New Salvage Balance.

[brucethemoose]

Just noticed that salvage beams do 10 damage per module now, instead of 2:

So the optimal salvage cannon array size is now 19 instead of 91 like the old builds.

However, I'm not 100% sure if block HP is still 200, and the initial tick is 10. What are those entries called in the server config? I can't seem to find em.

 

[Lancake]

Those are not located in the server config, but instead are found in the blockBehaviorConfig.xml, located in ./StarMade/data/config/
Search for <SalvageBeam> and </SalvageBeam>, all the values inbetween those 2 alter the salvage beams.

Block HP is s still 200 and initial tick is still 10. The only thing that was changed, was the strength as you've noticed. With the new power system, each block also costs a lot more power to use compared to the previous system, so they were buffed in strength.

 

[Dire Venom]

Thank you for posting this.
Looks like quite a positive change to me, I don't think anyone really enjoyed spending half an hour placing 120m long waffleboards XD

 

[brucethemoose]

Thank you for posting this.
Looks like quite a positive change to me, I don't think anyone really enjoyed spending half an hour placing 120m long waffleboards XD

Mostly yeah. Only thing I'm worried about is new players building large arrays, whether from old tutorials or common sense, without some kind of warning that arrays over a threshold are useless.

Normally I wouldn't worry, but literally the first thing a brand new player does is build a salvage ship. If they put 100 blocks into 1 array with their first purchase (or, in some cases, the starting block loadout), they might get frustrated with the game right at the start.

 

[GnomeKing]

A change for the better, I agree > virtually zero power usage for salvage has always felt a bit wrong, and massive salvage arrays disproportionate easy to design compared to other systems as a consequence.

Re: New Players, as mentioned by Mr Moose : i don't think that is much of an issue > in the end if a player is not going to spend some time learning about build mechanics at that simple stage, then probably StarMade is a game they are never really going to stick to anyway...there has always been abundant info online and from existing players for those that Research & Ask.

Learning, using, and combining the mechanics (IMHO) is key to what the game is about, and key to how it delivers Reward to the player.
Working out how to get your first bare salvage rig running is part of that process, and should not be skipped or made too easy > otherwise a larger amount of frustration will occur latter when that player is trying to build more complicated ships, and realizes they misunderstood something about basic game rules...

.(on the other hand.....in fact, this happens a lot NOW with XYZ power, DESPITE the clear info about it, and careful explanations from online players ...I guess there is a basic part of Human Nature which just will never read the instructions until something breaks :/ )

 

[brucethemoose]

.there has always been abundant info online

If players have to dig through long threads or ask someone on a server just to understand one of the first game mechanics, I think that's a big problem.

In fact, that's exactly what I had to do with salvage beams recently. I haven't played much since salvage worked like this: Salvage Cannon - StarMade Wiki So I had to read through quite a few threads to find the 200HP + 10 tick block HP system, as it isn't on the real wiki or exposed anywhere in the game's UI.

Again, that wasn't a problem before since the 50+ arrays are typically beyond brand new players. But that's no longer the case.

 

[GnomeKing]

I see your point brucethemoose. But when I started playing, i found the magic of [seach-engine-of-choice], and the really useful YouTube videos by veteran community members were all that I needed. Oh yes, and the Wiki ...

I did not need to dig into forum threads until i was well into the game, and interested in very specific things (eg exact damage per tick ect)

i did not even bug other online players much- although they would have been very helpful > > i don't think i could have been provided with much more information, it just took some research to put it together (which was kinda fun in-itself).

It is true though, that care must be taken not to make the initial stages of the game too obscure or unrewarding...but i don't really think this salvage will cause that problem (unless a player decides to ignore all information).

 

[nulitor]

I think it is rather cool that miner ships will need less module spam for a given result.
It caused lots of graphical calculations when I had tons of connected salvage modules in build mode.
Now I basically can build a ship that mine 5 times more

 

[StormWing0]

I'd like it if fleet mining was fixed to go along with this change to salvagers but outside that I got nothing to whine about yet.

 

[Jojomo]

... I got nothing to whine about yet.

The first SM player ever to say that!

 

[StormWing0]

The first SM player ever to say that!

Oh wait nvm those bugs that the devs seem to be avoiding fixing that are causing game wide issues and game breaking things to happen need to be dealt with.

 

[brucethemoose]

I'd like it if fleet mining was fixed to go along with this change to salvagers but outside that I got nothing to whine about yet.

What's wrong with fleet mining? My drones have to have their center of mass ON the core or else they spazz the heck out, but other than that it seems to work OK.

The new balance is great for it too, as you can make much smaller drones that still mine out alot.

 

[StormWing0]

What's wrong with fleet mining? My drones have to have their center of mass ON the core or else they spazz the heck out, but other than that it seems to work OK.

The new balance is great for it too, as you can make much smaller drones that still mine out alot.

The thing that's wrong with them is they'll refuse orders to mine forcing the player to either unload the sector or restart the game for them to work.

 

[Snowtiger256]

I have a few mining drones that do work. Maybe you're building them wrong. The largest of these drones has a salvage rating of 0.9 blocks/sec and it works as well as it can, considering the state of the AI in the game. It has about 13k of cargo volume on it, and about 1.5 TWR.

Here's a few pointers to get you going:

- Mining drones use ship core to target, make sure that you align the center of the drone's salvage array with the ship core. This means putting the core right in the center of the array on the X and Y axes. If the core is offset, the drone cannot target accurately and won't mine.
- Overloading the drone with thrust is not a good idea, this will make drones jittery and complicate docking.
- Storage on drones should be limited (due to thrust reasons), the most cargo volume I'd suggest is 15-20k.

 

[AtraUnam]

The point is that you short of not giving them power, mining beams, ai and thrusters it shouldn't be possible to build them wrong.

 

[NeonSturm]

I think mining should be fixed by consuming charge depending on blocks taken.

Salvager modules would be power capacitors for the mining beams with a given charge rate.