11-16-2020, 07:39 PM
Atmodives are such a Hazeron institution, it seems almost blasphemous to make this proposal...Every so often they overwhelm the bug section of the forum and the grievance section of the Discord. Usually some tweaks to navigation and AI processing are made, they quiet down for a while, then we get another flare-up a few moths on.
After I personally atmodived from the helm like the true NPC that I am, I started thinking about a small change that could help fix them from the opposite direction: the direction of remedy, rather than prevention. I don't think we've ever tried that before.
Hull stress is the only instant kill for spaceships in Hazeron. Even black holes and the centres of suns inflict damage over time, which tough ships can tank long enough to try a few emergency saving throws. Why not change atmospheric stress damage in the following way:
Once a ship or vehicle exceeds its max rated atmospheric or underwater speed, a massive alarm goes off. Damage is now inflicted at a rate of 20% total hp per second over 5 seconds (or whatever). Once the alarm is active, that ship's AI helmsman receives maximum server processing priority for the duration of the emergency, and his sole job is to slam the breaks and put on maximum reverse thrust until the ship is back under safe speed. A human helmsman would, naturally, try to do the same.
Atmodives would still be dangerous and almost always costly, just as they're meant to be for careless pilots, but not instantly and universally fatal. A ship with a cyclic mission including repairs would be able to survive multiple atmodives, costing resources (it's not a get-out-of-jail-free), but sparing players the massive frustration of starting from scratch. Any good?
After I personally atmodived from the helm like the true NPC that I am, I started thinking about a small change that could help fix them from the opposite direction: the direction of remedy, rather than prevention. I don't think we've ever tried that before.
Hull stress is the only instant kill for spaceships in Hazeron. Even black holes and the centres of suns inflict damage over time, which tough ships can tank long enough to try a few emergency saving throws. Why not change atmospheric stress damage in the following way:
Once a ship or vehicle exceeds its max rated atmospheric or underwater speed, a massive alarm goes off. Damage is now inflicted at a rate of 20% total hp per second over 5 seconds (or whatever). Once the alarm is active, that ship's AI helmsman receives maximum server processing priority for the duration of the emergency, and his sole job is to slam the breaks and put on maximum reverse thrust until the ship is back under safe speed. A human helmsman would, naturally, try to do the same.
Atmodives would still be dangerous and almost always costly, just as they're meant to be for careless pilots, but not instantly and universally fatal. A ship with a cyclic mission including repairs would be able to survive multiple atmodives, costing resources (it's not a get-out-of-jail-free), but sparing players the massive frustration of starting from scratch. Any good?
![[Image: 7JQk4bf.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/7JQk4bf.jpg)