Thematically fitting non-OP coordinate system / tracking
tanzanite
Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222904Members
Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222904Members
Proposing 1 electronic device for the player and 2 stationary buildings:
1. electronic device for player:
Base functionality: shows world coordinates of player if receiving local positioning signal (just "signal" from now on).
Upgrade: ability to toggle on HUD navpoints / path. Can only be shown/tracked if in range of signal of course! Path consists of the path traveled since the path was last cleared (1s per path point * 3600s -> only 3600 points per hour, MAX [not storing points close to previous point]).
1. surface positioning signal beacon - emits signal.
- must be built above surface
- early midgame build cost
- no fragments needed (by the game standard the tech is really-really basic)
- must be powered (a few solars will be enough)
- one beacon has the strength to cover all of surface area
- signal strength weakens rapidly under water in conjunction to distance (max depth, say: 75m directly under the beacon and only 5m at 1000m away - dropping off non-linearly). Will have to resurface to find out exactly where you are.
2. underwater positioning signal beacon - emits signal
- must be built under water (let it have a minimum depth requirement, say: 125m below surface -> so it can not be built anywhere easily and you likely can not just put it on top of your first base)
- mid to endgame build cost (due of the range limitations, as noted below, you will need multiple - so it does not need to be expensive on its own especially given that you had to be resourceful enough to power the thing)
- needs fragments to be found (the tech is fairly "magical")
- must be powered (a few solars just won't do it at that depth - either build a powerline to surface solars, exploit thermal vents or build more temporary solutions like minibases with nuclear reactor)
- signal does not escape water surface - AT ALL!
- one beacon has a range of 750m in every direction (ie. radius = 750m) and through any terrain (looking at the map: 750 looks optimal - remember that it needs power and can be next to impossible to build where-ever you want it).
Considerations:
- all numbers given of course
- full coverage: is prohibitively expensive to build/maintain - dive reel will remain useful in all the bazillion places that do not get any signal.
- not getting lost in wrecks / caves: not a problem - coverage is late game and quite limited. you will get lost panic and die like usually plenty of times x_x.
- coordinate system: standard map coords - for game external communication between players / community building (ie. found something awesome or want to spoiler yourself with some pesky location you can not find on your own - you can as everyone uses the same coordinate system).
- pathing/navpoints as upgrade: would be too OP and damage the early game experience otherwise.
- deprecates the Beacon already in game: NO! If you are out of signal range then you lose ALL positional data - and having a full or near full coverage is essentially impossible ... you still want to have a good old beacon at every major base or whatever.
- needing triangulation: NO, too much hassle and makes underwater beacons essentially completely unusable. From technical point of view, given the short range, you can say that one device has multiple signal emitters sufficient for triangulation.
- third slot for player ragdoll: NO. Having to make choices is good.
- what about compass: what about it? To draw an analogy from real world - GPS cannot tell what direction you are looking.
Extra awesome factor:
- expands ways to gate tech and encourages exploration: if a large cave system is too confusing for you - build a beacon nearby and explore with beauty and loot to be gained.
- opens new avenues for devs to expand the game: the world becomes more navigable in late game and hence the playing field enlarges.
- non decorative functional stuff to build with additional incentive to build more bases.
Another simple to implement yet totally awesome suggestion if i do say so myself
- a little bit of basic math
- 2 stationary models (no AI no nothing, just like a fork in the sand)
- show coordinates / path on screen when the math says you are in range of at least one of the beacons
- ... and that is pretty much it. Well, path tracking and navpoints at least do need a little bit of effort (*) - but the rest is quite simple to implement.
*) primarily UI effort for maintaining navpoints and toggling/clearing path-trace. path tracking is easy (just store coordinates every X seconds except when distance to previous coordinate is too small) - it is just an HUD overlay that can completely ignore the game world (vs. the nightmare i suspect the dive reel is). Depth tested of course path-trace of course.
1. electronic device for player:
Base functionality: shows world coordinates of player if receiving local positioning signal (just "signal" from now on).
Upgrade: ability to toggle on HUD navpoints / path. Can only be shown/tracked if in range of signal of course! Path consists of the path traveled since the path was last cleared (1s per path point * 3600s -> only 3600 points per hour, MAX [not storing points close to previous point]).
1. surface positioning signal beacon - emits signal.
- must be built above surface
- early midgame build cost
- no fragments needed (by the game standard the tech is really-really basic)
- must be powered (a few solars will be enough)
- one beacon has the strength to cover all of surface area
- signal strength weakens rapidly under water in conjunction to distance (max depth, say: 75m directly under the beacon and only 5m at 1000m away - dropping off non-linearly). Will have to resurface to find out exactly where you are.
2. underwater positioning signal beacon - emits signal
- must be built under water (let it have a minimum depth requirement, say: 125m below surface -> so it can not be built anywhere easily and you likely can not just put it on top of your first base)
- mid to endgame build cost (due of the range limitations, as noted below, you will need multiple - so it does not need to be expensive on its own especially given that you had to be resourceful enough to power the thing)
- needs fragments to be found (the tech is fairly "magical")
- must be powered (a few solars just won't do it at that depth - either build a powerline to surface solars, exploit thermal vents or build more temporary solutions like minibases with nuclear reactor)
- signal does not escape water surface - AT ALL!
- one beacon has a range of 750m in every direction (ie. radius = 750m) and through any terrain (looking at the map: 750 looks optimal - remember that it needs power and can be next to impossible to build where-ever you want it).
Considerations:
- all numbers given of course
- full coverage: is prohibitively expensive to build/maintain - dive reel will remain useful in all the bazillion places that do not get any signal.
- not getting lost in wrecks / caves: not a problem - coverage is late game and quite limited. you will get lost panic and die like usually plenty of times x_x.
- coordinate system: standard map coords - for game external communication between players / community building (ie. found something awesome or want to spoiler yourself with some pesky location you can not find on your own - you can as everyone uses the same coordinate system).
- pathing/navpoints as upgrade: would be too OP and damage the early game experience otherwise.
- deprecates the Beacon already in game: NO! If you are out of signal range then you lose ALL positional data - and having a full or near full coverage is essentially impossible ... you still want to have a good old beacon at every major base or whatever.
- needing triangulation: NO, too much hassle and makes underwater beacons essentially completely unusable. From technical point of view, given the short range, you can say that one device has multiple signal emitters sufficient for triangulation.
- third slot for player ragdoll: NO. Having to make choices is good.
- what about compass: what about it? To draw an analogy from real world - GPS cannot tell what direction you are looking.
Extra awesome factor:
- expands ways to gate tech and encourages exploration: if a large cave system is too confusing for you - build a beacon nearby and explore with beauty and loot to be gained.
- opens new avenues for devs to expand the game: the world becomes more navigable in late game and hence the playing field enlarges.
- non decorative functional stuff to build with additional incentive to build more bases.
Another simple to implement yet totally awesome suggestion if i do say so myself
- a little bit of basic math
- 2 stationary models (no AI no nothing, just like a fork in the sand)
- show coordinates / path on screen when the math says you are in range of at least one of the beacons
- ... and that is pretty much it. Well, path tracking and navpoints at least do need a little bit of effort (*) - but the rest is quite simple to implement.
*) primarily UI effort for maintaining navpoints and toggling/clearing path-trace. path tracking is easy (just store coordinates every X seconds except when distance to previous coordinate is too small) - it is just an HUD overlay that can completely ignore the game world (vs. the nightmare i suspect the dive reel is). Depth tested of course path-trace of course.
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