Smaller jump drives = faster charge

[Koloss_Meshuggah]

So I wanted to build a ship that could warp into combat, drop a powerful missile, and then warp out. I built a ship with a small backup jump drive, expecting it to charge much faster than the large main one. Turns out jump drives don't work that way. Why not ?

Smaller jump drives should charge faster, so small ships can hop in and out of danger faster. Large jump drives should carry you further, making them useful for cargo ships and capitals.

Of coarse there needs to be a reason to use a large jump drive instead of a bunch of smaller ones of the same mass, so the distance would need to scale exponentially with every block, letting capitals jump across multiple systems.

Eh.... this is just how I'd expect a warp system to work, maybe this isn't Starmade's style ?

 

[Brokengauge]

The jump drive's charge speed is proportional to the ratio of the jump drive system to the mass of your ship. I forget what the ratio is, but it should be on starmadepedia.

Here's an analogy: motorcycles are capable of much higher acceleration than a pick up truck. However, you wouldn't want to put a 1200cc motorcycle engine into an f150, it would be severely under powered because it's a weight difference of a few hundred pounds vs upwards of 2 tons. The jump drive, thrust. Passive systems are all like this. They have to be big enough for the size vessel you are putting them on.

Hope I'm not being confusing here lol

Now, as far as how you THOUGHT they would work: would you expect the size of the drive for the desired effect (fast charge or long distance) to be set, or based on the ship's mass? Would a 100 block drive let a large ship jump as fast as a small one? Would a tiny millennium falcon type ship need a drive the same size as the USS Enterprise's in order to go the same distance?

 

[Snowtiger256]

TBH, the basic one module jump drive shouldn't even work on larger ships at all, what irks me most is the fact that adding this kind of a drive into a battle monster and it works as well as a larger drive (albeit it charges much slower than a more suitable drive system). Small drives like the basic one module drive should only be suitable for small shuttles, life pods and such. Ships larger than this should have more elaborate jump drive systems.

 

[Brokengauge]

TBH, the basic one module jump drive shouldn't even work on larger ships at all, what irks me most is the fact that adding this kind of a drive into a battle monster and it works as well as a larger drive (albeit it charges much slower than a more suitable drive system). Small drives like the basic one module drive should only be suitable for small shuttles, life pods and such. Ships larger than this should have more elaborate jump drive systems.

Although I like the idea of a chain drive, I still share this sentiment. Depending on the purpose of the ship I always try to fit in a jump drive that "feels" right. I'm usually satisfied with a 30sec charge unless it's some sort of hot rod lol.

Charge time is dependent on the system to mass ratio. I really wish there was a similar way to limit the distance as well. Probably have it meet a minimum threshold or something before it even works at all, then another for "optimal" jump distance. then the rest is all about how fast do you want it to charge?

Meh. Have you ever seen the "schematic ppl draw of like star wars ships? The millennium falcons hyperdrive is sometimes the size of a coffee table lol.

 

[terra mining corp.]

I usually make my ships with multi jump drives(up to 10) that recharge in 30sec that I charge before undocking , and 1 single block oh shyt it's a star! emerg drive. I've tried chain drives but with the undocking concerns on server that didn't end well, hopefully that's fixed next updoot!

 

[Lecic]

This sounds terrible from the perspective of combat jumps. A large drive can overpower an inhibitor and make a jump in combat, but you would need to spend so much time charging (probably 30-60s at least) that you would be at a massive disadvantage because of it.

 

[lupoCani]

If I may be a tad sarcastic- do you perhaps also think smaller guns should do more damage, smaller thrusters accelerate faster, smaller generators generate more power, and so forth?

The charge time of a drive is its speed. A larger drive is more powerful, therefore faster, just like with any other system in the game.

And, if I may add, increased jump ranges are not in line with the idea behind jump drives, especially not different ranges for different ships. The idea behind jump drives, as opposed to hyperdrives, is to force the player to interact with the space in between. Letting the player skip past more empty jumps in between subverts that.