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Author Topic: Improved Brawler  (Read 12367 times)

Nanostrike

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Improved Brawler
« on: April 05, 2012, 11:12:30 PM »

The Brawler sucks.  It really does.  So I've been toying around with ways to improve it and I've come up with the Brawler MK II.

It's my first "Mod" and pretty basic, but so far I've:

Changed the color of the sprite a bit so it doesn't look TOO much like the standard brawler
+Increased the Flux Venting by 20 (180-200)
+Increased the Max Speed by 40 (80-120)
+Improved the Shield's Flux/Damage to 0.8 (1.2-0.8)
+Added 2 OP so it can have Resistant Flux Conduits basically for "Free" (45-47)
-Doubled Cost


The difference is pretty amazing.  It's still slower than a Lasher, but can keep pace pretty well and actually has the speed to chase things down.  The shields are efficient, but still forward-locked.  It really makes the ship more effective at charging in with guns blazing like it's supposed to, being a Gunship and all.


I'm still gonna work on a few things with it.  There's a lot of tweaking, but so far, it's made the Brawler into a usable ship.

Stuff I might tweak:
-Cosmetic changes.  Probably changing the Engines and Shields to High Tech instead of Midline, so it looks like the engines and shields are actually different from a standard Brawler.  Maybe making the engines' thrust look larger.
-Adjusting OP, either back down to 45 or up to 50, depending on how it affects things.
-Possibly adjusting speed either up or down.  Need to test with Augmented engines before any changes.  The current speed of 120 seems about dead-on from my tests so far, though.
-Possibly adjusting maneuverability so it can turn a bit faster.
-Adjusting Cost.  Possible decrease, but not by a lot.
-Adjusting FP.  Probably an increase.


I've made a basic mod that starts you in an Assault variant of the Brawler MK II and puts a few for sale in the Hegemony station.  Link to the mod below:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/71356504/Brawler%20MK%20II.rar
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Thaago

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2012, 08:23:30 AM »

Hmmm... looks interesting. About the speed: I believe a Lasher has speed 100, a Wolf 110, so your Brawler mod is faster than either. Maybe try it at speed 100, so it is the same speed as a lasher?

The shield change is absolutely needed: its a midline style ship, so why does it have one of the worst shields?
« Last Edit: April 06, 2012, 08:25:59 AM by Thaago »
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Uomoz

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2012, 08:33:37 AM »

Or don't touch speed at all and modify acceleration (that make him so weak to rear missiles).
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Valhalla

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2012, 09:56:05 AM »

More space magic, its the only way.


But really, why not add two small ballistic 65 degree turrets/hard-points to the ship, rear facing, for MGs or Vulcans for missile/fighter defense?
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Nanostrike

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2012, 10:36:31 AM »

Hmmm... looks interesting. About the speed: I believe a Lasher has speed 100, a Wolf 110, so your Brawler mod is faster than either. Maybe try it at speed 100, so it is the same speed as a lasher?

The shield change is absolutely needed: its a midline style ship, so why does it have one of the worst shields?


Yeah, I thought the shield change was one of the biggest changes, really.  I was thinking about making it even more efficient or improving the arc a bit since it's forward-locked.



I'm working on a new version.  A lot of this is just tweaking.  I'm trying to make it improved, but not ridiculous.  I don't want this thing outperforming everything, but it needs to be a viable threat.  Changes from the base Brawler are:
-Cosmetic changes:
+Altered Sprite colors slightly
+Changed shield style to High Tech
+Added a central engine to the rear
+Changed inner and central engine styles to High Tech

-Changed Hardpoints to Turrets with 50-degree arcs, so the ship can actually aim.

-Reduced crew and crew cap (10/20 crew)
-Upped OP to 50 (45 -> 50)
-Increased Flux Dissipation (180 -> 200)
-Increased speed to 100 (80-100)
-Increased Acceleration/Deceleration (160/120 -> 200/200)
-Increased Turn Speed/Turn Acceleration (60/120 -> 90/180)
-Doubled shield efficiency (1.2 -> 0.6)
-Halved shield upkeep (0.4 -> 0.2)
-Increased shield arc (120 -> 180)
-Increased the FP and Base Cost (5 FP -> 6 FP, 6,000 -> 10,000 credits)


The new version so far: Brawler MK 2 v 1.1.0

Brawler MK II in action (Short clips, new at recording stuff):
Strafing Run
Finishing a Lasher off
« Last Edit: April 06, 2012, 10:44:09 AM by Nanostrike »
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Nanostrike

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2012, 11:01:05 AM »

More space magic, its the only way.


But really, why not add two small ballistic 65 degree turrets/hard-points to the ship, rear facing, for MGs or Vulcans for missile/fighter defense?

I'm actually going to try this next.
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Valhalla

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2012, 11:09:39 AM »

More space magic, its the only way.


But really, why not add two small ballistic 65 degree turrets/hard-points to the ship, rear facing, for MGs or Vulcans for missile/fighter defense?

I'm actually going to try this next.

Wooo!

also i watched your videos an noticed how large a 50 degree arc was, so im thinking maybe 25-35 degree arcs would be better.
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Nanostrike

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Re: Improved Brawler
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2012, 11:51:48 AM »

More space magic, its the only way.


But really, why not add two small ballistic 65 degree turrets/hard-points to the ship, rear facing, for MGs or Vulcans for missile/fighter defense?

I'm actually going to try this next.

Wooo!

also i watched your videos an noticed how large a 50 degree arc was, so im thinking maybe 25-35 degree arcs would be better.

Ditto.  I was noticing that as well.  There's a few things I'm gonna change.  Anyway, this was my latest modification on it:

-FP increased from 5 to 6 (Could be increased)
-OP increased to 55 (Balanced out by the new Turrets taking up the OP)
-Cost increased from 6000 to 10000 (Could be increased)
-Crew required/max decreased from 15/30 to 10/20 (Will likely be removed for balancing in next version)

-Flux Venting increased from 180 to 200 (The two Medium Ballistics already push the thing to it's limits.  This is a very minor boost to help out with that and to compensate for the two new turrets.)
-Speed increased from 80 to 100.  (Equal to Lasher)
-Maneuverability increased from 60 to 90 (Equal to Lasher)
-Front mounts are switched to Turrets with 60 degree arcs.  (This enhances the Brawler's "Forward firepower" concept, by letting the Brawler keep firepower on anything in front of it, but still requires decent aiming and positioning of the ship for it to be effective.  Will probably have Arcs reduced to 30-35 degrees next version)
-Two rear, 60-degree Small Ballistic Turrets added.  (Not as "OMG NO MORE MISSILES!" as you'd think.  You actually have to maneuver properly to be able to shoot them down, since the arc is VERY limited!  Promotes skillful use of the Brawler)
-Shield extended from 120 to 180 (Could be removed for balancing.  Probably will be so you HAVE to keep the Brawler facing your enemy)
-Shield upkeep reduced from 0.4 to 0.2 (Could be removed for balancing.  Left it in so the Brawler isn't hamstringed by keeping it's shields up so badly)
-Shield efficiency improved from 1.2 to 0.6 (Can be adjusted for balancing.  0.6 is nice because the shields are forward-locked, but the 0.8 that most Frigates use would work as well.)

Brawler MK II v 1.1.1
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