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[EvilWaffleThing]

I had an idea I thought was interesting so I figured I'd share it.

A fighter wing that is totally without offensive capability but is instead designed to generate a shield. There are already fighter wings that have shields but these are different. When in close proximity to other (lets call them Phalanx fighters for convenience) Phalanx fighters, the shield will expand and become stronger, as well as disperse flux generated from weapon hits evenly across all fighters contributing to the shield. They can do this with Phalanx fighters outside their individual wings as well so you can generate a really big shield with enough of them. The tradeoff is fairly obvious in that you now have one less fighter wing you can use offensively.

I thought with the Odyssey getting an ability that removes its shield and makes it more easily damaged that these would be an excellent way to keep it safe. They wouldn't be just limited to that either. Perhaps you could have them set up to swoop in to protect ships that are overloaded or venting flux. They could also just escort important ships and add an extra line of defense. That might come in handy when campaign mode is expanded and you have to keep mining and freighter ships safe or are escorting civilian crafts or VIP's.

I suppose you could make them drones instead of fighters too.

Maybe it's a tad odd but I figured I have nothing to lose sharing it.
Thanks to you Alex for making a very fun and addicting game! Keep up the good work!

[Thaago]

This is a fun idea! I'm not sure about the shield combining and getting bigger - I just don't know if that is currently possible with the code - but its a great idea for the drones. Shield drones would probably be really easy to implement in a mod or in the game and would give a tank like ship even better defense. It would also actually allow for ship to ship support (letting the fighters/drones fly further) and not invoke 'healing beams' or anything like that.

Welcome to the forum!

[Tezarius]

Are you talking about something like this?
And with systems from 0.53 they would be very useful, but I think their shields cannot be extendible...
 

[EvilWaffleThing]

Something like that yeah.

The original idea was that a lone fighter would have a frontal shield about as large and powerful as any other shielded fighter's shield, not very impressive at all. When two or more are close enough to each other, however, the shield would combine and expand to cover them both, everything between them, and of course, everything behind them as well. They would then orient themselves to make the shield as circular as possible, or as straight as possible depending on your orders.

If shields cannot combine in that way then perhaps the shield could "charge up" and increase in strength, and maybe size, the longer it is up. Being in close proximity to other fighters could then increase the speed of charging, lower resulting speed penalties if any exist, increase the shield strength and size caps, distribute flux generated evenly to each nearby fighter that is contributing, and lower the amount of flux generated from each hit OR increase the amount of flux vented from each individual fighter. All of which would preserve the usefulness of multiple wings of these fighters.

It's a shame the shields can't combine. Even if it didn't make the game it'd be neat to have as a mod. Imagine a lone Odyssey equipped with high energy focus protected by a gigantic shield from these fighters bombarding you with tachyon lances...

[Tezarius]

It's a shame the shields can't combine.

We know, but shielding are hardcoded inside game and we can't access to it via mods...

Hah, I tried to create this "shield drones" and... without implemented ship systems they are... pretty useless 
You also can try this tiny mod with just 1 mission (Sorry, I had to arm them, because they don't want to response on "full escort" command)
Shield Drones Test Mod

[Reshy]

Are you talking about something like this?
And with systems from 0.53 they would be very useful, but I think their shields cannot be extendible...
 

It could instead be a 'Wall' of shielding that goes in the way of enemy attacks, rather than a sphere.

[Tezarius]

Look what Alex said in the patch notes thread:

Also: the pattern that the drones deploy in can be modded - in particular, you can have them deploy in a fixed position, or set up multiple orbits around the ship.

Fighters/drones shields could overlay each other, so drones should be able to provide shielding in almost any shape we could imagine     

[Unwoundpath]

Are you talking about something like this?
And with systems from 0.53 they would be very useful, but I think their shields cannot be extendible...
 

What game would that be from?

[WKOB]

It's in the url, X3 Rebirth.

[Upgradecap]

It's in the url, X3 Rebirth.

Gonna have to correct you there - it's X Rebirth, not X3 Rebirth

[Mattk50]

ship system with a billion shielded drones that form a circle around the ship.... could work

[Upgradecap]

ship system with a billion shielded drones that form a circle around the ship.... could work

How would that NOT be overpowered?

[Mattk50]

ship has 10 armor and 100 hull, no shield generators of its own, and only uses guided missles so it can shoot through its drone wall. Might not be overpowered... depending...

[Thaago]

It all depends on the design - if the drones have very little health and a reasonably low flux capacity, then its essentially another armor layer that can recharge small hits.