Ship wear AND damage !

[Commandeur_Brin]

Here is a quote from DFF :

• Players can trade in the ship that they are currently flying when purchasing a new ship
• Players will receive a percentage of the value of their ship if they decide to trade in their ship
• This percentage is based on wear and tear a ship can sustain over its career and its current state of maintenance so well maintained ships will have a higher percentage than beaten up ones

This was and still is a very good idea to be added. I think that differentiating Hull status from overall structural wear and integrity would be very interesting.

1) What it could add and what more could be added upon :

- It could add a sense of ownership in the long term. Part if not all of what makes the Millennium Falcon the iconic ship it is, is the tear and wear visible on it's hull and the fact that you know it's an old ship.
- There could be impounds stations where you'd find ships to buy for a lot less money but with a low to very low structural integrity
- Low and very low integrity ships could have their higher internal slots locked until integrity is brought back to a minimal level.
- Rework of the ships structure would cost money and take time and be done in the new dry-docks.


2) What it could change for existing gameplay :

- It could be a limiting factor for engineering as modified modules would put some more stress on the ships structure.
- Maximum stress level would be equal to structural integrity.
- Nearing maximum stress level would add some crackling and hull deformation noises.
- Going beyond stress level would mean danger ! I'm open to ideas !

Basically : It could balance the heavily engineered ships to something either reasonable or very, very dangerous !

3) Crazy idea for the future :

- Being killed would not always mean ship's destruction. You would only eject and maybe you could try to get back your damaged ship.

"And so much more..."

 

[Bobbydylan]

To be honest, I never really assumed that my ship was 100% destroyed. I always assumed it was mostly salvaged, and my escape pod rescued. That's kinda how I mentally explained away the fact that I had my RNGineered ship replaced, like-for-like.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

To be honest, I never really assumed that my ship was 100% destroyed. I always assumed it was mostly salvaged, and my escape pod rescued. That's kinda how I mentally explained away the fact that I had my RNGineered ship replaced, like-for-like.

You clearly see your ship blowing up entirely ! And I think I remember the devs saying explaining that "lore wise" you have a small frameshift drive in your seat that brings you back to a brand new ship.

 

[Retrograde]

Wear and tear is currently rather pointless. It's just another item in the "repair all" bucket. I know this will get no traction at all, but I think it should be non-repairable. Every time your ship goes below ~50% hull or massively overheats, then increase wear and tear a little bit. Permanently.

Current repair costs are so low that a 2nd hand market for ships is pointless, but if there were unfixable wear and tear, then it would be viable. How much for an Anaconda that can't go above 70% hull strength? (Last I heard, it limits hull strength: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...es-it-effect?p=1212067&viewfull=1#post1212067)

But I know that people get so attached to their ships that if there were something negative that couldn't be fixed, they'd get upset.

 

[Conch]

I rather have the damaged fixed on my conda, so it doenst switch back to the OEM paintjob when damaged..

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

But I know that people get so attached to their ships that if there were something negative that couldn't be fixed, they'd get upset.

I think that you can overcome the issue with long repairs that costs a lot ! And it would be perfect with ship transfer: You know your old Anaconda needs a week* in dry dock to return to it's former glory. You ask for your trusty clipper to go for some mining during the repairs...

You could see the repairs ungoing (a bar filling up, nothing fancy) and could ask for your ship earlier if need be.

I would love knowing that my ship is at the workshop while I'm at work !

 

[salad]

Wear and tear is so cool, too bad you can't untick the paintjob from the "repair all" list.

Here's what the Python looks like with 0% Black Friday Paintjob, too bad I couldn't keep it like that for long since I accidentally hit the repair all button. ._.

Spoiler

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Wow I didn't know you could see the paint wear off ! That's very nice ! Is it true for every ship ? I would love to see my clipper with a worn off paint !

 

[syngyne]

Wow I didn't know you could see the paint would wear off ! That's very nice ! Is it true for every ship ? I would love to see my clipper with a worn off paint !

The effect used to be a lot more pronounced.

Spoiler

I currently have an ASP with 14% paint health, and I can barely tell that it's worn.

 

[salad]

The effect used to be a lot more pronounced.

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/bhQ34cZ.jpg

I currently have an ASP with 14% paint health, and I can barely tell that it's worn.

Same for the Python. the worn black friday paintjob no longer looks like the picture I posted.

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Same for the Python. the worn black friday paintjob no longer looks like the picture I posted.

But... Why ? Why would they remove such a cool feature ?!

 

[Commandeur_Brin]

Back on topic !

What do you guys think of a structural integrity for your ships ?

I think it would go well with another thread I started a few weeks back about ship ID tags : https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/272216-Ship-ID-tag-Going-a-bit-further

The ships could have it's date of construction, date of purchase and first flight, Integrity level, callsign and ID tag....