[Mark]

The focus at this very moment is very much on Engineering and specifically the "Power Wheel". The Power Wheel is the UI which the Chief Engineer uses to manage power levels across the ship's equipment.



Our latest video log has a demonstration of it in action (skip right to demonstration by clicking here).

The power wheel is the beating heart of the ship, it literally affects everything. Getting it right is key to making UNION a truely great game.

Some items I'm working on this week:

• Changing the power being added/removed while dragging a connection, using the mousewheel or by pressing a number key on the keyboard (thanks to Blaze over on the Terran Stellar Navy forum for the suggestion).
• Highlight valid nodes to connect to when dragging a connection.
• Animations when equipment is used (the icon pulses blue) and when damage is taken (the background pulses red).

There is already a system for saving and restoring connection configurations. Once I'm happy with the Power Wheel, which should be at the end of this week, I will begin implementing the UI for that.

I'd love to hear your suggestions and questions.

[OutModdedMajor]

Hi Mark

I have a question about about heat signatures and detection.

With the example of the weapons heat is given off as the weapon is used.
Is there a greater heat signature generated simply by more power being available to the weapons or will it only be there when the weapons are fired?
The same question I have for engines. You mention that scout will have speed on there side but will a scout ship engineer need to be
on their toes to provide power to engines when they "cheese it" to quote bender or can they leave it on for when helm wants to press the accelerator?

I personally think any option that creates more communication is the better one, since that what's going to make this game really fun.

Thanks

[Mark]

Hey man,

The Operating Power Level of a piece of equipment will have an effect on the energy signature, but it isn't as significant as the heat produced from operation (using the equipment).

Technically the Engineer on a scout ship could just give the engines a lot of power and leave it at that. However scout ships have a much more limited output, and things like sensors will also require that power (to get the maximum performance). So on a scout ship the Engineer would be swapping power between different systems (like engines, cruise engines, and sensors) as required.

[Blaze]

Thanks for the mention for the idea, I appreciate it.

A good video, but I do believe you should try to explain the logic behind splitting power source for an equipment node from the reactor nodes a little better. It's clear to understand how it works, but I'm not exactly sure why. Why doesn't it work the other way around? If an equipment node is overloaded, why will the impact of the chain reaction be lessened if there are more nodes? Is it simply because of the number of power received from each node? If that's the case, then there is still a chance to have one or even both reactor nodes overload and fail. That's not good. Or is there a minimal number of power on that a reactor node needs to feed the equipment node in order to be overloaded?

[Forlarren]

It looks like an abstraction for load balancing to me.

Imagine damage as a sudden DDoS attack. Add some techno jargon and good to go.

Edit: Hmm. Thought of something.

Has it been considered varying the diameters of the inner and outer circles as well as the locations of the nodes on the generator as a game mechanic, or even advanced upgrades that allow you to move or adjust those inner nodes. Maybe something that can be done in port. more advanced generators might not just have more power nodes but a smaller inner ring that allows more connections because geometry.

Maybe one faction uses larger inner diameter designs with more nodes and the other has smaller inner circles with less nodes when comparing two "equal" power sources.

Well that's just some throw it out there ideas.

[Mark]

I really love these discussions, thanks for taking part guys.

Thanks for the mention for the idea, I appreciate it.

A good video, but I do believe you should try to explain the logic behind splitting power source for an equipment node from the reactor nodes a little better. It's clear to understand how it works, but I'm not exactly sure why. Why doesn't it work the other way around? If an equipment node is overloaded, why will the impact of the chain reaction be lessened if there are more nodes? Is it simply because of the number of power received from each node? If that's the case, then there is still a chance to have one or even both reactor nodes overload and fail. That's not good. Or is there a minimal number of power on that a reactor node needs to feed the equipment node in order to be overloaded?

In the current design overloads can occur on individual connections. So when a critical hit occur's on a piece of equipment the simulation loops through all of the connections that are feeding power and it does a random roll to see if an overload occurs on that connection, based on the power it is feeding. The chance of an overload occurring on a connection increases exponentially with increased power, so it is a lot worse to have 8 power going over a connection than 6. On top of that the severity of the overload is based on the power on the connection. An overload on a 4 power line might disable the reactor node for 20 seconds, but an overload on an 8 power connection could do considerable damage.

So yes splitting power over multiple connections does increase the of reactors/equipment which could be affected by overloads, but you are reducing the overall chance of a serious event.

Now that I have described my current plans, what do you think? The design of UNION is quiet fluid though, I work in a process of experimentation and refinement, and I am always keen to hear suggestions and ideas.

[Mark]

Has it been considered varying the diameters of the inner and outer circles as well as the locations of the nodes on the generator as a game mechanic, or even advanced upgrades that allow you to move or adjust those inner nodes. Maybe something that can be done in port. more advanced generators might not just have more power nodes but a smaller inner ring that allows more connections because geometry.

Maybe one faction uses larger inner diameter designs with more nodes and the other has smaller inner circles with less nodes when comparing two "equal" power sources.

Well that's just some throw it out there ideas.

I kept both inner and outer circles to a fixed size to keep consistency, it makes it easier to compare ships like for like. We can vary the amount of available power to systems by changing the amount of reactor nodes, and what their max output is.

Still, you have got me thinking about it, and I'm open to the idea. I will certainly add it to the game as an option, and allow modders to create/modify ships with smaller inner circles. I believe in giving people the flexibility to play the way they want to (as much as I can anyway).

Equipment can be swapped out in port, but I have no plans at this time to allow people to modify the wheel (equipment or node positions). This is a personal choice I admit, but to me those things are fixed into the hull of the ship.

There will however be variants for each ship, with varied equipment slots (different loadouts and positions) and reactors (number of reactors, max power outputs and positions). Perhaps the crew can go back to a station and change the ship variant. I'll have to think about it more.

[Blaze]

Now that I have described my current plans, what do you think?

Love it. And I love that you have to manage risk, and not simply be free of it. Perhaps there are scenarios where you'll risk loosing the the reactor node and fully using 9 power from it on a single node. We shall see, as the game develops.

I kept both inner and outer circles to a fixed size to keep consistency, it makes it easier to compare ships like for like.

I agree you should keep them consitent for now. This is one of the question I wanted to ask back on the TSN forum, but decided not to run too much ahead. My opinion is that this would make it much harder to balance the ships out. And since you're a small team without a dedicated mathematician to balance things, I'd stick with same-sizes circles at least until the first expansion.
Later, you can even add new/alien technology ships with only 1 or 3 huge reactor cores, and balance them out in another way.

[Mark]

Yeah many things will come out in the playtesting we do. Together we can make sure that it will be brilliant.

Man you don't know how funny that is. We do have a mathematician (he studied physics and astronomy) who will be balancing the game at a later stage. He has helped with the game design, and will also be helping to design and develop the game's AI. He will be joining the project at a later stage, when he's needed.  I keep saying "he" because he's a very private person.

[Blaze]

Can't wait for the playtesting results!

And it's awesome you have more people in mind to help develop the game.