Read by Schine Turret banks

[Magrim]

So, I took a brief hiatus from starmade and now I'm getting back into it but, I had an idea I wanted to run by you guys; turret banks.

Basically link some turrets together into a bank. When you jump into one of the linked turrets, all turrets in the bank match the movement of the turret you are controlling.

I'm thinking the linked turrets should be identical although, I don't really see any reason why they have to be. If no one is in a linked turret, they will still move and fire in unison. You could probably set up the bank through the weapons menu with the ability to activate and deactivate the bank depending on the situation. Im not sure how aiming would work. Weather the turrets will aim like right clicking or left clicking salvage beams. There might be an issue if more than one player is in the same bank. I propose the first turret occupied becomes the "master" turret for the duration of it's occupation and the rest are the slaves. If another player enters a slaved turret, they will only have control of that single turret.

Think about it , you and a buddy are flying around in your cruiser, you come across an enemy stronghold. Your buddy jumps in a starboard side gun that is part of a bank of 8 guns. He opens up, and all 8 turrets fire. Sounds like good times to me.

Could prove useful if you're short on friends that regularly play or just short on friends :p

 

[JNC]

Or, perhaps, a new type of 'core' module is made that is intended to control docked entities (such as turrets) remotely? All linked turrets would be slaved to this single controlling block that a player would sit in like a core, or maybe an AI could be assigned to this 'core'. I bet it would get confusing though if a bunch of different turret types were all linked together.

Here you can see a turret on the left (perhaps one of several in a bank) and a turret control area on the right, manned by lots of people. The scale is huge by the looks of it but im guessing a ship that size has need of lots of weapon banks. :P

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

Please be advised, some of the behavior you describe is currently possible, it's just a bug.
(and, as such, is not entirely un-possible, just unlikely)

using admin powers, TAB+F8 teleport into each of the desired turrets, without first leaving the turrets.

then, they'll all track (aim where you aim) as one entity, so long as you remain in one of them.

Shooting, on the other claw, ... I think that might be entirely the province of the AI module. (meaning, it mostly won't {AI is retard, and picks targets it cannot aim-at}, though "selected target" gets most of what you want anyway.)

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Frequent suggestion, there is some kind of plan for more turret control

Planned - Turret System Control
Planned - Remote turret control block

 

[Madman198237]

JNC What you have there is a Star Destroyer's main turret. The two barrels each have a 50 meter diameter. So yes, large-scale turret right there. (I actually own the particular book that that picture comes from)
I like the idea of being able to control a battery of guns. Makes large vessels much less player-intensive, perhaps give a another great reason to have NPCs on a vessel.

It can be done right now with some clever building (Build a second ship, docked to the original, and dock the turrets to this second ship, set them to "Attack Selected Target" or whatever it's called......then have a player in this second ship. But still, aiming them yourself.....even though it'd be a NIGHTMARE to code)


Only problem is that you'd have to be able to set a range at which the shots all converge (As in, they're aimed at a point 500 meters away from your gun's barrel, in the direction you're pointing)

 

[JNC]

Hmm, interesting stuff here, love the idea!

I'm assuming a suggestion like this is aimed more for individual human players, or AI characters, rather than the AI blocks because, as was previously stated, bobby AI turrets can all be told to "Attack Selected Target" which is mostly has the desired effect, just not for individuals controlling things themselves.

Another thing to consider is that turret banks could add a certain vulnerability to their motherships. Real ships, for instance, have fire control systems that provide targeting info for the various weapon groups they're attached to (This provides target and distance, convergence would be determined per battery). If this controller is disabled or destroyed than the weapon groups that depend on them must guesstimate their own firing solutions, individually (if so equipped). This results in less focused fire, accuracy, slower tracking and rate of fire. Couple this with actual gunner positions (not bobby AI) remote or in-turret and big capital ships have quite a long list of possible fail points, some of which could even halt all fire from a entire bank (i.e. port remote fire station destroyed - port guns don't receive firing solutions)

Here's a simple illustration from the wiki page showing the turret above deck with a rangefinder and the radar and fire control below deck.

 

[Magrim]

Frequent suggestion, there is some kind of plan for more turret control

Planned - Turret System Control
Planned - Remote turret control block

Thanks for the links Sven.

Yeah this is an older suggestion from a time before it was a planned feature. I think its kind of funny it didn't get a single reply back then

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

*shrugs* It may have just dropped off the first page of suggestions before anyone really read it. That happens sometimes, especially if there is some "hot button" issue that keeps being suggested (in several different ways) around the same time.

Note: I'm guilty of doing exactly that, regarding planets.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

Thanks for the links Sven.

Yeah this is an older suggestion from a time before it was a planned feature. I think its kind of funny it didn't get a single reply back then

I've noticed a number of threads getting the old necro treatment, I missed the date on this one... oh well...

 

[alterintel]

Good Ideas never get old.

 

[Markus_McCloud]

So, I took a brief hiatus from starmade and now I'm getting back into it but, I had an idea I wanted to run by you guys; turret banks.

Basically link some turrets together into a bank. When you jump into one of the linked turrets, all turrets in the bank match the movement of the turret you are controlling.

I'm thinking the linked turrets should be identical although, I don't really see any reason why they have to be. If no one is in a linked turret, they will still move and fire in unison. You could probably set up the bank through the weapons menu with the ability to activate and deactivate the bank depending on the situation. Im not sure how aiming would work. Weather the turrets will aim like right clicking or left clicking salvage beams. There might be an issue if more than one player is in the same bank. I propose the first turret occupied becomes the "master" turret for the duration of it's occupation and the rest are the slaves. If another player enters a slaved turret, they will only have control of that single turret.

Think about it , you and a buddy are flying around in your cruiser, you come across an enemy stronghold. Your buddy jumps in a starboard side gun that is part of a bank of 8 guns. He opens up, and all 8 turrets fire. Sounds like good times to me.

Could prove useful if you're short on friends that regularly play or just short on friends :p

Just to expand on your idea, it should follow the same focused/unfocused system as the individual weapons: Focused (left-click by default) makes all turrets focus on a single point, Unfocused (right-click by default) makes all turrets focus in a single direction

Perhaps a basic diagram would explain better:

 

[Madman198237]

You still need some way to set the range at which this focusing happens, unless you plan to have instant and unlimited accurate ranging on any blocks you might click on...

 

[JNC]

I kinda think this 'ranging' feature is already in game. If you have wide set fixed weapons firing in the same group, and you fire them 'focused' they already converge onto the surface of whatever the targeting reticle is on. Should work the same way with grouped turrets, only difference is that the turret would have to move to make that adjustment.

 

[Markus_McCloud]

You still need some way to set the range at which this focusing happens, unless you plan to have instant and unlimited accurate ranging on any blocks you might click on...

I was just illustrating the general concept. All I know is that the weapons systems for single ships seem to sort out such stuff by themselves.

Also, I need to watch my alliteration.:D

JNC took the words right out of my mouth

 

[Madman198237]

Well, in order to free-fire (Without a block under the cursor) you either end up leaving them without a convergence point or you need some way to set them. That's my point.

 

[JNC]

That's true, but why do you need to converge if you aren't shooting at anything? Or are you concerned that the turrets would constantly be adjusting convergence since it's based on the cursor?

 

[Madman198237]

Well, the idea is that if the shots converge anyway, you can give lead to a fast-moving target if, for example, you're firing a cannon at a distant vessel, especially a fast one.

 

[Nickizzy]

Well, in order to free-fire (Without a block under the cursor) you either end up leaving them without a convergence point or you need some way to set them. That's my point.

Right now any multigroup weapon system, when not aimed at a block, fires unfocused no matter what. Maybe when setting up the bank you could use a slider to change the converging point?

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

-le sigh- Or, and ain't this radical, you could not stick a giant flaming monkey-wrench into the basics of aiming in combat?

The overall concept of a turret bank is a great one, ... But changing how they aim, on the other claw, is a roight proppa pain in everyone's ass.
Well, nearly everyone. We've grown quite accustomed to aiming of weapons working a certain way, and if we truly had to, I'm certain we could adapt.

But let's not make it so we need to adapt, M'kay?

 

[sayerulz]

JNC What you have there is a Star Destroyer's main turret. The two barrels each have a 50 meter diameter. So yes, large-scale turret right there. (I actually own the particular book that that picture comes from)
I like the idea of being able to control a battery of guns. Makes large vessels much less player-intensive, perhaps give a another great reason to have NPCs on a vessel.

It can be done right now with some clever building (Build a second ship, docked to the original, and dock the turrets to this second ship, set them to "Attack Selected Target" or whatever it's called......then have a player in this second ship. But still, aiming them yourself.....even though it'd be a NIGHTMARE to code)


Only problem is that you'd have to be able to set a range at which the shots all converge (As in, they're aimed at a point 500 meters away from your gun's barrel, in the direction you're pointing)

Are you sure you mean 50 meter diameter and not 50 meter length?