Inherent limited Stop Effect on all entities with thrusters

[jayman38]

Ships with any amount of thrusters should get an automatic stop/hover effect for small gravity wells (E.g. planets.) Passive Stop Effect can still be used for larger gravity wells, like black holes, or maybe stars, if we ever want to have ships fall down into a star's damage area.

Justification:
Starmade is a game that celebrates Science Fiction, not strictly hard-science-fiction. Much Scifi has elements where we see ships hovering in mid-air over a planet with little apparent effort. (Mars Attacks, Independence Day, Star Wars, etc.)

If one wanted to play a game where we had to fight gravity at every step, we could play Kerbal Space Program instead. Automatic (limited) antigravity will be more fun in this game. It will also allow safer, more stable interactions with planets.

Alternative suggestions:
1. Improve the efficiency of passive stop by an order of magnitude, so that a ship doesn't need to devote as much space to antigravity as it currently does.
2. Similarly, Allow a single "stop" computer to be activated to use the ship's thrust automatically to fight gravity. (Bonus: If the Thrust/mass ratio is less than 1, the ship still falls out of the sky, albeit at a slower rate.)
3. Antigravity Chamber?

 

[ZombieMouse]

I like to actually use the gravity wells to go faster than the server speed limit, so the thought of slowing down doesn’t really fill me with enthusiasm. Not a fan of this idea.

Ah, yes. Comets, the icebergs of the sky. By jackknifing off one after another at breakneck speed, we can create a gravity boost, or something.

 

[jayman38]

I like to actually use the gravity wells to go faster than the server speed limit, so the thought of slowing down doesn’t really fill me with enthusiasm. Not a fan of this idea.
....

I had not thought of that. Thank you. Does any of the alternative suggestions sound better?
The alternatives would all have to be activated, so you could still perform gravity maneuvers at will.

 

[ZombieMouse]

Well I see a definite use for being able to park your ship in orbit by whichever means, but the problem is when you exit the core does the parking break switch off?

I guess I like number two the most (least blocks and most realistic sounding).

 

[jayman38]

Well I see a definite use for being able to park your ship in orbit by whichever means, but the problem is when you exit the core does the parking break switch off?

I guess I like number two the most (least blocks and most realistic sounding).

I figure anything that is switched on like those options would switch off when a player exits the ship. So yes, if you exit, the "stop" brake turns off.

My view of this ability is that it wouldn't be so much a parking brake as it would be a good way to explore planets without leaving your ship, carefully approaching a planetside dock, or otherwise "flying" so close to a planet that you are effectively in the atmosphere. Planets are so tiny that you need to be able to constantly make adjustments to the ship's attitude, and it's hard to do those subtle changes, while fighting gravity at the same time.

If you want to park in orbit, simply stop the ship far enough away from the planet that there is no game gravity. The gravity (and the planets they belong to) are so tiny, that finding a nearby orbital parking spot is easy.

 

[Ezekial Alexander]

Does holding shift continuously not work for flying near planets anymore? I used to use it all the time when I first started, but haven't bothered with planets in ages

 

[jayman38]

Does holding shift continuously not work for flying near planets anymore? I used to use it all the time when I first started, but haven't bothered with planets in ages

Holding shift sounds about as fun as holding down the FTL recharge button. So, no, even if holding shift "works", that doesn't work for me.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

Yeah, I enjoy the gravity well speed increase also. Great for slingshots across the galaxy!

 

[Sachys]

Yeah, I enjoy the gravity well speed increase also. Great for slingshots across the galaxy!

Can also be a great place to spawn a base (from BP) to keep surplus cargo.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

Can also be a great place to spawn a base (from BP) to keep surplus cargo.

Lol.
I saw somebody trying to push an asteroid into a wormhole the other day. Now that would be a laugh! Asteroids flying through the galaxy at ludicrous speeds.

 

[NaStral]

Incorporating this into the current thrust menu as a toggle would be really useful.