TheLaughingDead you are right, the converted hangar is the weapon therefore same OP size for all hulls is a must.
Anyway, You are opening a can of worms
The current status of fighters is result of a decade development in small steps, result is
convoluted list of bonuses on the bonuses and diminish rules aplaying against each other. It is impossible for human brain somehow estimate performance.
On top, current status of all fighters regarding battle performance
DP vs dmg power is visibly lower than direct fire weapons of the same OP price.
I would recommend make one patch, after this upcoming one, only focus for fighter polishing.
ideas to make clean and polish:
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Make clear main difference of weapon groups :
direct fire weapons (plus recharge rockets) deliver constant dmg all fight VS limited ammo rockets deliver high peak dmg for short (initial sequence) time VS fighters deliver declining dmg for whole fight (massive in the beginning then fade off)
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Make performance of a fighters the same regardless of type of bay origin. e.i. remove de-buff from Converted Hangar on speed&dmg_taken. Reason is simple - make it simple
- when you have about 20 types of fighters and de-buff performance rule you get double!!! different fighters. It is 40 different performance results, be aware there are also players who has other life then learn all this. It is much clear rule-set when you know that 2 Fury with Converted hangars and Longbows will make the same firepower like one Odyssey with LongBows. Regarding fighters. Easy.
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Make clear naming convention:
call all small ships
Fighters in general then differentiate:
a] Interceptors b] Bomber c] Defender (drone-like fighter with zero range)s. Current status where fighters are fighters but also some of them ale bombers is confusing. On top a drone class is described as defending class ship but there other drones with no humans in it who free flight fighters but use bomber weapons, confuse level squared. Make it simple!
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Make OP price spread evenly AND in pairs, Re-factor OP cost (and performance) of fighters, so player can easily switch type of fighter without changing the whole ship setup. For example :
One pair : b] Pirana ; a] Thunder for 10 OP >>
goodsecond pair proposal: b] Kopesh ; a] Warthog for 12 OP
thirth pair proposal: b] Cobra ; a] Longbow (change to Interceptor weapons and rise OP price) for 15 OP
and so on. Fighter type c] Defender dont have to be available for each pair, but it must stick his price to some established pair. Keep idea of easy swap Fighter type in the performance bracket.
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Make "Base_replacement_time" standard 10s for EVERY fighter. Hardcoded. There are too many variables already on top with diminishing dynamics, that makes my brain spin. (well there are two diminishing values, number of dead fighters and number of dead people, which is crazy enough) Make it easy, give player simple information, you get a new fighter every 10s. If needed change total battle value, use other performance values. There are plenty. HP, speed, weapon, shield, armour, manoeuvrability, ....
Consider Fighter bay as a weapon with rate of fire once per 10seconds. Just make thinks simple.
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add toggle Fighter AI behaviour on Ship refit screen - Weapons groups - each Fighter bay can toggle 3 doctrines - Assault / Defence/ Close defence
Assault doctrine is current Longbow AI
Defence doctrine is current Mining drone AI
Close defencee is upcoming Sarrisa AI
It means, ANY Fighter can get ANY AI behaviour wich is in the game. It is up to player decide, if he wants his torpedo ffighters stay close or not.
General Idea is, give player Options to decide, easy controls, and predictable behaviour.
Give player options to play with to try, offer clean naming convention to prevent confuse, and dont overwhelm people by convoluted volume of numbers and maths equations.