space anchor - butthurt no more

[aceface]

200 block,hmm..ok ,sounds good,that i can live with :p

not from the node but maybe the nearest block of the structure?

 

[Ithirahad]

This would be really nice... This way, more servers would start using zero linear damping, and we wouldn't need to worry about autopilot and throttle control since we can just burn thrusters to accelerate and decelerate like normal people. (And no, I do not support more stupid boxdim enhancer bullcrap. Docking is bad enough.)

 

[GROOV3ST3R]

I think a Smart AI should be implemented. Ships should still be ''bumpable'' out of position, but they would return to their original status when possible. It's like GPS stabilization used on mobile oil rigs and construction ships. Think of the possibilities then:
- you fly away to a remote location where you pick up another ship without the ability to dock either one together. What do you do? Tell the original ship to go back to where it was and pilot the new one
- you have docked scout ships. Release them into the wild, ordering to fly around known enemy sectors. Or maybe you're looking for ore? Stations? Whatever it is, once done order your scout to return back to the ship or the original drop position and pick it up there
- order AI to move ships around your hangars as needed. Have lots of fighters stored inside but not enough room to maneuver them safely yourself? Don't have the time to? Need a ship that's at the back of your hangar NOW? Order AI to fetch it and dock it at a pick-up location.

I mean these are all the things that would make good use of that ''return to point'' feature. A simple Anchor would be a little crude and frankly a bit useless. I like the idea and understand the reasoning behind it - especially when trying to dock 1000m titans can get a little impractical. But anchors would be too exploitable on their own.

Think about it..... Get a carrier with lots of docked mine-ships. Just a core, anchor, generator to power it all and lots of explosives strapped together. Release them in swarms and create an impenetrable minefield that cannot be moved and which forces ships to go around. It doesn't sound too bad until someone does that at your home base, dropping loads of super-powerful unmovable turrets and hundreds of mines all over your base. Balancing is definitely a tricky issue.

 

[Ithirahad]

Think about it..... Get a carrier with lots of docked mine-ships. Just a core, anchor, generator to power it all and lots of explosives strapped together. Release them in swarms and create an impenetrable minefield that cannot be moved and which forces ships to go around.

Or just shoot the damn mines. Anchored =/= invincible.

It doesn't sound too bad until someone does that at your home base, dropping loads of super-powerful unmovable turrets and hundreds of mines all over your base. Balancing is definitely a tricky issue.

Again, they aren't invincible. Any dropped turrets wouldn't be any more powerful than turrets presently would be if left near someone's base.

 

[GROOV3ST3R]

But you can't even move them. My point isn't that they are invincible. My point is that they are annoying..

Okay, what if I was to drop a load of mines all around your ship, so tight that you can't even turn around and you can't move it and they are neutral so your turrets don't automatically shoot them? What I'm saying is a mechanic like that is easily exploited.

 

[SkylordLuke]

I think a Smart AI should be implemented. Ships should still be ''bumpable'' out of position, but they would return to their original status when possible. It's like GPS stabilization used on mobile oil rigs and construction ships. Think of the possibilities then:
- you fly away to a remote location where you pick up another ship without the ability to dock either one together. What do you do? Tell the original ship to go back to where it was and pilot the new one
- you have docked scout ships. Release them into the wild, ordering to fly around known enemy sectors. Or maybe you're looking for ore? Stations? Whatever it is, once done order your scout to return back to the ship or the original drop position and pick it up there
- order AI to move ships around your hangars as needed. Have lots of fighters stored inside but not enough room to maneuver them safely yourself? Don't have the time to? Need a ship that's at the back of your hangar NOW? Order AI to fetch it and dock it at a pick-up location.

I mean these are all the things that would make good use of that ''return to point'' feature. A simple Anchor would be a little crude and frankly a bit useless. I like the idea and understand the reasoning behind it - especially when trying to dock 1000m titans can get a little impractical. But anchors would be too exploitable on their own.

Think about it..... Get a carrier with lots of docked mine-ships. Just a core, anchor, generator to power it all and lots of explosives strapped together. Release them in swarms and create an impenetrable minefield that cannot be moved and which forces ships to go around. It doesn't sound too bad until someone does that at your home base, dropping loads of super-powerful unmovable turrets and hundreds of mines all over your base. Balancing is definitely a tricky issue.

ok,i see that there is a lot of fuss about the possibility of trolls using it in all kinds of ways,so i guess i must be more clear..
1.
i dont know how that kind of minefield can be impenetrable? shoot the explosives and it goes boom! i dont think space anchor would be indestructible,a simple fighter with 1dps would do it to destroy mines,anchors are normal blocks,not godmode godzilla kaiju thing!
2.
more trolls are bumping into big ships causing lots of problems now, than they would if there was a space anchor that would eradicate these trolls
3.
its a simple anchor that locks your ship in one place,hot damn is it that difficult to understand,i dont want any fancy mancy super AI that will cook me a pizza and fetch me some goods while i go to a shop for yholes.
4.
lots of people can already use station block to troll other people,simply build a station around players ship and he is trapped,but no one did that.it would be easier to do that than with the space anchor
5.
Admins can take care of trolls
6.give me my Space Anchor

 

[SkylordLuke]

But you can't even move them. My point isn't that they are invincible. My point is that they are annoying..

Okay, what if I was to drop a load of mines all around your ship, so tight that you can't even turn around and you can't move it and they are neutral so your turrets don't automatically shoot them? What I'm saying is a mechanic like that is easily exploited.

use your pistol god damn it

 

[Ithirahad]

But you can't even move them. My point isn't that they are invincible. My point is that they are annoying..

Okay, what if I was to drop a load of mines all around your ship, so tight that you can't even turn around and you can't move it and they are neutral so your turrets don't automatically shoot them? What I'm saying is a mechanic like that is easily exploited.

I just don't see people actually going and doing this... And if someone does, you can either blow a few up with your pistol or spawn in a small turret and detonate some. Heck, you could just spawn in cores and hurl them at the mines.

 

[SkylordLuke]

ok ,give me a list of 1000 possible troll ideas,and i will give you 4 ideas that would make each of them useless

 

[Lecic]

I think it should just lock in in place, not make it return to the original area when bumped. That doesn't fix the lag problem of two large ships moving and colliding.

 

[rece ktore leczo]

Problems of abusing:

• easily made blockades of sectors
• stopping bigger ships with few small fighters, preventing any maneuvers
• trolls (can't do much here)

Anchoring the ship should be only possible in the sectors claimed by our faction or in unclaimed ones.
Capturing bigger ships by smaller ones could be pretty nice as it would require some teamwork and tactics, but it could be also annoying for the pilots of capitals.

 

[Lecic]

Problems of abusing:

• easily made blockades of sectors
• stopping bigger ships with few small fighters, preventing any maneuvers
• trolls (can't do much here)

Anchoring the ship should be only possible in the sectors claimed by our faction or in unclaimed ones.
Capturing bigger ships by smaller ones could be pretty nice as it would require some teamwork and tactics, but it could be also annoying for the pilots of capitals.

Maybe if something is hit with a big enough force, the anchor block shatters and the ship can be moved again.

Also, you can't really blockade a sector with them. They aren't invincible. Just shoot the fence of anchored ships they have set up.

 

[ltmauve]

I think locking the ship in place would be preferable from a performance perspective over a "return to original place" type of thing.

Also, I don't see any concern with locked mines, since they would need to be manually placed, and it would be hard to get a whole bunch around a ship.

 

[_blarg]

So basically the anchor block is a Quantum Field Generator.
or am i wrong?

 

[Lecic]

So basically the anchor block is a Quantum Field Generator.
or am i wrong?

You are probably wrong. "Quantum Field Generator" is some pseudoscience garbage. The only scifi things I can find related to QFGs are some, surprise, pseudoscience garbage line from the new Thor movie, and a hyperdrive mechanic from Star Wars.

 

[Ithirahad]

So basically the anchor block is a Quantum Field Generator.
or am i wrong?

No; it's a relativity-defying universal position freezer.

 

[GaeasSon]

I like the concept... but not with a block. We SHOULD be able to do this eventually with LUA. Set a Dave on the helm, and tell him to maintain station. If he gets bumped, he just heads back to the parking coordinates.

 

[Lecic]

I like the concept... but not with a block. We SHOULD be able to do this eventually with LUA. Set a Dave on the helm, and tell him to maintain station. If he gets bumped, he just heads back to the parking coordinates.

But that doesn't solve the lag problem incurred by ships ramming into each other.

 

[_blarg]

why don't we just implement both features and and make it so you can toggle it in the server's config files, between an actual space anchor and a auto pilot system this way we all get what we want.

 

[gabs117]

This is good too, I'm concerned that this might increase resource usage though?

im not too sure what you mean by increase in resource usage, the first thing that cam to mind is that it might be taxing on servers, but i was having a second thought about the anchor block as a pivot point, you could just have one block at each end of your ship so it would then be stuck in place then.