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Modding / Re: Star Wars: Revisited (Project: LaserSpam)
« on: July 30, 2013, 10:55:06 AM »
I think that, considering the limitations of the engine, some stuff could be changed to make it a little less... wonky. It feels a little unpolished as of now, and I'll explain what I feel needs to be looked at.
- Ship Speeds
Some ships are seriously too fast. Nebulon-B Frigates cant fly at twice the speed of a Venator, even though the Venator is many times its size. Capital ships in general are too fast and manoeuvrable, like the Liberty-Class. That thing turns on practically a dime, even without the player skills.
- Shields
One thing I've noticed is that, in comparison to the player (and lore), the AI will continuously turn its shields on and off, and since weapons don't generate much flux at all, this pretty much prevents overloading (or in this case, shield failure). It's a little annoying thing that I can't really take, because the flux dissipation on the ships is pretty insane. Perhaps set the shields to have a cooldown after turned off, like how they're overloaded. Make this cooldown shorter to incentivise people to actually turn their shields off instead of pushing them to the limit. Perhaps lengthen the shield overload time, since 6 seconds on a Cruiser is pretty short.
- Weapons
Not too much problem here, other than the fact that the weapons don't really feel balanced. Heavy turbolaser batteries are dealing as much damage as light turbolasers, and with the scale of current ships, it doesnt really matter how inaccurate those light lasers are. Torpedoes/Missiles are pretty lackluster right now, they lack punch and ammunition (something which isnt really a problem in the movies or games), and they could really use a buff.
- Ship Systems
Not too much to say here, they're pretty well coded and done.
- Fleet Points
I'm not sure if this can even be modded, but the battle fleet points dont really fit the scale of engagements. I want 4 Mon Calamari Cruisers flying through a well-positioned line of Star Destroyers, but I cant have that because the fleet points only allow me to deploy 1 or 2. That, or reducing the fleet point cost of individual ships would be awesome.
- Ship Scale
Yeah, as you said, some of those ships are really too big. I think you could reduce the size of all the ships in general, to make it feel a little more like massive space battles compared to one gigantic ship covering 3/4ths of the screen. This, combined with the change in fleet points, could really make it feel like Star Wars.
- Customizability
As it stands, with the current laserspam, it's really fun to watch, but not so fun to play. I think it would give a feel of customizability if SOME of those weapon points (like the 8 turrets on the Venator) could be interchanged. Maybe I don't want Heavy Turbolasers, so I could strap on Heavy Ion Cannons, or a Large Tractor Beam, or something of the sort. Maybe remove some weapons, especially on the smaller ships, so they feel SCALED. You've got Cruisers being taken out by frigates here, something which shouldnt really happen at all.
- Other Stuff
You've already got the shield overloading down, so why not permanently disable weapons and engines if they're too damaged (by anything other than EMP, maybe when hit with like torpedoes or something), or add smoke to damaged areas, etc.?
Overall, I enjoy playing this mod, especially watching all those lasers go PEWPEPWEWPEW, but I think it could do with some improvements.
Hope you'll read 'em!
- Ship Speeds
Some ships are seriously too fast. Nebulon-B Frigates cant fly at twice the speed of a Venator, even though the Venator is many times its size. Capital ships in general are too fast and manoeuvrable, like the Liberty-Class. That thing turns on practically a dime, even without the player skills.
- Shields
One thing I've noticed is that, in comparison to the player (and lore), the AI will continuously turn its shields on and off, and since weapons don't generate much flux at all, this pretty much prevents overloading (or in this case, shield failure). It's a little annoying thing that I can't really take, because the flux dissipation on the ships is pretty insane. Perhaps set the shields to have a cooldown after turned off, like how they're overloaded. Make this cooldown shorter to incentivise people to actually turn their shields off instead of pushing them to the limit. Perhaps lengthen the shield overload time, since 6 seconds on a Cruiser is pretty short.
- Weapons
Not too much problem here, other than the fact that the weapons don't really feel balanced. Heavy turbolaser batteries are dealing as much damage as light turbolasers, and with the scale of current ships, it doesnt really matter how inaccurate those light lasers are. Torpedoes/Missiles are pretty lackluster right now, they lack punch and ammunition (something which isnt really a problem in the movies or games), and they could really use a buff.
- Ship Systems
Not too much to say here, they're pretty well coded and done.
- Fleet Points
I'm not sure if this can even be modded, but the battle fleet points dont really fit the scale of engagements. I want 4 Mon Calamari Cruisers flying through a well-positioned line of Star Destroyers, but I cant have that because the fleet points only allow me to deploy 1 or 2. That, or reducing the fleet point cost of individual ships would be awesome.
- Ship Scale
Yeah, as you said, some of those ships are really too big. I think you could reduce the size of all the ships in general, to make it feel a little more like massive space battles compared to one gigantic ship covering 3/4ths of the screen. This, combined with the change in fleet points, could really make it feel like Star Wars.
- Customizability
As it stands, with the current laserspam, it's really fun to watch, but not so fun to play. I think it would give a feel of customizability if SOME of those weapon points (like the 8 turrets on the Venator) could be interchanged. Maybe I don't want Heavy Turbolasers, so I could strap on Heavy Ion Cannons, or a Large Tractor Beam, or something of the sort. Maybe remove some weapons, especially on the smaller ships, so they feel SCALED. You've got Cruisers being taken out by frigates here, something which shouldnt really happen at all.
- Other Stuff
You've already got the shield overloading down, so why not permanently disable weapons and engines if they're too damaged (by anything other than EMP, maybe when hit with like torpedoes or something), or add smoke to damaged areas, etc.?
Overall, I enjoy playing this mod, especially watching all those lasers go PEWPEPWEWPEW, but I think it could do with some improvements.
Hope you'll read 'em!
