- Joined
- Dec 18, 2020
- Messages
- 7
These are my reasons for why i don’t like the current direction of tiered progress
For me, it mainly comes down to the following talking point: Starbase as an MMO is something I’m currently planning to engage in for many years. However, there needs to be something to engage with. I need something that is, ideally, easy to learn and hard to master. With a tiered system, you have something that is easy to learn: “This makes that and the red one makes it twice as fast”. However, there is practically nothing to master. What I wish to have is an easy to learn core system with layers of sub systems based upon.
Currently, systems within a ship can be summarized as follows:
Fuel rod → Fuel chamber → Generator Unit → Power
Prop. Tank → Thruster → Thrust
Levers → Control
Radiators/Cooling Cells → Heat dispersal
YOLOL → Management
If this is what ship building will ever amount to, I won’t be interested for any amount of time. The solution will always be stupidly spamming the same stuff until your requirements are met. No amount of tiers will change that. The only thing that will be left to figure out is the best ways to pack the same components over and over again. At that point, might as well play tetris. No matter how much tiered progression you add. These underlying systems will stay the same.
What I hope to see are, on one hand, more intermingling between the systems currently in place and on the other, the addition of further systems. The systems as they are now will still remain in place for players that don’t have the time to engineer the crap out of everything.
Changes/additions that can be made to the current system to increase performance:
Power system:
Everything stuck together is counted as a single power plant. All stats are spread out equally across all appropriate components. In regards to power generation, there should be three different ways to specialise: High Power output, high efficiency and fast ramp up
Changes:
Fuel chamber:
Reduce the minimum heat output when working at low power but increase the maximum heat output when working at 100%
Make fuel chamber output dependent on heat in the plant
The fuel chamber's output depends on how hot the system is.
Change affects fuel consumption. fuel/processed fuel Ratio stays the same.
If efficiency isn’t a concern, just have radiators/cc suck up all the heat.
Melt down
If heat inside fuel chambers reaches critical levels, it breaks, maybe even caboom
Again simply solved as above. I'd consider this highly optional.
Generator units
Additional power that is generated but not needed is transformed into heat.
Additions
These are additional components that can be added to a power plant, similar to current enhancers
Heat pumps
Has two pipe sockets. Moves heat from one pipe network to the other
Space jelly scrubber
increases conversion efficiency for generator units at higher flying speed
Increases power gained from one unit of processed fuel.
Needs clear LOS in flight direction
If inside a cloud, causes power plant to run rough (sporadic drops in power output)
Increases heat output
Motor Pump
Uses electricity to shorten ramp times of fuel chambers and generator units
The larger the plant, the longer the base ramp time
Propellant injectors
Supplies generator units with propellant
Increases the max output of generator units. More Power per processed fuel. Processed fuel input stays same
If too much propellant is added per second, risk of damage to generator unit or power plant
Increases heat output
Lubrication system
Supplies generator units with constant stream of lubricant. Makes them run more smoothly. Processed fuel to power ratio improves. Power output stays same.
Processed fuel required per power unit decreases.
Also reduces heat output
Increases ramp time
Electric heater
Produces heat
Thrust System
Changes
Thrusters no longer use fixed amounts of power and propellant. Instead, the ratio between the two used per second can be changed. Changing the ratio changes thrust gained per power and propellant unit. Each thruster type has a different most efficient ratio. Increasing thrust output, increases both resource inputs proportionally.
Thrusters also generate heat, the more they thrust. Increase could be polynomial. For a further hoop, most efficient ratio could change depending on the current heat level inside the thruster.
For people who don’t want to deal with this, each thruster has as default ratios the most efficient ratio when at 75% thruster output.
Such additional systems allow players who don't have the time to devote their life to the game to still have working designs while at the same time allowing for others to go off the deep end if they so desire.
Lastly, why i don’t think introducing tiered stuff as a temporary solution now is a good idea:
Tiered stuff can be added now with the mindset of: easy work for some kind of progression. However, any kind of future change will run into the following problem: Any change will make the majority of ships unusable. This is inconvenient for factions who have to get a couple of guys together to redesign their ships and detrimental to solo players/small groups who don’t have the time to pump out 5 new designs to keep their stuff up to date.
For me, it mainly comes down to the following talking point: Starbase as an MMO is something I’m currently planning to engage in for many years. However, there needs to be something to engage with. I need something that is, ideally, easy to learn and hard to master. With a tiered system, you have something that is easy to learn: “This makes that and the red one makes it twice as fast”. However, there is practically nothing to master. What I wish to have is an easy to learn core system with layers of sub systems based upon.
Currently, systems within a ship can be summarized as follows:
Fuel rod → Fuel chamber → Generator Unit → Power
Prop. Tank → Thruster → Thrust
Levers → Control
Radiators/Cooling Cells → Heat dispersal
YOLOL → Management
If this is what ship building will ever amount to, I won’t be interested for any amount of time. The solution will always be stupidly spamming the same stuff until your requirements are met. No amount of tiers will change that. The only thing that will be left to figure out is the best ways to pack the same components over and over again. At that point, might as well play tetris. No matter how much tiered progression you add. These underlying systems will stay the same.
What I hope to see are, on one hand, more intermingling between the systems currently in place and on the other, the addition of further systems. The systems as they are now will still remain in place for players that don’t have the time to engineer the crap out of everything.
Changes/additions that can be made to the current system to increase performance:
Power system:
Everything stuck together is counted as a single power plant. All stats are spread out equally across all appropriate components. In regards to power generation, there should be three different ways to specialise: High Power output, high efficiency and fast ramp up
Changes:
Fuel chamber:
Reduce the minimum heat output when working at low power but increase the maximum heat output when working at 100%
Make fuel chamber output dependent on heat in the plant
The fuel chamber's output depends on how hot the system is.
Change affects fuel consumption. fuel/processed fuel Ratio stays the same.
If efficiency isn’t a concern, just have radiators/cc suck up all the heat.
Melt down
If heat inside fuel chambers reaches critical levels, it breaks, maybe even caboom
Again simply solved as above. I'd consider this highly optional.
Generator units
Additional power that is generated but not needed is transformed into heat.
Additions
These are additional components that can be added to a power plant, similar to current enhancers
Heat pumps
Has two pipe sockets. Moves heat from one pipe network to the other
Space jelly scrubber
increases conversion efficiency for generator units at higher flying speed
Increases power gained from one unit of processed fuel.
Needs clear LOS in flight direction
If inside a cloud, causes power plant to run rough (sporadic drops in power output)
Increases heat output
Motor Pump
Uses electricity to shorten ramp times of fuel chambers and generator units
The larger the plant, the longer the base ramp time
Propellant injectors
Supplies generator units with propellant
Increases the max output of generator units. More Power per processed fuel. Processed fuel input stays same
If too much propellant is added per second, risk of damage to generator unit or power plant
Increases heat output
Lubrication system
Supplies generator units with constant stream of lubricant. Makes them run more smoothly. Processed fuel to power ratio improves. Power output stays same.
Processed fuel required per power unit decreases.
Also reduces heat output
Increases ramp time
Electric heater
Produces heat
Thrust System
Changes
Thrusters no longer use fixed amounts of power and propellant. Instead, the ratio between the two used per second can be changed. Changing the ratio changes thrust gained per power and propellant unit. Each thruster type has a different most efficient ratio. Increasing thrust output, increases both resource inputs proportionally.
Thrusters also generate heat, the more they thrust. Increase could be polynomial. For a further hoop, most efficient ratio could change depending on the current heat level inside the thruster.
For people who don’t want to deal with this, each thruster has as default ratios the most efficient ratio when at 75% thruster output.
Such additional systems allow players who don't have the time to devote their life to the game to still have working designs while at the same time allowing for others to go off the deep end if they so desire.
Lastly, why i don’t think introducing tiered stuff as a temporary solution now is a good idea:
Tiered stuff can be added now with the mindset of: easy work for some kind of progression. However, any kind of future change will run into the following problem: Any change will make the majority of ships unusable. This is inconvenient for factions who have to get a couple of guys together to redesign their ships and detrimental to solo players/small groups who don’t have the time to pump out 5 new designs to keep their stuff up to date.
