Ships + station systems and features

[kookster]

So I have been follow a few threads about making and balancing ships with using station features. Like shipyards, factories and home base invulnerability for just a few examples. So in the process of reading these I came up with another idea that I feel would balance some of the concerns that were brought up in this threads. So I am going to just break it up into points of functionality changes.

1. Ships can now use station systems except warp gates.

2. Ships now have a new mode / system / block system that allows them to go into a state where they cannot move at all. Lets call it "Gravitational Lock".

Spoiler: Explanation

To activate "Gravitational Lock", your ship must be fully stopped, there must be no detectable hostile entities in the sector/ within range of the longest range weapon, there must be no other stations in the sector unless the server allows more then one station per sector. It takes 30 seconds for you to activate this mode, if any of the above conditions change while activating or if you take any damage "Gravitational Lock" will be cancelled.

3. You can disable "Gravitational Lock" at any time.

4. Ships can be designated a home base. They are not invulnerable unless their "Gravitational Lock" is enabled.

Spoiler: Concerns

Here is a list of some of the previously mentioned concerns and why I think this idea resolves them.
1. Using a invulnerable movable base to attack others.
Since there are conditions for when your ship can go into the mode that grants them invulnerability, this should not be a issue.

2. What about neutral groups that you might attack randomly after going invulnerable.
You can already do this with a very powerful ship, you just take your ship near their stuff create a 3 block station, make it your home base dock to it and attack. So this is nothing new and I don't feel this idea needs to address this issue.

3. What about ships being OP over stations?
With the additional systems in the ship it will add a LOT of extra mass to the ship making it slower and harder to do things which in and of itself is a balancing fact so I would not consider this a issue.

 

[kiraen]

Because of the way the 'grid system' works for stations and ships, converting back and forth is more hassle then it is worth. If it moves it is a ship. A ship with the parking brake on is not a station.

Station systems are 'station systems' specifically to encourage the use of stations. Allowing them on ships entirely defeats the purpose of them being 'station systems' in the first place. Having said that, the plan is that some 'station systems' will be allowed on Capital Ships which will be very expensive, very hard to make, and have not been implemented yet. Invulnerability is not, and never will be, one of these systems.

 

[kookster]

Because of the way the 'grid system' works for stations and ships, converting back and forth is more hassle then it is worth. If it moves it is a ship. A ship with the parking brake on is not a station.

Station systems are 'station systems' specifically to encourage the use of stations. Allowing them on ships entirely defeats the purpose of them being 'station systems' in the first place. Having said that, the plan is that some 'station systems' will be allowed on Capital Ships which will be very expensive, very hard to make, and have not been implemented yet. Invulnerability is not, and never will be, one of these systems.

You speak as though you have the power to dictate what happens in this game and that the makers of the game will never change their mind. I do not agree. I hope that something like my suggestion will be implemented. Though I don't know if it will or will not be.

 

[jstenholt]

I'm on board with this one.

Space stations move, it happens in real life and it happens in sci-fi (DS9 moves pretty often in Star Trek and most UNSC stations were also capable of moving, some even had FTL capability.) so yes, finding a non-op way to implement this would be great.

 

[nightwalker_007]

Actually, there could be a way that won't break this too much. Combining the idea of the station computer I had when I suggested a station design computer and a construction ship here: http://starmadedock.net/threads/design-computer-for-both-starbases-and-ships.21000/

You could have a space station that can move, if the station has a jump computer and a ton of warp modules. Using the station computer/core, you could then set a course for the station and initiate a jump. To avoid any issues, jumps can only be done in empty non-asteroid sectors. Assuming there is a ship or object in one of these empty sectors, they would be pushed out to the adjacent sector before the station jumped.

During the jump process, all station systems would power down, no ships would be able to undock, and the station's shields would drop. The station jump distance is dependent on the stations mass and the number of jump modules on the station. The cool down should be something long, like a few minutes or something. It shouldn't be an easy or fast process to move a station across the galaxy, after all.

 

[NeonSturm]

The greatest difference might be that ships are built for mobility and stability or even planetary landing while stations can do none of this.

• No landing on planets
• No fast turning / accelerating or applying other force on themselves

If super-heavy armour (heavy, not strong) for stations gets in, this would be another balancing factor.

• On stations, you might prefer super-heavy armour over more weight-effective but less cost-effective armour.

 

[alterintel]

So I have been follow a few threads about making and balancing ships with using station features. Like shipyards, factories and home base invulnerability for just a few examples. So in the process of reading these I came up with another idea that I feel would balance some of the concerns that were brought up in this threads. So I am going to just break it up into points of functionality changes.

1. Ships can now use station systems except warp gates.

2. Ships now have a new mode / system / block system that allows them to go into a state where they cannot move at all. Lets call it "Gravitational Lock".

Spoiler: Explanation

To activate "Gravitational Lock", your ship must be fully stopped, there must be no detectable hostile entities in the sector/ within range of the longest range weapon, there must be no other stations in the sector unless the server allows more then one station per sector. It takes 30 seconds for you to activate this mode, if any of the above conditions change while activating or if you take any damage "Gravitational Lock" will be cancelled.

3. You can disable "Gravitational Lock" at any time.

4. Ships can be designated a home base. They are not invulnerable unless their "Gravitational Lock" is enabled.

Spoiler: Concerns

Here is a list of some of the previously mentioned concerns and why I think this idea resolves them.
1. Using a invulnerable movable base to attack others.
Since there are conditions for when your ship can go into the mode that grants them invulnerability, this should not be a issue.

2. What about neutral groups that you might attack randomly after going invulnerable.
You can already do this with a very powerful ship, you just take your ship near their stuff create a 3 block station, make it your home base dock to it and attack. So this is nothing new and I don't feel this idea needs to address this issue.

3. What about ships being OP over stations?
With the additional systems in the ship it will add a LOT of extra mass to the ship making it slower and harder to do things which in and of itself is a balancing fact so I would not consider this a issue.

I really like this idea, It's very similar to an idea I was coming up with on my own, but I like yours much better.
The only thing that I might change is how home-base invulnerability is done.
When you activate invulnerability on a base, I'd like to see it disable all weapons. Also another idea that may solve the invulnerability problem my be giving up system claim if you turn on invulnerability.

So when "anchoring" or gravitational locking a ship --> Disables engines, enables station blocks such as factories and refineries
When applying invulnerability --> removes faction claim on system, and Disables all weapons

gravitational locking and invulnerability should only be activate-able when there are no hostiles or other stations or anchored ships near.

 

[kookster]

I really like this idea, It's very similar to an idea I was coming up with on my own, but I like yours much better.
The only thing that I might change is how home-base invulnerability is done.
When you activate invulnerability on a base, I'd like to see it disable all weapons. Also another idea that may solve the invulnerability problem my be giving up system claim if you turn on invulnerability.

So when "anchoring" or gravitational locking a ship --> Disables engines, enables station blocks such as factories and refineries
When applying invulnerability --> removes faction claim on system, and Disables all weapons

gravitational locking and invulnerability should only be activate-able when there are no hostiles or other stations or anchored ships near.

I was thinking of disabling systems while you are switching to I like your way of calling it "anchoring". So when you anchor it turns off your power shields and weapons. Once you successfully anchor all that comes back on but your ships more of a station then a ship. Personally I wouldnt disable the station blocks while on the move, I would want them working while im going about, cause most nomadic people probably wont be anchoring except maybe when they are about to log off. At least thats how I would do it.