Power System Overhaul Proposal

[Lecic]

If I were to take that shape literally, it would make it incredibly easy for players to target your ships systems and disable them. With a current wedge shaped hull, fitted with a system that spaces out the reactors internally it would make it harder to pinpoint those weak spots. If say you have a string of conduits leading to chambers on the outside of the build structure, those are the first things I am targeting.

If you think that your ships are even going to survive long enough to do that against the new breed of meta boats this update will create, you clearly have not thought through the consequences of this change.

 

[schema]

We have a lot of changes planned for the weapon system as well. We wont forget about PvP. Furthermore, it is a discussion. The shape of the heat area doesn't have to be a box it could be customized for example. This is what discussion is for.

 

[Zyrr]

If I were to take that shape literally, it would make it incredibly easy for players to target your ships systems and disable them. With a current wedge shaped hull, fitted with a system that spaces out the reactors internally it would make it harder to pinpoint those weak spots. If say you have a string of conduits leading to chambers on the outside of the build structure, those are the first things I am targeting.

But you just added a lower mass sponge block for us to pad all of our systems with, friend. Chandelier is only the systems layout, and apparently I need only 5% of my ship to be systems.

I know you wrote this OP because you want to tailor the game to make the style of ships you build work, and somehow also make RP builders competitive. In reality, you just made this game easier for the top rung of the PVP ladder by a factor of 10.

My suggestion is to add a formal hacking complaint system build into the game in this update. That way you get to see all of the fanmail we'll be getting and perhaps understand and change this system when you get reports from people who actually actively play multiplayer.

 

[Napther]

So here's a question: I know it is a very common style to make really long dimensional ships that are sort of narrow, and a bit flat. Will the "reactor heat bounding box" reflect that by roughly maintaining volume, or will it just become null?

I ask this because I build ships that are generally extremely stocky and fat for their size, meaning a reactor bounding box may unnecessarily push remaining system positioning around as it occupies a larger portion of the "aesthetically useable" internal space on the ship.

I also foresee exploits of this, Kupu's last info-graphic does NOT take into account someone making their ship have an extra 50m+ of rear length, by using Pick up rails to arbitrarily extend the dimension box of the ship, or have a single door that is placed open to extend the box, meaning the reactor heat will extend into an empty, totally unused area

 

[MaartenAll]

Wow, this was kind of a long post, maybe a bit to long to fully understand...
So if I'm getting this right systems produce heat now and the reactors produce coolant to compensate that.
Can you be more specific about what happens when the heat is to high? Will it just blow your ship to the moon?
One more question: Is this going to be implented any soon? Because I have a few project I have been working on and it would be a waste to finish them now if I have to change them entirely in 2 weeks.

 

[Criss]

If you think that your ships are even going to survive long enough to do that against the new breed of meta boats this update will create, you clearly have not thought through the consequences of this change.


New Starmade Themesong boyz

And why wouldn't a wedge shaped ship using the same system also survive? The only thing the chandelier shape implies is that you are wrapping hull around the reactors and systems.

Additionally you must take into account the possibility that spacing reactors too far apart also comes with consequences if they need the conduit system in place.

Lastly, I can achieve the same reactor design and encase the ship in a normal looking hull and you will not be able to immediately pinpoint the reactor.

The only thing I am seeing with this chandelier thing is the idea that you will have no space between the hull and the systems. Skin-tight I suppose. How does that make it stronger than encasing it an another shape that obscures the location of those critical points of interest?

I know you wrote this OP because you want to tailor the game to make the style of ships you build work

Wrong. This was conceptualized by the two developers that know the most about the game out of the entire team. I had no idea of this proposal until they were ready to present it to us. If you think I am also not skeptical or critical of their ideas, you would again be wrong. I have already made some concerns clear to the team.

Also, I planned on completely changing how I built the EVE ships and haven't gotten around to it yet. You'll notice I haven't posted a new ship to the dock in months.

 

[Wr3ck3d]

what I would like to see is a seperation of engine and power like in real ships and it would simplify alot of the issues facing us atm , have a core engine (x's more per output for lrg builds) a generator&batteries and wiring (act like cargo <no block> . now while i know this is a very simple layout of the system atleast for ships it would free up alot of room and not force a certain format to start with . Also on a side note can we get a cargo transporter like the reg transporter could even be a simple addon effect module pls lastly ty for the game and the work u do this game is fresh look at a very overdone genre .

 

[Comradecolonel]

Let's establish some more of the specifics of the new system before we start coming up with specific exploits. Still not even sure how all the other systems are effected. Power linkage would make chandeliers a terrible idea because a small ship could just sever the connects and leave you a lifeless wreck in the void. There are plenty of ways you can take this.

This most important for me is that we are now at the point where we are revising CORE mechanics. We have the chance to make this game much better than it already is. Lets try to be creative with solutions not more problems.

 

[Lecic]

if the choice is between chandeliers and the curret massive rectangles with simple greebling as "details",I choose pretty chandeliers :D

You would rather have ONLY chandeliers rather than the occasional brick that has no real advantages besides being easier on the builder on a more conventional, good looking ship?

You don't even do PvP. You are exclusively an RP builder, yes? What do you know about what PvP is like? You don't. Very few people actually use featureless bricks. Why? Because most people take pride in their work, and there's no downsides to making a nice looking ship. You can even fit a nice interior into that ship. Interiors give you AHP and make it harder for boarders, and don't actually take up that much space to look good and feel spacious.

The idea that the game should be balanced around the whims of aesthetic RP builders and not around the PvP that those balance changes will actually effect is idiotic.

 

[TheDouser]

I can't say for sure what the PVP players are mad about but if you just made it so all larger ships have to have a multi block structure somewhere in your ship and have connect a wire from your reactor (idk if that what conduits are in the game) to lead to all the ship systems to power it, and at the same time have vents to take heat and dissipate it out somewhere in your ship. This way it supports any shape of ship and adds a fun system to making ships.

 

[Crashmaster]

.

 

[spocklin]

I have over 1000 ships at my disposal. How am I to deal with this breaking every last one of them? I will also have to redo at least 100 blueprints.

 

[Ultragamer2000]

lets hope reactors blow up when shot

 

[Sachys]

Take the time to write out a response and work with us.

Please can we have some screens of conceptual examples using existing blocks (obviously with some notes) to give a clearer picture of what is actually proposed so feedback can occur from an example, rather than just a text heavy post that I'm sure won't translate well for those with low English skill, and for those who havent slept? - I'm sure it would be of general benefit.

They dont need to be massively intricate, just a visual aid for digestion.

 

[Napther]

How to fix chandelier ships: Implement break-away!
Kappa.
Sadly this breaks all the actually legit spaced/floating-type designs, and they have said before they are not going to do that

However, What we can do is just ban people off servers that don't conform to building a proper ship (NYAAAH, I LIKE MY 100% META SHIPS, NYAAAAAH, I CANT BUILD ANY THING ELSE /s). Just make a PvP server where all the chandeliers can be without anything happening to them
Or something. This is the only way I can see, but it adds strain to the community and doesnt actually need schine to do much... But... I dont know

 

[Gasboy]

I think folks need to step back a moment and take a breather.

People have never liked how the power system is handled. It benefits medium sized ships, and makes it difficult to build really small, or really large.

The system as suggested is not going to screw PvPers over. If you can get better power out of less space, why wouldn't you at least give this a shot? I assume that Schine is going to put this up as a dev build when it's ready, so wait and see.

And Schine has said that they're going to take our comments and criticism seriously. You aren't helping if all you can manage is "everything will be a chandelier". Write out a logical argument, ffs.

 

[Criss]

Please can we have some screens of conceptual examples using existing blocks (obviously with some notes) to give a clearer picture of what is actually proposed so feedback can occur from an example, rather than just a text heavy post that I'm sure won't translate well for those with low English skill, and for those who havent slept? - I'm sure it would be of general benefit.

They dont need to be massively intricate, just a visual aid for digestion.

Yes. We had some very simple ideas built when discussing it internally. I will talk to the others during our meeting tomorrow and see if we can present clearer information. If we need to we can gut a few of the ships we already have.

 

[therimmer96]

Does schine have a working prototype of this system yet?

 

[Sachys]

Yes. We had some very simple ideas built when discussing it internally. I will talk to the others during our meeting tomorrow and see if we can present clearer information. If we need to we can gut a few of the ships we already have.

Thanks!

 

[Gasboy]

Please can we have some screens of conceptual examples using existing blocks (obviously with some notes) to give a clearer picture of what is actually proposed so feedback can occur from an example, rather than just a text heavy post that I'm sure won't translate well for those with low English skill, and for those who havent slept? - I'm sure it would be of general benefit.

They dont need to be massively intricate, just a visual aid for digestion.

Actually, Schine needs to get the Voice, and by that I mean Saber, to create a video explaining their concept and how it will work. And how other systems (shields, cloaking, weapons, etc) will tie into it. What Schine's ideas are, and what other possibilities are available. And maybe get a few others to translate into other languages.