how would it change the obsolescence mechanics if theres N or N+1 entities putting out research?mcsven wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2017 3:44 pmI'm happy to concede that it's easier to see the benefit of obsolescence if there is no research system available to the player. Items simply become less powerful over time, and new items are added as power 10 (or thereabouts) from corporations that the player will never interact with. I see this as being a straight forward incremental update to the system that virtually every other space combat game uses.
(besides the actual rate at which it happens)
how does it matter if i get the update from somewhere else or from my own labs?
how does having the most research change the rate at which the mounted equipment decays?mcsven wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2017 3:44 pmI don't think it would be too hard to implement in a player-involved research world however. For example, you could implement a system whereby the initial power of an item is governed by the relative amount of research any given entity is doing compared to the other researching entities. If you are a relatively small entity, your new items won't be the most powerful, ranking at 5/6, and quickly becoming obsolete. On the other hand, if you are in charge of the entity putting out the most research, then your new stuff is rated 10, and its obsolescence rate is slowed because your research is that much greater than everyone else's.
i'd have the newest equipment to build and mount, yes. but how would that change the decay rate of the equipment thats already installed in my ships? they still decay at the same rate
i'd like to like it if any point were to itmcsven wrote: I'm also happy to concede that you don't like what I'm saying. Fair enough. That's hardly a slam dunk argument against it though is it?
from what you describe its just "repaint items when something better comes along".
which doesnt change any mechanics
or from another interpretation (which im still not sure about what you are actually proposing because you arent clarifying anything) having to redo ship equipment layouts because someone else developed something and the power supply of my ship is now broken despite me not changing anything in my loadout.
because the downgrade ripple from the new generator development hit the power generation of my mounted generator and now its less than what i need to run my equipment.
except that there are still thousands of instances near the player under any circumstances unless e is alone in the far wilderness.mcsven wrote: As for insisting it's a waste of processing power: once an item moves far enough away from the player it'll be absorbed into a much less granular simulation. It's only when they come close to the player that it'll really become relevant. I'm still sceptical that this would be a meaningful performance impairment.