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[Okim]

A little insignificant fact but several ships and a few weapons lack any sort of description, these are: Decomisioner, Deconstructor, Worldbearer, Widowmaker, Regulator fighter, the kinetic rockets battery and energy lance.

Perhaps I can help? "Decomisioner: Hunter-killers used by the AI to disable ships for their unknown agenda. Their heavy weapons make them a credible threat to larger ships but the lack of point defenses render them nearly helpless against missiles and fighters."


''Widowmaker: The pride and joy of the notorious pirate band known as Black Widows. It shares the traditional broadside setup that UIN ships are famous for yet the loss of the fortress shields forbid it from any serious engagements.''

On a side note: I think the AI could come in a little bigger fleets for later game challenge.
Side note #2: Are you really planning to revive the RSF dreads and include them in the campaign? Because drawing the sprite all over again just for a mission seems pointless.

Thanks. I`m aware of the missing entries. I think I`ve fixed them In current dev version. Not sure though...

As for the RSF dread... It might eventually end up as a boss of sorts in campaign, but I can`t say anything for sure. Ironclads is currently on hold due the ever growing list of changes for the upcoming core game update with all it`s economy, markets and fleet constructor mechanics. All this stuff already cuts off the major hand-made trading part of the Ironclads, so I just wait for more to come.

[Okim]

I finally played an ISA campaign. I wanted to wait for the version with the new Dreadnought and the FFS but as it have been a while now... I'll do without.

Just like last time i went with a carrier fleet, it wasn't mindless Dart spam this time though. 4 Idaho carriers and the rest filled with random ISA fighters.

I had quite a bunch of drones but i think it was a mistake as they were armed with srms. I was wondering why my carriers always had a buzzing cloud of drones around them, probably all waiting to reload their missiles. If i knew earlier, i would rather use F-135 as my backbone fighters, at least they don't clog my carriers launch bays like the drones and seems to have very similar performances.

Same thing with the F-61. The stinger missile is cool and all but they need constant reloading and i'd rather prefer my carriers to take care of my bombers first. The F-61P seems better as a cannon fodder crafts, the 4 blasters seems decent and at least they fight 'till death.

For the bombing, the B-202 appears as the only real choice. They hit hard but their wide profile make them vulnerable. And without cannon fodder to keep PDs busy, their hellfire torpedo ends up usually intercepted. I rather prefer swarms of A-110, they don't hit as hard but their rocket pods still pack a decent punch and are harder to avoid/intercept. AC-300 aren't bad either for that job, huge flying tanks and actually pretty fast for their size.

I managed to make the RSF occasionally spawn a Russia class in their fleets. I fielded a bunch of F-171, expecting their EMP srms to disable its monster PD system. Doesn't looked very effective unfortunately. That thing is so freaky to fight, i love it. I Hope the new RSF Dreadnought will be as brutal as the old one.

For my Idahos carriers, all of them were missile boats. Tigersharks LRMs plus a bunch of Barracudas can take down Cruisers at the start of the battle, the first wave of fighter ensure the enemy PDs are too busy to notice the big missiles coming their way. My flagship Idaho was armed with torpedoes rather than LRMs, perfect to snipe Moscow and Russia classes.

By the way, despite having my AI carriers missiles not on autofire, they always go trigger happy and unload everything at the start of the fight, is it normal?

This fleet worked very well. Fighters to tank, missiles to hurt, pretty good. Unfortunately it went horribly wrong when i attacked an UIN fleet. Their fortress shields ruined my entire strategy as i couldn't burst them through the raw power of my missiles. I'll try a carrier fleet with them, it'll probably do wonders.

Sorry. Didn`t notice your post.

Glad you liked the carrier-part of ISA and diversity of fighters and bombers. I tried to make them as specialized as possible and happy that you feel they are so.

As for trigger-happy AIs - as far as I know AI totally ignores any auto-fire orders you give them. So missile spam is an unavoidable issue for now.

Speaking of UIN - yeah, you`ll have to invent completely different strategy to fight them. To be short - get as many kinetic guns as possible. Novgorods and Moscows (and everything able to put their guns on wild rapid fire) will be a bit more effective against fortress shields and accelerated shields.

[Okim]

FFS Keeper-class interceptor.



Wing size: 5
Hull/Armour: 210/21
Max speed: 200
Good maneuverability.

Hardpoints: 2x alternating e-guns (energy bolt + emp damage + pd role, have rechargeable ammo and good ROF until runs out of ammo)
No special systems or hull mods.
No shields.

The goal of this large fighter is to intercept missiles and enemy fighters, especially bomber-class crafts. Keeper can be used against frigates with limited effectiveness. Having no missile mounts means that this fighter will fight to the death unlike it`s heavier Regulator-class cousin that usually tries to return to the nearest carrier after firing it`s missile.

[joe130794]

is there anywhere to buy ffs ships or must they be salvaged

[Okim]

Currently there is only a 'salvaging way'.

Expanding this reply a bit:

Map in Ironclads is already overpopulated with systems. FFS are planned to be positioned a little to the left and bottom from the current low-bottom corner. So at this point there is no where to put their outposts.

Reason number two is directly connected to the fact that when a new Sector update comes out I`ll have to remove my trading part of the mod and accommodate the new economy/market system of the update. This will result in total rehaul of the whole map with systems being removed and created from anew one by one with markets and fleet creation scripts being connected once a system is made.

Hope that you can see why I`m not adding any new content except for ships and guns.

[Okim]

Revised Order-class frigate`s sprite. Old VS new:



Made it to look less fat and a bit more intimidating.
Missile hardpoints on the wings house two missiles with 1px distance between them.

[Okim]

FFS Themis-class combat carrier. Armed to the teeth, fast enough to keep distance, equiped with two launch bays, can carry lots of cargo and crew - all what FFS raiding party may need...



In game footage (with Regulators and Keepers):

Spoiler

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New Order-class frigate`s sprite in game:

Spoiler

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All FFS ships:

Spoiler

Law-class fast attack ship, Order-class heavy attack ship, Keeper-class interceptor, Themis-class combat carrier, Regulator-class fighter, Justice-class destroyer, Codex-class support barge.

[close]

[Sabaton]

 Swaggy faction is coming along nice.

 Some feedback:

 The Chaser truly emphasizes what gunships are about, with 2 flaks and the medium beam weapon whose name currently evades me I can be all over the battlefield and take out any frigate/fighter/missile in the game, UIN can be an exception in certain situations thou it doesnt matter as I have speed over anything and range over almost anything.
 Things go wrong when bigger military grade ships or flight decks come into play, but thats natural. I can almost bloody the nose of a Kursk with it before I have to bail because of CR, but its by no means a feasible way to take out military destroyers and onward which I think is just what you wanted.
 The lack of shields doesnt even matter once you get better with the flak cannon.
 The ISA missile *** can be a pain as precious seconds on the timer are spent swatting down rockets that may instantly kill me, but thats one of their things so its okay.

 UIN ships are closest to my hearth ATM like the France and Hungary. The first because of the flexibility and potential devastation it can cause and the second because of the merciless drones and support capabilities.
 Bulgary and Austria also rock for providing the same things in smaller and faster packages.
  
 RSF are the enforcers, dominators and onslaughts of Ironclads, shields are a weakness that must be removed for them even if it means more pd than usual.
 Combat, tech skills and adequate weapons from all factions can make them the powerhouses the current Russia strives to be.
 Their true destructive potential is shown only when they field weapons from other factions as not all RSF weapons are worth their cost in every situation, the experimental cannons are an exception.
 As a matter of fact this can be said about all factions, all of their ships could be more dangerous if they didnt field exclusive weaponry.
 But I guess thats a lore and balance thing so I wont touch it.
 Also I think the energy RSF cruiser could use the auxiliary thrusters hull mod by default as it can be easy to avoid 3 of its 4 heavy weapons, could balance or overpower the ship, your call.

 Lastly I think the game could use more missions just for the lulz, playing as the AI, more police enforcers missions from various factions and opponents, an aliens mother ship mission ( please let me go on a power craze with that monster even if it means going alone against the sector).
 The rock fly mission can be cheesed out by keeping only the beams and putting the rest in speed and range mods.
 And speaking of the AI, unlike the Aliens with their mother ships, the AI seem to lack a central command, or do their destroyers act as that.?
 

[Okim]

The Chaser truly emphasizes what gunships are about, with 2 flaks and the medium beam weapon whose name currently evades me I can be all over the battlefield and take out any frigate/fighter/missile in the game, UIN can be an exception in certain situations thou it doesnt matter as I have speed over anything and range over almost anything.
 Things go wrong when bigger military grade ships or flight decks come into play, but thats natural. I can almost bloody the nose of a Kursk with it before I have to bail because of CR, but its by no means a feasible way to take out military destroyers and onward which I think is just what you wanted.
 The lack of shields doesnt even matter once you get better with the flak cannon.
 The ISA missile *** can be a pain as precious seconds on the timer are spent swatting down rockets that may instantly kill me, but thats one of their things so its okay.

Can you imagine - it took me some time to recall what is this "Chaser" ship you are talking about... Chaser is the fastest ship in the mod and indeed that is the only defense it has. Catching a single missile (especially EEL) means death, engaging fighter wings - means death. Getting a flame out = death. Pretty cool ship, isn`t it?

UIN ships are closest to my hearth ATM like the France and Hungary. The first because of the flexibility and potential devastation it can cause and the second because of the merciless drones and support capabilities.
 Bulgary and Austria also rock for providing the same things in smaller and faster packages.

I like UIN ships mainly for their looks. They are so far the best ones that I managed to draw (well, except for AI and Fly, of cause). I don`t like fortress shields - both when flying UIN ships and when engaging them. I just can`t apprehend the mechanics of FS and how to best utilize them.

RSF are the enforcers, dominators and onslaughts of Ironclads, shields are a weakness that must be removed for them even if it means more pd than usual.

By the lore the 'Powered Armour' hull mod was prototyped and put to production exactly by RSF R&D.

Also I think the energy RSF cruiser could use the auxiliary thrusters hull mod by default as it can be easy to avoid 3 of its 4 heavy weapons, could balance or overpower the ship, your call.

Barnaul-class CR is an attempt to create an assault energy-based ship. It is effective in combat, but mainly against something as slow and large as itself. Its not supposed to hunt destroyers and surely not suited for killing  frigates (though it`s medium and large E-turrets can be useful here).

As a matter of fact this can be said about all factions, all of their ships could be more dangerous if they didnt field exclusive weaponry.

That's actually made to provide players with some choice and goals. RSF ships with UIN or XLE large ballistics will be superior to any foes, ISA ships utilizing RSF devastating missiles or XLE rockets - will also benefits greater than RSF\XLE. Kursk mk.3 with ISA Assault drivers and XLE kinetic rockets - death to everything. Kansas with AI pulsars - even more certain death to absolutely everything. There are more examples, but the main idea is that this works fine and provides a lot of combinations for player to experiment with.

Lastly I think the game could use more missions just for the lulz, playing as the AI, more police enforcers missions from various factions and opponents, an aliens mother ship mission ( please let me go on a power craze with that monster even if it means going alone against the sector).

There are some limitations with AI, Rock Flies and Aliens in the game. Mostly due to their unique nature (exotic hull mods, weapons and etc). More enforcers and standard encounter missions I can make. In fact I`m trying to come up with a mission where you are assault a pirate asteroid base, but I can`t figure out how to make the base sit still and be put in the middle of the map...

 

And speaking of the AI, unlike the Aliens with their mother ships, the AI seem to lack a central command, or do their destroyers act as that.?

AI and FFS (and Rock Flies and Aliens) and other encounters will get more love once we can make custom station graphics and get a bit more space on the galaxy map.  This will include hidden Rock Fly nests, AI re-translators, Alien gates, FFS far posts and etc.

[HELMUT]

In fact I`m trying to come up with a mission where you are assault a pirate asteroid base, but I can`t figure out how to make the base sit still and be put in the middle of the map...

Tartiflette managed to do this in his mission "Soldier of fortune" for his SCY mod, you should take a look.

[Tartiflette]

I used this: http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=6452.msg133394#msg133394

[Okim]

Thanks. Will give it a try.

[Toxcity]

Are 408 Shrapnel Cannons supposed to do 50 damage?

[CrashToDesktop]

The shell itself might do 50 damage, but it's supposed to explode in proximity to ANY enemy vessel.  So it should never do that 50 damage to anything except allied ships or asteroids.

[Okim]

Current iteration of the 408mm Shrapnel Cannon produces tons of pellets that fly in all directions (above 100). Each deals 50 kinetic damage IIRC.

There is now way to put this info into weapon`s parameters. I`ll modify it`s description to specify this ability of the gun.