JakeBenson1993

If two parts are directly beside each other and directly rooted to each other then they shouldn't be connected with struts at their centers of mass as if they were apart. Instead, they should be connected as if the sides that they share are welded together. This bond should be stronger than the normal strut connection and it should render the two parts function more like one whole part. Currently, if I was to build a wall of rectangular parts, it would turn out to be more like a noodly chain instead of a solid wall. If adjacent parts were welded together instead of just strutted together between their centers then this would much better simulate proper walls and form much more decent drone skeletal structures. This suggestion could also potentially play into the "multiple struts" suggestion as well by having a truly modular and not root & tree based drone building experience. This way, players can actually create drones like building toy blocks that are then bonded by welds and struts placed at their choosing instead of awkwardly stretching out a chain / tree of parts that somewhat look like a solid construct.

This game really took off on social media with the display of the large drones that have 50+ parts and are coated with weapons on all sides. It has rode that wave of popularity for quite some time until the whole dynamic of the game changed completely with the introduction of survival mode mechanics. Now, players are restricted by the game's objectives and resource limitations to build little bittle drones that have les than 10 parts and end up playing a game that's closer to "upgrade your little ship" instead of "build your own massive customized drone." Too much time and effort spent on the weapons tech-tree will result in the game being more about upgrading a static drone whose overall design rarely changes at all during the whole playthrough. The programmer only adds more to this problem as it forces players to dabble in complicated logic if they want enough resources to build their dream drone in a campaign type gamemode. You end up making drones that are just a big cluster of randomly pointed sensors, boosters, and randomly aimed weapons designed to maze-run any planet while chaotically shooting at everything that isn't the indestructable objective. Come on, teenie tiny drones that belong more in a scrolling shoot'em up game and the large bundle of "hey, it works" logic parts are not what got you guys the social media likes and it's why you're not getting much now :(. Sandbox mode itself fixes only a part of this problem. We have the resources to build the massive drones that originally got us interested in the game, but now we lack sufficient reason or the survival environment for them to be relevant other than just looking cool. Yes, destroying terrain is very cool, but it kinda sucks that every single enemy can be killed in 1s or by one volley of my massive drone's weapons. Take a look at some of the other suggestions that could play into what I'm thirsting for here. Be it stronger or more numerous enemies, trickier (but not tinier) objectives, or entirely new weapons-based combat gamemodes, please implement whatever it is that can get me building massive drones again.

The part that is currently selected should be tinted green. The part that the selected part is connected to should be tinted orange. The parts that are connected to the selected part should be tinted blue. Part that selected is rooted on - > selected part - > Parts rooting on selected This would dramatically improve drone building and multi-part manipulation. This should also be quite easy to accomplish. Currently, I can see the part that I've selected and all the parts that are rooted to the selected part but not distinguish between the two. I have to move or pivot this whole linked parts module to see where the selected or root part is. Moreover, if I select a part, I can't see where it's rooted to unless I move it around to show the placement boundaries centered around the root part. This feature would make for easier diagnostic of drone structure problems, and would be extremely handy if the "multiple support struts" suggestions is also implemented. Less randomized linked noodly metal squids, and more solid and sturdy drones.