Shipyard change

[Golem666 (OP)]

I imagine the SYs are mostly just the support facilities for constructing the ships, in space you can really begin building the ship frame anywhere and there is no need for dedicated drydock that would limit the size, keeping that in mind, I would be for remove the tonnage limit on SYs and just keeping the BP rate, the way it is now, you can assign a 1000t FAC to a 100kt SY to get it build fast but i think we should be able to get smaller shipyard building huge vessels at cost of it taking longer time. It is already this way for commercial space stations that you can build them to any size with however sized factory base, why couldn't it be as such for vessels too (of course with them built in SYs)?

Is this something that was considered at some point or not?

[Kiero]

No, even if the topic we are discussing is strongly hypothetical, like space yards.
To say that we can build ships wherever we want is probably a bit of an exaggeration.
It seems that several requirements would have to be taken into account when doing so:
- Protection from Orbital/Deep Space Debris and Radiation. Smaller shipyards may not have the necessary infrastructure to protect vessels under construction and personnel assembling it.
- Logistics for Personnel and Equipment. This may depend on the distance from the supply centre.
- Equipment for Moving and Installing Large Parts. Building massive ships may involves the precise assembly of large components. Smaller shipyards may lack the specialized equipment, such as heavy-duty cranes, robotic arms, and secure mounting mechanisms, needed to move and install these large parts safely.
- In addition, ShipYards require a sizable population workforce.

So no, in my opinion the size limit for ships built in shipyards should stay as it is.

[Treahblade]

The way that I always imagined a shipyard to be was not necessarily a giant box or something like that but a anchor point for a space elevator to the surface of the planet. And when you upgrade the yard to allow more tonnage its putting down larger cables to the planet to allow heavier machinery to be brought up. Along with building out a super structure slipways from the central parts delivery center.

[Nori]

Kiero said it well, but one other thing is... I have 200m workers for my shipyards now. Think of the storage space, materials, lifesupport, spacesuits, management, transit equipment and such of a huge workforce like that... You could have a argument that a smaller shipyard could build a bigger ship but just more slowly, but I think the shipyards are also making all the parts and the bigger ships need larger fabrication so it really makes sense to me that shipyards have a size limit.

[Hazard]

I always figured the personnel of a shipyard was closer to 'everybody needed to operate and supply the yard'. It's the entire industrial supply chain from the foundries to the specialized manufacturing centers for the components to the personnel putting the ships together themselves, with a good chunk of that planet side.

[Nori]

Yeah probably to some extent. But it seems it'd be far more efficient to manufacture things in orbit vs flying them up from the planet. Especially larger items.

[Jorgen_CAB]

Yeah probably to some extent. But it seems it'd be far more efficient to manufacture things in orbit vs flying them up from the planet. Especially larger items.

You might think so but people live on the planet and you don't want to ferry them up and down every day either. There are many benefits of manufacturing on the planets themself, from integration into power grids to many other logistical advantages from the infrastructure on the planet itself.

I'm sure the vast majority of the industry will be on the planet while the assembly happens in space, most of the engineering and manufacturing happen on the planet surface. The game do have anti-gravity technology to reduce the energy needed to ferry stuff up and down from the planet surface so this probably is not impractical.

In any way, you may immagine this in any way you want.

[Droll]

Yeah probably to some extent. But it seems it'd be far more efficient to manufacture things in orbit vs flying them up from the planet. Especially larger items.

You might think so but people live on the planet and you don't want to ferry them up and down every day either. There are many benefits of manufacturing on the planets themself, from integration into power grids to many other logistical advantages from the infrastructure on the planet itself.

I'm sure the vast majority of the industry will be on the planet while the assembly happens in space, most of the engineering and manufacturing happen on the planet surface. The game do have anti-gravity technology to reduce the energy needed to ferry stuff up and down from the planet surface so this probably is not impractical.

In any way, you may immagine this in any way you want.

We seem to have all forgotten that shipyards can be towed by tugs and immediately begin work once released at the destination, which doesn't make sense in the scenario where a lot of the manufacturing is happening planet side.

The game also draws a distinction between using industry to make components then assembling vs manufacturing them directly inside the shipyard, which itself also strongly implies that the shipyards can operate completely self contained, only relying on the planet for the workers themselves.

It also makes sense when you consider how easy it is to move 100,000s of tonnes of ground troops from the surface to ships in orbit via cargo shuttle so you wouldn't need something static like a space elevator to move even 100s of millions of workers.

[Jorgen_CAB]

Yeah probably to some extent. But it seems it'd be far more efficient to manufacture things in orbit vs flying them up from the planet. Especially larger items.

You might think so but people live on the planet and you don't want to ferry them up and down every day either. There are many benefits of manufacturing on the planets themself, from integration into power grids to many other logistical advantages from the infrastructure on the planet itself.

I'm sure the vast majority of the industry will be on the planet while the assembly happens in space, most of the engineering and manufacturing happen on the planet surface. The game do have anti-gravity technology to reduce the energy needed to ferry stuff up and down from the planet surface so this probably is not impractical.

In any way, you may immagine this in any way you want.

We seem to have all forgotten that shipyards can be towed by tugs and immediately begin work once released at the destination, which doesn't make sense in the scenario where a lot of the manufacturing is happening planet side.

The game also draws a distinction between using industry to make components then assembling vs manufacturing them directly inside the shipyard, which itself also strongly implies that the shipyards can operate completely self contained, only relying on the planet for the workers themselves.

It also makes sense when you consider how easy it is to move 100,000s of tonnes of ground troops from the surface to ships in orbit via cargo shuttle so you wouldn't need something static like a space elevator to move even 100s of millions of workers.

It would easily be eplained with civilian industry and as everything in a game things are abstracted. It is equally unrealistic you can imediately start working with millions of new people in a new structure towed in top of the planet.