Rackham's Peak has recently become completely deadlocked. With no player-based solution in sight, this seems like the perfect time to fix this issue once and for all.
Carrier Location Transmitter
The Location Transmitter would be an integrated module on all carriers. Its function is simple: When it's turned on, it draws power and displays the Carrier's location to other players. When it's turned off, it stops drawing power and becomes invisible to other players.
Under the hood, here's what would happen. When the transmitter is turned off, the Carrier is moved to a non-location list in the server. It does not technically exist at all, and the server does not check its location. It is saved on this list until the transmitter is turned back on again. On the owner's end, the location of the carrier is stored in their save data. If they tell it to jump somewhere else, their game calculates if it's possible, without consulting the server at all. The carrier can go anywhere, even completely full systems, because it does not require a dedicated parking spot, like objects that are actually stored on the server and saved in the limited format used there.
However, because of this, the carrier is not visible to other players, unless they drop in on a wingmate's instance. This is identical to dropping in on another player's Signal Source. If you log out, you will log back in floating in empty space somewhere near where the carrier had been, exactly like a signal source.
Once the player decides to turn this transmitter back on, the server checks the list, and 'jumps' the carrier from the list of carriers, to its new location. Just as with standard jumps, if the system is full, the 'jump' will fail. The system must not have too many carriers in it, in order for the carrier to become visible.
Finally, using the Transmitter will have a varying cost. If you turn it on in an empty system, you can use the cheapest and least energy intensive broadcast band, which only costs a trivial amount to maintain; lets say 100k/week. However, each additional carrier will have a progressively higher cost, because it takes more energy to be heard with other carriers in the system. This will increase the cost of turning on the transmitter by 50%(multiplicatively) per player.
100k, 150k, 225k, 337.5, 506.25, 759.375, 1.14m, 1.71m, 2.56m, 3.84m, 5.77m, 8.65m, 13m, 19.5, 29.25, 43.9, 65.8, 100m, and so on.
This way, players in high-traffic systems will be encouraged to keep theirs invisible.
And the problem will be solved.
Carrier Location Transmitter
The Location Transmitter would be an integrated module on all carriers. Its function is simple: When it's turned on, it draws power and displays the Carrier's location to other players. When it's turned off, it stops drawing power and becomes invisible to other players.
Under the hood, here's what would happen. When the transmitter is turned off, the Carrier is moved to a non-location list in the server. It does not technically exist at all, and the server does not check its location. It is saved on this list until the transmitter is turned back on again. On the owner's end, the location of the carrier is stored in their save data. If they tell it to jump somewhere else, their game calculates if it's possible, without consulting the server at all. The carrier can go anywhere, even completely full systems, because it does not require a dedicated parking spot, like objects that are actually stored on the server and saved in the limited format used there.
However, because of this, the carrier is not visible to other players, unless they drop in on a wingmate's instance. This is identical to dropping in on another player's Signal Source. If you log out, you will log back in floating in empty space somewhere near where the carrier had been, exactly like a signal source.
Once the player decides to turn this transmitter back on, the server checks the list, and 'jumps' the carrier from the list of carriers, to its new location. Just as with standard jumps, if the system is full, the 'jump' will fail. The system must not have too many carriers in it, in order for the carrier to become visible.
Finally, using the Transmitter will have a varying cost. If you turn it on in an empty system, you can use the cheapest and least energy intensive broadcast band, which only costs a trivial amount to maintain; lets say 100k/week. However, each additional carrier will have a progressively higher cost, because it takes more energy to be heard with other carriers in the system. This will increase the cost of turning on the transmitter by 50%(multiplicatively) per player.
100k, 150k, 225k, 337.5, 506.25, 759.375, 1.14m, 1.71m, 2.56m, 3.84m, 5.77m, 8.65m, 13m, 19.5, 29.25, 43.9, 65.8, 100m, and so on.
This way, players in high-traffic systems will be encouraged to keep theirs invisible.
And the problem will be solved.
