Read by Council Remove low credit cap

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    this could work for the player, but this wouldn't solve the issue with player owned shops, also if someone doesn't know about the 2bil credit cap, they could get burned if they sell 50k computers while already having 2bil.
    Then you could auto sell them megabucks if they go over? That guy would suddenly have 2-3(idk) megabucks instead of being ripped off.
     
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    this would work, however it would be much easier just to change the credit cap higher(change the datatype to long).
     
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    I've never had this problem, but in line with the infinitely scalable goal of the game I think that the best option would be to have a block or item that represents a large number of credits like DrTarDIS suggested.

    You can carry 50 "gigacredit blocks," each worth 500 million credits, without changing variables or corrupting old save files. This would also allow players to make physical hordes of money. You would be limited to having a single transaction under the 2 billion limit, but when you run low on credits just convert a couple blocks back to the 500 million credits.
     
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    I've never had this problem, but in line with the infinitely scalable goal of the game I think that the best option would be to have a block or item that represents a large number of credits like DrTarDIS suggested.

    You can carry 50 "gigacredit blocks," each worth 500 million credits, without changing variables or corrupting old save files. This would also allow players to make physical hordes of money. You would be limited to having a single transaction under the 2 billion limit, but when you run low on credits just convert a couple blocks back to the 500 million credits.
    what if u had a shop? you would have to constantly look over it to make sure it didn't go over 2bil, (which, if the game allows big shops u would go over in a single transaction), this would cause a massive loss of credits...
     
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    What is this 2 billion credit cap limit on?
    Shops or Players?
    I ask since the Spawn hub at EI is already over 2bil credits and I have not seen any signs of lose of credits. Going to assume this is an issue on Players not on Shops, even though some parts of this thread seem to state this is an issue on both.
     
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    What is this 2 billion credit cap limit on?
    Shops or Players?
    I ask since the Spawn hub at EI is already over 2bil credits and I have not seen any signs of lose of credits. Going to assume this is an issue on Players not on Shops, even though some parts of this thread seem to state this is an issue on both.
    it is for both players and shops, the real limit is 2,147,483,647, over that it just stays at max.
     
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    what if u had a shop? you would have to constantly look over it to make sure it didn't go over 2bil, (which, if the game allows big shops u would go over in a single transaction), this would cause a massive loss of credits...
    I don't see why the game can't just auto-converts credits to gigacredit blocks (or whatever they are called). If the shop goes over 2 bill then 500mill is subtracted and turned into a gigacredit stored in the shop in a private area (only shop owners can access it). If the shop goes over 2 billion AND there is no room to store credit blocks then the money is lost.
     
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    I don't see why the game can't just auto-converts credits to gigacredit blocks (or whatever they are called). If the shop goes over 2 bill then 500mill is subtracted and turned into a gigacredit stored in the shop in a private area (only shop owners can access it). If the shop goes over 2 billion AND there is no room to store credit blocks then the money is lost.
    this would be a "bandaid" fix, at that point u could make all money just a cash block, it would work, but it seems like it wouldn't be as good as carrying the credits as a number
     
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    I am very surprised this is not getting more traction. This seems like a needless limitation. There are 3 main aspects to the game....Fighting, mining/creating and trading. The top players (the ones you want as they are more committed) can often easily hit this this limit. Whether by valuable blocks or raising the credit limit....not doing this seems like a needless limited aspect. Easy pirates is another sellout that many servers are doing ...catering to new players. But I think you will find that new players often come and go easily. The higher more complicated aspects of the game should not be ignored for "I want fancy skins" and "Justin Bieber songs" to be able to play in the game.


    By the way ...I am not hatin' on JB songs or fancy skins....just please don't ignore the more complicated suggestions because few newer players want them. Just sayin' :)
     
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    I agree with this, the players that are skilled either A: play on a server where it is virtually impossible to get credits, or B: rely on the server having a bank, in either cases the game is completely reliant on the server owners patching this up, just recently the server I play on had it's bank system crash.....there was virtually no playability on that server while it was down, both these cases would be avoided if they changed the credit cap, which would be extremely easy to do...
     
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    this would be a "bandaid" fix, at that point u could make all money just a cash block, it would work, but it seems like it wouldn't be as good as carrying the credits as a number
    I disagree. I think that changing the variable type is the band-aid and the block suggestion is the only means of attaining a "no-limit currency." Here are some justifications.

    First, credits are currently only an object that can be dropped into space. I don't think they physically drop on death (though pirates drop credits sometimes), but a player can opt to drop credits into space through the UI. You can't build with the credits, and you can't store credits in a chest or as a stack of items. The closest you get is storing in a shop, which has the same 2.14 billion limit and can't pull credits from other shops or store them elsewhere when over limit. Because credits don't have an inventory item they must be limited to a single variable stored in the character file and a single variable in the HUD. Because of how computers work, a single variable will always have some limit.

    Right now the limit is 2.14 billion. If the number is changed to a different type of variable, the limit might go up to 9.2 septillion (which is 9 million billion). This has two problems. Though incredibly large, it is still a limit which is the problem the OP wishes to avoid. Second, writing a number that large in a GUI is very difficult. Here is 9.2 septillion written out.
    9,200,000,000,000,000,000

    That's a lot of HUD space to be dedicated to money, especially when most people will not need it. Either it bleeds over and overlaps other HUD items, or there is a lot of blank space dedicated to the end-game currency needs.

    Now if money could be turned into a block we fix both issues and get other perks. Money can be used to build (decorative hordes of money), and can be stored in cargo (to protect from loss when dying or a secret stash for faction members), and can be moved around with logic by linking cargo.

    This means that a ship or station can have, almost literally, unlimited storage of credits depending on how big the entity is. A player may still be limited by their personal inventory, but when flying a ship (and having access to the ship inventory) they have as much money as they have carried with them to the shop. A player owned shop, when linked to cargo, can store infinitely scalable credits and multiple shops can access the same credit storage rather than each keeping their own separate balance.

    We also get added realism (assuming a non-bitcoin currency is the galactic standard). We also get added gameplay logistics. We also get factions and merchants with treasure hordes they need to protect - this is the cargo room under lock and key, and that is the treasure room under multiple locks and I've swallowed the keys.

    I think this is the best solution, and not just a band-aid.
     
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    Right now the limit is 2.14 billion. If the number is changed to a different type of variable, the limit might go up to 9.2 septillion (which is 9 million billion). This has two problems. Though incredibly large, it is still a limit which is the problem the OP wishes to avoid. Second, writing a number that large in a GUI is very difficult. Here is 9.2 septillion written out.
    9,200,000,000,000,000,000
    How long does it take people to reach the current limit[assuming they don't simply get a credit drop from a much older player]? I'd say 12 hours would be a guess one can hardly complain about, if you can manage to do so in a shorter amount of time, please state that time.
    The current limit is 2^31-1, if the datatype would be changed from int to long, the new limit would be 2^63-1, which is a tiny bit more than 2^32 times greater, than the previous limit. Thus it would roughly take players 2^32 times the time to reach the limit, assuming linear growth; 2^16 times as much assuming square growth.
    12h*2^16 = 1 day * 2^15 = 512*64 days >> 64 years
    For all reasonable intents and purposes, I'd say the problem is solved by that measure.
     
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    9,200,000,000,000,000,000

    That's a lot of HUD space to be dedicated to money, especially when most people will not need it. Either it bleeds over and overlaps other HUD items, or there is a lot of blank space dedicated to the end-game currency needs.
    Easy fix. It's called scientific notation.

    12h*2^16 = 1 day * 2^15 = 512*64 days >> 64 years
    For all reasonable intents and purposes, I'd say the problem is solved by that measure.
    512*64= 32768 days
    32768 / 365.25 == ~89.71 years

    Also, I think you are forgetting factions and the new fleets. More people will increase the rate, more mining drones, are offline mining fleets going to be implemented? The speed at which a single person makes money is limited, but you throw in all this other stuff and it gets exponentially faster.

    Still, 9.2 x 10^17 is going to take a while. Even if those calculations are off by a factor of 100, we're still talking over 10.76 months.


    As for storing money in blocks, buy a few (hundred) computers. If that isn't good enough for you I'm sure you can edit the BlockConfig to increase the price of something. As I recall there are a lot of unused terrain blocks.
     
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    Also, I think you are forgetting factions and the new fleets. More people will increase the rate, more mining drones, are offline mining fleets going to be implemented? The speed at which a single person makes money is limited, but you throw in all this other stuff and it gets exponentially faster.
    Nope, the curve can't be exponential. Currently the only way a player can obtain credits is by another player, or shops. The other player had to make the credits himself first, so that would only be a delay, and thus cannot cause exponential growth.
    And since shops[both player and NPC] only have a limited amount of stock AND stored credits, there is a limit to the growth...the number of shops within reach. As such, growth of the number of credits could be cubic at most.
     

    BJammin

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    Other idea: use a tiered currency system, one that uses larger units of measurement as the amount of money increases.

    Think of it this way. Imagine you kept track of all your money in pennies. For a few cents, pennies will manage just fine. Though as the amount increases, counting by pennies alone becomes cumbersome and slow. Units such as dimes, quarters, and ultimately dollars start to come in handy to make the system much quicker to count, and more efficient.

    In StarMade, the standard credit is currently the only unit of measurement. If a player were to reach a certain amount of credits (let's just say 1 billion for now), then their 'balance' would transition from saying "1,000,000,000C" to "1B, 0C" (B for billions, C for individual credits). From there it would continue to add by Cs until another billion is reached. (2B, xC then 3B, xC etc.) Once a billion Bs are attained, the format would transition yet again to "1Q, 0B, 0C" (Q for quintillion). From there you could just keep going, adding new levels of currency for each subsequent number of billions of billions. The units (C, B, Q etc.) don't need to be the same as what I've used, as these are only for the sake of example.
    *Note* The use of the placeholders "0C" or "0B" are included in this example primarily to show the concept more clearly. If the value for a given tier is only zero, it would also make sense to omit that tier in the window entirely (e.g. 1Q, 0B, 500C becomes 1Q, 500C).

    The coding behind this would be rather simple. Instead of using a single int variable to measure credits, a single ArrayList of Integers could be used to keep track not only of each tier's amount, but also the total number of needed tiers. Each element's value would be the amount, and its respective index would be its tier level. Once an element shows that it is equal to X value (I said 1 billion, though this could be something that can be changed via the server properties), it will reset that element's value back to zero, and increment the following element by 1. (Or add a new element with a value of 1 if the tier had not previously been reached.) Likewise, when a player pays at a shop and causes their balance to dip below their highest tier, the last element of the ArrayList will be removed, and the difference subtracted from the element before it.

    This is just my take on how this problem could be solved. I don't claim it to be the best solution, just a solution. If anyone has anything to add, or has a question, feel free to say something.
     
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    I disagree. I think that changing the variable type is the band-aid and the block suggestion is the only means of attaining a "no-limit currency."
    Well, this would be like carrying huge amounts of cash around IRL, unrealistic.

    How long does it take people to reach the current limit[assuming they don't simply get a credit drop from a much older player]? I'd say 12 hours would be a guess one can hardly complain about.
    I have hit it over 3 times(on 3 different servers) in under 1 hr, and after the starting phase, u can easily hit the limit in a couple minutes.
     
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    I have hit it over 3 times(on 3 different servers) in under 1 hr, and after the starting phase, u can easily hit the limit in a couple minutes.
    As my guess was 12 times higher, just divide the result by 12.
    512*64 days /12 = 2730 days + 16h = ~7.5 years.
    Still enough for all reasonable intents and purposes.
     
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    Megacrafter127 , H4ppyg0rri11a
    I think there are a couple of other things to consider in this. Servers make custom config files to appeal to their users, some give out free credits, star with more credits for new players, have increased pirate drops, etc. Vote rewards on some of the more popular servers give out millions of credits to every player every day.

    The default pirate drops are highly random (since the game has no real sense of progression yet), and taking over a pirate base can easily net 2 billion in items in one haul. And there are an infinite number of bases (if you explore far enough).

    Credit accumulation may be limited (in part) by the number of shops (which have limited supply), but the number of shops is unlimited. A player may only gain credits so fast, but a player with fleet mining who is a member of a faction with fleet mining can accumulate wealth much faster. The Faction and faction owned shops will grow faster as well, particularly if resources are pooled.

    So as Megacrafter127 said:
    512*64 days /12 = 2730 days + 16h = ~7.5 years (for one person)

    but also:
    2730 days + 16 hours / 10 (faction members pooling resources) = 273 days + 1 hour = ~9 months
    273 days + 1 hour / 3 (fleet size adjustment when mining/assaulting pirates and factions) = 91 days = ~3 months

    The math is obviously shaky (9 months play time, not 9 months with some play), but I'm not going for perfection here. I just want to highlight how a large limit can still be reached quickly by a single shop serving a moderately sized faction. Even if it is closer to a year or two, it is still a limit that can be hit by the hard-core trade-oriented guilds (such as the OP).

    Of course, changes to other game mechanics could also help with this issue. And I want to reiterate that the block-currency suggestion is meant to fit in with the Dev's goal of infinite scalability and no hard-coded limits.
     
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    by a single shop
    A shop itself only contains so many credits, even if we were to ignore its stock limit of 50K of each item. A single shop can't give you enough credits in a short enough amount of time.
    Edit: The trade guild should restock it regularly, yes, but how much and how often?