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Warp Drive Technology Summary for Devs
I read the entire thread at http://star-made.org/content/warp-module.
Now I will summarize, in my opinion, the solid points of it, and as a programmer myself, remove the stuff I feel is not going to happen (for programming or game reasons) so its easy for the devs to read:
1. Concept of going really fast e.g. Star Trek "Warp drive" will be considered the equivalent of "Jump drive". E.g. APPEARING somewhere really fast. Actually zooming by sectors really fast can't be done (without a lot of effort).
2. Warp drive module. Yes. Required on ships. Minimum ship mass of say 10000 for it to be usable.
3. Stargate style "Warp Gates". Yes.
Like Minecraft nether portals, Warp Gates have to be BIG ENOUGH to fit a ship that wants to use it. Gate can be "fatter long-ways" for longer journeys, each block adds 5 sectors. Up to a maximum ~25. So a circle/rectangle/other of 5 blocks thickness will warp you 25 sectors away. Mostly requires Power Tanks. In theory one power block would be enough, but would take ages to fill up the shitload of instant power it requires to do the jump. Each "warpgate block" might require 1000 power for example (or whatever). So a gate fitting in a 3Wx3HxUnknownL ship would require about 12000 instant power from batteries.
WARP GATE EXITING OPTION 1:
Warp Gates require you "connect it" to another Warp Gate within the range above. Similar to how you would connect a salvage computer to salvage cannon. The Exit Gate has to be big enough to fit the ship too, or an error message will show.
If either gate is broken or entry gate loses range required (broken block) then travel is not possible. Error shown "Exit Gate at 5,4,30 is damaged / too small!" or "Entry gate maximum distance too short!".
WARP GATE EXITING OPTION 2:
No Exit Gate. Manually enter coordinates you want to jump to (similar to Warp Drive below).
All ships have to pass through the gate pyshically. This can be calculated by checking a part of the ship has passed through and then calculating the total length of blocks that have passed through. If equal to length of ship, they went through OK, begin warp. Assuming no crazy glitching the gate itself will stop ships too big from passing through.
WARP DRIVE MODULE:
4. Warp Drive module Can be added to any ship, but only activates on big ships (mass 10000+ etc etc). Requires 4 million instanteanous power for mass 10000. And scales up appropriately depending on mass of ship, and optionally, mass of other docked turrets/ships.
5. Warp Drive requires a 60 second spooling up (add nice sound effect). Taken from Battlestar Galactica. Upon exiting warp, shields are down for 60 seconds and power tanks only re-build to 50% of what was required to warp ("running system integrity checks") - thus limiting firing abilities and further inticing players to avoid charging into enemies straight out of warp.
6. Warp requires a 5 minute Cool Down period before being usable again.
7. To use warp drive, you access it like you would the radar jammer, except upon pressing its hot key, a menu appears asking you for coordinates to warp to. Essentially mimicking the admin change_sector command, but with sound effects and abit more code to ensure they don't spawn into a planet.
Upon initiating warp drive or the warp gate, the ship goes into "spectator mode" like in Counter Strike and vanishes from the originating sector, then loads the new sector, THEN appears when it's loaded. Giving the game the chance to fix its position if required, not land in a planet that then slowly loads around your ship. During the loading period you can have a stars-flying-by effect.
MISC SUGGESTIONS SEEN:
1. There was talk of "making it expensive". Well, right now the economy lets everyone be a billionaire so this isn't a genuine roadblock. I think the concept of CRAFTING the warp module / warp gate blocks is the way to go / no chance of buying from shops. I never actually tried the factory aspect of this game yet so not 100% here.
2. There was talk of Star Trek style Nacilles (those horizontal sticks on each side of the USS Enterprise). This COULD be done for ships too. Basically. Warp Modules have to be placed on each side of the ship, either to the left and right, or top and bottom of wherever the ship core is pointing. Exactly distanced apart on each side of the warp core (mirroring themselves), and must be on the EDGE of each ships side, at the very least, inline with the edge.
This allows enemies to Destroy Warp Capability by targetting the ships warp modules that are chained together, "nacilles". Adding a tactical element to the game - lack of escape beyond regular engines.
Mass of ship indicates number of warp nacille blocks/modules required. Maybe one per 500 mass. So in case of 10000 mass ship, thats 10 nacilles on each side of ship required. If one breaks and its uneven, but still has enough mass-moving ability, a warning can be shown, that damage will occur on the broken side of the ship upon warp. Damage can be more severe the less even the nacilles are, 50% or more difference and its not possible to warp.
Warp problems solved
Shweet :D
I read the entire thread at http://star-made.org/content/warp-module.
Now I will summarize, in my opinion, the solid points of it, and as a programmer myself, remove the stuff I feel is not going to happen (for programming or game reasons) so its easy for the devs to read:
1. Concept of going really fast e.g. Star Trek "Warp drive" will be considered the equivalent of "Jump drive". E.g. APPEARING somewhere really fast. Actually zooming by sectors really fast can't be done (without a lot of effort).
2. Warp drive module. Yes. Required on ships. Minimum ship mass of say 10000 for it to be usable.
3. Stargate style "Warp Gates". Yes.
Like Minecraft nether portals, Warp Gates have to be BIG ENOUGH to fit a ship that wants to use it. Gate can be "fatter long-ways" for longer journeys, each block adds 5 sectors. Up to a maximum ~25. So a circle/rectangle/other of 5 blocks thickness will warp you 25 sectors away. Mostly requires Power Tanks. In theory one power block would be enough, but would take ages to fill up the shitload of instant power it requires to do the jump. Each "warpgate block" might require 1000 power for example (or whatever). So a gate fitting in a 3Wx3HxUnknownL ship would require about 12000 instant power from batteries.
WARP GATE EXITING OPTION 1:
Warp Gates require you "connect it" to another Warp Gate within the range above. Similar to how you would connect a salvage computer to salvage cannon. The Exit Gate has to be big enough to fit the ship too, or an error message will show.
If either gate is broken or entry gate loses range required (broken block) then travel is not possible. Error shown "Exit Gate at 5,4,30 is damaged / too small!" or "Entry gate maximum distance too short!".
WARP GATE EXITING OPTION 2:
No Exit Gate. Manually enter coordinates you want to jump to (similar to Warp Drive below).
All ships have to pass through the gate pyshically. This can be calculated by checking a part of the ship has passed through and then calculating the total length of blocks that have passed through. If equal to length of ship, they went through OK, begin warp. Assuming no crazy glitching the gate itself will stop ships too big from passing through.
WARP DRIVE MODULE:
4. Warp Drive module Can be added to any ship, but only activates on big ships (mass 10000+ etc etc). Requires 4 million instanteanous power for mass 10000. And scales up appropriately depending on mass of ship, and optionally, mass of other docked turrets/ships.
5. Warp Drive requires a 60 second spooling up (add nice sound effect). Taken from Battlestar Galactica. Upon exiting warp, shields are down for 60 seconds and power tanks only re-build to 50% of what was required to warp ("running system integrity checks") - thus limiting firing abilities and further inticing players to avoid charging into enemies straight out of warp.
6. Warp requires a 5 minute Cool Down period before being usable again.
7. To use warp drive, you access it like you would the radar jammer, except upon pressing its hot key, a menu appears asking you for coordinates to warp to. Essentially mimicking the admin change_sector command, but with sound effects and abit more code to ensure they don't spawn into a planet.
Upon initiating warp drive or the warp gate, the ship goes into "spectator mode" like in Counter Strike and vanishes from the originating sector, then loads the new sector, THEN appears when it's loaded. Giving the game the chance to fix its position if required, not land in a planet that then slowly loads around your ship. During the loading period you can have a stars-flying-by effect.
MISC SUGGESTIONS SEEN:
1. There was talk of "making it expensive". Well, right now the economy lets everyone be a billionaire so this isn't a genuine roadblock. I think the concept of CRAFTING the warp module / warp gate blocks is the way to go / no chance of buying from shops. I never actually tried the factory aspect of this game yet so not 100% here.
2. There was talk of Star Trek style Nacilles (those horizontal sticks on each side of the USS Enterprise). This COULD be done for ships too. Basically. Warp Modules have to be placed on each side of the ship, either to the left and right, or top and bottom of wherever the ship core is pointing. Exactly distanced apart on each side of the warp core (mirroring themselves), and must be on the EDGE of each ships side, at the very least, inline with the edge.
This allows enemies to Destroy Warp Capability by targetting the ships warp modules that are chained together, "nacilles". Adding a tactical element to the game - lack of escape beyond regular engines.
Mass of ship indicates number of warp nacille blocks/modules required. Maybe one per 500 mass. So in case of 10000 mass ship, thats 10 nacilles on each side of ship required. If one breaks and its uneven, but still has enough mass-moving ability, a warning can be shown, that damage will occur on the broken side of the ship upon warp. Damage can be more severe the less even the nacilles are, 50% or more difference and its not possible to warp.
Warp problems solved
Shweet :D
