Phoenix Forums

Frabby

Rock Structural Units are... holes in the ground. They represent excavation through special complex operation or mining, and are used to "build" (actually, secure) Cave complexes and underground fighter hangars. They can substitute regular structural modules on a 3:1 basis by providing underground space instead of other enclosed space.
As items, RSMs, while big, can be shipped around like any other kind of modules.

To me, this is wrong. You don't move around holes in the ground. Much less it should be possible to import inflata-holes from a rocky moon to the muddy seabed of a waterworld to build a secret, invisible (emf-dampened?!) starbase.

I therefore suggest to mark RSMs as Complex Type items. That would change not much at all, they can still be produced and used for construction as before. It does alter two factors, though:
1) As complexes, they wouldn't be moveable anymore;
2) They would not only add their defensive padding to a starbase but also become a liability regarding shields and security complexes by vastly inflating starbase mass with complex type items. Perhaps their damage threshold should be reduced as well (only the RSMs, not the completed and secured Cave complexes though!).

Duckworth-Lewis

I always thought of RSM's as big slabs of granite or other stone myself. So have no problem seeing them being used as an alternative to SM's. Indeed I'd even go as far to say that - if it has any effect in the Infrastructure rules - that using RSM's instead of SM's would make a starbase less industrial looking, and be good for tourism

I guess it still seems odd that they can be used to build caves - which should presumably be done by a few well placed explosives, some shovels, and the odd JCB (although the RSM's could be said to be used as support structures to make the freshly excavated cave less prone to caving in).

FLZPD

I see them as granite-like stuff too - they are not an actual hole in the ground. The creation of a cave complex puts the hole in the ground (explosives or whatever) and the RSMs give it the structural support to make it useable and also disguise the hole as a natural feature of the planet, as well as giving the contents increased protection from all the rock.

Saying that, are there many people who ship RSMs around?

I agree with the stealth bit too - pretty unrealistic that a bit of rock can hide the emissions of a modern starbase, whilst ships need sophisticated tech. Maybe we could have ships made of rock, with natural stealth - they look like a meteor

Nik

As I understand it, caves can only be built in certain terrain types (anyone tried on a gas giant to find out if it works?) In these terrain types, there are either fractures in the ground, natural (small) cave structures or places where caves can be created. I then see RSMs as basically the equipment required to either blast out rock to create caves, or reinforce/partly quarry natural cave/fault systems such that they are then a safe environment to live/work/play in.
This process happens when you then 'create' the cave via the build complex order. This bit is not that realistic, but then again building all complexes at a moments notice isn't either :-)

Nik

Wraith

I thought I had read somewhere that modules are the resources and means to construct complexes.
So RSMs would be robots, digging equipment and explosives, as well as struts to hold caves up. They are harder to move as represented by the larger MUs per module.

I have often moved a lot of these, and have also wondered why this is possible. I can see that it might make more sense if they had to be used where they were made, but this isn't entirely realistic or practical, e.g. it would be very hard to colonise virgin worlds.

Mica Goldstone

RSM is the catch-all term covering big slabs of rock, holes in the ground, digging equipment and really anything that makes low-tech structures.

Yup, we could make Holes in Ground Modules as fixed items, i.e. they could not be moved from the place they were 'built', but would this really improve the game?

QUOTE

I agree with the stealth bit too - pretty unrealistic that a bit of rock can hide the emissions of a modern starbase, whilst ships need sophisticated tech. Maybe we could have ships made of rock, with natural stealth - they look like a meteor

As for emissions - thirty metres of granite or a hundred metres of ice will be just as adequate as shielding emissions as a few centimetres of hi-tech stealth plates.

I am sure that I could add ship stealth plates to the game requiring only 1mu of basic elements but actually 1250mu in size - though I suspect that the huge increase in size might well counter the benefits of stealth.