Player built Standard docking, berthing, and container systems
In the early days of spaceflight, docking ports were designed for very specific missions, meaning that a special adapter had to be designed for the Apollo-Soyuz mission. it was not possible for any two craft to just fly up and connect. Later, we build the International Docking System Standard (IDSS), a docking system designed to be compatible with a variety of crewed spacecraft. IDSS has its problems, but that is not my point. In space engineers, many designs faced a similar problem. some people built docking systems with four merge blocks and an empty center. Some people use a single connector. The problem is that, despite Keen giving us a connector block, there is no standardized way to implement it into a build. With the implementation of the unified grid system, this problem will only become harder to remedy. For SE2, I think this should change. Obviously no one HAS to use it, but I would like to gather a group of people interested in designing a variety of standardized docking ports and cargo systems, in hopes that we can come to an agreement on how to improve compatibility between different creators ships. I do not have the answers, nor do I claim to have a design that will achieve this lofty goal. I am here to create a collaborative effort. Here is what I would like to work on as a community in SE2:
A cargo container approximately 4m x 2m x 2m (For small mining ships, rovers, etc.)
A cargo container approximately 10m x 4m x 4m (For larger ships, decent amounts of supplies)
A cargo container approximately 30m x 10m x 10m (For large scale cargo systems)
A docking system for each container size
A pressurizable crewed docking system 2.5m x 5m (Port, Starboard, fore, aft compatible)
A pressurizable crewed docking system 7.5m x 7.5m with cargo transfer (Port, Starboard, fore, aft compatible)
A dorsal/ventral system. Making these androgynous would be difficult, but maybe they don't have to be because they'd work like Legos.
If anyone wants to contribute to this venture, feel free to reach out. I think with enough publicity, we can design a well-built standard starting with what we know from SE1 and learning about what can be done better. There are SO many well-built workshop builds I would love to connect to my stations, but I often find myself having to go back and rebuild an entirely new docking adapter for every ship. I think a (mostly) standardized system is possible and the community is engineering-driven enough to make it happen. Again, I don't have the creativity or the knowledge to do it myself, but I know that *we as a community* do.
quantumpilot873 is my discord if you'd like to contribute to this effort. Hopefully by designing docking systems and spreading this idea before a thousand community-built systems take over, we can secure a unified docking system.
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