How robust is the plug-and-play system fro the ship pipes? We already know about the size 2 tractor beam in the store which can go on any appropriately sized hardpoint, and the application of drop tanks for presumably "wet" class 3 mounts, but does that extend to other potential systems and equipment? Would there be a size 5 sensor cluster I could put on the nose of my Avenger instead of a size 5 cannon to go exploring with instead of interdicting?asked by Janitor
TL;DRThe data-driven item pipe system is very robust, letting anything fit any hardpoint that accommodates its size, so a sensor could replace a cannon, though component sizes may be adjusted for balance and aesthetics.
My favorite part of this question is the idea of a size 5 cannon on the Avenger. Spoiler alert! It's not gonna stay a size 5. It looks RIDICULOUS when you put one of the size 5 guns on there. So how robust is the plug-and-play system for ship pipes? That's a great question, 'cause I love answering, "it's very robust!" Basically the item pipes are something that flow between all the nodes on the ship. They carry CPU power, they carry "power power", and they carry heat. The pipe system then references the data points for each of the XMLs which define what that item either contributes or removes from the pipe system, and then that flows into the pipe system organically based on the setup of the ship. So you can, if what you're asking is, attach a soda can [holds up soda can] to your class 1 hardpoint - and maybe it's aluminum so it vents heat - versus putting a weapon on there. As long as they can accommodate the size of the can, the size of the weapon, anything can be attached anywhere, and it can work in that slot, and it will update the pipes dynamically as it's all a data-driven system. That's something that's super important to Chris was making sure it was a data-driven system, so we could do just that. So you asked specifically about putting a size 5 sensor cluster onto your Avenger instead of a size 5 cannon - so, "yes" would be the answer, as long as the hardpoint supports that size, you would have a gimballing sensor. Because, you know, what could make a sensor better? Gimbals!
But a key thing to remember is that, the sizes-... we want to make sure that any size mount that we put on a ship is going to at least try to adhere to some modicum of game balance. So we may adjust the sizes as we see fit, to maintain balance, but we also want to maintain a certain level of aesthetics. So if we find that a mount is either too large or too small for a particular ship we may take it down a peg or bring it up one.
Yeah, so maybe rather than managing a size 5 sensor cluster, it's a size 2 sensor cluster. Something like that.