Probabilistic overheating

[MatterBeam]

Hi!

I want to propose an idea to people who make DangIt! (@linuxgurugamer) , Deadly Reentry (@Starwaster) and others. What if, every second, heating created a chance that the part will explode or fail?

For example, at 50% of the maximum temperature, there is a very low probability. At 95% of the maximum temperature, there is a high probability. At 110% of the maximum temperature, the probability is nearly certain. 

We can do a bit of maths. The part is expected to fail within a minute at 100% temperature - so we give the probability per second calculation something like 0.926118. After 60 'trials', the probability of the part failing at least once rises to 99%. If we have a part at 80% temperature that we expect to fail within 10 minutes, we can use a probability of 0.992354. 

It can be upgraded. Parts can be given increased reliability by changing that probability factor.

Literal randomness is added to the game. Pushing the part to the limit is a gamble that sometimes pays off. Going 2450K on a 2400K part doesn't always mean that it simply explodes in that instant. Running your nuclear engine for hours at just under the critical temperature won't work either. just like in real life.

What do you think?

[linuxgurugamer]

I'm not sure, but I think that if the max temperature is exceeded, the part explodes.  So all parts will need to be modified with a MM script to increase that, and then obviously a module would need to be written which would do the heavy work (ie:  figure out whether it explodes or not).

Not too difficult to do, but right now I'm too busy to do.  Also not sure what it would add to gameplay, other than a bit of randomness.

[Starwaster]

I don't think what you're describing is appropriate for Deadly Reentry....

Not at this time anyway.

And certainly not with regards to the part exploding. Deadly Reentry already has a damage system that kicks in at a 'max operational temperature' and as the part is damaged, one of a few things can happen. If it is the skin (the hull) that is damaged then that means burn through is occurring and a portion of convective heat can be allowed directly into the interior.

If the interior is being damaged then the part's ability to resist breaking and torquing forces is lessened. Unfortunately alot of parts these days receive such obscenely high breaking tolerances that you hardly ever see it come into play. Not before the part explodes anyway.

I might someday tie that into the stock part failure system but I'm not going to make parts explode randomly when they are below their listed heat tolerances. I just don't think that would make for a fun experience for the player....