I have two questions. 1) Is there a technical limit of SV built into the game code, or just the soft cap in form of performance of your PC? 2) Can you point out any examples of really big SV and if so, how the game handled them? Are there any particular devices that I should avoid multiplying too much?
All ships/ base can have a maximum dimension of (less than) 128 blocks from the core, in all 6 directions. Even with a top computer you will be unable to fill all that volume, in fact you will be far from that when glitches will start appearing. Avoid putting too many windows or objects with transparency, and round block (corners, pipes, etc) as these have way more faces than most other cube/ pyramid based blocks. Avoid putting too many lights, and generally speaking all "entity" based blocks (devices & deco) cost more GPU memory than simple structural blocks, and CPU since they are tied to scripts. LCD blocks are also "hidden" offenders because each character displayed is made of 2 triangles (letter image on a mini square/ plane) so this can scale up rapidly, especially if driven by scripts, in which case the API calls also contribute to slow down the game flow. So avoid : ++lights, +transparency, +models, +round shapes, LCDs If you wat to PvP just make a cube and you'll be fine.
Thank you for information, I would like a follow up, if you don't mind. As of 257 blocks total, or explicitly from the original core placement? What if I start building from one side (the stern for example), will that mean I just cuted maximum allowed ship size in half or will the game recalculate after I place core elsewhere? 257 blocks in length is not bat TBH, that is equivalent of 85 blocks long CV, however this is troubling: Do you have experience in building large SV, if so how bad was it and how soon performance started dropping? The reason I want to create large SV is that, so I can model the hull shape with much more details than CV grid allow to do, but as I understand this is exactly what I should avoid doing?
From original core placement, less than 128 blocks, in any direction. I write "less than 128" because around 115 - 120 the game may randomly refuse any more block in that direction. So even if you wanted to go further by changing the core the game would refuse to place it, like any other block. When placing the core, the game initializes a voxel grid from that position, and starts giving coordinates of all added blocks from that point. When placing the "last accepted block" at, let's say (125, 0,0), changing the core will not change this, and you have reached the maximum when the block you try to add does not stick in place or the game gives you a message, even if not at 128. I tried these limits a few times when I started playing, and usually I don't go higher than 100 blocks from the core. A "full grid" of 256 x 256 x 256 represents 16 777 216 blocks. That's some pretty big index for any game to move around and allow to be dynamically modified during gameplay. But If you browse the Workshop the biggest bases/ ships you might see are only a tiny fraction of this. Most huge ships builds are very long in 1 axis, average length in the 2nd axis and small in comparison in the 3rd axis (usually very long, medium large and low vertical). The interior volume also reduces the block count of course. Just avoid too many of the blocks I mentioned in my first answer and you should be Ok to build something reasonably big. And keep in mind that you may hit a wall of frustration if you spend days on your build and suddenly you can't add any more block without causing glitches, while you are far from finished. You can prototype your shape with copy/paste tools and quickly see the limits that that way, and avoid wasting hours or days on a final shape that you may never be able to achieve.
I have constructed a few truly gargantuan ships, the largest, the Citadel-class CV, weighed in at 240x240x120 blocks, and could create a very impressive solar eclipse when landing. Never had any issues with it on my machine, but when others in multiplayer encountered one of these behemoths, it was an absolute frame-rate killer for them. While monumental and impressive to see, I really designed this as something of a stress-test, and it stressed. Oh, did it stress. By and large, I simply don't see a lot of value in constructing such mammoth-sized vehicles. If you have to ride a motorbike to get from one end to the other without having to stop, rest and eat along the way, it's just too big.
128 blocks max from the core? Does that mean the dimensions of our build given by the game are not in blocks? Because my main CV has a width of 446 wich is beyond 128 on both sides. I have even reached the limit on both sides at some point when building, and so I have also realized that the game didn't spawn the core at the center of the block grid when spawning the starting CV block since I had to cut and paste my entire CV to recenter it on the width dimension.
