Research Block, Tier system and Survival overhaul PLEASE READ

So apparently this was already discussed or at least theorized on how it could be done by another individual, but i didn't read the full post so im just gonna add how i think it could be done with the modern client and the pcu limits and counter we now have in the game.

So as it stands you progress far far too fast in space engineers survival, this is partly due to the fact that what little blocks are added in vanilla are able to be built instantly if given you have enough parts to spare and the proper ore deposits.

this like i said makes for a very fast landing-to space travel time frame because large reactors ,hydrogen, large atmo thrusters, refineries, and assemblers are available from the get go with makes blocks like the arc furnace and to a lesser extent the parachute pretty much useless. sure you can still get use out of parachutes no matter which point of the game you are in but they become obsolete essentially on big ships with large atmospheric or hydrogen thrusters. And on that note does anyone honestly use the arc furnace? i mean why would you when you have access to a refinery from the start sure it requires more parts but on any of the landing pods you get a refinery so there's no reason to build one.

Given this i propose a research terminal block and maybe a re-haul of the components needed for some items and possible the addition of other blocks added to fill in any gaps i may make. with this research block you will have 1 or 2 access ports on it (block design should be a cross with a computer block and an assembler) and needs to be made of a medium amount of components such as plates,motors and any component that can be made in an assembler with the materials from an ARC furnace. On that note make them able to smelt silicon.

How the research will work is a branching tree starting with starter blocks like i said more can be added to fill gaps but generally small blocks should be starting so you cant build a massive ship from the start also. List should be for small ships battery, light armor blocks of all forms, small cargo container,solar panel, a smaller more limited assembler an arc furnace and small atmo thrusters and gyroscopes.

you will feed components into the machine with the amount depending on the item being researched or perhaps a new component made from each tier of materials like a token, each token will take an increasing amount of tiered materials tier 1 being the commons iron,nickel and stone, tier 2 will be the previous tier and cobalt silicon and magnesium, tier 3 will be uranium,silver and gold. there is no tier for platinum as on planets it is very hard to find but i think it can be used for mod tokens so you can research non vanilla blocks, like i said each token made will take a increased amount from the last so you cant just spam tokens unless you have the funds for the token cost growth. But this format allows moders to add in their own blocks and still have vanilla blocks feel relevant to the overall progression. How each item is put into what tier should depend on the PCU value of the item, while making modded items have a minimum PCU value and be in a separate tree from the vanilla progression tree. but they could potential be split into modded tier tokens as well such as modded tier token 1,2,3. Also make all blocks available to small ships aswell there isn't really any point not to

how long should this all take to progress. well that depends on community outlook on something like this, my personal opinion is that a survival game with say around 4+ people should take a few hours say around 3 at the minimum to progress through the whole tree beginning with small blocks and working towards big blocks. This is also dependent on ore locations and preferred mode of travel I.E. wheels or flying. and time for research taken into account.

I think this system can provide meaningful progression for both vanilla and modded survival worlds through a PCU and token based research tier similar to that of robocraft for example.with this in mind more functionality and damaged conditions should be added to blocks overall such as radiation leaks from reactors, fire spreading to other blocks if not contained and maybe some blocks going critical and exploding if damaged enough. also maybe ad a state of maintenance to blocks and also un-salvageability to some blocks to blocks that have taken too much damage but aren't going to explode like how you cant harvest power cells only to get scrap metal.

Also a short bit on power grids and how they work. a tweak to how power is distributed is also needed as it stands simply putting a reactor or power generator on a block and having the whole thing being powered is not interesting. 2 ways this could be done is having physical block connectors which would send power through the conveyor system possibly or another block entirely to power things like thrusters, gyros, assemblers etc. basically everything that has a port or could have a port on it. excluding modules that are attached to a powered item because logically they would get the power from there. This would change how ships are designed and make everything a bit more clustered. another way this could be done is digitally in game through the reactor terminal, how this would work is going into the reactor and in a drop down menu or a list menu much like an LCD screen saver menu where you select which image to put on the screen, you can choose which blocks or block groups are powered by that reactor or that battery or even that solar panel specifically, this and Nerf to the overall power output of reactors would allow the need for more reactors to be made and back up power sources to be more viable but in some cases necessary.

This is a lot to take in i know but it really boils down to adding in a few new items and a progression system, this however will go a long way to making the game more engineering and function over form based on building ships bases or what have you. If anyone does read this and maybe wants to contact me more post below and i can get a hold of you on steam.