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

Author Topic: I will say this about carriers.  (Read 3737 times)

Takion Kasukedo

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I will say this about carriers.
« on: October 02, 2017, 01:43:04 PM »

Why would you put a ship that needs to be far away to be of optimal value in the game if the captains are going to be the most incompetent fools on the field, constantly huddling together with other ships instead of retreating like they're told to or keeping their distance?

I had 4 carriers in my fleet, all run out of CR rating and what do they do? They sit there, facing the enemy, occasionally flying towards them instead of retreating, I literally gave the retreat with haste, they still sat there like an incompetent ant who lost their way and thinks a leaf is going to protect it from an anteater.

I'm blowing my steam off because I see this ineptitude from even Timid commanders, especially Aggressive commanders who get put in Mora's, they instead go jack off to some other area instead of being the bullet sponges, and completely the reverse for timid commanders.

It bloody irritates the ever loving tick off of me and here I am blowing my steam off.

This may come off as ignorant, but have you experienced this? This is at least the 40th time this has happened. And it goes for BOTH sides of the battlefield.

Oh, and something I forgot, they need to literally been taken control of to get them to retreat.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2017, 03:06:40 AM by Takion Kasukedo »
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Is now able to cook a decent Creamy Salmon Pasta, amok other things.

Still loves purple. Still not skilled enough to make a mod that doesn't get that one damn error.

Megas

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2017, 02:50:07 PM »

Another thing that annoys me is when I want to use an unarmed carrier optimized for fighters (and solo fighting) then bring several more similar carriers to multiply fighter domination.  What happens is carriers insist on sending their fighters to escort my flagship (that is built to run away from enemies while fighters kill) instead of after enemies to kill them, so if I want to make use of my fleet's fighters, I need to drive my carrier into the enemy like the typical RPG tank and sit in the crossfire so my AI's fighters might kill enemies.

If I put a dual flak for missile defense on my AI Heron, it thinks it needs to kiss the enemy and attack with dual flak instead of running away and sending fighters to kill stuff.

I had Legions Burn Drive toward a battlestation after I ordered them to retreat.  (Not direct retreat, just normal retreat so that Legions do not get shot at in the back - did not matter, they burn drive back into danger like idiots.)

@ Takion:  If your ships run out of CR, your ships are likely dead in the water (or will be soon), and will drift helplessly around.
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orost

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2017, 03:00:44 PM »

There are some serious bugs in carrier AI that have been fixed in the dev build, but unfortunately we have to deal with them until the next version is released.

I don't remember the details and cannot for the life of me find the threads where Alex talked about it, but I think they should account for both carriers being not aggressive enough, and too aggressive, depending on situation.
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SafariJohn

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2017, 04:26:57 PM »

IIRC the problem is that carriers can form circular escort chains.
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Alex

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2017, 07:20:05 PM »

Yeah, if you have 4+ carriers somewhat near each other, that's what's causing the problem. Fixed in the dev build etc etc.

As a workaround, I think if you order 3 of them to escort one, that one will retreat and the other ones will follow along.
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AxleMC131

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2017, 09:47:39 PM »

Yeah, if you have 4+ carriers somewhat near each other, that's what's causing the problem. Fixed in the dev build etc etc.

As a workaround, I think if you order 3 of them to escort one, that one will retreat and the other ones will follow along.

While I have yet to encounter this problem myself (likely because I haven't had that many carriers in my fleet before...), this tip is duly noted for future reference.
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Seth

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #6 on: October 02, 2017, 11:42:01 PM »

Running 3 Carriers tops (1 I pilot myself), no problems so far. The only gripe I have is that when I order some ships (usually small and fast ones) to capture points, they just circle around and doing nothing until I cancel those orders even if no enemies are around. I have to fly myself on slow carrier there to capture ffs...
« Last Edit: October 03, 2017, 10:36:05 AM by Seth »
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Drokkath

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2017, 06:01:09 AM »

*reply only to OP at this moment*

So THAT'S why I get the occasional foe's fleet where ships such as Gemini, Shepherd and other similar carrier config-wise ships tend to be.
Fleets with carriers and their fighters are usually the last on my targeted sights since after mowing down large chunk of a foe's fleet and then realizing that the battle still goes on because there's either a fighter or a carrier (usually both but I've seen a fighter or two without a carrier retreating from the battlescape) or some frigate such as battle-damaged Lasher or just Shepherd somewhere hiding thus giving me a chance to put my teleportation drive into heavy use to scout the entire map.

Sometimes it's all of the above if the fleet happens to be large and even more so when other large fleets join together into the meat grinder. X-Com 2: Terror From the Deep element right there, that one last hiding little bugger scenario who is somewhere in some damn closet somehow on the map STILL! :D

One of the many main reasons I love flying my super-ships the most as I have a much easier time taking down phase ships, teleporting ships, fast and/or dodging ships and even the various hiding average ones that manage to extend the battle by simply being a sitting duck somewhere. That and I don't have to worry about inventory space or be bothered by managing a fleet.
For me less is usually more as my brain isn't wired to multi-task which requires me to approach and play games differently from the rest and cheating is a very necessary "evil" for me to skip tedious grind and just have my proverbial cake-and-eat-it-too because to me journey is usually torture and the destination is usually the key and the joy.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2017, 08:14:36 PM by Drokkath »
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For I dipt in to the future, far as my gazer eye could see; Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.

dk1332

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2017, 04:08:04 PM »

Looks like I'm not the only one experiencing this. Even with timid commanders, my carriers would go too close to the enemy even if equipped with LRMs and PD weapons (example, condor with 2 Vulcans, 1 Pilum) for long range aircraft support.

Glad to hear its fixed on the future release, looks like time to change my fleet composition till then.
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Takion Kasukedo

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Re: I will say this about carriers.
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2017, 03:04:34 PM »

I got some Legions and they're still doing the same thing, but it's good to hear that they are being fixed.

Legions I can see on the front of the field, not much of the others.
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Is now able to cook a decent Creamy Salmon Pasta, amok other things.

Still loves purple. Still not skilled enough to make a mod that doesn't get that one damn error.