My top speed idea

[HerrColonel]

Hello all this is my first suggestion in starmade. I made this because the speed is really annoying me in the game for now especially in multiplayer.

I think the top speed should be dependant of the mass of the vessel, even if it don't fit the realism of our physics. Who told you use thruster to move in space anyway? If you're in space you're probably under the gravity of a sun or a planet and orbiting it at some speed, using thrusters to slow down, take speed, or moving your trajectory to catch your targets. But starmade is not KSP so we should forget the details about realism, that's not the way to get fun in starmade I think. It looks more like a giant 3d waterbattleship. It's true in most sci-fi stories the giant battleships have a way to access enormous speeds (for interstellary travels or like that) but these travels have some restrictions (in starmade, the warpdrive travels restrictions soon, I hope) and the reste of the time the ships are just moving around at some speeds and I think a most light vessel should have the possibility to reach more high speed like a boat's logic.

Like this we could see some light pirates vessels catching slower vessels and winning by the strength of their number and manoeuvrability. Most of the big vessels will have lots of turrets and be well defended to reduce their vulnerability. Some of the most big ships could want to have their own fighter too, for counter-attacking or bait a fleet of fighters the main carrier could not reach.

But yea, it mean while there is no warp drive possibility you can't travels as fast with a big vessel than a light one. For scooting or traveling fleets of drones or fighters will be prefered. Big ships keeps their utility to be strong catsles (can be used to protect a sector, a planet, or carying an ambassador or payload), but don't deal with little ships facing them, it looks stupid. Big ships don't need their main weapons to be used against fighters, except if they are at long range.

The absolute top speed would be the speed set by the administrator. And the game would calculate a separate top speed depending on the vessel's mass. Maybe the top speed could be reach by some 1-100mass ships 90% for 101-1000mass shoips etc. Everything needs to be balanced. And it could be good if the administrator could manage it.



Ty for reading I hope you like my idea

PS: I'm not a native english speaker, so forgive my bad english

 

[Angus and Alexis]

While i do not condone that this game should have realistic physics, mass limited speed is a bullshit way of making balance.

As a person who likes to RP as both a fighter, and a capital ship, i think having the capital being slow as shit would ruin the game, in both balance, and meta.

 

[Ixalite]

Balance that you suggest could be accomplished by applying a diminishing returns curve to thrust generally. Attaining 4:1 thrust to mass ratio should be easy with a fighter, and next to impossible with a dreadnaught. I advise making the curve asymptotically approach 1 million units, with a small arithmetical progression thereafter. The smaller the ship, the more efficient the engines.

 

[NeonSturm]

Not thrust should be limited. Energy should depend not on volume but surface area of your box

 

[25hz]

In the servder config, you can set how fast ships\' speed is dampened, in other words, how \"sticky\" or \"thick\" space is. The higher the figure the more it not only affects a ship\'s ability to speed up and slow down, but also it\'s top speed. The bigger the ship, the less likely it will ever hit the server\'s top speed.

 

[HerrColonel]

\"Diminishing returns


Balance that you suggest could be accomplished by applying a diminishing returns curve to thrust generally. Attaining 4:1 thrust to mass ratio should be easy with a fighter, and next to impossible with a dreadnaught. I advise making the curve asymptotically approach 1 million units, with a small arithmetical progression thereafter. The smaller the ship, the more efficient the engines.\"

I totally agree with you. Efficiency decrease when adding more thrusters because for the same payload you have more engines mass and more thrust.

Making capital ships really slow will make them more fun to fight against but not easier. And will makes them needing more protection and support but will still be the most decisives weapons in fight.

If they had some extra thrusters for travels. That could provide only front thrust they could reach big speeds when needed. But would stop using them when fighting (only for flee) for getting lateral thrust against the ennemies, but getting quite slow.

 

[NeonSturm]

Balance that you suggest could be accomplished by applying a diminishing returns curve to thrust generally. Attaining 4:1 thrust to mass ratio should be easy with a fighter, and next to impossible with a dreadnaught.


We currently have infinite power in a sector-volume.

I most books about magic, magic is some kind of energy floating in another dimension through earth - if somebody uses it, there is less, but it regenerates over time as living things excess magic.

With power it could be the same. \"Black holes\" generate (for the universe) it in exchange for sucked mass and sectors are filled with (or drained of) power by suns, planets, or other things.

This is a game. Schema makes the rules. And whatever we can convince him to be reasonable and optimal (performance, game-balance and coding-time) shall happen.