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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Messages - Daveydude

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1
Suggestions / Re: Q-ships
« on: July 18, 2012, 06:23:38 AM »
I can actually see an Atlas ship with the freight just dropping off slowly, then a massive engine blasting out of the back as you realise it is actually armed with tens of missiles.


2
Suggestions / Building Shipyards
« on: June 28, 2012, 02:19:46 AM »
I have read a lot of people are against building shipyards to a large degree and I thought it might be a good idea to consider the real implications of it.
Running on the assumption the final game will allow to have multiple fleets, building a shipyard would require numerous things.

1: Space to build it.
2: Materials to make it.
3: Ships to construct it.
4: Forces to defend it.
5: Blueprints to construct with.
6: Materials to operate it.

It is in no way an easy way to gain forces. If you even managed to build one it would become a prime target to any faction, pirate or not. Forces would not hesitate to seize it from you in the name of "the greater good" even if they are allied with you if you lacked the means to defend it from them. Even if you can defend it you need supplies to support the crew operating it, and the fleets defending it, let alone to actually make any ships with it. Shipyards are a useful in acquiring forces when you have outgrown the ability to just buy them or board them.

If you build these things far from other factions, supplying it becomes an issue. Vice versa, if you get too close it becomes an easy target, as orbital defences will mobilise to take it. In any league of things it would be easier for the player to capture a previously constructed facility than to build a new one.

Basically I don't think it is that damaging having shipyards, they just need to be psychologically and mechanically fitted to the environment.

3
Announcements / Re: Starfarer 0.53a (In Development) Patch Notes
« on: June 12, 2012, 05:10:59 AM »
I don't know about you guys but i can't wait to ram a ship to death with my onslaught going at full speed.

That's probably just gonna make you lose your engine. Could still be fun.
I believe that it may be more effective than that. A few bumps with a smaller ship normally puts their flux up 50%. To ram them at that speed, they will overload straight away. Who cares if you lose your engines.

4
I have been playing this mod for a bit, very impressed with the diversity of the ships involved. The problem for me is despite this diversity involved, all factions are lacking a major role for any large fleet - Carrier Vessels.  If I want a medium - large carrier with 2-3 flight decks, my only option is the Astral-class. If I do drop to 1 flight deck I wind up with a battleship with a flight deck slapped on. I would like to see a Cruiser with a couple of flight decks which has it's hard-points aimed at point defence and minor support. Beyond that I am loving the ships and weapons.

Credit to whoever made the mass-driver cannon. It feels perfect to use, but it also has the appropriate OP cost and negatives to balance it, so it isn't a pain to fight against. No regrets putting that on my Eagle-class.

5
Lore, Fan Media & Fiction / Re: The Lore Corner
« on: March 20, 2012, 02:27:33 AM »
I can, however, confirm that spaceships have Windows :)

I fixed your link for you  ;)

6
General Discussion / Re: Eagle-Class Thoughts
« on: March 14, 2012, 09:09:35 PM »
I use the Eagle primarily. The Eagle is designed to take on ships face to face. If you can get it in medium range, facing head on, that is 9 turrets aiming them in the face, + 2 launchers. If you get something in front of it, the Eagle will annihilate it. Also, if you use tactical lasers it has quite an effective coverage to take down fighters. The Eagle can be wrecked from the engines, the largest issue with it. The eagle essentially annihilates anything smaller than a capital ship with speed. If the enemy has a lot of medium sized ships, the Eagle will take them out one by one with speed. The missiles from capital ships will however overwhelm the Eagle unless you build it to cope.

Never give an Eagle to the AI. It doesn't know how to use it.

7
Suggestions / Re: Research..
« on: March 14, 2012, 08:45:01 PM »
Ships aren't always going to be the most recent technology. I am sure Intel have invented a better processor than is available in the standard computer models of a large company.

Some technologies would not be used purely because they are more expensive/harder produce despite their higher efficiency/effectiveness. I think blueprints for these technologies could well exist in the sector, but they are not in use in the blueprints for full ship construction. As such, acquiring these blueprints would allow you for a cost to improve certain ships or weapons in certain ways.

Also, it would be nice to have slightly more OP on some ships, for a price.

8
There's also the fact that you can't have anything that's purposefully overpowered (Like tri-tachyon) in a competitive multiplayer.  So if they were added they'd likely get nerfed even more.
well the way i had imagined it 1) if stuff like tri tachyon would have a much higher cost just as they do in single player and
2) i wouldnt want a competetive multiplayer. id want "fun multiplayer" where you can just *** around in space with ur friend, trying to blow each other/your other mates up
This. Ships should be purposely imbalanced if you ask me. I think part of the fun in this game comes from milking every ounce of ownage out of any given ship. If multiplayer was added it should only ever be couch multiplayer, where friends can mess around trying to perform messed up tactics, like using one friend as a meat-shield while the other vents his flux, or just flat out ramming your friend's ship into the nearest paragon.

9
Personally I think it would be nice just for two players to load a fleet each then battle them over LAN. If there was a separate mode added purely for this, it probably wouldn't be too hard to add in. Some methods of multiplayer involve just syncing the games, with minor differences that only the user sees. Once you get past the desync issues, and add a seperate control set for the other player, it would likely work fairly easily. That said, there is at least a couple of weeks worth getting it working and more in crushing all the bugs. The closer you keep it to the single player the less work it is.

10
I agree with Doom101. I think it would be nice to have an option for a second player to drop in and control another ship. Also pre-set battles between two fleets would also be good (each player controls the other fleet). Multiplayer should not be the focus, however it would be nice to have an extra player in a combat scenario.

11
Suggestions / Defence Vs. Offense
« on: February 25, 2012, 06:13:49 AM »

I have messed around with the game for a while now and I have found that there is a really large issue with the way combat plays out as ship sizes increase.


-- Weapons generate more flux than they deal damage --

Unfortunately it is true. Take a ship with a 0.6 flux/damage ratio on its shield. Let's take a standard beam weapon attacking it. 1.0 ratio on flux/damage on firing. This means that for every 60 flux you create on their ship you create 100 flux on your own. If you take into account the maximum bonus damage from high flux on energy weapons, this still only reaches 90 flux on their ship for 100 on yours. As a result I have actually found it easier to fight another large ship by turning my shields off except for stopping missiles and using my armour to take their shots while returning with maximum firepower. This overloads their ship quickly, and you can return twice as much damage while they are overloaded. Ballistic weapons are no different really, while they do convert your flux into more flux on their ship is does also mean you have to hit them to begin with. A few missed shots leave them no better.

Summary: Increase the damage/reduce the flux of weapons

-- Missiles are excessively efficient/Armour is deficient --

Missiles are brilliant put simply. Brilliant to the point of being overpowered. Using a couple of Harpoon launchers you can reduce a ship with full armour and no shields down to the verge of exploding with a full volley. There may not seem to be an issue there, and really there wouldn't be for smaller ships, but for Cruisers and Capital Ships this is hell. Take 2 frigates with 2 Harpoon launchers each, fighting a large ship. These ships can take turns harassing with their weapons, venting flux when the other one attacks, leaving themselves in no danger. Permanent flux will build up on the large ship though and eventually it will need to drop its shield or overload. Once this happens, a full volley from each ship and the large ship is done for. 2 cheap frigates just took down a large ship quite easily. Missiles wreak havoc on anything without a shield. Once a large ship loses its shield, it is done for, because it cannot maneuver out of it, and point defence can't deal with volleys. Point defence and armour needs to made viable to counteract missiles. A Capital ship without its shield should beat a cruiser with its shield 9 times out of 10, but armour is not a viable defence.

Summary: Large ships should have more significant armour or better defences against missiles.

-- Large ships are too slow --

No offence, but the cruisers are way too slow. Large ships should not sacrifice that much speed on their smaller counterparts. Their maneuverability is as bad as it should be, it is spot on, but large ships have no chance of catching a small ship even if they are in the right position. Large ships should probably have around 75% of the base speed of a small ship. Think of shopping trolleys, one filled, one empty. They can both move with speed, the filled one probably slightly slower, one just accelerates slower, and takes more time to slow down. Other than that, the filled one cannot turn a corner if you wanted to. (Half filled ones drift like a dream though)  ;)
Additionally, once you reach that top speed, who wouldn't have fun ramming that into another ship? With that much momentum it could actually be a viable tactic.

Summary: Increase the base speed of most large ships

-------------------------------------------
Currently, battles between large ships are just resolved by which ship can better cope with its flux. Because attack and defence are no different both ships essentially gain the same flux before the one with lesser ability to deal with it collapses. Some ships need to be able to get by without shields, and better weapon usage should result in the other ship receiving more flux. Permanent flux damage does not solve this, as once a large ship commits to the fight, the fight is to the death. These changes would increase the focus into position to get maximum effect, and add more depth to combat.

tl;dr:
- Increase the damage/reduce the flux of weapons
- Large ships should have more significant armour or better defences against missiles.
- Increase the base speed of most large ships

These are just my thoughts on combat, thanks for reading them. I hope it all makes sense as to why I would suggest these methods.

12
Suggestions / Re: More involved, more enjoyable boarding.
« on: February 23, 2012, 08:23:44 PM »
I think boarding is quite obvious and fragile. Sending troops from one ship to another would be suicidal without almost completely disabling a ship first, or by overloading its systems. Armour shouldn't need to be destroyed, but still act as an obstacle (they would cut through it so to speak). Some form of weapon needs to be made which concentrates on disabling rather than destroying, e.g. ion weapons boost flux even when the shield is down?

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