Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sy on January 25, 2016, 09:58:59 AM
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Alex mentioned a few times he's making changes to how phase cloaks work in v0.7.2. the main goal, i believe, is to make fighting enemies with cloaks more interesting. i don't think he's given any specific information on what these changes will be (and it's likely he's trying many different things that may or may not make it into the release version) but we've seen glimpses of what changes might be on twitter (https://twitter.com/amosolov/status/681927546519318529) and in a screenshot (http://fractalsoftworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/screenshot295.jpg) from David's recent blog post (http://fractalsoftworks.com/2016/01/16/the-ion-pulser-development-process/).
from these, it seems
- ships receive a boost to mobility while cloaked
- phase coils glow for a short duration after exiting cloak, likely indicating a short cooldown
- weapons can be fired while cloaked
to balance these changes and with the above goal in mind, my guess is
- cloak duration is more limited
- weapons generate hard flux while cloaked
limiting the duration a ship can spend in p-space could be done by just increasing flux cost, or by introducing a maximum time after which the ship is forcibly thrown back into n-space, possibly accompanied by an overload. the length of the cooldown before the cloak can be re-engaged could also be connected to the time spent cloaked.
additionally, both the Enforcer in the video and the Mule in the screenshot can be seen firing weapons at their cloaked enemy. this could simply be due the phase ships switching into p-space right before the video and screenshot were taken, while the Needler and LMG were already firing, or the ai now occasionally fires at cloaked ships, to immediately deal some damage to a decloaking ship. but it could also mean that shooting at cloaked enemies has some effect now, like by adding some flux when projectiles pass over a ship in p-space (although that might make phase cloaks to similar to shields in function).
maybe the things seen in the short video had already changed again by the time the screenshot was taken, and maybe none of the things seen in either will make it into the final version. but assuming they do: what are your guesses on how the new phase cloaks will work? ^^
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im guessing, and kinda hoping that phased ships can fire their weapons while phased, HOWEVER i'd bet it not only generates hard flux, but the process of maintaining cloak while transferring the weapon fire into normal space also costs extra hard flux. This i think would make cloaked ships more interesting, also maybe when under AI control they think more about what their about to do, so they seem to be more unpredictable and smarter than normal ai of "Are they in range? yes? fire!"
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As long as the AI can handle it competently, I am comfortable with mechanic changes.
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I think the primary objective for any changes, should be to make fighting against them more fun / less tedious.
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Seems to be combination of cooldown and flux limited rather than flux limited now, as pure flux limit would be rather clumsy for this I think. I think the goal is to generate windows of vulnerability for phase ships to avoid the current issue where they're basically non-targets until every other ship is dead, while also making them more exciting to fly and fight against.
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i just realized, the weapons firing while cloaked wouldn't really make sense in combination with the cooldown... why make yourself vulnerable for a short time when you can just fire weapons while cloaked, then disengage to vent flux? and the Shade in the video only fires its weapons after disabling its cloak. maybe the ability to shoot while cloaked is just an activatable system unique to the as yet unnamed phase destroyer.
also, the glowing phase coils could have another effect, either instead of, or in combination with the cooldown: increasing weapon damage, to make phase ships more deadly when flanking and with hit-and-run tactics.
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I'd like to see seeking weapons lose their lock-on when a ship cloaks. They should stop tracking and fly on a straight path until the ship uncloaks, whereupon they could resume tracking if they still have flight time remaining.