Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => Suggestions => Topic started by: Techhead on April 12, 2018, 04:16:04 PM
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Escort order has a reputation for getting ships killed, especially non-carriers. To alleviate this, probably best split into two similar orders, henceforth referred to here as "Assist" and "Protect". In implementation, one of the two would likely retain the Escort name.
Assist: Generally follow ally ship around, but outside of that, coordinate fire on ally ship's current target and look out for your own safety. Likely most useful for ordering around those 'hammer' ships that pack noticeable firepower but still prefer to let an 'anvil' ship engage. Default order when assigning right-clicking on an allied combat ship.
Protect: More or less the existing Escort command. Generally follow ally ship around and try to keep them safe. Engage on nearby threats and soak fire as needed. Useful for ordering around ships that can take a licking and keep on kicking, or for protecting civilian targets. Default order when right-clicking on an allied civilian ship.
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Techhead, I'd truly enjoy having something like this in the game. I'm especially fond of your vision of the Assist order. :)
My humble $0.02:
The current implementation of the Escort order is, to put it kindly, sub-optimal. All too often, chaotic skirmishers can't get as much done without excessive collateral damage or fumbled opportunities than a better-disciplined group of allies can get done. I welcome such a proposal for more granularity when it comes to telling our companion ships how to effectively protect one another. I dislike seeing ships dying of AI-self-inflicted maneuver & targeting-priority fail that often still doesn't get the desired "bodyguard/focus-fire" job done.
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I completely agree with this. +1
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i suggested almost the exact same thing (http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=11367.0) a while ago as well, so, i'm all for it! ^^
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This. So much this. I want an order that will tell my destroyers, essentially, "Don't wander off on your own and get killed, here's a cruiser you can fall back to if you need something to hide behind."
Think of it as a "rally task force" command, except that I want to put it on a cruiser or capital ship instead of tying my fleet to a stationary point in space.
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Think of it as a "rally task force" command, except that I want to put it on a cruiser or capital ship instead of tying my fleet to a stationary point in space.
Another problem with escort is that is asymmetrical.
- A escorts B, but B does not consider A in it's actions
- If you want many ships to act together they either ball up to close to single escort target or you can form unflexible escort tree.
So for me desired command would be : "keep close to each-other (yet not bunch up too much), don't have any particular ship as designated leader (though it would natural for larger and slower ship to define pace to some extent)"
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Something like: HOLD THE LINE!!! aka most fundamental command for every general in history :D