Cyclops Improvements - Functional bridge displays and ROVs
SporkWitch
Rochester, NY, USA Join Date: 2016-01-11 Member: 211254Members
Rochester, NY, USA Join Date: 2016-01-11 Member: 211254Members
Should be pretty straight-forward for some, make the one the currently says "194m" actually give a correct readout of current depth. Not just this though, It'd be nice if one of the displays provided our position on a map. This map could have a fog-of-war effect, such that only explored regions are shown on the map.
It would also be nice to have a sonar system on the Cyclops, not unlike the seamoth one. More variety in the upgrade modules in general would be desirable.
Another possibility, for very late game, might be a ROV. We could use the second bridge panel for this, sit in it like the piloting position, and the display provides a camera feed from the ROV, and we could then pilot it just like the seamoth controls; have it play out a line behind it (like the dive reel) from the cyclops (or any future ships that might support an ROV, ideally including a seabase module, possibly as an expansion to the moonpool, like the seamoth terminal). Have a limited length on this cable to restrict how far away it can get, and it drains power from the cyclops (or host ship / base) at the same rate as the seamoth, or slightly lower. Speed might be the same as the basic seaglide.
Just some ideas and thoughts to expand on the cyclops functionality and replace placeholder graphics with something functional.
It would also be nice to have a sonar system on the Cyclops, not unlike the seamoth one. More variety in the upgrade modules in general would be desirable.
Another possibility, for very late game, might be a ROV. We could use the second bridge panel for this, sit in it like the piloting position, and the display provides a camera feed from the ROV, and we could then pilot it just like the seamoth controls; have it play out a line behind it (like the dive reel) from the cyclops (or any future ships that might support an ROV, ideally including a seabase module, possibly as an expansion to the moonpool, like the seamoth terminal). Have a limited length on this cable to restrict how far away it can get, and it drains power from the cyclops (or host ship / base) at the same rate as the seamoth, or slightly lower. Speed might be the same as the basic seaglide.
Just some ideas and thoughts to expand on the cyclops functionality and replace placeholder graphics with something functional.
Comments
Probably a really easy way to do it, yep. The more I think about it, that's basically how the ROV should be modeled in my mind. Same speed as a seaglide, same power drain (so 0.5 units per tic, since power cells are 100 units and power cells use two batteries to make and powerglides are powered by batteries not power cells). The engine portion of it is probably about the right size, so parts of the model could probably be reused, as well.
This, very much this...
I've noticed on the Trello page that they are tossing around ideas to make the Cyclops more relevant and useful, which I feel is going to quickly shine a spotlight on its deficiencies. Obviously, power consumption is one of them, though that is already being worked on, but navigation is next on the list as far as I can see. Because so much of the sub exists behind your piloting FOV, its often almost impossible to tell that you're descending onto terrain until you've already hit it, even if you're moving forward as you descend thanks to the very limited viewing distance at depth. This is only going to get worse, as its clear by the planned upgrade modules that the Cyclops is at least intended to reach 900m and even 3000m in a max depth configuration. All that available depth will be pretty useless if you can't see where you're going, especially since it would appear that that biomes requiring such depth will be underground in caves rather than out in the open ocean.
The two things I think the Cyclops needs the most are either a Seamoth style sonar module, or a Seaglide style 3D map (can't understand why the Seaglide has this in the first place), and then also a way to tell whether there is something directly below the sub. The latter could be in the form of a depth below keel meter, or maybe even just a proximity sensor beeping which gets faster / more intense as you get closer to something. Any of these could be introduced to the game in the form of modules which would have to be researched and balanced against other upgrades.
IMO, if you're going to have an ROV, it would need to be capable of interacting with the environment (using tools / picking things up) as the only reason to include such a vehicle would be as a player stand-in for locations which can't be reached by any other means (SeaMoth, ExoSuit, swimming). Though I think the SeaMoth could be modified to fit this purpose, I would imagine the ExoSuit would be a better jumping off point as it already has arms... simply cut off the legs and squash the primary hull down some and you've got a pretty good ROV.
I can see what you mean, though it then circles back onto the sonar / navigation issue. If the SeaMoth is going to have limited O2 and we're going to need to take the Cyclops much closer to an area of operations to act as a mobile base to replenish O2 and power, we will really need a better way to navigate it around at depth.
With a tether range of 100 metres or so, that gives a fair bit to scout ahead. Take out the seamoth, get down there, exit. Swim around. The way they make it sound, it will still have plenty of air to use it this way, you just can't do it forever anymore. I think the tools, with proper balancing, might complement each other nicely.
My question though is whether we will always have the option to just get out and swim around. It seems clear by the yellow / red depth gauge while swimming that we will ultimately have a limit on how deep we can actually swim without additional apparatus before taking pressure damage. I'm guessing that this limit will be implemented with the Exosuit since that would be the logical apparatus for deep diving.