Since there was an interest to allow players to customize their space ships, to what extent is the customizing used to effect space transit, or is there any interest to implement that in the future?
Space travel brings up several challenges and ideas. Here are my concerns...
1. f you switched from menu-driven space travel to map-based space travel then it would be a little more seamless. But...
a. Maps are only so tall, so simulating travel through space may mean slowing down actual player movement inside their ship on a 'Space Map'.
b. You'd probably want to represent planets as individual blocks or cubes of blocks to reduce map file size for such a space map, otherwise graphics for planets/stars/moons loaded as 'waypoints' which could possibly get the newtonian treatment (orbiting).
c. Would a map represent a solar system, or perhaps a neighborhood or "constellation" of stars, or would a space map be used to represent an entire spiral galaxy (given the height limit of a map)? The latter seems the simplest, and you could even implement stargates/wormholes in the future that way to jump from one place to another. Map generation of stars, moons, planets and asteroid belts as fixed objects/blocks would be a good/easy way of handling it.
d. I assume moving into proximity of a representation of a planet from a 'space map' would then prompt the player with a menu option to land OR slingshot on the planet's gravity to save fuel and increase momentum to more distant solar/extrasolar objects.
e. I hope simulating gravitational pull of celestial objects is not a daunting consideration, though I would be fine with the simplest implementation of zero gravity and a ship just pushing you in the direction you're pointing.
2. Menu driven or not, I get the impression that customizing ships is mainly about determining access to other solar bodies and the prerequisite fuel required to get there.
Thanks for considering my suggestions.
Space travel brings up several challenges and ideas. Here are my concerns...
1. f you switched from menu-driven space travel to map-based space travel then it would be a little more seamless. But...
a. Maps are only so tall, so simulating travel through space may mean slowing down actual player movement inside their ship on a 'Space Map'.
b. You'd probably want to represent planets as individual blocks or cubes of blocks to reduce map file size for such a space map, otherwise graphics for planets/stars/moons loaded as 'waypoints' which could possibly get the newtonian treatment (orbiting).
c. Would a map represent a solar system, or perhaps a neighborhood or "constellation" of stars, or would a space map be used to represent an entire spiral galaxy (given the height limit of a map)? The latter seems the simplest, and you could even implement stargates/wormholes in the future that way to jump from one place to another. Map generation of stars, moons, planets and asteroid belts as fixed objects/blocks would be a good/easy way of handling it.
d. I assume moving into proximity of a representation of a planet from a 'space map' would then prompt the player with a menu option to land OR slingshot on the planet's gravity to save fuel and increase momentum to more distant solar/extrasolar objects.
e. I hope simulating gravitational pull of celestial objects is not a daunting consideration, though I would be fine with the simplest implementation of zero gravity and a ship just pushing you in the direction you're pointing.
2. Menu driven or not, I get the impression that customizing ships is mainly about determining access to other solar bodies and the prerequisite fuel required to get there.
Thanks for considering my suggestions.