CLAMP - Tiered Progression for Meaningful Engineering in SE2

Space Engineers excels with its unparalleled sandbox freedom. For Space Engineers 2, I propose a more nuanced progression system that organically guides the design and capabilities of our creations. Imagine a journey that naturally encourages evolving from a basic survival pod through increasingly sophisticated small, medium, and large specialized ships, culminating in truly epic, hard-won flagships or advanced bases.

While the sandbox should always remain, a structured progression can prevent the feeling of simply mining enough ore to build an endgame design without meaningful engineering steps and choices along the way.

I propose the Capability Limitation and Manufacturing Progression (CLAMP) system for SE2.

The CLAMP system would directly tie a grid's overall functional capacity — its ability to support specific types and quantities of blocks — to an upgradable, central aspect of the grid itself. This would be primarily managed through a new series of blocks; the Tiered CLAMP Cores.

How CLAMP Could Function

• The CLAMP Core: Every functional grid (outside of perhaps the most basic starter pod) would need CLAMP Cores. Players would start with a basic Tier 0 or Tier 1 Core. Adding additional and higher Tier CLAMP Cores would be a central progression goal.
• Capability Tiers: Each CLAMP Core tier would define the grid's capabilities:

1. Block Type Allowances: Higher tiers might unlock the ability to use more advanced, specialized blocks, or enable higher quantities of a specific block type to be brought online. As an example, a grid with no CLAMP cores could have two weapons online with each higher tier of CLAMP core adding two more weapons allowed to be brought online.
2. Block Quantity Limits: Stricter limits on the number of certain blocks able to be brought "online" (e.g., specific weapon types, advanced production modules, thrusters, power generation/storage units) at lower CLAMP tiers.
3. Capacity Rating: Each functional block could have a "CLAMP Load" value (akin to, but distinct from, PCU). The grid's active CLAMP Cores would provide a total "CLAMP Capacity," and the sum of all "online" functional blocks could not exceed this Capacity Rating. CLAMP Capacity could potentially replace the needs for the PCU system as a grid limitation and PCU might only be a necessary limitation as it relates to the sum of all grids a player has constructed.

• Progression to Higher Tiers: Building higher tier CLAMP Cores would be a significant undertaking, potentially requiring:

1. Dedicated one-time research via a tech tree.
2. Sourcing rare materials found in specific or challenging environments (e.g., deep space, hazardous planets, unique cosmic anomalies or locations in Almagest).
3. Constructing advanced, dedicated manufacturing or research facilities (perhaps with higher-tier facilities needing to be static, encouraging base development).
4. Milestone achievements; reach friendly with an NPC faction, build a grid capable of producing X food units.
5. Acquiring unique components from significant challenges, rare NPC traders, or exploration discoveries.

What CLAMP Could Change

• Meaningful Engineering Choices: In the early game, with limited CLAMP Capacity, engineers must create lean, efficient, and specialized designs. Every block choice would matter.
• Natural Specialization: As CLAMP Capacity increases, players would make strategic decisions; "Do I allocate this new capacity to more firepower, enhanced production, greater utility, or stronger defenses?" This naturally leads to specialized ship roles.
• Defined Design Eras: The system would naturally create "eras" of design, from nimble early-game craft to mid-game workhorses and true late-game capital ships or sprawling, high-tech stations.
• Sandbox integrity: CLAMP could be a toggleable world setting. Creative Mode could feature a special "Unlimited CLAMP Core" or simply bypass the system. An endgame CLAMP Core tier could vastly expand or effectively remove limitations for those who reach that pinnacle.
• New Goals for Community Blueprints: The system presents new challenges for community blueprints to resolve. A base may be designed with empty locations for CLAMP cores and blocks so the base could organically grow with a new space engineer as they progress through the game's systems. A ship may be designed to do the same.

EXAMPLE: The Battleship and CLAMP Tiers

This is a representative example and is not a proposal of as specific implementation.

Consider an engineer aspiring to build a heavily armoured and weaponed battleship:

• A Tier 1 CLAMP Core might only support a few basic turrets, minimal production, and essential thrusters, suitable for a small patrol craft. This isn't the battleship the engineer wants to build.
• Adding a Tier 2 CLAMP Core could allow for a greater number of standard turrets, allow an increased Capacity Rating to add the thrustors to move the mass of the heavy armour blocks. This still isn't the battleship the engineer wanted to build, they want more weapons and more specialized weapons.
• Adding a Tier 3 CLAMP Core (requiring rare components and perhaps a permanently static grid for specialized assembler blocks to build the specialized components required by the CLAMP Core block) would finally unlock the quantity of weapons and the few specialized main weapons the engineer wanted. This is almost the battleship the engineer wanted to build,
• Adding a Tier 4 CLAMP Core would allow the specialized high-end assembler the engineer wants on the battleship to produce more ammo for the end-game main fixed weapons on the battleship instead of having to periodically retrieve ammo from a permanently static main base. This is now the battleship the engineer wanted to build, but they won't be building it from their starter pod.

Proposal, Not a Finished System

The detailed implementation of CLAMP would, of course, need to carefully consider and design solutions for potential exploits (e.g., multi-grid constructs). I believe these are design challenges that can be identified and resolved. I'll post some details on potential exploits using multi-grid constructs as a comment later today and would be happy to discuss potential exploits and solutions in subsequent comments if there's interest.