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Formations

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I saw in you dev log that you've been working on implementing formations (I love formations). I noticed you haven't yet finished, and would like to add some input and ask a question or two.
Will you be implementing a system to let us define our own formations?
I know you are breaking a few laws of physics (hey it's scifi, thats normal), and ive read mention of sensor ranges, but will there be time delays due to extreme distances (either in communications or sensors)? and how will you coordinate a series of formations across a battlefield if so?
One formation management strategy ive seen used, which compensates for time delays and also ensures all ships react properly to formation course/speed changes, is use of time-late orders (orders given to be executed at a specific future time). This ensures (as long as enough time is given) that every ship in the formation has time to receive, understand, and acknowledge the orders before they are executed. If there is no time lag between ships, and the involved parties are all AIs, then conceivably the orders could be milli or microsecond time delays, but this system ensures all ships (assuming synchronized chronometers) execute the exact course and speed changes needed at exactly the correct time.
This system doesnt even need to use the controlling ship as the guide so long as the controlling ship gives orders relative to the guide (an effective way to hide your command ship). This system relies on the controlling ship to compute and issue all course and speed change orders (complete with execute-at-this-time data) for all units in the formation, but tends to produce better results then having the guide ship maneuver and the rest of the formation have to react. If someone (player) got really creative, this method can lead to doth beautiful and deadly formations capable of maneuvering in as many components as the they can personally manage since the exact maneuvering orders can be computed given general instructions given by the player.
Something else usually assumed in navigation is taking navigation orders from fixed bearing systems rather than relative to a guide ship (though guide relative bearings are used to maintain station). Naturally, being space based, there is no fixed way to reliably establish bearings (like north as 000 degrees), in a standard solar system layout you could relate starward (facing the star) and [port] (facing away from the star) for planar directions then select "up" (above the plane) and "down" (below the plane). Somewhat arbitrary, but as long as you have an external method of establishing bearings then your ships will never be confused by relative orders because theyre all turned around relative to the guide.
I have no idea how easy/hard/infeasible my suggestions may be, but at least i hope ive helped some.

For any interested, this is based on standard military formation plotting, but the specific space implementation I read in "The Lost Fleet" series by Jack Campbell.

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