- Joined
- Oct 15, 2013
- Messages
- 121
- Reaction score
- 5
This is a suggestion to the Devs about allowing the player to select and chose where they get out of a ship core.
I understand that, as mentioned in the "StarMade Devs Q&A" videos, you plan for ship "coring" (destroying a ships core) to not be how ships are destroyed in the future. But it wasn't made clear as to whether or not the ship core would still be the block players would need to enter in order to control their ship or if you would introduce some other method instead (ie a chair), and if that is the case then you might consider this an undesired bit of work just for a temporary mechanic. However, the ship core is what we have now.
At the moment, getting out of the ship core can feel haphazard and unpredictable. I feel that a method to allow players to decide where they are placed when getting out of the ship core is both needed and urgent.
In general, when a player currently exits a ship core, they get out standing on top of it. But it seems that either the player model (both the old one and the new "Dave") is slightly wider than 1 block or slighting fatter (front to back) than 1 block, or the placement of the player is not perfectly within a 1x1x2 (width, depth, height) area, because a block in the "wrong" place can interfere with the player placement upon exiting a core and put them in a decidedly random place.
Below is an example of a ship core being integrated into a chair design using a single wedge (another chair using just 2 wedges can be seen in the background):
As you can see, the wedge that forms the back of the chair is occupying the space 1 block behind the space above the ship core. I have also tried to re-orientate the wedge so that it's sloping down towards the top of the ship core but the result is the same. I should also note that the ceiling above the ship core is 2 empty blocks away, which is definitely high enough since on top of the core is where I get out when the wedge is moved/removed.
Below is a pic showing where the ship core is located in the ship (it is just visible beyond the foreground chair in the top right of the cursor frame cube thingy):
As mentioned, there is 2 blocks of "air" above the ship core, there is also 3 block high free space around the core on all sides (except where the wedge is obviously), and below the core is 2 blocks of hull. And yet, when I exit the core, this is where the game places me:
... outside the ship underneath the 2 blocks thick hull below the core.
Yes, I know the simple solution in this case is to not incorporate the core into a chair (and just have it on its own), but this is just an example of how getting out of the ship core can be unpredictable, especially in small, cramped ships.
This is an idea I've had for the solution:
When in build mode, the player can press their "Select Module" key on the ship core to select it, then they hold their "Advanced Build Mode" button to bring up the top right menu, where-in there should be an option to "Select Exit Point". Clicking on this option places a frame around the ship core (just like the docking modules show a frame) which extends 2 blocks in each direction from the core, within which the exit point must be placed (preventing players from placing an exit point miles away in a different part of the ship), and another frame will be placed at the players cursor for the exit point itself, which is 1x1x2 blocks in size. Here is a mock up of how I think this would look in practice (yes, I know, it's a rubbish picture, let's move on. :p):
I would also suggest (hence why I left the arrow in the cursor frame in that pic) that the exit point should be able to be orientated in all directions to facilitate exiting from turrets, especially those not aligned the same way as the ship to which they are attached. For example, on the sides and bottom of my ship (the green frame of the bottom of which can be seen in both the 2nd and 3rd images) I have 3 salvage turrets with access from the inside of the ship. In the next pic is the access to one of those sideways mounted salvage turrets:
The Turret Docking Module is just visible, so this little access corridor is within the proposed allowable area around the turrets ship core. And since the bottom of the turret is against the main ships hull, the turrets exit point would need to be orientated differently to the turret itself in order for the player using said turret to get out of it into the same access corridor they used to get in to it.
Yes, I realise this scenario is specific to me, but there is bound to be other players with other setups similar to this where getting out of a turret which is aligned differently to the ship is an issue, and my proposal would stop players getting out of the turrets in space and instead allow them to egress into an access port.
Hopefully, you find this proposal both worthy and warranted, and my ability to convey that proposal clear and comprehensible. I hope you consider this idea and look forward to possibly seeing this, or something else that combats the same outlined issue, in the future.
I understand that, as mentioned in the "StarMade Devs Q&A" videos, you plan for ship "coring" (destroying a ships core) to not be how ships are destroyed in the future. But it wasn't made clear as to whether or not the ship core would still be the block players would need to enter in order to control their ship or if you would introduce some other method instead (ie a chair), and if that is the case then you might consider this an undesired bit of work just for a temporary mechanic. However, the ship core is what we have now.
At the moment, getting out of the ship core can feel haphazard and unpredictable. I feel that a method to allow players to decide where they are placed when getting out of the ship core is both needed and urgent.
In general, when a player currently exits a ship core, they get out standing on top of it. But it seems that either the player model (both the old one and the new "Dave") is slightly wider than 1 block or slighting fatter (front to back) than 1 block, or the placement of the player is not perfectly within a 1x1x2 (width, depth, height) area, because a block in the "wrong" place can interfere with the player placement upon exiting a core and put them in a decidedly random place.
Below is an example of a ship core being integrated into a chair design using a single wedge (another chair using just 2 wedges can be seen in the background):
As you can see, the wedge that forms the back of the chair is occupying the space 1 block behind the space above the ship core. I have also tried to re-orientate the wedge so that it's sloping down towards the top of the ship core but the result is the same. I should also note that the ceiling above the ship core is 2 empty blocks away, which is definitely high enough since on top of the core is where I get out when the wedge is moved/removed.
Below is a pic showing where the ship core is located in the ship (it is just visible beyond the foreground chair in the top right of the cursor frame cube thingy):
As mentioned, there is 2 blocks of "air" above the ship core, there is also 3 block high free space around the core on all sides (except where the wedge is obviously), and below the core is 2 blocks of hull. And yet, when I exit the core, this is where the game places me:
... outside the ship underneath the 2 blocks thick hull below the core.
Yes, I know the simple solution in this case is to not incorporate the core into a chair (and just have it on its own), but this is just an example of how getting out of the ship core can be unpredictable, especially in small, cramped ships.
This is an idea I've had for the solution:
When in build mode, the player can press their "Select Module" key on the ship core to select it, then they hold their "Advanced Build Mode" button to bring up the top right menu, where-in there should be an option to "Select Exit Point". Clicking on this option places a frame around the ship core (just like the docking modules show a frame) which extends 2 blocks in each direction from the core, within which the exit point must be placed (preventing players from placing an exit point miles away in a different part of the ship), and another frame will be placed at the players cursor for the exit point itself, which is 1x1x2 blocks in size. Here is a mock up of how I think this would look in practice (yes, I know, it's a rubbish picture, let's move on. :p):
I would also suggest (hence why I left the arrow in the cursor frame in that pic) that the exit point should be able to be orientated in all directions to facilitate exiting from turrets, especially those not aligned the same way as the ship to which they are attached. For example, on the sides and bottom of my ship (the green frame of the bottom of which can be seen in both the 2nd and 3rd images) I have 3 salvage turrets with access from the inside of the ship. In the next pic is the access to one of those sideways mounted salvage turrets:
The Turret Docking Module is just visible, so this little access corridor is within the proposed allowable area around the turrets ship core. And since the bottom of the turret is against the main ships hull, the turrets exit point would need to be orientated differently to the turret itself in order for the player using said turret to get out of it into the same access corridor they used to get in to it.
Yes, I realise this scenario is specific to me, but there is bound to be other players with other setups similar to this where getting out of a turret which is aligned differently to the ship is an issue, and my proposal would stop players getting out of the turrets in space and instead allow them to egress into an access port.
Hopefully, you find this proposal both worthy and warranted, and my ability to convey that proposal clear and comprehensible. I hope you consider this idea and look forward to possibly seeing this, or something else that combats the same outlined issue, in the future.