Degan

So I loaded in a Stratos, "Abstract Wrangling" and "Sector Runner" next to the Dauntless. If you've spent more than 30 minutes on these forums looking for cool ideas, you know these ships (or have at least seen the posts). Hands down, the Dauntless wins in speed (Jeezuz is this thing fast off the line!), maneuverability (it stops and turns on a dime) and cost (sub 1-million ? hell ya). It helps that it looks freeking cool and with a tiny bit of paint customization, it fits my mid-game build perfectly. Thank you, Shieldmate for creating an attainable early/mid-game vessel that performs well, looks great and is cost effective.

Oh, thruster mechanics, how I love em. So... the Devs have put together a rather cool new idea in the gaming world; They have given us a (relatively real) ship building engine with some pew pew... heck ya! On this, have any of you (who are complaining) ever thought - I mean really read on the subject - of physics? Particularly mass, inertia, thrust, etc? From what I read, I'd say the answer is "NO". Here it is, broken down Barney-style for all you fidget-spinner basement dwellers who want instant satisfaction for no real equity ... If you build a huge item of mass and send it flying through space at 1000 m/s it's going to take a LONG TIME to slow it down and turn it around. That's basic physics. At some point, no matter how many thrusters, gyros or engines you put on... mass is proportionately more difficult (IE., "Slower") to respond to directional changes - even in space. One camp is complaining that they cant fly through asteroid fields at 1000m/s without hitting something. Ya think?! You're maneuvering a few thousand metric tons of material at an ungodly speed .... wait... lemme give you an analogy... Swallows (birds) are small, fast and nimble. They are able to reach high rates of speed and maneuver to catch mosquitoes in flight. This is because they are SMALL. Hawks or falcons are able to catch swallows in mid flight because they are fast (stupid fast) BUT they must pre-plan their flight, anticipate their prey's movement and HOPE they haven't forgotten about the cliff face or barn building in their flight path because they aren't going to STOP in time to avoid it before going splat (unlike the swallow). Condors (really big birds) can also fly crazy fast because of the size of their wings. However, they cant maneuver like smaller birds because of their mass. Now... you see a swallow flying and, for some stupid reason you decide you wish to test a theory by throwing a load of rocks at the swallow (suspend your snowflake triggers here for a second, girls)... the swallow *may* be able to dodge those rocks because is is small and nimble. Catch that hawk we talked about earlier at the same time and he will be going home with a headache. If the condor were chasing the hawk, he'd never dodge the rocks, hit every one and probably pancake into the ground because he can't maneuver for crap at speed. Now, if you don't like my real-world answer, I have a friend who is a NASAR engineer on the Mars program who designs engines for space travel for a living. I can have HER explain all this but frankly, it would be PAGES of math. I don't like math. Lastly, read a few of Nick Webb's books. He's a fairly talented space sci-fi writer who has done a remarkable job at describing space combat with large vessels. He actually asked physicists about this very issue when preparing to write his books. I dare say, the dev's may have read some of his stuff :) Now onto MY request... Please give me a no-BS formula on thrusters to mass and engine design in relation to acceleration with mass so I can finally quit screwing around with my ship design and head to the core :) Thank you, to all the Devs who have worked on this game. It finally brings realism to a space combat sim. Eve was (and still is) my visually favorite in this regard but Avorion fills a gap Eve never could.