Knowledge is arguably the most important part of modern warfare, and will certainly be a critical component of future warfare. I believe Starmade might benefit from giving players slightly less information at first, eventually giving them far more at a cost.
Currently there are advanced functions built into your ship's core that you may take for granted, but how did they get there, how do they work? I'm talking about Navigation. Have you noticed that the navigation menu for a large or small ship is exactly the same? No matter whether your ship is a pebble in the ocean of space or a continent, each is as equally blind as the other.
What would I propose then to make this scale better? Sensor Array Blocks!
Sensor array blocks would increase the range of the navigation menu, allowing ships to sense other ships from further out, much as radar jamming does the opposite for that target ship.
At high ratios to target mass, sensors should give the statistical outputs of the target ship, seeing how close their shields are to failing or whether their thusters will allow them to escape. High sensors focused long enough on a target ship should create an overlay, either coloring the enemy ship's areas or rendering target hull blocks more transparent than opaque, allowing you to strategically target system component areas more easily. Another thought that came to me is that the target lock for locking missiles could be linked to information gathering. All else being equal, the ship with the best sensors should be the fastest to lock on.
I concede with all the other things to do, this will be low priority, but I think it would be a fun part of the final gameplay. Again, as with all my suggestions concerning system blocks, threefold purpose for a single block type would be advised. One arrangement of the sensor array blocks should emphasize battle, speeding the target lock for missiles and giving the slight edge on who sees who first, as explained above. A second arrangement might benefit strategy, letting one see the ship guts and stat lines, as explained above. A third might be more domestic, an "Astrometrics" if you will, perhaps giving information on the type of star or planet in your crosshairs, or quickly letting you know what faction's ship numbers dominate a given target sector, when StarMade's politics become more dynamic.
On a flip-side note of making a ship invisible / less visible on navigation (via Radar Jamming/Cloaking) a ship that is marooned on a planet or other such non-battle emergency (such as I have done once or twice when failing to add enough thrusters to my shuttles - hello suicide button!) should be able to "turn on" a rescue beacon, ballooning their navigation profile, the opposite of radar jamming. Since beacons already exist and can be either turned on or off, giving them a third feature such as "send out a distress pulse" might be very fun when the economy side of this game picks up a bit and not every ship will be built for breaking other ships. My clone/heir not being able to find his rightful shuttle prototype again is a bit sad. (Of course, that usually is more caused by dyslexia having a field-day with sector coordinates)
Currently there are advanced functions built into your ship's core that you may take for granted, but how did they get there, how do they work? I'm talking about Navigation. Have you noticed that the navigation menu for a large or small ship is exactly the same? No matter whether your ship is a pebble in the ocean of space or a continent, each is as equally blind as the other.
What would I propose then to make this scale better? Sensor Array Blocks!
Sensor array blocks would increase the range of the navigation menu, allowing ships to sense other ships from further out, much as radar jamming does the opposite for that target ship.
At high ratios to target mass, sensors should give the statistical outputs of the target ship, seeing how close their shields are to failing or whether their thusters will allow them to escape. High sensors focused long enough on a target ship should create an overlay, either coloring the enemy ship's areas or rendering target hull blocks more transparent than opaque, allowing you to strategically target system component areas more easily. Another thought that came to me is that the target lock for locking missiles could be linked to information gathering. All else being equal, the ship with the best sensors should be the fastest to lock on.
I concede with all the other things to do, this will be low priority, but I think it would be a fun part of the final gameplay. Again, as with all my suggestions concerning system blocks, threefold purpose for a single block type would be advised. One arrangement of the sensor array blocks should emphasize battle, speeding the target lock for missiles and giving the slight edge on who sees who first, as explained above. A second arrangement might benefit strategy, letting one see the ship guts and stat lines, as explained above. A third might be more domestic, an "Astrometrics" if you will, perhaps giving information on the type of star or planet in your crosshairs, or quickly letting you know what faction's ship numbers dominate a given target sector, when StarMade's politics become more dynamic.
On a flip-side note of making a ship invisible / less visible on navigation (via Radar Jamming/Cloaking) a ship that is marooned on a planet or other such non-battle emergency (such as I have done once or twice when failing to add enough thrusters to my shuttles - hello suicide button!) should be able to "turn on" a rescue beacon, ballooning their navigation profile, the opposite of radar jamming. Since beacons already exist and can be either turned on or off, giving them a third feature such as "send out a distress pulse" might be very fun when the economy side of this game picks up a bit and not every ship will be built for breaking other ships. My clone/heir not being able to find his rightful shuttle prototype again is a bit sad. (Of course, that usually is more caused by dyslexia having a field-day with sector coordinates)
