Modular ship

[Devilwhale]

So far I just have a asteroid hauling, and laser mining rig, but maybe I could make armor and weapons modules as well. Possibilities are endless.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2622149982

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2622274006

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2622273660

I wonder about tiered connections, can a sub module hold other modules, idk. I do know the ship strength drops to the weakest connected part, so making the modules a bit tougher is recommended, but they can't have a thruster on them to work.

I spawn them side by side in the designer, then move over and lock on.
my modules cost only 70k + ore to make. my hauler is 300k + ore. Works great to make money in sz.

[ZombieMouse]

Nice. How are the modules attached - welded or bolted?

[Devilwhale]

laser cargo locks, I have 4 bays of 5 locks each, I can carry 20 asteroids, or 10 + 2 modules.

not bolted or welded. I have a button to activate deactivate each of my 4 bays. They auto turn on once the first one is locked on etc.

so I just made a 2nd ship as the mining module, spawned it in a designer bay, then spawned my hauler ship with the laser locks, and moved over to it, picked it up and repeated the process to make 2 modules (build from designer).

you have to have 3 beams at 90 degrees to lock on to something, and they can't have thrusters attached to them for it to work.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2622149530

They are self contained modules, with buttons to activate the auto miner, and a button for the ore collector. I line them up then get out of my seat and turn them on. when I get back to base they each have a resource point, so I can access and transfer ore collected to the station.

I have to alternate mine lasers, as the laser eats up the batteries, so while one is recharging the other is working. Could probably do 4 of them for a super large asteroid, but mostly designed for safe zone. zero plating.

Actually in one of the screen shots, you can see the module under my ship is off kilter, I had a hard time lining it up after the first module was attached, it really needs a better thruster setup, but for now it works. They simply attach or detach with a button click though.

[ZombieMouse]

Oh that's really neat. I thought if you spawned a frame that wasn't considered a ship frame (no thrusters) it would just despawn after you log out.

This is a really nice way to kit out your ship flexibly.

[Devilwhale]

Thank you!

Couple of notes, I did have a maneuver thruster on the back, that I unbolt after building from the designer. I have not tried to spawn it with out it.

After I attach it to the hauler, both ships are considered as one, will despawn and spawn as you left it. If I try to spawn the old ship, it will cycle but spawn nothing.

Same thing when insurance towing, tow with asteroids and modules attached spawns back in with everything the lasers locked on to. (note the gen resets, so you might want to wait for 100 gen so the batteries don't wear out on a heavy load before your gens have time to gear back up. )

dropping asteroids out in space after they are moved cause them to vanish, I have not tried this with my ship frames, left them attached the whole time, but probably worth testing out.

I am not entirely for sure how to despawn them once I detach them. I was thinking of building and storing them at a station to be honest. Might need a seat? Might work to leave them in station, or have a lock bay at a station.

Might be able to place and leave it, set another one, come back and pick this one up, assuming they don't vanish.

Last thing is if I do detach them, I am not for sure if they count as my old ship or as a new ship, what happens if I delete the blank ship, while it is attached to my main.

There are a few unanswered questions, but mostly it works. Carrier ships can be made this way.

[ZombieMouse]

Please let us know if you find the answer to any of these questions. I am really slow in the designer, so I wouldn't want to spend a month designing something that vanishes into the void!

Thank you for sharing your process for this and what you have tested so far!

[Devilwhale]

small update, with ducts, connections can be made between devices and ships. Throw in a cargo lock and you have a powered module.

Tested with a laser module I could move by hand, then moved it close enough for the ducts to touch my ships ducts.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2727479354

Also working on a new version. x28 Modular Hauler.

Major change to the engines. I am not using any coolant and also, only 3 fuel chambers for the entire thing. The 3 fuel cells powers 9 gens (3 each) and I have a huge radiator.

Going to make a ton of modules and just print the full thing out, head to station, and store modules with my other hauler ships. I know at least with asteroids if they are in the cargo lock they wont disappear, pretty sure that will work with modules.

x28 modular hauler side a
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2727491274

side b
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2727490952


The issue I am having now is, I need a small but mobile asteroid hauler to move things around, but getting it to the station, and refilling it might be an issue. Might need to make a special ship that can break apart into multiple ships for around my base.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2727490767

[ZombieMouse]

Thanks for the update Devilwhale. Have you tried getting your ships to follow each other with the torpedo tracker system? It's posted online somewhere...

[Devilwhale]

oh, I haven't thought of doing multiples yet. Dinking around with things in hopes the game picks up again.

I have yet to mess with navigation scripting, there is a lot to process there. I will check out the torpedo tracker system out though. I have never installed isan or any other nav system.

I have been building from scratch, so I have not bought or looked at too many other ships. The whole plate systems bugs me so, that eliminates any of the ships I have seen in the shops. Scripting I have done is mostly robot arm movement, auto activation of the next cargo bay, with controls to turn on / off a bay, or the whole system.

As I understand transponders and Navigation receivers can't see asteroids, so I have not bothered with them at all. I was going to slowly build up a material scanner / rangefinder sonar dish that rotates. I just have been delaying that because that is something I would think would be better handled as a game mechanic.

To make a ship that can sense its surroundings and tag those objects as asteroid or ship would take a room full of yolo scripts as I see it now, that would be something that would help if it was a all in one device, as well as some proper display screens. remote cameras etc.

I guess for the safe zone having a convoy or matrix of ships following you would make checking out transponders worth it.

hand laser. oh yeah.
Thanks for the tip, I will be able to make all sorts of gadgets now.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2728590745

I still think the cargo lock / duct combo has some potential, then if they get damaged you just hot swap them with what ever module you need next.

[ZombieMouse]

Originally posted by Devilwhale:

[...] ship would take a room full of yolo scripts as I see it now,

I have been given tours around such ships with entire rooms filled with Yolol scripts. Some of the things out there are pretty amazing, but you don't come across them very often. That's why the upcoming EosCon should be good, as there will be a lot to see in one place.