Hi, well i was thinking about this for some time and wanted to share it.
Adding option \"DRONE\" in boby AI module will allow to define \"non-combat\" drone(ship) or turret.
Turrets that repair your ship are the simpliest(case of refilling blocks and building from shematic further down), but harvesting ones...
Harvesting Turrets
To harvest will requirer space to storeage, linking Salvage CPUs to PlexStorages would be pain in the ass so why not to make \"
CARGO\" block that by default would gather space debris(pirates loot), and harvested blocks.
So ho to make transfer from turret with such \"cargo\" block to mothership? simply by linking (ANY) docking bay to \"cargo\" of you main ship. (item filter would be set in dockig block, for ex by item value)
Harvesting AI drones
- AI harvesting by it self can be chalanging to create , first drone/turret needs to know what to harvest, for that it need \"MINING SENSOR\" and \"mining sensor CPU\" CPU operates sensors and defines values of items that are in mined \"rock\" and allows to set value/mineral filter, mining sensor detect minerals in direction and certain distance (bigger it is bigger the distance)
Additional information for AI would be \"excavation depth\" (set in MsensorCPU) defining how far drone will dig for minerals (option \'as far as you can see makes it dig as long as sensor picks up minerals of set value)
Repairing Turrets (refilling / building)
- Refilling -\"DYNAMIC SHEMATIC\" it\'s possible by using saved schematic , but not as efficient as we think would be.
Option could be changing way of defining blocks (im im correct how its done) in \"ship save\" (ships are saved as 3d boards of data [X,Y,Z] as high, as long , as wide as the ship gose - some of cords can be empty, simpliest C++ way of thinking, in game on 99% is used more advanced system of defining ships)
Aditiona layer of data defining its stance (destruction)
Main goal is to add test befor interacting defined block IF DAMAGED>=100% and not clear it space in ship exept its overwriten or delated by player.
- what is ment to do ? the block type is saved , he will not interact if its destroyed but auto turrets will be able to define what block is needed to refil
- Building
To build automaticly your ship from shematic on the board of \"mothership\" / \"motherstation\" you will need some sort of \"MANUFACTURING BAY\", that will work like other docking stations in exeption in exeption that it will draw from cargo (at price defined in guild ranks). ship size would be defined by size of bay.
?
Drones / AI fighters
Many of us was thinking about building Carriers with AI drones / interceptors, we made nice hangars but wehn we detach our fleet from docks its starts to freek out inside our ship how to simply imprve it? What about collecting drones after battle? and how to define that we would like to fly in formation with our fighters, ask drones to chek our ship?
Improved hangar docking
- \"Docking waypoint\" - additional option in docking module or block, defining ROUTE of UNDOCKING and docking, it will allow to navigate AI ships in interia of hangars.
example:
docking unit + AI fighter, docking unit have 3 waypoints after undocking fighter, he will fly with the speed of main ship (sort of staying in gravity wheel) from dock to w1 ->w2 ->w3 and after that it will be relesed to service.
same waypoints would allow AI to dock in its place.
AI after battle / AI contorl
- Gathering interceptors after combat takees a loot of effort, why not to make \"DOCKING CPU\" that will allow you to take control of DOCKED or LAST DOCKED unit that was pluged in \"docking unit\"(same thing turret docking units).
Docking CPU would be ment to contorl 10 docked units (ships that was docked or turrets)
example:
After entering DOCKING CPU we ccould undock fighter in slot 1 buy pressing LMB , and recall it after ending \"starting route of waypoints\" by cliking LMB.
we could change viev between ships by arrows LEFT-RIGHT , and choose ship to radiocontrol by arrows UP-DOWN.(temporary disabled AI)
Flying formation / ship attachment to its \"mother\"
- Making grones or fighters fallow ship that has got its docnking point will fix some issues. but what about escort ship?
Addding block \"FLEET BEACON\" would make that easy to handle, how he could work ? like some sort of space RTS UI
I hope someone will find it interesting
sorry for wall of text :P