonus (modifier will be closer to 100%) for other high-sif blocks around. Bottlenecks (width= 2,2,_1_,2,2) will still have a lower sif-modifier and influence following blocks.


Means most stability per will spread if you have a +-shaped strip. I don\'t still don\'t know if we should give a |_ shape more bonus of if __ = |_ is easier to implement.



EDIT:

I loaded a ColdGravitizer into singleplayer. It looks pretty, but it turns really slowly and does not much damage with front guns.



But nevertheless, I see what you mean. Maybe un-attached pieces (not attached by power strips,etc) should be allowed to use up to a few blocks of vakuum as hull (jump along one axis toward the core until it hits a hull block), as long as it is not abuse-able (e.g: put only 1 hull block on each third/fifth generator block), or add invisible (not invisibility) 1 hp hull.



At least things like the ColdGravitizer got so much hull, that the average integrity would more or less ignore a few of the 10^3 missile cubes - and if unattached, the 1-2 vakuum blocks between would not matter.

After all, the purpose is forcing hulls to balance nacked ships to balance ships with nice interior.

 

[ltmauve]

True, this structual integrity woud force lots of interior, but it could easily be bypassed just by running lines of hull through large sections of components. And on that note, on builds, it isn\'t always practical to put interiors everywhere, on either large or small ships. It\'s not going to force artistry, just people slapping down hull blocks.

A true nerf to unhulled ships would either come in the form of some sort of oxygen system or a shield nerf that reduces the effectiveness of the shield on unarmored blocks.

 

[NeonSturm]

A true nerf to unhulled ships would either come in the form of some sort of oxygen system or a shield nerf that reduces the effectiveness of the shield on unarmored blocks.



Oxygen would nerf one-block ships a lot, too.

The block-armour for shield alone would force you to make either hull or focus on evasion - which is not bad-, but it would not force you to build your interior.

At least it would increase the overall weight, thus decrease the percentual penalty of a few nice interiors

 

[Ciber]

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