Streamlining vehicle assembly
DagothUr
Florida Join Date: 2016-07-12 Member: 220125Members
Florida Join Date: 2016-07-12 Member: 220125Members
First, ditch the vehicle assembly platform. It goofy, it's tricky, and it's really kind of pointless. As far as I can tell, it's only real reason for existing is to compensate for the immense bulk of the Cyclops causing it to crash into things and getting stuck during assembly, and the VAP was meant as a cheap workaround. If only it worked - that aquatic freight train still gets stuck on everything anyway if you're not floating that VAP above an abyss. So let's just forge the whole VAP thing and do something that makes more sense:
1) Seamoth just happens to fit perfectly into Moonpool drydock harness. Therefore, Seamoth should be built (and repaired) in the Moonpool. It's only logical.
2) Cyclops blueprint is already studied in three separate parts before magically fusing into one big blueprint once you learn all the modules. Here we need to take a step backward and break this monstrosity back up into three separate components - because that way you can build it, too, in the Moonpool as well. Once all three are built and dropped to the sea floor you can then take your Welder and slowly assemble it by hand.
3) If intermediate submarines are introduced then they can be used to haul Cyclops parts (and striken Seamoths as well).
4) Later on, if you really want, you can just add larger construction bays. That should be a last resort, however. Worst case scenario add a room mod to the Moonpool that adds a second set of quad arms to the outside roof, and build your Cyclops on top of it, already assembled if you're feeling particularly lazy about it.
Anyway, the whole VAP thing is silly and often fails to do the one thing it was really invented for. So how about we save some RAM, and some time, by just transferring it's one job to a more appropriate facility, hmm?
1) Seamoth just happens to fit perfectly into Moonpool drydock harness. Therefore, Seamoth should be built (and repaired) in the Moonpool. It's only logical.
2) Cyclops blueprint is already studied in three separate parts before magically fusing into one big blueprint once you learn all the modules. Here we need to take a step backward and break this monstrosity back up into three separate components - because that way you can build it, too, in the Moonpool as well. Once all three are built and dropped to the sea floor you can then take your Welder and slowly assemble it by hand.
3) If intermediate submarines are introduced then they can be used to haul Cyclops parts (and striken Seamoths as well).
4) Later on, if you really want, you can just add larger construction bays. That should be a last resort, however. Worst case scenario add a room mod to the Moonpool that adds a second set of quad arms to the outside roof, and build your Cyclops on top of it, already assembled if you're feeling particularly lazy about it.
Anyway, the whole VAP thing is silly and often fails to do the one thing it was really invented for. So how about we save some RAM, and some time, by just transferring it's one job to a more appropriate facility, hmm?
Comments
Also, the vehicles should require a LOT more resources to build, perhaps you should even need resources to repair them with. (in conjunction with the welder.)
Of course, if I really had my druthers they'd just ditch the Cyclops entirely and replace it with a ship instead. Classic ocean research vessel with side-scan sonar (to keep exploration interesting even from the bridge). Stick the Cyclops docking bay inside it (rehashed Moonpool) and you're done.
Now you've got a ship that will never crash into anything (except maybe the Aurora), get stick on a twig and launch itself into orbit trying to get unstuck, or attract hostile life forms (so far). All your actual dive-exploration is still done by the Seamoth and any other light submersibles they feel like adding (such as ROVs, utility divers, etc).
Because let's face it: The Cyclops is an overpowered pain in the ass. It only exists because the "Rule of Cool" allows it to.
though anyways, I mostly use it as a deep sea mobile platform .