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

Author Topic: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)  (Read 1904 times)

Retry

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Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« on: November 05, 2020, 10:04:30 PM »

The suggestion: Adding a ship (and corresponding built-in hullmod) with a modular fighter bay that can only accept automated drones (Wasps, Mining Pods, etc)

Main purpose of this suggestion: There's a few Frigate-size vessels that come with built-in wings, but there's none with any sort of modular fighter bays.  Also, there's not any real "drone carriers" that are not automated themselves.  Also, drones in fiction are cool.  So, why not have a Drone Carrier/Battlecarrier?  Either high-tech or mid-tech, either heavy-end frigate or light-end cruiser.  Target DP cost between 7-9 or so.

Why it's different from existing content: Shepherds are a drone tender, but they're more of a civillian logistics ship converted to be slightly less vulnerable.  Tempest's drones acts as its PD/anti-fighter weaponry, so it can use its 2 Medium Energies against other ships.  Both are built-in wings.  A Drone Battlecarrier with a modular would be significantly more flexible in terms of loadouts, though not quite as flexible as a full-fledge carrier that can support manned fighters.

Admittedly, the modular options for most of the sector would be limited to Mining Pods and Wasps.  Still, it's a decent choice to be made: If you want to focus on the front-line brawling part, you can take the cheaper Mining Pods and they'll also act as half-decent point defense and distractions.  If you want a better Point-Defense and anti-fighter solution, you take the more expensive Wasp Drones, sacrificing some of the front-line brawling capacity and also risking that the fragile things get wiped out quickly.  Loadout flexibility would get quite a bit better once one begins venturing into Remnant systems and bringing home some loot.
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Xarexare

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2020, 01:58:25 PM »

I like this idea. The maintenance cost would have to be fairly high though. Replacing so many drones each battle couldn’t be cheap. I would think a mid-tier civilian ship similar to the drone tender would have a place in fleets too. More combat power but less savaging capability.
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SCC

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2020, 10:12:08 PM »

The biggest issue is that drone/non-drone fighters is not a division that Starsector makes. Wasps and Mining Pods are drones just because. When it comes a Remnant fighters, they are pretty good, Wasps and Mining Pods are completely outclassed by them. However, this would still leave the carrier with a very generic choice of either interceptors (Sparks), heavy fighters (Luxes) or bombers (Flashes), which is terribly limited, even if Sparks are meta.

Embolism

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #3 on: November 21, 2020, 03:12:43 AM »

Sounds like the upcoming update will make a distinction between drone and non-drone fighters, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I like the idea, it sounds very much like something Tr-Tach would field with their fighter-oriented doctrine yet presumably smaller population. It would have to come with at least two more non-remanant drone fighter types though.
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SCC

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #4 on: November 21, 2020, 03:26:43 AM »

Sounds like the upcoming update will make a distinction between drone and non-drone fighters, so that shouldn't be an issue.
I did not see a mention of adding a bunch of drone fighters that can compete with manned fighters in the patch notes or in any blog post. It's already possible to prevent a ship from using unmanned fighters (as Sylphon carriers do), but it's not interesting, unless you add a bunch of additional drone fighters to stand in for manned fighters (as Sylphon does).

Embolism

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #5 on: November 21, 2020, 03:34:42 AM »

I can't quote the patch notes thread anymore, but paraphrasing Reply 571 from Alex:

Quote
Do Wasps and Mining Pods have the "auto_fighter" tag?

They do!

This is mainly for automated ships, but it isn't a stretch to make it work for non-automated drone carriers.

but it's not interesting, unless you add a bunch of additional drone fighters

It would have to come with at least two more non-remanant drone fighter types though
« Last Edit: November 21, 2020, 03:36:48 AM by Embolism »
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SCC

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #6 on: November 21, 2020, 03:38:12 AM »

We must be talking about different games, then, because in my Starsector, Mining Pods and Wasps already are drones through having 0 required crew (which, as far as I know, is how Sylphon checks for fighters being drones).
And these fighters (and Remnant fighters) are not enough, as I said earlier.

Embolism

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #7 on: November 21, 2020, 03:52:21 AM »

You said the game doesn't distinguish between drone and non-drone fighters. I thought you meant the game doesn't know what fighter types can go into a drone-specific carrier, so I pointed out there's a tag in the next update that will do just that. You went on to talk about using crew requirement to make that distinction so I dunno what you meant by your original statement anymore then.

You said the current drone fighter lineup is not diverse enough to be interesting. I said in my first post that the game needs at least two more non-remnant drone fighters for this to work, so... I agree. That's what I was pointing out.
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SCC

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #8 on: November 21, 2020, 04:07:00 AM »

You went on to talk about using crew requirement to make that distinction so I dunno what you meant by your original statement anymore then.
What I meant is that whether a fighter is a drone is mostly flavour and has no practical bearing on gameplay, therefore manned and unmanned fighters are mostly indistinguishable, unless you happen to notice that drones have 0 required crew. And I might assume incorrectly, but I doubt that crew requirements are a factor people take into consideration when deciding which fighters to use.
Perhaps I should have said that game design doesn't care if a fighter is manned or not, instead of just "the game".

Igncom1

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #9 on: November 21, 2020, 04:11:45 AM »

I mean, I do which is why I love wasps as my choice of interceptor over the others. But I might be the exception rather then the rule.

Ultimately as has been said, unlike with guns there isn't that much of a diverse selection of fighter/bomber wings to make changing our 'universal' hanger slots into more specialised ones to be that worth it or fun.

But I do like the idea, especially when it comes with the idea of luddic church/knight/path carriers that can't have drones but have bonuses to crewed fighters in some way.
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IonDragonX

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #10 on: November 21, 2020, 05:25:15 AM »

I mean, I do which is why I love wasps as my choice of interceptor over the others. But I might be the exception rather then the rule.
Well, I happen to prefer drones for the majority of my fighters. With my playstyle, I concentrate on salvaging a lot. Crew levels make a difference to hedge for accidents and salvaging rare ships.
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Igncom1

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #11 on: November 21, 2020, 05:39:15 AM »

Yeah some people never encounter crew issues, where as I almost always do!  :D
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Retry

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #12 on: November 21, 2020, 03:48:45 PM »

You said the game doesn't distinguish between drone and non-drone fighters. I thought you meant the game doesn't know what fighter types can go into a drone-specific carrier, so I pointed out there's a tag in the next update that will do just that. You went on to talk about using crew requirement to make that distinction so I dunno what you meant by your original statement anymore then.
Maybe a midline drone fighter and a high-tech drone bomber?  For the fighter, a high-end fighter with perhaps a Light Autocannon or 2, or small missiles, and for the bomber a relatively swift and cheap Squall delivery platform?
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ubuntufreakdragon

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Re: Drone Battlecarrier (non-remnant)
« Reply #13 on: November 23, 2020, 04:12:49 AM »

I was thinking about something similar:
Tri Tachyon Nexus Assembler Low Profile Cruiser.
equipped with mining and construction drones this ship was designed to sneak past Domain Patrols and establish an AI Nexus.
The ship is equipped with all necessary equipment to (de)construct space installations and use asteroids as resource.
The ship comes low Profile both logistical and sensor wise. Enough storage to care for itself.
Pre installed hullmods:
Salvage Gantry and
Surveying Equipment
to resemble it's construction abilities.
weapons:
2xdrone bays
1xfully usable hangar bay
bad flux stats
~2 medium energy
~2 medium missile with pre-installed Pilums (to force it into a support role)
~5 small energy
~2 small missile
System, consume a destroyed/disabled ship(won't be recoverable) to gain a charge and use charges to rearm allied ships.
« Last Edit: November 23, 2020, 04:20:54 AM by ubuntufreakdragon »
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