Next generation: The solution to core drilling

[jzimmerman4]

Theoretical cores

Each main ship component would have a “core” (not an actual block (except weapon computers), more of a health indicator) with health equal to that component’s mass. When an element that belongs to a certain core is destroyed, that core is damaged and once the core reaches 0 health, the system functions at 10% efficiency unless it is further damaged, totally destroyed, or repaired. Every block represents 2 health (50% of a system has to be destroyed to get its health to 0).

The main core’s original health is 50% of the average heath of the component cores. The main core would still exist and would change colors to show the ships health (use an overlay). The Main core would also have 100% armor to all projectiles but not to disintegrators and collision damage. This will prevent players from using it as a shield while no longer having it be such a weak point.

A ships health is reset once it docks to a station (also works if it is docked to a ship which is docked to a station).



Types of cores:

-Main core

-Thruster core

-Power regeneration core

-Power storage core

-Weapon cores (computers)



Components automatically connect to the “cores”.

Why? Allows players more than one way to destroy enemy ships. Can't just attack one system but have to use tactics to wear down then destroy a ship. Encourages destroying the ship versus drilling.

New ways to destroy ship:

1. Partially destroy multiple "cores”
2. Completely destroy a few "cores"

-Use overhaul of ship core when main core is at 0 hp. Link: http://star-made.org/content/overhaul-ship-core

-Use hull absorption for hull to make that useful. Link: http://star-made.org/content/hull-armor-absorption

-Use Ghost blocks to regenerate health even during a battle. Link: http://star-made.org/content/repair-modules-and-ghost-blocks



ex: Suppose you had a 10,000 block ship with every component and two weapon systems. Lets say that each system had 1,000 blocks. This would mean that each component core has 1,000 health, with the main core/ overall ship having 3,000 (all 6 core's health * together then / by 2). This would therefore mean that 3,000 blocks of the 10,000 block ship would have to be destroyed for it to no longer function (33.33%).

 

[Ithirahad]

This sounds like a pretty good idea(s). Combined with my idea for pilot seats, this may in fact render core drilling less likely to be used. However, we still need some method of boarding a ship and destroying or hacking faction blocks once a ship has been disabled.

 

[FlyingDebris]

It would draw people away from uusing pure AMCs, as well.

 

[Zodapop]

Already, if a person is in, say, a weapon\'s computer, and the core gets all shot up, the pilot will die, but the ship won\'t overheat. But... Uh... Whatever.

 

[Jim-Dandy]

Small ships we miss you

 

[Jim-Dandy]

That happens if this is put in the game

 

[TwoNiner]

How are we expected to know where these cores are hidden on an enemy ship, if your answer is \"you arent supposed to, thats the point so you have to shoot the entire ship and hope you hit it\" or \"there will be multiple diamonds for you to shoot even though more then one signature per ship looks stupid\" then I\'m gonna have to down vote this, it would only make fights extreamly slow paced and boring as hell. However I do agree with the implementation of hull absorbtion and ghost blocks for repairs, those two feature would make armor a more viable form of defence rather then the irrepairable butter hulls we have now.

 

[jzimmerman4]

The thing is there are no actual cores. My suggestion eliminates core drilling unless you use disintegrators to drill to the only core (main core).

 

[jzimmerman4]

I do not see how this is true since fighters are already completely useless. My suggestion in fact makes fighters stronger since it would take a lot more than a few shots from a capital to destroy it.

 

[psteiner]

AMC\'s are still the most efficent weapon

 

[psteiner]

Fighters in reality would be almost instantly ahhiliated if hit by a capital

 

[jzimmerman4]

Yes but that is what is suppose to happen. A single fighter would have no chance against a capital if it failed to keep out of the way of its main guns. My suggestion is mostly focused on the combat of two evenly sized ships, which includes fighters vs. turrets.

 

[Ithirahad]

That\'s a good thing. Currently, fighters just get drilled into, which looks silly... Technically, they should just be annihilated by the anti-matter (Not \"antimatter,\" that\'s obviously not what we\'re dealing with) energy pulses coming out of your typical capship.

 

[Ghent96]

This ultimately is an issue of gameplay balance and pace, not so much how a ship is destroyed. Huge capital ships are expensive, currently. They should take a long time to destroy, and offer options to escape or repair during fights so the ship isn\'t ultimately lost, and thus lots of time/money lost by a player. A good game should implement ways to disable or weaken capital ships for shorter paced fights, or escape options, rather than simply losing ships in mass firey furballs of ADHD epilepsy dogfights.

Fighters should be cheap, and should die quick. That\'s ok, but they should also be balanced to be able to avoid \"slow\" capital ship fire, and to pack just enough punch to gradually weaken cap ships via external turrents (Freespace), modules (Homeworld)... or specialized types of fighters like bombers.

Mid-caps or corvettes should be a variety of ships, offering both jack of all trade types, and specialized types, but cost a little bit more, take longer to die, some modules, faster, able to still evade a lone cap ship yet not damage it too much, able to tank against a lone fighter (or a small wing) yet also probably not agile enough to destroy it,

Caps should have a variety of weapons, just like in most sci-fi, and modern naval strategy, but if a builder wants to specialize, then they are free to do so, of course, in this game. There has to be support for builders to do this, and still end up with a well armored, shielded, long-lived and very durable / survivable massive ship in combat. A cap ship should be virtually immune to fighters, even a large group of fighters, but have modules and turrets that can be destroyed or disabled by fighters and corvettes instead. A cap ship should die by other cap ship, or planet collision, only.

The system of cores, and how ships take damage block by block here in Starmade is what makes it uniquely different from contemporaries like Space Engineers, Star Citizen, and Limit Theory. This building and damage system will by nature be vulnerable to certain tactics and exploits, until the developer balances or removes them.

 

[therimmer96]

Huge capital ships are expensive, currently.


when did that happen?

 

[jzimmerman4]

That is a very nice overview that I deffinetly agree with. I also feel that my suggestion would help implement those concepts.

 

[Argyle_Ninja]

I would be glad to have some way to differentiate -Battleship core and -Isanth core, but just to have its durability and health judged by the mass of your ship, not just how far you need to dig through paper-thin components to get to it. Just by having the core\'s health multiply by however much, I believe would help balance the system, and come to think of it, would give an important role to the so far neglected -AstroTechnician-tm repair beam.

The term \"Butter Hulls\" is funny because it\'s true. I am actually thinking about making my next large scale ship primarily out of sand, because well, it\'s cheaper than hull, and as it stands, I figure once my shields drop, it\'ll take about the same amount of time for anyone to get out their butter knives and slice out my core. Or if I go for luxury and ridiculous, apparently Glass is more durable than regular hull. You know, all those window-ships you see. Regardless, I think that what some people might call \"slow paced\" or \"boring as hell\" I might view as -slightly- more realistic? If you needed to physically destroy say, a third of a ship or more to overheat the core, I think it would really improve PVP, and maybe a little more \"realism\". The benchmark I like to use in sci-fi for this sort of thing is when the Battlestar Galactica took a nuke in the side, and lived. It was really messy, as it should be, but they managed.

Even if we don\'t add any other game mechanics to track ship mass percentages or any of that, if someone rips out half of your power generators, or severs a couple of your main AMC groups, you\'re going to notice. It might not cripple your weapon systems, but it might be enough to force a retreat. Wouldn\'t anyone rather have the window of opportunity to decide if you can make it out of there alive? I\'d say that this sort of scenario would be bounds ahead of the \"We\'re taking fire....Shields down to 25%.....Dead.\" scenario. -Granted this one presumes you have a big honking shield battery that someone has to chew through first, if not, please skip directly ahead to step 3.

Capital ship warfare will still take just as long to drop the other\'s shields, which still may have AMC\'s as the weapon of choice there.. When the shields drop, suddenly it\'s another ball game if you have to get rid of a pile of gravel with your super-caffinated-pneumatic ice pick of an antimatter cannon.

Pardon the rant, thought I\'d toss in my buck o-five.

 

[Doomerzzz]

I\'m not too sure about additional cores but the idea of boosting the health of the ship core in proportionate to the ships mass is a good idea.. currently if you core takes a few shots, your dead and everything is lost, the aim of combat at the moment is based on how better are you at drilling cores

Currently the hulls are pretty useless.. only way I think they can be used is to defend against the weakest fighters possible shooting at your hull, I think there should be block implemented to boost the HP of hulls so they are not so weak, maybe adding higher grade hull blocks or an block to actively enhance the defensive capabilities of the hull blocks, boosting armor and total hp (more hp = possiblilty of repair blocks being useful (maybe repair blocks can be repurposed as a block to automatically repair damaged hulls? ) )