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[Dazs]

v1.5 released today - Tested with a 1.45 save with no issues - the new start reputation changes require a new game - see changelog on OP or in RAR for details

In brief: I replaced two ship images, added two ships and a new torpedo and made several changes to descriptions and stats. I changed the forum OP with updated images and descriptions, fixed some spelling and grammar errors and separated the weapons and wings graphics since both categories have grown since initial release.

I feel the new assets this patch fills in all the holes in the mod to make it a complete faction if a player wanted to use only JYD assets. I will still be fixing any issues and tweaking the mod and who knows, I may find the need for another new ship, weapon or drone. My goal is to make this a fun balanced mod for players who want to focus on exploration mining and salvaging. I am always grateful for suggestions and open to new ideas so please keep them coming!

[balordezul]

First off I'm a big fan of the theme, look and play style.  Even when playing other factions I fly over to Dogstar to get my mining / exploration support ships.

I ran the 1.5 version yesterday and tried out a few things and want to give some feedback.  


Right now playing a pure JYD game with no other ships and mostly only using JYD weapons and fighter craft.  Mainly I want to explore, mine and fight with balancing keeping my mining rating as high as possible.  

I got to try out the Int Q with I think 4 planet busters and two Drill LRMs and it works well as an early game missile support craft. I need some more play time with it to get a better feel if it is balanced. It does fit the theme of the faction being Drones to screen the fleet as they mainly attack with missile and minor ballistic support.


The Flea Bomber is a good change and at a solid OP cost.  It gets some shots off and normally dies adding in some good pressure on the enemy but clearly not to the level of a combat faction high cost OP bombers.  In bigger fights they shine more as you have more drones deployed between the different ships giving them a few more seconds to engage.  

Now the Planet Buster is a great addition to the fleet's weapons as you had to relegate the Asteroid Breaker to a PD weapon but you really needed something with a punch and OH BOY! This weapon needs some tuning and I'm going to point out a combo that is silly in a moment. If you are dead set on the profile of the weapon (range, flight speed, damage, ammo and re-fire rate) then it needs to be at least 8 OP and I would still put as many of them on my ships as I could. I feel this missile system is needed for JYD faction but in the current state it is very strong. The things I like about it is the flight speed and range as the rest of the faction missiles are fairly slow. In combat you have swarms of the Drill LRMs and SRMs overloading PD as you get a few fast moving planet breakers in the mix to help finish off the foe. The Planet Breaker's main issues for me are the OP cost and the re-fire rate both likely should be adjusted. I suggest to change the OP in the range from 6 to 8 and re-fire adding 2 to 4 seconds to the current version.

So I did break the game a bit with the Loyal and the missile auto forge (aka instant unlimited ammo). I ran it with two Drill LRMs and 8 linked Planet Breakers and SIM killed an Onslaught in just a few minutes. I should have timed it, sorry I did not think about it until after. That missile auto forge needs to go or add a 30 second to a minute delay to it if possible. Even replacing it with fetch decks and or expanded missile racks or more drones.

PS: The Loyal's ingame description does not match the loadout that says 5 botfly drones and it has three botflys and one heavy in my game.  I'm not sure if the description is out of date or me updating a few times vs a new game start is the issue. 

Now for my JYD wishlist and some of these may just not be doable or might not interest you.

First are two low tier ships being pursuit ships as this faction is fairly slow and having an option to take down fleeing craft or faster moving cargo ships within the faction would be nice.

Trying to keep to the theme of salvage and mining but meeting the goal of a pursuit craft these are going to be a little different.

So naming the frigate just so we have something to call beside "that" ship.  I'm rolling with a placeholder of Brutus being an overly aggressive name that can show up on toy dog breeds.  Let's also take the theme of using what JYD has to be resourceful.  Theoretically utilizing the Adorable as the base model to create a variant and save time both in lore and for the designer.  Now strip off the rear right weapon mount and add a larger engine to the block and ideally on the rear sides to break up the profile.  Having this add +20 speed taking it from 125 to 145 but reduce the maneuverability as the trade.  Change the ship's ability to an engine burn to go after the target.
 
Now the hard part and something you may just say flat no too. What about using this as a test bed for a built in weapon system and that being of an overcharged modified mining laser. Now hear me out. I know lasers are not part of the normal JYD theme but mining lasers are a common mining tool and even fits salvage. This way it adds another weapon with a bonus to mining.  Have it installed right in the snug little spot right in the middle front of the Adorable as a fixed forward harpoint built into the ship. Behind it in that narrow gap you could put metal looking rigging with over tuned or jerry rigged design and possibly a glow to help set the mood. Also modify the back right weapon port that was removed to look like a somewhat exposed reactor or extra large reactor. As for the weapon, keep it a sustained beam doing the normal 100% damage balance but also add EMP damage to it as it is overcharged by design. The EMP added on top of a decent energy weapon will allow you to add some control to the battle the JYD does not naturally have beside a drone screen.  As a built in locked weapon system this might be a medium weapon system if you have interest in exploring this idea more.  Giving you room down the road to create large and small variants.  

Lore wise it can be a ship used to get around quickly and rip through fast moving asteroids or move into a needed location to help cut apart salvage. 

I don't have a fun name for the second ship but we can call it Bully as a stand in.  The idea here is an asteroid mover by physically moving it with the front of the ship.  So part tug, part reckless rammer if you will.  

For this one use the baseline of the hammerhead. Add a new texture over the top of the armor to give it a more JYD look.  Remove the front two small missile hardpoints and change the fixed ballistic hardpoints to angled turrets. In the front build a new frame to extend beyond the front of the ship to create a makeshift oversized ram that is heavily armored to be able to push asteroids with. Possibly small gripping claws on the right and left so items would not move.  Do a different set of engines in the back that removes the gap but gives it a like it was modified for speed look. Add two drone hangers on the left and right of the spine with stock locked drones of a Mite and a Gnat.  Now you have a profile of a large front and boxy ish back half.

Keep the speed the same as the hammerhead but reduce maneuverability a bit for the exchange of more mass but more engines.  Reduce the shield arc from 300 to 150. If you can add the ship's ability for it to ram. So a boost in speed forward, no shields and a temporary resistance boost to damage taken plus damage done to target on impact. The the ideal stock loadout being two Mining Recoilless Blasters on angled turrets, the two front missile hardpoints removed, the two small forward hybrid turrets changed to small missile turrets with Drill SRMs and the rear two turrets change to small ballistic running Asteroid Breakers.
  
For weapons again I would love to see some interesting mining, emp weapons on the fleet if that seems interesting to you even if these are limited or built in fixed weapons.  Also some large mounts for the Drill LRM, SRM or armored MRMs.  Lastly with the Drills a visual update would be awesome of their animation the weapons work fine but the animation and missiles could use a little love.
I know JYD is hull mod heavy but I have two more to suggest and these may not fit or are just too hard to do.  

As this is a fighter heavy faction and the character skill fighter uplink skill degrades fast a hull mod that focuses on balancing that would help. Naming because we need something to call it Veteran Drone Operations.  Have it match the OP costs for Heavy Armor as that one is costly without being on the extreme. It would be best if it would work only with JYD drones but I'm not sure if that is even possible to avoid game imbalance with other faction fighters. Have it increase drones top speed by 20% and target leading accuracy by 30% plus an engagement range boost of 500.  
The last one is more fluffy but I do a lot of mining.  Again we need a name, "Risk Assessment CnC". Just like the hull mod Operations Center matches the OP costs and the restrictions that it has to be on your flagship.  Ideally I would love for it to reduce how bad an accident you get from mining or salvaging if possible.  If that is completely not doable a flat bonus for mining and salvaging would be nice and naming it differently to reflect that.  

I hope you take my feedback in a positive manner.  If anything, look at my wish listing for your mod as how much someone is enjoying it and really going full bore into this dog eat dog mod.

[Dazs]

First off I'm a big fan of the theme, look and play style.  Even when playing other factions I fly over to Dogstar to get my mining / exploration support ships.

I ran the 1.5 version yesterday and tried out a few things and want to give some feedback. 


Right now playing a pure JYD game with no other ships and mostly only using JYD weapons and fighter craft.  Mainly I want to explore, mine and fight with balancing keeping my mining rating as high as possible. 

I got to try out the Int Q with I think 4 planet busters and two Drill LRMs and it works well as an early game missile support craft. I need some more play time with it to get a better feel if it is balanced. It does fit the theme of the faction being Drones to screen the fleet as they mainly attack with missile and minor ballistic support.


The Flea Bomber is a good change and at a solid OP cost.  It gets some shots off and normally dies adding in some good pressure on the enemy but clearly not to the level of a combat faction high cost OP bombers.  In bigger fights they shine more as you have more drones deployed between the different ships giving them a few more seconds to engage. 

I want to start off with how floored I am with all the detailed work you put into this. I am honestly flattered you made an account just to do so. I will address each point individually rather than a second wall of text.

I was on the fence with the Q and spent way too much time trying to balance it, glad to hear it does it's job. As to the Flea, you got it in one! It was always my intent that that the other drones cover it while it makes it's run and I figured giving it the MIRV over a PD mount would equal more survivability as you state, those multi-missiles are good for tying up an enemy PD.

Now the Planet Buster is a great addition to the fleet's weapons as you had to relegate the Asteroid Breaker to a PD weapon but you really needed something with a punch and OH BOY! This weapon needs some tuning and I'm going to point out a combo that is silly in a moment. If you are dead set on the profile of the weapon (range, flight speed, damage, ammo and re-fire rate) then it needs to be at least 8 OP and I would still put as many of them on my ships as I could. I feel this missile system is needed for JYD faction but in the current state it is very strong. The things I like about it is the flight speed and range as the rest of the faction missiles are fairly slow. In combat you have swarms of the Drill LRMs and SRMs overloading PD as you get a few fast moving planet breakers in the mix to help finish off the foe. The Planet Breaker's main issues for me are the OP cost and the re-fire rate both likely should be adjusted. I suggest to change the OP in the range from 6 to 8 and re-fire adding 2 to 4 seconds to the current version.

So I did break the game a bit with the Loyal and the missile auto forge (aka instant unlimited ammo). I ran it with two Drill LRMs and 8 linked Planet Breakers and SIM killed an Onslaught in just a few minutes. I should have timed it, sorry I did not think about it until after. That missile auto forge needs to go or add a 30 second to a minute delay to it if possible. Even replacing it with fetch decks and or expanded missile racks or more drones.

I made the Buster for the reasons you state, again glad someone get's it It started off with wanting to replace the Hammer, the only other torpedo in that size that has mining stats. I essentially doubled the ammo and OP but added guidance and a heftier punch for more credits. Now to your points, I would be hesitant to go more than 4 OP because for it it to be used on frigates and destroyers more than 4 would be a big drain. I had not considered the autoforge however so removing the limiting factor of 4 really does make it OP. I will tinker with it but I will most likely increase the charge up and cooldown so they cannot be spammed as I intended them to be used as a finishing weapon once the shields were down.

PS: The Loyal's ingame description does not match the loadout that says 5 botfly drones and it has three botflys and one heavy in my game.  I'm not sure if the description is out of date or me updating a few times vs a new game start is the issue.

Lol, I spent so much time this patch trying to fix the spelling, grammar and correct outdated descriptions. It was inevitable I would miss one, thanks for the head's up I'll have that fixed in 1.55.

First are two low tier ships being pursuit ships as this faction is fairly slow and having an option to take down fleeing craft or faster moving cargo ships within the faction would be nice.

Trying to keep to the theme of salvage and mining but meeting the goal of a pursuit craft these are going to be a little different.

So naming the frigate just so we have something to call beside "that" ship.  I'm rolling with a placeholder of Brutus being an overly aggressive name that can show up on toy dog breeds.  Let's also take the theme of using what JYD has to be resourceful.  Theoretically utilizing the Adorable as the base model to create a variant and save time both in lore and for the designer.  Now strip off the rear right weapon mount and add a larger engine to the block and ideally on the rear sides to break up the profile.  Having this add +20 speed taking it from 125 to 145 but reduce the maneuverability as the trade.  Change the ship's ability to an engine burn to go after the target.

The core design of JYD ships are heavy armor and hull having high mass with medium shields and on the slow side. I envisioned them as sturdy but rough looking since they are essentially getting hit by asteroid debris constantly. I did my best to have them look well loved with dirty or gritty graphics. So I made the drones and missiles longer range than vanilla as a way for them to chase down runners but you do have a point. I think I can come up with a design to the specifications you suggest and still keep it balanced with some built in d-mods to account for it.

Now the hard part and something you may just say flat no too. What about using this as a test bed for a built in weapon system and that being of an overcharged modified mining laser. Now hear me out. I know lasers are not part of the normal JYD theme but mining lasers are a common mining tool and even fits salvage. This way it adds another weapon with a bonus to mining.  Have it installed right in the snug little spot right in the middle front of the Adorable as a fixed forward harpoint built into the ship. Behind it in that narrow gap you could put metal looking rigging with over tuned or jerry rigged design and possibly a glow to help set the mood. Also modify the back right weapon port that was removed to look like a somewhat exposed reactor or extra large reactor. As for the weapon, keep it a sustained beam doing the normal 100% damage balance but also add EMP damage to it as it is overcharged by design. The EMP added on top of a decent energy weapon will allow you to add some control to the battle the JYD does not naturally have beside a drone screen.  As a built in locked weapon system this might be a medium weapon system if you have interest in exploring this idea more.  Giving you room down the road to create large and small variants. 

Lore wise it can be a ship used to get around quickly and rip through fast moving asteroids or move into a needed location to help cut apart salvage.

Well what you are describing is actually one of my favorite non-JYD ships that has a built in weapon very close to what you describe. The Quarry Class Assault mining Rig from Keruvium Exports has a built in large mount energy weapon, the M74 Asteroid Cracker. https://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=20513.0 I am always looking for a pirate fleet when I first start a game that has one I can salvage. I have had it on the backburner to do something similar but I have not added it for a couple reasons, Firstly connortron7 knocked it out of the park already and it would be disrespectful of me to copy it. Secondly I already have 35 faction ships and I fell I am nearing game bloat so I try my best to only make ships that aren't already a thing when I can. Now to make a medium or small version well I can take a crack (pun intended) at that but make it it's own thing in 1.55.

I don't have a fun name for the second ship but we can call it Bully as a stand in.  The idea here is an asteroid mover by physically moving it with the front of the ship.  So part tug, part reckless rammer if you will. 

For this one use the baseline of the hammerhead. Add a new texture over the top of the armor to give it a more JYD look.  Remove the front two small missile hardpoints and change the fixed ballistic hardpoints to angled turrets. In the front build a new frame to extend beyond the front of the ship to create a makeshift oversized ram that is heavily armored to be able to push asteroids with. Possibly small gripping claws on the right and left so items would not move.  Do a different set of engines in the back that removes the gap but gives it a like it was modified for speed look. Add two drone hangers on the left and right of the spine with stock locked drones of a Mite and a Gnat.  Now you have a profile of a large front and boxy ish back half.

Keep the speed the same as the hammerhead but reduce maneuverability a bit for the exchange of more mass but more engines.  Reduce the shield arc from 300 to 150. If you can add the ship's ability for it to ram. So a boost in speed forward, no shields and a temporary resistance boost to damage taken plus damage done to target on impact. The the ideal stock loadout being two Mining Recoilless Blasters on angled turrets, the two front missile hardpoints removed, the two small forward hybrid turrets changed to small missile turrets with Drill SRMs and the rear two turrets change to small ballistic running Asteroid Breakers.

I originally intended the Irksome to be a bully pusher but it has gone though a couple remakes and is now more of a small cargo ship. However that is a frigate and you are talking destroyer level so that one is out for yet another remake. I have dyslexia and some nerve damage to my right arm so it is hard for me to make my own detailed ship designs, however, I really do enjoy kit-bashing and recoloring ships and reviving one of my old concepts really appeals. I cannot promise it'll be all you ask but that idea is now locked in and I'll come up with something

For weapons again I would love to see some interesting mining, emp weapons on the fleet if that seems interesting to you even if these are limited or built in fixed weapons.  Also some large mounts for the Drill LRM, SRM or armored MRMs.  Lastly with the Drills a visual update would be awesome of their animation the weapons work fine but the animation and missiles could use a little love.

I made some EMP weapons for my Hiver mod and I do use them but I feel they are a high tech weapon and JYD is a low to mid tech faction. I would also have to think of a reason that EMP would be of use for mining. Let me give that some more thought and I'll get back to you. Now, large missiles are a hole in their arsenal and I appreciate you pointing that out. To make them truly self sufficient, I could see having a large MIRV and/or a large singe shot missile as part of their lineup. More fodder for 1.55

I know JYD is hull mod heavy but I have two more to suggest and these may not fit or are just too hard to do. 

As this is a fighter heavy faction and the character skill fighter uplink skill degrades fast a hull mod that focuses on balancing that would help. Naming because we need something to call it Veteran Drone Operations.  Have it match the OP costs for Heavy Armor as that one is costly without being on the extreme. It would be best if it would work only with JYD drones but I'm not sure if that is even possible to avoid game imbalance with other faction fighters. Have it increase drones top speed by 20% and target leading accuracy by 30% plus an engagement range boost of 500. 

I did go a bit overboard with the hull mods but I like giving players options. Targeting Feed, Recall Device and Reserve Wing all already in-game ship systems so a hull mod would have to fill in a gap those do not already cover. The JYD fetch deck hull mod also effects drones and fighters so there is that as well. I will have to deep dive on all those in-existence systems and mods. Also, I am not sure if I can make a hull mod only useable on JYD drones. I'll do some more research and get back to you on the idea.

The last one is more fluffy but I do a lot of mining.  Again we need a name, "Risk Assessment CnC". Just like the hull mod Operations Center matches the OP costs and the restrictions that it has to be on your flagship.  Ideally I would love for it to reduce how bad an accident you get from mining or salvaging if possible. 
If that is completely not doable a flat bonus for mining and salvaging would be nice and naming it differently to reflect that. 
Well in essence JYD already has that built in. I have mining output increases built in to the JYD ships already and with many of their ships having built in Salvage Gantries the salvage gained is more than non-JYD ships. To stack above that would border on over powered so were I to also add a hull mod I would have to carefully asses it based n that. Not saying no, but probobly not in the next update.

Well the mining code is custom made by Histidine for Nexerelin, I do not think I could effect it without infringing on the code. I have asked on the Nexerelin forum for help with the colony fleet aspect of the mod and was given permission to use some of that code to fix an issue with my Hiver mod. So i know that mod author is generous and helpful. I will consult and see what can be done. Either way I would not want to reduce the damage too much because it is a core concept of the mining mini-game and I am a believer is risk vs reward.

I hope you take my feedback in a positive manner.  If anything, look at my wish listing for your mod as how much someone is enjoying it and really going full bore into this dog eat dog mod.

Positive? My man this is a brilliant take on it! I was at the point that I felt OK JYD is done-ish, time to move on but now I am jazzed to work on it again. I get some dings and hash comments on discord about the nature of the mod or the low-rez graphics and it is such a pleasure to get constructive feedback like this. I am currently snowed in and have some time on my hands so I'll go under hood and tinker on these ideas and get back to you.

[balordezul]

After playing a few more hours today the AI will rarely fire the Planet Buster if they are on their own bind unless you have all missile systems linked.  If it has a Drill system or a ok gun on separate binds the AI ignores the Planet Buster.  Even if it would only just take a little bit to overload the flux.  When linked with a Drill system the AI will wait for the Drill to refresh and fire all of them at once. 

Mostly it seems to be a player based issue taking advantage of it or me.

[Dazs]

After playing a few more hours today the AI will rarely fire the Planet Buster if they are on their own bind unless you have all missile systems linked.  If it has a Drill system or a ok gun on separate binds the AI ignores the Planet Buster.  Even if it would only just take a little bit to overload the flux.  When linked with a Drill system the AI will wait for the Drill to refresh and fire all of them at once. 

Mostly it seems to be a player based issue taking advantage of it or me.

Hi always glad to see another rockhopper! The issue with that setup is not you, it is a matter having a limited ammo torpedo and a missile on the same link. Swap out the PB for any other torpedo and you'll get the same result. For some reason the AI does not handle that combo very well. If you absolutely, positively want to brute force the AI into shooting limited ammo torpedoes, you can group a ballistic or energy weapon and the torpedo into a single group set to linked autofire and it should fire every time the other weapon is in range.

Found this reply from Alex in another thread regarding the AI use of torpedos (which are strike weapons)

Thanks for the report! The first is - the AI basically will not fire a strike weapon more than once every so often. I've been meaning to look at that as it does lead to cases like this, but it also does help it conserve them in the case of a larger battle, so it's... not necessarily straightforward to figure out what's actually best.

[balordezul]

I just read that after seeing your post and started doing more tests with Stalwart, Int Q and Confident and my Loyal.  All via sims so it will likely change in normal combat with more ships.  But the Planet Buster does act funny I think it is the torpedo class AI coding vs that item.  I also noticed that not all guided torpedoes act the same with the AI.  For example the Alecto Atropos with 6 salvos will fire more often and be more liberal than a harpoon MRM only having 3 salvos.


Also sorry I was not all that clear in the post last night I have been running on very little sleep with a few sick kids in the house.

Int Q finding and a little bit of Planet Buster play. 

This ship likes to get in close and mix it up running it both with your stock setup and few different variants.  In almost every way I have played it the ships ends up to be a burst DSP alpha strike and then the combat effectiveness drops quickly.  It is cheap to run and deploy so not a bad trade but player might need to make for sure it micromanaged in combat.  I did find the stock version with the asteroid break force it to come in closer making it easier to kill but that might be a good thing.  When the Int Q fluxes out a smaller ship the Int Q would extremely rarely fire the Planet Buster but this is likely an AI thing. 

The way I'm running it now is 4 Drill SRMs and 2 Drill LRMs and a mix of hull mods.  This Loadout lets the AI keep a little more at range and then goes in for spike damage and it seems to understand how to use it. I feel they are best to set to guard a cautious ship keeping them out of the SRM range.  Then send them in to burn down a target and withdraw from the main line.  They definitely will not work for protracted engagements and that is perfect. It does very well hitting much higher than its weight class. It has been able to sim solo kill much higher OP costing ships. When it does win the ammo is nearly depleted.
 
The Confident is interesting almost acts a little like a hammerhead if I had to make a connection to another ship.  The stock setup works well for an aggressive manner.  The ships will change completely if you switch it to Drill LRMs and now it plays keep away offering you a more support defensive roll if you don't want to chance to loose your fuel tanker.

Some more AI testing with the loyal combed with the Planet Busters and just leaving all the PB in their own grouping.  After seeing some interesting AI combats I'm fairly sure this is just an issue with the games AI.  When taking on ships of a similar or small class / OP costs even of key times a single torpedo would do a great deal the AI would not fire one.  Now it did consistently fire at larger ships when they were fluxed out and saw this with the Stalwart as well. The goofy thing I saw the Loyal do was use the 8 Planet Busters as anti fighter as the ship was only relying on the drone support in my build for that role.

The Stalwart is amazing, great amounting option and good drone setup plus all the utility.  The only strange thing for me is the rear medium mount as it works just fine with an Asteroid Breaker.  Unless you have a JYD mining point defense weapon in the works?

First, I understand that things change overtime and sometimes items don't evolve as fast as others but let's talk about the Commanding.  Any chance to get a new higher resolution version of this wonderful yellow school bus?  Now how do you intended for this be equipped as it has a lot of small hybrid mounts, 4 small synergy mounts and two large synergy mounts?  I know this was made before the major change to the Asteroid Breaker so it is in a goofy place in my head.  The damage dealing small mounts are all missiles for JYD right now.  The 4 small synergy mounts let you take your choice and as my flag ship has Planet Busters are the clear winner.  The very strange thing is the large synergy mounting here as you have a large JYD ballistic weapon.  I'm going to keep an eye out for more weapons in future updates as a JYD large missile system on here or JYD energy mining / salvage small and large would be welcome.

[Dazs]

I just read that after seeing your post and started doing more tests with Stalwart, Int Q and Confident and my Loyal.  All via sims so it will likely change in normal combat with more ships.  But the Planet Buster does act funny I think it is the torpedo class AI coding vs that item.  I also noticed that not all guided torpedoes act the same with the AI.  For example the Alecto Atropos with 6 salvos will fire more often and be more liberal than a harpoon MRM only having 3 salvos.


Also sorry I was not all that clear in the post last night I have been running on very little sleep with a few sick kids in the house.

Oh hey that is alright, my family just went for a round of the Covid two step and I get it The point you make about other guided torpedoes is that anything that is under 6 ammo is considered "limited" and the AI kicks in for those, saving them for that right moment. Did those other torpedoes have a stack count higher than 4? I did more testing after my last post as this is the first torpedo I have made. I tried several AI tags in the code but it just would not fire on cooldown. The only way I could get it to fire is I put one on the front mount of the Loyal and a light mortar on the other front mount and linked them. Sure enough the PB was wrecking like a champ. I did it with a couple other limited ammo torps and had the same result so my guess is it is a AI thing as well. Now that being said, I am hesitant to to increase the ammo count because I then feel the need to raise the OP to equip to a point it makes it a less worthy option to use vs other torpedoes. Oh also, I tested the Flea Bomber and it fired on cooldown so w/e this thing is, it does not effect fighters and drones.

Int Q finding and a little bit of Planet Buster play. 

This ship likes to get in close and mix it up running it both with your stock setup and few different variants.  In almost every way I have played it the ships ends up to be a burst DSP alpha strike and then the combat effectiveness drops quickly.  It is cheap to run and deploy so not a bad trade but player might need to make for sure it micromanaged in combat.  I did find the stock version with the asteroid break force it to come in closer making it easier to kill but that might be a good thing.  When the Int Q fluxes out a smaller ship the Int Q would extremely rarely fire the Planet Buster but this is likely an AI thing. 

The way I'm running it now is 4 Drill SRMs and 2 Drill LRMs and a mix of hull mods.  This Loadout lets the AI keep a little more at range and then goes in for spike damage and it seems to understand how to use it. I feel they are best to set to guard a cautious ship keeping them out of the SRM range.  Then send them in to burn down a target and withdraw from the main line.  They definitely will not work for protracted engagements and that is perfect. It does very well hitting much higher than its weight class. It has been able to sim solo kill much higher OP costing ships. When it does win the ammo is nearly depleted.
 

Destroyers and frigates are hard coded to be up front wolfpack skirmishers that use hit and run tactics and the Q falls in line like a good boy. I specifically made the Brawler Missile hull mod to address this. So if you have a small ship armed with say the Drill LRM, using that hull mod is the best bet to get it to disengage faster since the slow LRM gets off quicker.

The Confident is interesting almost acts a little like a hammerhead if I had to make a connection to another ship.  The stock setup works well for an aggressive manner.  The ships will change completely if you switch it to Drill LRMs and now it plays keep away offering you a more support defensive roll if you don't want to chance to loose your fuel tanker.
 

Yep! I have all my ships in either composite or synergy weapon mounts for just that reason. Different situations require different setups. I arm my ships based on the fleet I have at the time. To use your example, sometime the Confident is your toughest ship in the fleet and you want it to be a brawler but once the fleet grows you can now have it back off and provide missile support. I enjoy that kind of theory crafting and wanted to give players who do as well the opportunity to play with flex mounts. 

Some more AI testing with the loyal combed with the Planet Busters and just leaving all the PB in their own grouping.  After seeing some interesting AI combats I'm fairly sure this is just an issue with the games AI.  When taking on ships of a similar or small class / OP costs even of key times a single torpedo would do a great deal the AI would not fire one.  Now it did consistently fire at larger ships when they were fluxed out and saw this with the Stalwart as well. The goofy thing I saw the Loyal do was use the 8 Planet Busters as anti fighter as the ship was only relying on the drone support in my build for that role.
 

Yea I guess see above. Alex is aware of the issue and recently posted that he is looking into it. Arm it accordingly for now I guess.

The Stalwart is amazing, great amounting option and good drone setup plus all the utility.  The only strange thing for me is the rear medium mount as it works just fine with an Asteroid Breaker.  Unless you have a JYD mining point defense weapon in the works?
 

The Stalwart has become one of my favorite doggos (shh don't let the others know) I am happy to hear you like it. JYD also stocks base and low tech weapons so I use a heavy machine gun on that rear turret, a flak would work as well. That being said, you do make a case for a JYD medium mount PD. I'll add it to the list for 1.55

First, I understand that things change overtime and sometimes items don't evolve as fast as others but let's talk about the Commanding.  Any chance to get a new higher resolution version of this wonderful yellow school bus?  Now how do you intended for this be equipped as it has a lot of small hybrid mounts, 4 small synergy mounts and two large synergy mounts?  I know this was made before the major change to the Asteroid Breaker so it is in a goofy place in my head.  The damage dealing small mounts are all missiles for JYD right now.  The 4 small synergy mounts let you take your choice and as my flag ship has Planet Busters are the clear winner.  The very strange thing is the large synergy mounting here as you have a large JYD ballistic weapon.  I'm going to keep an eye out for more weapons in future updates as a JYD large missile system on here or JYD energy mining / salvage small and large would be welcome.

Ahh the good ole Commanding, I do love that girl but she is getting long in the teeth. In the patch I am working on I have already upgraded the Loyal's graphics for that exact reason. I made most of these ships at release when I had little clue how to do it proper, it has been a labor of love slowly upgrading all their looks. I'll give the Commanding a tuning pass and try to upgrade it's looks while I am at it for 1.55 as well.

Thank you so much taking the time to post all this, it really warms my heart (and I need that, it is 9 degrees here atm lol) I have some time tonight so I'll work on it and I may have a patch out by Monday night/Tuesday if my time management schedule is correct. I have this thread linked to my email to notify me if there is a reply so keep those comments and suggestions coming! 

[Dazs]

Tried to update the graphics on the Commanding but the original hull and parts I used for it were low-rez to begin with. Not sure if what I came up with is an improvement, what do you think?

   

The original is on the left and today's "update" is on the right, also I replaced that black spot on the back with a medium mount. I still need to do a pass on the loadouts but figured I'd ask your (or anyone else who cares) opinion on the graphics first while I work on the other changes.

[Oni]

Tried to update the graphics on the Commanding but the original hull and parts I used for it were low-rez to begin with...

Well it looks like an improvement to me, certainly a bit sharper, but I think it'll look blurry no matter what you do until you find higher rez parts for it. 

[balordezul]

First thanks for putting the work into this and I will take any improvement.

It is an improvement and at least we can tell where the mountings are now.  That is a big help as I missed some of the mounts the first time I equipped the ship.  In my opinion it is a good placeholder but it might need a high rez rebuild from the ground up when you have some more time.  Considering how this is the command and control ship what if you reimagined it as a capital class and create a new model for it?  You have the role down but this would let you give it a complete fresh pass. 



Hmmm a rear medium mount you say? 

[Tipnick]

Dasz, you should always check gray picture in order to make sure there is enough contrast, because some (different) colors have the same value of light intensity. Form is articulated by difference in intensity of light, not by difference in color.

[Dazs]

That you all for your input. I am about half way done my to-do list for 1.55, part of which was the new loadout for the ship. I am going to knock that out before revisiting the Commanding sprite. I'll use the new updated graphic at least for now cause I really like the ole girl. I'll try the tips Tipnick suggests but I may have to retire her to the farm and find a new girl to love.

In the mean time, meet the new members of the family as suggested by balordezul:

[balordezul]

Oh those are neat and a good reason to have one of each in my fleet.  I know the AI can be a bit goofy with ramming but in player hands it can be done well with some major dangers of over extending.  I love the Energetic it has a very much belter expanse vibe. Right now I'm ignoring getting more than one objective as a pure mid game JYD fleet.  So this will give an option combined with the Operations Center of the Commanding to micro manage the Energetic a bit.

As a counter argument on my own comment about the commanding being a capital class right now it is lean.  High support and utility, good support damage between 4 Planet Breakers and 4 Flea bombers, lower OP cost and crew pay vs a capital.

[Dazs]

Oh those are neat and a good reason to have one of each in my fleet.  I know the AI can be a bit goofy with ramming but in player hands it can be done well with some major dangers of over extending.  I love the Energetic it has a very much belter expanse vibe. Right now I'm ignoring getting more than one objective as a pure mid game JYD fleet.  So this will give an option combined with the Operations Center of the Commanding to micro manage the Energetic a bit.

As a counter argument on my own comment about the commanding being a capital class right now it is lean.  High support and utility, good support damage between 4 Planet Breakers and 4 Flea bombers, lower OP cost and crew pay vs a capital.

Yep, I was on that expanse vibe as well, glad you like it. As to the Rambunctious, I have noticed that some ships unintentailly ram others with the burn drive because they cannot turn but it is intended to be a player ship if you want to ram. It currently has heavy armor, decent shields and can take a punch. I can see it being used tactically in a couple situations such as knocking an enemy off an objective or messing with it's firing arc.  It is a destroyer after all so I do not want it too OP but with it's speed it makes for a good wolfpack in and out ship.

I am a little confused at your commanding comments tbh and would like some clarity there if you will. Are you asking for a operations center to be a built in hull mod on the Energetic? If so, idk that may be a bit OP Id' have to look into if any other frigates have that. Anyway I'm off to weapon making, ugh not my favorite thing. I may go energy pulse weapons like I do in my Hiver mod because beams aren't really my thing but I just started that phase of the project so who knows.

[balordezul]

With the Rambunctious I have used other ramming ships to good effect by flanking and moving them out of the enemy defensive line.  Normally by pushing them out and away or push them into my forces so they are less supported.  They can also help create enemy convey traffic jams.  Additionally you can use the boost for a chance to try to snag some of those the slightly faster ships that are retreating at the end of a battle.

As for clarification, I was adding an addenbum to my pervious post. I really should have gone back and just edited that post. A off hand comment was made about making the "Commanding" ship a capital class as it was a fleet CnC ship.  But I wanted to noted in the current design it is very lean ship at the heavy cruiser class and a boost to a capital class would just bring up the OP costs and crew pay for very little damage and protection boosts. Sorry it was poorly worded post running on zero coffee and wild kids yelling in the morning. 

Oh those are neat and a good reason to have one of each in my fleet.  I know the AI can be a bit goofy with ramming but in player hands it can be done well with some major dangers of over extending.  I love the Energetic it has a very much belter expanse vibe. Right now I'm ignoring getting more than one objective as a pure mid game JYD fleet.  So this will give an option combined with the Operations Center of the Commanding to micro manage the Energetic a bit.

As a counter argument on my own comment about the commanding being a capital class right now it is lean.  High support and utility, good support damage between 4 Planet Breakers and 4 Flea bombers, lower OP cost and crew pay vs a capital.

Anyway I'm off to weapon making, ugh not my favorite thing. I may go energy pulse weapons like I do in my Hiver mod because beams aren't really my thing but I just started that phase of the project so who knows.

Thank you for taking the time to try and develop some mining energy based weapons.  Plus all the work that goes into your mods.  Right now over 2715 mining strength needing 1791 heavy machinery and 80% efficiency bonus on the refining mod.