Petition for Auto-Chargin Systems as DEFAULT

[happahappa]

Having to hold a (mouse) button to load a system is making me want to kill somebody (it's seriously annoying, and the game tends to have some summation effects on that


maybe it's just me, but i would prefer, that all systems autocharge by default. no extra chambers, no costs of rc-points, etc.

just activate/deactivate charging, and it will do so until fully charged and ready.


ftl drive/inhibitor, thruster blast, weapons, ... everything.

quality of life > some theoretical strategical argument about being occupied charging a system (there are still the power costs of charging)


opinions on that?

 

[MacThule]

Having to hold a (mouse) button to load a system is making me want to kill somebody (it's seriously annoying, and the game tends to have some summation effects on that


maybe it's just me, but i would prefer, that all systems autocharge by default. no extra chambers, no costs of rc-points, etc.

just activate/deactivate charging, and it will do so until fully charged and ready.


ftl drive/inhibitor, thruster blast, weapons, ... everything.

quality of life > some theoretical strategical argument about being occupied charging a system (there are still the power costs of charging)


opinions on that?

I do think that FTL autocharge should be included with the first FTL chamber rather than requiring an entirely independent chamber just for autocharge.

I think I would rather see system charging and some other buffs tied into a system that a co-pilot could use so that multiplayer-player ships had some legitimate edge over comparable 1-player ships. Hard to say though; spending game time holding down that button is a little obnoxious most days.

 

[happahappa]

I do think that FTL autocharge should be included with the first FTL chamber rather than requiring an entirely independent chamber just for autocharge.

I think I would rather see system charging and some other buffs tied into a system that a co-pilot could use so that multiplayer-player ships had some legitimate edge over comparable 1-player ships. Hard to say though; spending game time holding down that button is a little obnoxious most days.

you barely get 10 players on a server. i don't want to be dependable on a copilot.
forcing people to hold your mouse button over and over again for a prolonged period of time for almost nothing in return is just ... *fill in your preferred expression*

 

[MacThule]

you barely get 10 players on a server. i don't want to be dependable on a copilot.
forcing people to hold your mouse button over and over again for a prolonged period of time for almost nothing in return is just ... *fill in your preferred expression*

Well, first, I agree that if the mechanism is simply to hold down a button, then you are right. Though, after all, what are many other games but a lot of repetitive button clicking?

As far as players on MP servers... it gets a bit circular. People invite friends to play, but there is no purpose to them crewing a ship together. More functional co-operative play would result in higher server pops.

Coding around a premise of low server pops is coding in a way which ensures permanently low server pops because there would be no incentive for more players, since no features supporting more players have been implemented. Something like this - value added for having a friend along on your ship, letting friends play together cooperatively without each having to fly their own ship - doesn't force anyone to have it, and if there are only 5 people on the server no one likely would and even if they did, it wouldn't be an edge that made them dominate other players. It would only be an issue in a direct confrontation with comparable force; a very rare scenario in anything but an arranged duel in which case it would either be part of the arrangement or a breach.

 

[Skwidz]

I've seen a few space games automatically recharge the player's weapons automatically and the only work the player has to do is aim the weapon and fire which makes it a little more fun (most sm weapons do that already, had to redo a lot of this post...). High power weapons like b/b and probably the charge cannon if it gets a few stat improvements to be about as strong as b/b (I haven't checked their weapon stats again yet) would be a little closer to op if the player could use other weapons themselves while the main gun is charging, but not by too much. Probably more likely is that the b/b's auto charge would continually drain the ship's shielding so b/b (and the charge cannon, because it has "charge" in the name lol) will need the hold-to-charge mechanic.

Jump drives are somewhat similar to b/b and the charge cannon. If you have a large titan but that took a beating and you wanted to escape, you could use your pre-charged jump drive to save yourself. However if you could get it to charge by itself and use perhaps a mobility chamber in place of the autocharge chamber when you only have room for the ftl chambers and a few defense chambers, it would become a somewhat unfair fight. You could take your titan, jump to a sector with enemy ships, blast them with your giant b/b, jump out, have an armada of repair ships fix your dents, jump back in, and repeat until your enemy quits/is gone. The enemy of course could do this too but it would be frustrating for both sides.

 

[jayman38]

As far as players on MP servers... it gets a bit circular. People invite friends to play, but there is no purpose to them crewing a ship together. More functional co-operative play would result in higher server pops.

I disagree with this sentiment for the game's current design. For multiple players to crew a ship together in a fun, meaningful way, this game would need control consoles. That is a desired feature, but we don't have it yet.
So it's much more realistic to invite friends to play by building and flying their own fighters (or miners or freighters or whatever they want to build and fly.)

Multi-crew ships can come later, when the game can properly support it with command chairs or control consoles. Nevertheless, forcing your friends to be the guy that has to hold down the button is not a very fun thing, even with crew-rotation, so it's not really enforcing game-loyalty (continuing gameplay on Starmade vs. jumping to a more-fun or more-new space game).

tl;dr: Enforcing multi-crew mechanics such as holding down a button is premature at this stage of the game with its current features.

 

[MacThule]

For multiple players to crew a ship together in a fun, meaningful way, this game would need control consoles. That is a desired feature, but we don't have it yet.

Well, exactly, but I feel like this gets back to the circularity issue. Completely remove things like manually charging auxiliary systems, and when someone suggests control consoles for additional human crew the question will be "why, it's pointless when everything is already automated?"

I think we need multi-pilot interface points, because you're right - there's currently no good way for a secondary player to meaningfully contribute to flying a huge, capital warship. It can only be a 1-man operation... no matter how complex and how nice it would be to have an assistant.

This would not create any new mechanics to 'enforce' multiplayer activity at all, it would just be a way to deal with an annoying existing mechanic that could bring value to multiplayer activity, and thereby offer another fun, optional mode of play, without actually changing the way everyone else plays the game one tiny iota. Choice, and with no damage to current gameplay. Because getting rid of it entirely undermines any future cause for multiplayer ships, but giving players a way to multicrew a ship as a cheaper means of managing charge times (compared to adding chambers) wouldn't substantially impact solo gameplay as it is now.

forcing your friends to be the guy that has to hold down the button is not a very fun thing

True, if that's all it is. Nor is clicking the mouse 48 times per minute a terribly fun thing, when looked at in that way. Nor pressing various combinations of WASDQEZX repeatedly for hours a wonderful sounding prospect. Which makes it tough to pin down the issue here, though there definitely is an issue with non-weapon charging periods.

All gameplay involves pressing and either releasing or holding buttons and keys though... in all games... I think that maybe it's about what the button does that determines if it's fun or not.

I do agree that there are too many long periods of hold-down necessary in this game, but then again when I play DoTA2 I spend the entire time frantically clicking the very same button - which is more work on my finger in the end. Other games with autofire you also have to hold down the mouse button over long periods for a steady stream of DPS, but I think that watching rounds fly is more exciting than watching a timer on your warp drive charge. Holding the button isn't the problem, it's what we're holding it to accomplish. Is it something dull or something interesting?

Jump drives... The current options of either holding the mouse to charge jump, or sacrificing ship space equivalent to 1/2 your reactor's size for two chambers in order for it to charge itself (a simple logic function), is definitely not ideal. I mentioned before that I think that any (non-weapon) system requiring charging that uses a chamber should include autocharge with the first chamber, along with any other benefits the first chamber currently provides.

I don't think that everything should autocharge completely for free though, because in the long-run it would be nice to empower multi-crew ships. I've played such ships in other, non-voxel games - it can be a real riot, even when you lose battles, and raw, hilarious fun is something we desperately need more of.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Runas /user:Dr-Whammy Thread_Necromancy.exe


Quick question guys,

Is the jump drive "supposed" to be auto-charging after the the recent update? If so, does this work on all ships or must certain conditions exist first?

The reason I ask is because I've noticed an issue where a drive on a larger ship auto-charges and drains all major systems. Unlike other chamber effects, this function cannot be turned off on my carrier; though I have to charge it manually on a smaller shuttle.

Has anyone else noticed this issue?

 

[Nebulon-B_Frigate_FTW]

Runas /user:Dr-Whammy Thread_Necromancy.exe
View attachment 52637

Quick question guys,

Is the jump drive "supposed" to be auto-charging after the the recent update? If so, does this work on all ships or must certain conditions exist first?

The reason I ask is because I've noticed an issue where a drive on a larger ship auto-charges and drains all major systems. Unlike other chamber effects, this function cannot be turned off on my carrier; though I have to charge it manually on a smaller shuttle.

Has anyone else noticed this issue?

Does clicking it turn autocharging off? It should, but if it doesn't, then it's a very strange bug where it's not even just applying regular autocharging.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Thanks for replying,

I've tried repeatedly but unfortunately, there's no prompt/option to click on it. I can right click to jump normally but there's no left click option at all. I've moved the jump drive into and out of the hotbar, then back again but still got the same result. From what I've observed, it appears to only occur on one ship. I'm reluctant to start over since this ship is pretty logic-heavy in design.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I think I found the cause. ...Fleets.

Apparently, when you add a ship to a fleet, it automatically charges the jump drive; regardless of whether or not you are piloting it. Also, last time I checked, fleet units don't jump.

Can I get a Whisky, Tango and a Foxtrot?

 

[MacThule]

Interesting. I have also noticed apparently random situations where my jump drives autocharge. Fleets seem a likely cause - good observation.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Yeah. I wasn't expecting that.

I could see this function putting a player at a big tactical disadvantage.

Get shot with a powerful weapon, lose your shields and take damage to the reactor or a chamber, Suddenly you have a massive power failure and can't recharge shields or return fire because you jump drive decided to charge on its own with no abort/override. They you get shot to pieces because of it.

Alternatively, ANY ship/station equipped with a jump inhibitor can cause the power failure. Bug? ...or poorly implemented feature? Only Schine knows.

Either way, not a fan...

 

[Sachys]

Also, last time I checked, fleet units don't jump.

Actually, I think pre 2.0 they did jump as soon as unloaded when given a move order - though having not been avidly reading all the updates im not sure if thats now the case

Edit: can also confirm my fleeted miner (that I was piloting) was autocharging jump continually.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Actually, I think pre 2.0 they did jump as soon as unloaded when given a move order - though having not been avidly reading all the updates im not sure if thats now the case

Edit: can also confirm my fleeted miner (that I was piloting) was autocharging jump continually.

As far as I've observed, fleets never actually jumped but rather moved in an unloaded state with a predetermined ETA.

It was a broken mechanic, which I tested by making a ship with no thrusters or jump drive then giving a "move to" command. The ship appeared at the edge of the sector and halted; unable to move due to lack of thrust.