Starmade's a great game, for sure. But, looking at what seem to be the two most basic parts of this game, shipbuilding and combat (particularly with large ships), there's definitely a lot that could be added to the way parts of a ship behave and interact. To be expected of an alpha, most definitely, but still, I'm going to throw out the many ideas I've thought up in hopes of inspiring Schema et al. as well as the community about ways the game might be improved, particularly in the ship-building and combat department.
NB: All numbers, key combinations, etc. given below are just examples of what they might be if these ideas were implemented, included just for the sake of thorough explanation. There would likely be more balanced numbers to plug in to these equations, more simple key combos to use, etc.
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The core is pretty boring for the most important part of a ship, if you ask me. Plus, in a ship fight, if your enemy manages to get a hole through to your core it's just over all too quick. While hitting a core should be a pretty bad thing it shouldn't be a more or less instant "you're screwed" button, things should be more interesting than that. The game could probably do well having a way to expand the core itself rather than it just being one tiny little block. Here are some of my ideas:
Core parts would basically be more powerful versions of the ship's normal parts, but they would be: (1) far more expensive and (2) only possible to place very close to the actual core itself, perhaps within a certain fraction of the ship's measure in a dimension, rounded down. E.g. the ship's 80m tall, 160m wide, and 600m long and this fraction is one fortieth (for the sake of example, it could be whatever); core expansion blocks could then be placed 2 blocks away from the core in either direction of height, 4 in either direction along width, and 15 in either direction along length.
To make actually entering the core with all this stuff surrounding it simpler and more aesthetically pleasing, pressing R on any core-type block should probably put the player in the core, in lieu of having to wiggle around between a buncha blocks all over the core. Perhaps the core blocks could also have special effects on the entire ship that are unique to them.
As for the block types themselves, some ideas follow. The general idea I've thought is to use large, beastly cores as a way to make immense capital ships TRULY worth it and terrifyingly strong, albeit slow as hell (like they should be). All of the blocks would probably do best to get grouping bonuses like power tanks currently do, i.e. it's just a simple matter of putting more connected to each other; trying to make crosses or whatever in a confined space like even a quite large ship's core would likely be a nightmare.
Core shielding: A stronger hull+shield combo. Its shields only drain when core blocks are attacked and are independent of the ship's main shields. Makes a ship all-around slower -- lower acceleration, lower turn rate, & lower top speed -- but makes shields more energy-efficient, more block-efficient (I.e. more shield points per block) & more effective.
Dark matter reactor: A stronger generator+power tank combo. Makes the ship turn slower, but increases the power per block of all weapons, including those of attached turrets.
Reactor fuel tank: A more powerful version of the power tank. Makes the ship accelerate slower, but makes all weapons, including attached turrets, have a longer range.
Ablated reaction catcher: A more powerful version of the generator. Makes the ship have a lower top speed, but makes hulls & hardened hulls have more HP.
Superheated plasma rod group: A more powerful thruster+generator combo. Increases the ship's top speed, but increases many energy requirements. Good for escapes (see below).
A few ideas that aren't "core blocks" (i.e. would be able to be built outside the designated core area of a ship) but are related to the core:
Core dumper: Works like a docking module. Allows the core of a ship to be dumped. Can also accept new ship cores provided they're small enough to fit the ship. By default just the core itself is dumped, but by expanding it like a docking/turret port it can dump more. It would be good for getting the heck outta dodge if a player is in a fight he/she can't win. The fact that a core of a significantly-sized ship couldn't be repaired without being redocked, due to
Core dumper expander: Expands the area of the core dumper so that it drops normal, non-core-related blocks when it dumps a ship's core. Again, good for attempting to escape an unwinnable battle: add a bit of protection or something to your dumped core, maybe throw in some plex-storage for your most valuable items, and GTFO if needed.
Core dump door: Essentially, a combination between hull and a plex-door of sorts. Their strength and damage reduction is handled like hull, and it looks like hull just as well, but they open like doors. If a core is dumped, these doors will automatically open, allowing a ship's core to be more or less instantly flung out.
Hardened core dump door: The same as above, except its HP and damage reduction is treated as a hardened hull instead of a normal hull, and it looks like a hardened hull too.
Core ejection piston: This provides a quick push to a ship's core when/if it's ejected, hopefully making a player not need to do quite so much to navigate their core out of their ship when it's being destroyed where every second counts. More in a group = more push. A core is given a "grace period" of a precious few seconds where it can go a measure of speed over the normal speed limit set by the server and AIs of any kind -- pirates, turrets, etc. -- intentionally won't target it, because: (1) a core ejected forward in a ship that's already flying as fast as possible would do little to no good, and (2) if an enemy can't just immediately shoot your rather weak core down with some random turret or at least get right on your tail the moment you burst out, ejecting the core would hopefully be a great measure LESS suicidal than staying in the "sinking" ship.
Transfer line: A non-core block that would connect ship systems to the core. Does nothing on its own, but when attached to weapons, thrusters, generators, power tanks, etc. etc. etc. at one end AND the core at the other end, it could have all sorts of useful effects.
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Other block ideas totally unrelated to the core and expansions thereof:
Docking controller: Due to the woeful state of affairs that is attempting to use small fighter ships in the defense of their carrying mothership -- having to select and undock them all one at a time and such -- this could serve as a control computer for large groups of all kinds of docks, as well as plex-doors. Compare selecting one thing to selecting perhaps dozens on a big capital ship with a healthy complement of defending fighters.
Reactive shielding: This is a sort of "priority" shield. They add shields exactly the same as normal blocks, but reactive shielding boxes off an area similar to docking systems, that can be expanded in a way also similar to docks, and attempts to defend that area at all costs, even to the exclusion of the main shielding systems if the shields have been beaten up enough for it to be impossible to run both at once. If you're tired of your most important cockpit getting knocked out early in a big battle this is for you. The shields will attempt to block weapons from colliding with ANYTHING within their box, not just the ship itself, which would also make them useful for shielding turrets without trying to cram a bunch of shield blocks in the turret itself, particularly good for small turrets that just don't have the room for it.
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Some ideas for mechanic & UI changes:
Cockpit importance: A way to make it simpler to switch through many, many cockpits on a large ship that needs a lot of viewing angles. I'd propose 4 levels of cockpit importance. The first, the "main" cockpit, which is set as the viewing point by default when a player enters the ship. The second, the "primary" cockpits that can be switched through with left and right like is currently the norm, useful for designating cockpits for quick switching between important stations. The third, "secondary" cockpits, would need ctrl+left or ctrl+right to switch to and between, useful for designating less important view points that still might be useful to have every now and then. Fourth and finally, the "tertiary" cockpits would need to be selected from some form of menu, useful for designating cockpits that are just there for vanity, looking down the barrel of a salvager array, or otherwise just never gonna be useful in combat in the slightest and therefore don't need to be switched to quickly.
Weapon computer naming, multi-selection, & sub-selection: To make controlling multiple cannons of the same weapon type easier, weapons computers could be nameable, selectable and fireable more than one at a time, and possible to classify into sub-sections, e.g. bind all your AMCs to group 3, hit a key combo like ctrl+3 and quickly scroll through a little menu to select just a certain sub-group within that group.
Hull layering & hull-shield interaction: To make hulls actually effective as a defensive mechanism, in addition to the ability to increase a hull's HP with core expansion components as mentioned above, it could be changed so that laying on multiple levels of hull would increase their damage reduction up to a certain maximum threshold, after which damage is subtracted as a simple number rather than a percentage point. E.g.: first layer of hardened hull reduces damage by 50%, but 2 layers reduces by 60%, 3 layers reduces by 70%, the 4th layer reduces by 80%, a 5th layer by the maximum of 90%; the 6th layer would only take 10% damage and then cut 50 HP points off of that, 7th would take 10% minus 100, 8th would take 10% minus 150, etc. etc. etc. Also, the damage reduction of hulls could reduce the amount of damage shields incur by the same amount as is taken off damage done to the hulls themselves.
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That's all I've got. Thoughts on this? Who thinks these are good ideas to improve gameplay? Who thinks they're bad ideas? Does anyone have any thoughts that expand on these suggestions? Please, discuss.
NB: All numbers, key combinations, etc. given below are just examples of what they might be if these ideas were implemented, included just for the sake of thorough explanation. There would likely be more balanced numbers to plug in to these equations, more simple key combos to use, etc.
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The core is pretty boring for the most important part of a ship, if you ask me. Plus, in a ship fight, if your enemy manages to get a hole through to your core it's just over all too quick. While hitting a core should be a pretty bad thing it shouldn't be a more or less instant "you're screwed" button, things should be more interesting than that. The game could probably do well having a way to expand the core itself rather than it just being one tiny little block. Here are some of my ideas:
Core parts would basically be more powerful versions of the ship's normal parts, but they would be: (1) far more expensive and (2) only possible to place very close to the actual core itself, perhaps within a certain fraction of the ship's measure in a dimension, rounded down. E.g. the ship's 80m tall, 160m wide, and 600m long and this fraction is one fortieth (for the sake of example, it could be whatever); core expansion blocks could then be placed 2 blocks away from the core in either direction of height, 4 in either direction along width, and 15 in either direction along length.
To make actually entering the core with all this stuff surrounding it simpler and more aesthetically pleasing, pressing R on any core-type block should probably put the player in the core, in lieu of having to wiggle around between a buncha blocks all over the core. Perhaps the core blocks could also have special effects on the entire ship that are unique to them.
As for the block types themselves, some ideas follow. The general idea I've thought is to use large, beastly cores as a way to make immense capital ships TRULY worth it and terrifyingly strong, albeit slow as hell (like they should be). All of the blocks would probably do best to get grouping bonuses like power tanks currently do, i.e. it's just a simple matter of putting more connected to each other; trying to make crosses or whatever in a confined space like even a quite large ship's core would likely be a nightmare.
Core shielding: A stronger hull+shield combo. Its shields only drain when core blocks are attacked and are independent of the ship's main shields. Makes a ship all-around slower -- lower acceleration, lower turn rate, & lower top speed -- but makes shields more energy-efficient, more block-efficient (I.e. more shield points per block) & more effective.
Dark matter reactor: A stronger generator+power tank combo. Makes the ship turn slower, but increases the power per block of all weapons, including those of attached turrets.
Reactor fuel tank: A more powerful version of the power tank. Makes the ship accelerate slower, but makes all weapons, including attached turrets, have a longer range.
Ablated reaction catcher: A more powerful version of the generator. Makes the ship have a lower top speed, but makes hulls & hardened hulls have more HP.
Superheated plasma rod group: A more powerful thruster+generator combo. Increases the ship's top speed, but increases many energy requirements. Good for escapes (see below).
A few ideas that aren't "core blocks" (i.e. would be able to be built outside the designated core area of a ship) but are related to the core:
Core dumper: Works like a docking module. Allows the core of a ship to be dumped. Can also accept new ship cores provided they're small enough to fit the ship. By default just the core itself is dumped, but by expanding it like a docking/turret port it can dump more. It would be good for getting the heck outta dodge if a player is in a fight he/she can't win. The fact that a core of a significantly-sized ship couldn't be repaired without being redocked, due to
Core dumper expander: Expands the area of the core dumper so that it drops normal, non-core-related blocks when it dumps a ship's core. Again, good for attempting to escape an unwinnable battle: add a bit of protection or something to your dumped core, maybe throw in some plex-storage for your most valuable items, and GTFO if needed.
Core dump door: Essentially, a combination between hull and a plex-door of sorts. Their strength and damage reduction is handled like hull, and it looks like hull just as well, but they open like doors. If a core is dumped, these doors will automatically open, allowing a ship's core to be more or less instantly flung out.
Hardened core dump door: The same as above, except its HP and damage reduction is treated as a hardened hull instead of a normal hull, and it looks like a hardened hull too.
Core ejection piston: This provides a quick push to a ship's core when/if it's ejected, hopefully making a player not need to do quite so much to navigate their core out of their ship when it's being destroyed where every second counts. More in a group = more push. A core is given a "grace period" of a precious few seconds where it can go a measure of speed over the normal speed limit set by the server and AIs of any kind -- pirates, turrets, etc. -- intentionally won't target it, because: (1) a core ejected forward in a ship that's already flying as fast as possible would do little to no good, and (2) if an enemy can't just immediately shoot your rather weak core down with some random turret or at least get right on your tail the moment you burst out, ejecting the core would hopefully be a great measure LESS suicidal than staying in the "sinking" ship.
Transfer line: A non-core block that would connect ship systems to the core. Does nothing on its own, but when attached to weapons, thrusters, generators, power tanks, etc. etc. etc. at one end AND the core at the other end, it could have all sorts of useful effects.
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Other block ideas totally unrelated to the core and expansions thereof:
Docking controller: Due to the woeful state of affairs that is attempting to use small fighter ships in the defense of their carrying mothership -- having to select and undock them all one at a time and such -- this could serve as a control computer for large groups of all kinds of docks, as well as plex-doors. Compare selecting one thing to selecting perhaps dozens on a big capital ship with a healthy complement of defending fighters.
Reactive shielding: This is a sort of "priority" shield. They add shields exactly the same as normal blocks, but reactive shielding boxes off an area similar to docking systems, that can be expanded in a way also similar to docks, and attempts to defend that area at all costs, even to the exclusion of the main shielding systems if the shields have been beaten up enough for it to be impossible to run both at once. If you're tired of your most important cockpit getting knocked out early in a big battle this is for you. The shields will attempt to block weapons from colliding with ANYTHING within their box, not just the ship itself, which would also make them useful for shielding turrets without trying to cram a bunch of shield blocks in the turret itself, particularly good for small turrets that just don't have the room for it.
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Some ideas for mechanic & UI changes:
Cockpit importance: A way to make it simpler to switch through many, many cockpits on a large ship that needs a lot of viewing angles. I'd propose 4 levels of cockpit importance. The first, the "main" cockpit, which is set as the viewing point by default when a player enters the ship. The second, the "primary" cockpits that can be switched through with left and right like is currently the norm, useful for designating cockpits for quick switching between important stations. The third, "secondary" cockpits, would need ctrl+left or ctrl+right to switch to and between, useful for designating less important view points that still might be useful to have every now and then. Fourth and finally, the "tertiary" cockpits would need to be selected from some form of menu, useful for designating cockpits that are just there for vanity, looking down the barrel of a salvager array, or otherwise just never gonna be useful in combat in the slightest and therefore don't need to be switched to quickly.
Weapon computer naming, multi-selection, & sub-selection: To make controlling multiple cannons of the same weapon type easier, weapons computers could be nameable, selectable and fireable more than one at a time, and possible to classify into sub-sections, e.g. bind all your AMCs to group 3, hit a key combo like ctrl+3 and quickly scroll through a little menu to select just a certain sub-group within that group.
Hull layering & hull-shield interaction: To make hulls actually effective as a defensive mechanism, in addition to the ability to increase a hull's HP with core expansion components as mentioned above, it could be changed so that laying on multiple levels of hull would increase their damage reduction up to a certain maximum threshold, after which damage is subtracted as a simple number rather than a percentage point. E.g.: first layer of hardened hull reduces damage by 50%, but 2 layers reduces by 60%, 3 layers reduces by 70%, the 4th layer reduces by 80%, a 5th layer by the maximum of 90%; the 6th layer would only take 10% damage and then cut 50 HP points off of that, 7th would take 10% minus 100, 8th would take 10% minus 150, etc. etc. etc. Also, the damage reduction of hulls could reduce the amount of damage shields incur by the same amount as is taken off damage done to the hulls themselves.
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That's all I've got. Thoughts on this? Who thinks these are good ideas to improve gameplay? Who thinks they're bad ideas? Does anyone have any thoughts that expand on these suggestions? Please, discuss.