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Author Topic: HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)  (Read 3567 times)

Qloos

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HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)
« on: August 06, 2011, 08:43:49 PM »

I haven't read the lore, but ships would have some sort of fast way from getting from place to place.  Is such travel safe?  Hopefully not.


During "Hyperspeed" combat, two fleets would have a narrow "high speed tunnel" that would slowly murge onto the enemies high speed tunnel.  



Once the ships are forced to occupy the same space, mayhem breaks loose.  With very specific consequences on the Y axis from their high speed.  Ballistic weaponry would travel a short distance up the tunnel and fall backwards at an increasingly accelerated rate, (even back upon the ship that fired it.)  Missile weapons would have an easier time, they might lag a bit until their booser activates, but they'll be able to chase far ahead foes - atleast until they run out of fuel.  Energy weapons, are naturally the weapon of choice as they are uneffected by the high speeds.



Note: -Y speed velocity is a modification of its regular speed, not a base line. 
Oh, and yes, I did miss-spell velocity, thanks.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2011, 08:55:10 PM by Qloos »
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CommComms

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Re: HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2011, 09:57:45 PM »

Wow that's a really unique and interesting suggestion.  Massive balance concerns, but that kinda makes sense, if combat of this type is the exception rather than the rule then most ships certainly aren't built for it, but an enterprising pirate could optimize a fleet for it. 

With what sounds to me like lots of tricky engine changes though, I doubt it'll be within the work:content ratio to be added, which is a bummer, but it sounds pretty nifty.
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Alex

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Re: HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)
« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2011, 09:19:01 AM »

This is a really interesting idea - I can see a whole game being built around it, much more in the traditional top-down shooter style, where you can't turn, etc. Or a more strategic game where you send stuff on attack runs against each other, where they only have a limited window to do damage. Hmm. I especially like the latter - kind of like jousting, in space.

I don't see it in Starfarer, though - it's changing absolutely everything about the feel of combat, and that's hard to do. Trying to support two different feels with the same weapons and ships is basically making two games inside the game, with different stats, rules, etc. Ironing little issues out until the gameplay feels right is more time-consuming/involved than it gets credit for, I think.
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Alendor

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Re: HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)
« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2011, 01:29:19 PM »

i'm not a physics guy or anything, but with speed being reletive, and at hyperspace speeds, wouldn't it for the most part be very similar to normal combat especially in a zero atmosphere situation.  ie, unless you are accelerating for the entire duration of hyperspace, projectile weapons and missiles, wouldn't act different in the slightest really.

which, if the case, would make adding hyperspace combat reduntant
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CommComms

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Re: HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)
« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2011, 04:38:45 PM »

You're forgetting about how ship facing affects combat normally, and how in our theoretical hyperspace combat all the ships would be forced to face upward throughout the battle. 

Also, it'd be set in some sort of theoretical hyperspace tube or bubble or whatever, so Newtonian laws don't really have to apply.  Maybe by virtue of how hyperspace works, ships in it are effectively constantly accelerating.  Or maybe anything without a hyperspace engine to it suffers constant deceleration. 

It's a moot point of course, since Alex effectively stated that it won't be added.
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Trylobot

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Re: HyperSpeed Combat, (Illustrated)
« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2011, 11:06:28 AM »

Might make a decent game idea on its own, tho.
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