At the moment cargo is bought in quantities of mass but stored in standardised containers. This can only really mean that containers with the densest materials are under filled so that the lightest materials are at maximum capacity. This doesn't make a lot of sense (especially when you consider the lightest commodity is hydrogen) .
I think it would be good if cargo was still bought and sold in standardized volumes but each commodity had a different density and therefore mass. Cargo holds would therefore be Volume Constrained instead of Mass Constrained.
This would introduces a new game mechanic where on any landing pad with gravity you could be constrained by your vertical thrusters maximum acceleration in m/s^2 (determined by your Total Mass and thruster force) and the local gravity in m/s^2 (at the moment a standardised simulated gravity, but in the future planets with differing gravities too) . Outposts would be effectively non constrained in this manner due to virtually no gravity while stations would either deny docking rights until you jettison some cargo (at a appropriate distance) or stop trading before you hit your mass limit. This would also need to be a considered constraint for mission availability. Considering how this would only be a significant factor for some dense metal commodities (or ships that have weak thrust) it should not be a problem for most players, but it might allow for a new class of specialty craft that have a small cargo bay but a relatively high thrust meaning they could be the optimal solution for transporting valuable commodities, sort of like a space armored van.
The new unit for cargo volume could just be a standard cargo container without reference to what that volume is but I think it's logical that some special cargo would not be transported by containers, in particular I'm thinking slaves and any other future paying passengers, also some machinery and technology might be oversized. I'm thinking any passenger would be transported in a coffin sized stasis chamber with independent life support and would probably take up about 1m^3 of volume (2.5m X 0.5m X 0.8m) , meanwhile a standard cargo container could be more like 0.2m^3 (0.5m X 0.5m X 0.8m) minus the edges so it has a octagon profile. So units for commodities could either be 1m^3 or 0.2m^3.
At the moment there seems to be 3 types of mass (Hull, Cargo, Fuel) and 2 types of flight that use various masses to calculate flight characteristics. The first type of flight is normal thruster propelled flight, I haven't done thorough tests but it seems to use only the Hull Mass to calculate the acceleration and maximum speed of the craft (not counting the thrusters and power distributor) . The second is a hyperspace jump, this uses Hull Mass and Cargo Mass to calculate the maximum jump range of a craft. Fuel Mass doesn't change with how full the tanks are but the tanks just have a module mass that goes towards the Hull Mass.
I would suggest that all 3 types of mass always be used to calculate both types of flight. The obvious problem is Fuel Mass as you can currently easily gain fuel, but the only way to get rid of it is to use it, and who wants to be doing circles at 2000c for an hour just to get a little more jump range (you could probably supercruise the extra distance faster!). The obvious answer to the problem is to add a fuel dump option and a sell fuel at Stations and Outposts option.
This could add some nice strategy to fuel management other than keep it full and buy cheap (if you are not scooping) , there would be a risk/reward for keeping your fuel low because you would be faster, more agile and could jump further, but you could not potentially sell excess fuel at stations and would not be able to skip a fuel scooping just because a particular star is very hot. If fuel dumping also provided some heat dumping it would be a further mechanic which would add a optional layer of complexity that experts could exploit and add further utility to silent running. Also by counting Cargo Mass as part of the flight characteristics it would also allow a strategy of dumping cargo to become more agile or faster (fight or flight) when you are being pursued. Good for the purser if you drop gold and run, bad for them if you drop lead and fight.
I think it would be good if cargo was still bought and sold in standardized volumes but each commodity had a different density and therefore mass. Cargo holds would therefore be Volume Constrained instead of Mass Constrained.
This would introduces a new game mechanic where on any landing pad with gravity you could be constrained by your vertical thrusters maximum acceleration in m/s^2 (determined by your Total Mass and thruster force) and the local gravity in m/s^2 (at the moment a standardised simulated gravity, but in the future planets with differing gravities too) . Outposts would be effectively non constrained in this manner due to virtually no gravity while stations would either deny docking rights until you jettison some cargo (at a appropriate distance) or stop trading before you hit your mass limit. This would also need to be a considered constraint for mission availability. Considering how this would only be a significant factor for some dense metal commodities (or ships that have weak thrust) it should not be a problem for most players, but it might allow for a new class of specialty craft that have a small cargo bay but a relatively high thrust meaning they could be the optimal solution for transporting valuable commodities, sort of like a space armored van.
The new unit for cargo volume could just be a standard cargo container without reference to what that volume is but I think it's logical that some special cargo would not be transported by containers, in particular I'm thinking slaves and any other future paying passengers, also some machinery and technology might be oversized. I'm thinking any passenger would be transported in a coffin sized stasis chamber with independent life support and would probably take up about 1m^3 of volume (2.5m X 0.5m X 0.8m) , meanwhile a standard cargo container could be more like 0.2m^3 (0.5m X 0.5m X 0.8m) minus the edges so it has a octagon profile. So units for commodities could either be 1m^3 or 0.2m^3.
At the moment there seems to be 3 types of mass (Hull, Cargo, Fuel) and 2 types of flight that use various masses to calculate flight characteristics. The first type of flight is normal thruster propelled flight, I haven't done thorough tests but it seems to use only the Hull Mass to calculate the acceleration and maximum speed of the craft (not counting the thrusters and power distributor) . The second is a hyperspace jump, this uses Hull Mass and Cargo Mass to calculate the maximum jump range of a craft. Fuel Mass doesn't change with how full the tanks are but the tanks just have a module mass that goes towards the Hull Mass.
I would suggest that all 3 types of mass always be used to calculate both types of flight. The obvious problem is Fuel Mass as you can currently easily gain fuel, but the only way to get rid of it is to use it, and who wants to be doing circles at 2000c for an hour just to get a little more jump range (you could probably supercruise the extra distance faster!). The obvious answer to the problem is to add a fuel dump option and a sell fuel at Stations and Outposts option.
This could add some nice strategy to fuel management other than keep it full and buy cheap (if you are not scooping) , there would be a risk/reward for keeping your fuel low because you would be faster, more agile and could jump further, but you could not potentially sell excess fuel at stations and would not be able to skip a fuel scooping just because a particular star is very hot. If fuel dumping also provided some heat dumping it would be a further mechanic which would add a optional layer of complexity that experts could exploit and add further utility to silent running. Also by counting Cargo Mass as part of the flight characteristics it would also allow a strategy of dumping cargo to become more agile or faster (fight or flight) when you are being pursued. Good for the purser if you drop gold and run, bad for them if you drop lead and fight.
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