Kill Docked Power Entirely

[Edymnion]

So, we have thrusters that when put on a docked entity can't use the power generation of the docked entity (so that you can't make large blocks of soft cap breaking thrusters that recreate the docked reactor problems of yester-month), and we have auxiliary power blocks to let us go over the soft cap.

Yet apparently people are still abusing docked reactors by making a docked reactor then docking their turrets and the like directly to that reactor, which is going to create even WORSE server problems whenever those things detatch as now we not only have the reactor itself clipping around, its got all those docked turrets clipping through the outer hull at the same time.

Can we just kill docked power entirely?

Flat out say that an entity can use power on it's own level (aka, power in the barrel of a turret being used for firing), or that it skips all the way down the docked chain to the base and ignores everything in between?

I mean, lets either leave docked reactors as a thing, or lets remove the entire ability to use them and stop leaving loopholes and exploits.

 

[Sen OTS Tier]

Sounds like a huge nerf to turrets. I use the turret base for the majority of my turret's power generation.

 

[Edymnion]

Sounds like a huge nerf to turrets. I use the turret base for the majority of my turret's power generation.

Me too, but if people won't voluntarily stop making docked reactor chains that break the server every time one of them comes loose, what choice do we have?

Its a case of "This is why we can't have nice things, because people abuse them".

 

[Comradecolonel]

Why are people using docked reactors still? They don't do anything.

 

[Edymnion]

Why are people using docked reactors still? They don't do anything.

They just changed from using a power transfer beam to the main ship to docking all their stuff to the reactor directly.

So instead of having one entity come loose with a lucky hit and bouncing around inside of ships, every docked entity on the entire ship comes loose with it in one big messy piece and clips into every imaginable surface.

 

[Sen OTS Tier]

Me too, but if people won't voluntarily stop making docked reactor chains that break the server every time one of them comes loose, what choice do we have?

Its a case of "This is why we can't have nice things, because people abuse them".

I prefer another suggestion I saw that if a docked entity had it's rail destroyed, it would stop functioning, but not undock (something about a ghost rail being made, still looking for the thread again). That way we get rid of the problems with undocked entities in the middle of ships altogether, including rail doors etc.

 

[ToddoftheYear]

So instead of having one entity come loose with a lucky hit and bouncing around inside of ships, every docked entity on the entire ship comes loose with it in one big messy piece and clips into every imaginable surface.

Docked armor has the same problem.

 

[Comradecolonel]

Oh you mean ships like this. Yea I totally agree that something needs to be done with builds like that. It just breaks too many mechanics of the game. Maybe power should just be calculated in way that takes into account all power blocks on all docked entities. Taking away docked power would make many people including myself quite angry. Lets try to avoid forum riots.

 

[Edymnion]

Docked armor has the same problem.

Oi, let me guess, people are using internal docked armor now?

 

[ToddoftheYear]

Oi, let me guess, people are using internal docked armor now?

No, externally docked armor is quite fine at causing a mess.
It's also so good to the point of being mandatory for competitiveness.
see:

6. Cause extreme lag when undocked during combat by a lucky non-ion cannon round (Server crash pls)

 

[Edymnion]

No. see:

Meh, that is generally at least on the outside of the ship. Its not nearly as bad as when something internal detaches.

 

[ToddoftheYear]

Meh, that is generally at least on the outside of the ship. Its not nearly as bad as when something internal detaches.

It's just as bad

 

[Edymnion]

It's just as bad

Oi, when people said docked hull, I didn't think they literally meant the ENTIRE EFFING HULL!

I figured they just were docking plates on top of a standard hull.

Sweet monkey spitting Jeebus, people...

 

[godmars]

It's too bad collison damage doesn't work bc that'd probably put a bullet in this issue

 

[Batavium]

This all started with the cargo update making mass/weight effect a ships energy use. We have the armor effect thread which also boils down to weight. My Battlecruiser sports normal hull because advanced armor turns it in a powerless brick.

Remove that mass/weight effects the ships energy use from the game. Let it only effect how much stuff you can carry in your inventory or storage chests.

That will remove the need for many to try to add more energy entities to a ship. "they are not docked reactors more like multiple ships acting as one"

People will always try to outbuild the competition in ways that goes around limitations. The bad thing about this one is that it effects the server in a negative way. Else this issue wouldn't be talked about.

Maybe take the cap on energy up to 4.000.000. Server admins can already do this since it is in the config files.

 

[philthy mcnasty]

the 2million power soft cap question here: Is this a game mechanics issue, or is this an optimization issue? If optimization improves, will the lagging go away?

I don't think they are going to kill docked power, because that would kill modular ship design, like saber's cerebellum. That ship is amazing.
[doublepost=1481912758,1481912526][/doublepost]

This all started with the cargo update making mass/weight effect a ships energy use. We have the armor effect thread which also boils down to weight. My Battlecruiser sports normal hull because advanced armor turns it in a powerless brick.

Remove that mass/weight effects the ships energy use from the game. Let it only effect how much stuff you can carry in your inventory or storage chests.

That will remove the need for many to try to add more energy entities to a ship. "they are not docked reactors more like multiple ships acting as one"

People will always try to outbuild the competition in ways that goes around limitations. The bad thing about this one is that it effects the server in a negative way. Else this issue wouldn't be talked about.

Maybe take the cap on energy up to 4.000.000. Server admins can already do this since it is in the config files.

Maybe have the stop effect buff remove the mass weight restriction? After all, if it can turn off gravity, then why not? This would turn stop effect into a type of engine, which is how i view it. Sort of like the warp field bubble from star trek.

in essence, the stop effect does not get rid of your mass or weight, it just makes moving much more efficient, so that you can have a giant battle ship with heavy armor. Your ship still weighs a lot, but now you have an engineering set up that can allow you to move that weight via science.

 

[Batavium]

in essence, the stop effect does not get rid of your mass or weight, it just makes moving much more efficient, so that you can have a giant battle ship with heavy armor. Your ship still weighs a lot, but now you have an engineering set up that can allow you to move that weight via science.

It is a nice idea but also adds another level of complexity. Starmade has to much of that already. Getting your ship to move is a basic necessity it needs to be strait forward. Leave the complex stuff to logic.

 

[philthy mcnasty]

It is a nice idea but also adds another level of complexity. Starmade has to much of that already. Getting your ship to move is a basic necessity it needs to be strait forward. Leave the complex stuff to logic.

Large ships should be complex. that is the fun of a large ship. The problem here is people here are lagging the game with exploits, as a means to bypass the power restrictions for the large ships. Small ships don't need to have the stop drive, because their thursters give enough power.

But a scale emperor class 40k battle ship? that is bigger than a starmade planet? that thing has no right to be simple, and should have as many problems to move it as it can. This keeps people from cheesing up the game with over sized ships, while rewarding the mad scientists out there who can make it work.

 

[Batavium]

Large ships should be complex

No you have the choice to build one as complex as you like but it should never be mandatory. Veteran starmade players can and will build complex wonders. But it should not effect new players from getting to grips with the game regardless of ships size.

Removing that weight/mass effects energy use is a simple solution that is easy to implement.

 

[Borr]

Why just not make docked entities go boom instantly, destroying (or not?) blocks around the place where they were docked? With proper animation, and switched off collisions, could look definitely better than 1fps, laggy experience.