Aluminum?

[VanGoghComplex]

This is copied from my post in the balancing feedback sub-forum on Keen's site. I'm curious to see folks' thoughts on this.

This is half-suggestion, half-balancing, but since we're in a balancing phase, I thought this might be the ideal place for it.

Now that we have heavy armor that acts like armor, I think it's time to diversify the materials in the game and add a realistic staple of spacecraft building: aluminum.

The existing light steel armor blocks crumple like aluminum, to begin with. They have no real function as armor, either against impact or against weapons fire. Given the appearance of the light armor, I don't even think a retexture would be needed. Just add aluminum ore, make it processable by the arc furnace, add aluminum plate, and alter the existing light steel armor to have roughly 35% of its current mass. (This percentage taken from the density of aluminum, 2.7g/cm^3, divided by the density of steel, 7.75g/cm^3.)

This would serve to offset the weight of ships in light of the new cargo mass update and the coming of planetary gravity, and would add a more feasible option for building planetary launch craft.

Several of the game's blocks could also substitute aluminum parts for steel, either partially or entirely, to save weight and make construction more varied. For balancing, aluminum ore should be almost as common as iron, if not as common.

[Thicc Personality]

+1

[error1440]

+ 10²²

Would be a good step towards expanding the resource list. Would also like to see carbon, copper, and titanium follow suit

[AlexMBrennan]

I'll see what I can find wrong with it.

For starters, it's spelled "aluminium".

[VanGoghComplex]

Originally posted by AlexMBrennan:

I'll see what I can find wrong with it.

For starters, it's spelled "aluminium".

Thank you for your insightful and constructive input, Alex. I know I can always count on you to be an exemplary participant in any given discussion. =/

[SpannerMonkey]

I've always wondered whay aluminium alloys weren't included, especially as all the resources (almost) are already in place for making exotic alloys, surely alloys are a better choice for spacecraft than overly heavy steel plate? ( wanders away into distance wondering if they'll ever fix the netcode)

[error1440]

https://youtu.be/4AhZ8503WPs?t=9m46s

[Maddo]

Originally posted by SpannerMonkey:

... surely alloys are a better choice for spacecraft than overly heavy steel plate? ( wanders away into distance wondering if they'll ever fix the netcode)

In the Hayden War series of books the dumb humans made their spaceships out of iron/steel? Asteroids are sent into a close orbit around the sun where the suns heat is used to purify and form them into large molten blobs which are then spun into heavy cylinders. They used the nuclear explosion sort of engines and were only limited by how many G's a human could survive, so I guess thrust wasn't an issue. Only the aliens with inertial dampers bothered with light weight spacecraft.

In response to VanGoghComplex's suggestion, I'm not sure I want light armor to be even lighter. You could just have it use 3x the material. Then maybe not all light armor blocks would need exactly one kg of material. Light armor is already light enough I don't think it's going to noticeably offset the inventory changes (at least not on my mining ships).

[VanGoghComplex]

Originally posted by Maddo:

Originally posted by SpannerMonkey:

... surely alloys are a better choice for spacecraft than overly heavy steel plate? ( wanders away into distance wondering if they'll ever fix the netcode)

In the Hayden War series of books the dumb humans made their spaceships out of iron/steel? Asteroids are sent into a close orbit around the sun where the suns heat is used to purify and form them into large molten blobs which are then spun into heavy cylinders. They used the nuclear explosion sort of engines and were only limited by how many G's a human could survive, so I guess thrust wasn't an issue. Only the aliens with inertial dampers bothered with light weight spacecraft.

In response to VanGoghComplex's suggestion, I'm not sure I want light armor to be even lighter. You could just have it use 3x the material. Then maybe not all light armor blocks would need exactly one kg of material. Light armor is already light enough I don't think it's going to noticeably offset the inventory changes (at least not on my mining ships).

I'm not particularly concerned about changes necessitating the design of new ships. After all, designing ships is a staple of the game. I get excited when an update obsoletes my entire fleet. =)

That said, if you kept the requisite volume of material the same, an armor block mode of aluminum would weigh 35% what an equivalent block of steel does. That's pretty substantial.

I also say this because to me, it just makes sense: the existing light armor is not armor at all. If it's not armor, then it's just structure; it's just chassis, it's just there to hold other stuff in place. Given that, why should it be made of something unnecessarily strong and heavy? It feels overengineered.

[Badger]

Makes a lot of sense to me, especially with the addition of inventory weight. Give us the ability to built lighter, faster, yet weaker ships.

[SpetS]

also titanium and thorium

[Skywolf*]

+1

[Legas]

Great idea.

Carbon based materials could also be interesting.

[maninredagain]

How about being able to exchange the different metals, i.e. making gold plates/armor (to look fancier, but being less efficient in protecting from damage) instead of iron/steel ones?

[Greyson XMG]

Agreed. Aluminium is a good idea. BUT I also advocate a MASSIVE increse in the number of ores/ mats to build wiht.

[jkizer]

it would make sense as a building resource but they would need to add bauxite and the process ofr extracting aluminium would have a significate drain on your O2 supplies.