PU brainstorming

Forum for discussing various mods for the VS-engine based upon Privateer. (Please play nice now, and extinguish all flaming materials.
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Dilloh
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PU brainstorming

Post by Dilloh »

Do you have a concept or an idea you'd like to see in Parallel Universe? Discuss about the content and the implementation here!

I'll begin:

Reducing buyable stuff with the beginning of the game
Since I'm currently working on locking PU ships into campaigns, I thought to rake another step. With the new update, a lot of stuff will be new or totally rebalanced. This might be confusing for totally new players. So I thought about locking even more items - like medium or heavy guns, ecm, repair systems, cargo upgrades, etc. My thoughts are to keep the initial choice to Galaxy, Orion, Centurion, Light guns, reactors and shields, plasteel, and basic radars. So the player can, by doing the new campaigns, slowly grow into the world of Privateer and earn the equipment piece by piece. Any thoughts?

Reducing diversity in flightgroups
Inspired by chuck starchaser, I'd like to restrict the amount of meetable AI PU-shiptypes to about 10%. Hunters will then mainly come in again Demons, some Orions, few Centurions and rare Galaxy/Orion Variants or Fireblades. Militias mostly fly Talons and Kukhris. Exceptions go to the Kilrathi, which should appear in obsolete fighters like Sarthas and Grikaths for Gemini is not that important for them. What do you guys think of that?

Turret thoughts
I already talked to targ collective about that - with the upcoming capship turrets, I'd like to reduce the diversity of available capship turret guns to two typos: FlakGuns and BattleGuns. FlakGuns usually go fast and have a low damage, they're meant to take out fighters. BattleGuns are like Plasmas: Slow, but powerful. This would make an easier choice for capship pilots and would also prevent capships from becoming too mighty (in the hands of players who equip their Kamkekh with loads of Fusion turrets).
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Post by Zool »

Reducing buyable stuff with the beginning of the game
A logical step, most games are based on this principle, though I don't like it as my method of play is to spend a week or so gathering the money to buy all the best equipment and ship before I start the campaign, however if the majority is to do this then it's cool with me. :)
Reducing diversity in flightgroups
This would make the game seem more like the original Privateer (as long as we're into abbreviations how about PO; for Privateer Original). Is there a pirpose or rationale behind this idea :?:
Turret thoughts
Sounds good, more like what I'd expect anyway.
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Post by Sunfire »

my very small contribution of pennys...
Zool wrote:
Reducing buyable stuff with the beginning of the game
A logical step, most games are based on this principle, though I don't like it as my method of play is to spend a week or so gathering the money to buy all the best equipment and ship before I start the campaign, however if the majority is to do this then it's cool with me. :)
i often play games in this fashon... not sure why... especially since it is sometimes torturous to play for hours and hours and hours sqeaking by just so i can make a huge level up and everything is suddenly easy... (maybe its the economics of buying EXACTly what i need and not having to resell at a loss... )

EDIT: growing into the universe is a great concept in gaming... (its a relatively cheap and easy way to make gameplay more rewarding) but i sure didnt like the way it was implemented in freelancer...
Zool wrote: (as long as we're into abbreviations how about PO; for Privateer Original).
thats funny... i was thinking OP for priv... then chuck can save P0 for privateer zero... :wink:


EDIT: ps... i really like the idea of preserving the special-ness of some ships as i think it adds a layer of depth to the universe...

and i am going to play the game very soon to check out the ships for the kats youre talking about... but i wonder why ANY military would have its trained pilots in obsolete weaponry... a waste of time, energy and logistical support... (our military just recently retired the F-15... a plane that can STILL kick alot of A$$)

and on the idea of turrets... i am unaware of what the development of the flak guns are... but will it hurt friendlies? if it does you might as well ditch them if youre going to have friendly fighter support (unless you have good AI to only plaster the flak around the enemy ship... (that scene in matrix revoloutions comes to mind)) then again... i may just be thinking of how flak cannons were implemented in WC1, 2 and Armada
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Re: PU brainstorming

Post by z30 »

Dilloh wrote: Reducing diversity in flightgroups
Inspired by chuck starchaser, I'd like to restrict the amount of meetable AI PU-shiptypes to about 10%. Hunters will then mainly come in again Demons, some Orions, few Centurions and rare Galaxy/Orion Variants or Fireblades. Militias mostly fly Talons and Kukhris. Exceptions go to the Kilrathi, which should appear in obsolete fighters like Sarthas and Grikaths for Gemini is not that important for them. What do you guys think of that?
Suggest we retire the Sparrowhawk & Kukhri. These were early attempts at ship variant creation. Also we should cut down on the Orion variants.

Agree that ships like the Gothri should be rarer and older Kilrathi ships should be the norm.
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Post by Dilloh »

Zool wrote:Is there a pirpose or rationale behind this idea?
There is a large discussion with chuck about the "diversity of diversity". I feel convinced that if we have 30 shiptypes running around, heavy ships like the centurion don't catch the attention they deserve. I think making the one or other ship a rare appearance can bring back the original flavour.
i often play games in this fashon... not sure why... especially since it is sometimes torturous to play for hours and hours and hours sqeaking by just so i can make a huge level up and everything is suddenly easy
You usually try to beat the game, and therefor use your superior human intelligence - while the AI is satisfied to run around with sticks and stone, you want the nuclear bomb. The locking limits shall prevent that and force you to begin with sticks and stones, even if you hack yourself 1000000 credits, you only can buy a lot of sticks and stones.
I'll break my fingers if I have to write "sticks and stones" one more time.
growing into the universe is a great concept in gaming... (its a relatively cheap and easy way to make gameplay more rewarding) but i sure didnt like the way it was implemented in freelancer...
Don't know how it was there, but there are multiple concepts, just take GTA3 - locations are locked until a certain point. We lock equipment. You still can go anywhere, but would you really enter cat space with lasers and w/o afterburners?
but i wonder why ANY military would have its trained pilots in obsolete weaponry... a waste of time, energy and logistical support
Since the cats are selling better ships to the retros, I agree. Maybe those Gemini pilots aren't that trained at all.
i am unaware of what the development of the flak guns are...
I'm planning to use similar values like the Fireblade's arms... quasi unavoidable, but little damage. Staying too long in a capships fire range will be your end then, and that's the problem for bombers: If they don't time precisely, their shields will fail too soon.
z30 wrote:Suggest we retire the Sparrowhawk & Kukhri. These were early attempts at ship variant creation. Also we should cut down on the Orion variants.
Agreed, though I liked the Kuhkri, but those are ships I have no storyline for yet. We'll need reasonable a relacement for the pirates though.
Agree that ships like the Gothri should be rarer and older Kilrathi ships should be the norm.
Especially in the unimportant backwaters Gemini, where you fight, compared to the real war zone, with sticks and stones.

Now they're broken. :x
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Post by z30 »

Dilloh wrote:
Zool wrote:Is there a pirpose or rationale behind this idea?
There is a large discussion with chuck about the "diversity of diversity". I feel convinced that if we have 30 shiptypes running around, heavy ships like the centurion don't catch the attention they deserve. I think making the one or other ship a rare appearance can bring back the original flavour.
I like the idea of being able to be a hunter/merchant/retro/pirate/militia etc and depending on which path you take - specific ships & options become available to you.

But taking a certain path will deny you access to other vessels & even planetary systems.
but i wonder why ANY military would have its trained pilots in obsolete weaponry... a waste of time, energy and logistical support
Since the cats are selling better ships to the retros, I agree. Maybe those Gemini pilots aren't that trained at all.
[/quote]

Why do RL air forces fly F-5's , Old MiGs and other antiquated stuff? Because these planes are simpler to maintain, are actually more rugged and still do the job.

It's no good having the latest planes if it's maintenance requirements keeps it grounded much of the time, breaks your budget & needs such a high level

I consider it a great pity that the Northrop F20 Tigershark (successor to the classic F5) lost out to the F16 :

"The F-20 was reliable and easy to maintain. Based on comparisons with the average of contemporary international fighters, the F-20 consumed 53 percent less fuel, required 52 percent less maintenance manpower, had 63 percent lower operating and maintenance costs and had four times the reliability."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... t/f-20.htm
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

And there's one more consideration: Kilrathi society being made up of clans that forever plot against, and are wary of, other clans. There are "low blood" clans that would certainly be given the oldest and most worn out ships and sent to Gemini with no specific military mission except to "attack all human ships you see, and if you prove your worth, next time you might get an actual mission".
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Post by z30 »

chuck_starchaser wrote:And there's one more consideration: Kilrathi society being made up of clans that forever plot against, and are wary of, other clans. There are "low blood" clans that would certainly be given the oldest and most worn out ships and sent to Gemini with no specific military mission except to "attack all human ships you see, and if you prove your worth, next time you might get an actual mission".
Dregs from all the corners of the Kilrathi society - with a few highborn Kilrathi overlords in Gothri's to keep them in line.

That fits in beautifully, thanks :)
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Post by Dilloh »

I like the idea of being able to be a hunter/merchant/retro/pirate/militia etc and depending on which path you take - specific ships & options become available to you.

But taking a certain path will deny you access to other vessels & even planetary systems.
That'll be easy to implement - will need to experiment with branches, that's all.
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Post by Sunfire »

z30 wrote:I like the idea of being able to be a hunter/merchant/retro/pirate/militia etc and depending on which path you take - specific ships & options become available to you.

But taking a certain path will deny you access to other vessels & even planetary systems.
id be in favor of this as long as there's still the ability to be a Privateer and have access to almost everything

z30 wrote: I consider it a great pity that the Northrop F20 Tigershark (successor to the classic F5) lost out to the F16
"Three prototypes were produced - two in a bright red-and-white paint scheme and one in a metallic grey -- of which two crashed during sales demonstrations. " :shock:

kind of a hard sell after your product goes up in a flaming ball of debris :D

also... if it truly was superior to the F16... id say its a classic case of our polititicans looking out for their own constituents and 'efficency of government' not so much...

.... that could be an interesting storyline... say the talon was preferred politically while a competing company lost out with a better ship... then tried to take its business to the border worlds or something...
z30 wrote:Why do RL air forces fly F-5's , Old MiGs and other antiquated stuff? Because these planes are simpler to maintain, are actually more rugged and still do the job.
good point... however... in a time of war priorities can become different... for example... when japan invaded alaska in ww2, the US certanly didnt send old broken down stuff to defend with...
z30 wrote:
chuck_starchaser wrote:And there's one more consideration: Kilrathi society being made up of clans that forever plot against, and are wary of, other clans. There are "low blood" clans that would certainly be given the oldest and most worn out ships and sent to Gemini with no specific military mission except to "attack all human ships you see, and if you prove your worth, next time you might get an actual mission".
Dregs from all the corners of the Kilrathi society - with a few highborn Kilrathi overlords in Gothri's to keep them in line.

That fits in beautifully, thanks :)
yes!!! this is what i like!! a Reason
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Post by Solon Halwinder »

Another case of burnout the reason for this latest absence, z30? Just curious. Regardless, welcome back again.

Anyway, moving on...

I'd like to see the Righteous Fire upgrades (Isometal armor and such) unlocked from the start in PU.

I'd also like to see Special-mount variants of some of the guns, to increase firepower for those of us who don't like relying on missiles. (Inspired partially by the Fireblade's HK1303 guns and partially from my old "Gun Capability for missile hardpoints" idea.)

I think some gun rebalancing is also in order; IIRC, Tachyons still only outdamage Mesons by 2 MJ.
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Post by Zool »

Suggest we retire the Sparrowhawk & Kukhri. These were early attempts at ship variant creation. Also we should cut down on the Orion variants.

Agree that ships like the Gothri should be rarer and older Kilrathi ships should be the norm.
OK I agree with this, esp with the Orions. One thing I thing though, the pirates should have access to a heavier ship, maybe a pirate Orion, as well as the Talon. Once again it would not be seen very often though.
Maybe keep the Sparrowhawk as a heavy Pirate fighter only, after all the Retro's get the Krant as well as the Talon
but would you really enter cat space with lasers and w/o afterburners?
Hell no..............who would??? Most games work this way.
Sunfire wrote:
z30 wrote:
I like the idea of being able to be a hunter/merchant/retro/pirate/militia etc and depending on which path you take - specific ships & options become available to you.

But taking a certain path will deny you access to other vessels & even planetary systems.



id be in favor of this as long as there's still the ability to be a Privateer and have access to almost everything
This would be a must (having access to everything, even if over time). One of the best things about PO was the ability to be what one wanted and not be restricted to certain ships or weapons/equipment or regions of space just because you belong to a certain faction.
I think some gun rebalancing is also in order; IIRC, Tachyons still only outdamage Mesons by 2 MJ.
Already taken care of in the new ZR. A tad more damage, a tiny bit of phase damage as it it a military spec weapon, very slight increase in refire rate, speed and range.
I'd also like to see Special-mount variants of some of the guns, to increase firepower for those of us who don't like relying on missiles.
Hear, Hear :!: :!: :!: I much prefer using my guns. Ever since I saw Top Gun, (the movie with Tom Cruise) and they spoke about dog-fighting skills and not relying on missiles, that has stuck in my head (don't know why). Perhaps I'm too honourable for combat, I'd rather face my enemy up close or "chase him down and kill him" rather than push a button and waste him from a distance. There's no skill in using missiles, though I still carry them and torpedos for using against cap ships. Granted they are handy when one is swamped by half a dozen or more pesky bandits all after you.

A mention of Freelancer by Sunfire brought back some memories of not long ago..... :lol: (My game of addiction for nearly 3 years until I found PR, then dropped it like a hot rock for this classic masterpiece re-creation). Did anyone ever play the Privateer mod they made.....it was very, very good, there was just no story line so all you had to do was fly, shoot, explore and earn. No point after a while. Most Confed and Kilrathi ships was based on WC 2 and 3 ships too. The Paktahn's were REALLY nasty. Players could purchase about 75% of ALL WC ships from bases and Confed Carriers and the modelling was VERY good. I even made a mod of my own using the Demon and later the Centurion as player ships (by pinching bits of other mods). In all, a very good game with a very good storyline,

BUT,

Nothing will ever beat Privateer :!:
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

Kind of OT:
PU might be able to beat Privateer, with some extra effort.
But yeah, I never played WC precisely because I played Privateer first. went to the store with a plan to buy WC, but they had WC4 demo-ing, and I saw the movies with real actors, and I said "I don't want to see real actors; I want to see Privateer-like characters." and I didn't buy WC. And for years I refused to play Privateer 2, for the same reason. Privateer achieved more immersiveness than any other game I've ever played, really; and much of it is because of consistency. Seeing 3D models of ships in space, but real actors in the movies, as in WC4, is an esthetically discordant inconsistency. To me, anyways. But in Privateer, everything worked well together: The music, the art, the dialogues, the story... Everything.
/Kind of OT

WRT guns: Make sure you don't rebalance them too much. IMO, the best gun in Privateer was the lowly laser. In RF, a Cent with 4 lasers and a laser turret, with max engine and gun cooler, was, for me, the bestly armed ship. Endless stream of bolts with the highest repeat rate AND exit speed AND range, bar none. And part of the fun was to discover this in the first place, after having spent a million credits upgrading guns for absolutely nothing... :) IOW, the guns were terribly unbalanced, but so what? In RL cars are terribly unbalanced too :D, and it's not a bad thing if the game rewards a player that takes the trouble to analyze things thoroughly and scientifically, rather than assume that a higher price necessarily implies "better".
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Post by z30 »

Solon Halwinder wrote:Another case of burnout the reason for this latest absence, z30? Just curious. Regardless, welcome back again.
I think I owe you guys some explanation at least - last year the outfit I was working for got bought out by a much larger company. This year it was decided that we would be fully absorbed into the mother company rather than remain a semi-independent outfit.

Past few months have been spent guiding system, teams into the new setup - we just finished typing up the most major loose ends last week.

Not everyone made the transition, even some managers & supervisors were considered redundant & laid off.

And yes, I still appreciate women very much even at 40+ - just differently from when I was 16 or 26 :)

Solon Halwinder wrote: I'd also like to see Special-mount variants of some of the guns, to increase firepower for those of us who don't like relying on missiles. (Inspired partially by the Fireblade's HK1303 guns and partially from my old "Gun Capability for missile hardpoints" idea.)

I think some gun rebalancing is also in order; IIRC, Tachyons still only outdamage Mesons by 2 MJ.
Could you give a concrete example of how this would work out using your favorite ship?
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Post by z30 »

Zool wrote:
Suggest we retire the Sparrowhawk & Kukhri. These were early attempts at ship variant creation. Also we should cut down on the Orion variants.

Agree that ships like the Gothri should be rarer and older Kilrathi ships should be the norm.
OK I agree with this, esp with the Orions. One thing I thing though, the pirates should have access to a heavier ship, maybe a pirate Orion, as well as the Talon. Once again it would not be seen very often though.
Maybe keep the Sparrowhawk as a heavy Pirate fighter only, after all the Retro's get the Krant as well as the Talon
I'm good with the idea of the Sparrowhawk as a pirate craft- just wished we could make the Sparrowhawk more distinctive from the Talon visually.

It would be very neat if the player goes from "Oh, a bunch of Talons I can take them" to "Sh*t! Sparrowhawks!"

The Sparrowhawk storyline can be tied in with secret pirate systems network Chuck was describing in another thread.

Zool wrote:
BUT,

Nothing will ever beat Privateer :!:
Amen - I've been since 1993 , so far nothing has come close to it.
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Post by z30 »

chuck_starchaser wrote:
WRT guns: Make sure you don't rebalance them too much. IMO, the best gun in Privateer was the lowly laser. In RF, a Cent with 4 lasers and a laser turret, with max engine and gun cooler, was, for me, the bestly armed ship. Endless stream of bolts with the highest repeat rate AND exit speed AND range, bar none. And part of the fun was to discover this in the first place, after having spent a million credits upgrading guns for absolutely nothing... :) IOW, the guns were terribly unbalanced, but so what? In RL cars are terribly unbalanced too :D, and it's not a bad thing if the game rewards a player that takes the trouble to analyze things thoroughly and scientifically, rather than assume that a higher price necessarily implies "better".
If there was some way we could incorporate weapon jamming or stutter into the PU weapon systems - more complex weapons would greater hitting power but higher jam rates.
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Post by OnyxPaladin »

Nice to see you're back Z30. Hope you don't mind me throwing a few weapon ideas at you.

Railguns- Always loved this theoretical weapon. In my imagination it would have an insane exit speed and range, with a slightly slower refire rate than lasers. Great for piercing through the defenses of most ships.

Singularity warhead- Doubtful this one is remotely possible, but it would basically be a miniature black hole with a decent area of effect. Probably should last thirty seconds at most, should have the effect of a tractor beam on steroids and destroy everything unlucky enough to get caught in the center.

Hmm, thought i had another but i can't think of it.
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Post by z30 »

OnyxPaladin wrote:Nice to see you're back Z30. Hope you don't mind me throwing a few weapon ideas at you.

Railguns- Always loved this theoretical weapon. In my imagination it would have an insane exit speed and range, with a slightly slower refire rate than lasers. Great for piercing through the defenses of most ships.

Singularity warhead- Doubtful this one is remotely possible, but it would basically be a miniature black hole with a decent area of effect. Probably should last thirty seconds at most, should have the effect of a tractor beam on steroids and destroy everything unlucky enough to get caught in the center.


Hmm, thought i had another but i can't think of it.
Hello Onyx - glad to see a lot of originals still around. Got ff. quote from Borger's weapon systems (website now defunct but I still have the info on my hd):

========

Mass Driver Cannon

The mass driver is common on both fighters and light picket ships in the fleet. A solid gun in either case, it is basically a railgun that uses a linear accelerator to fire projectiles of metallic mass at a target. The mass driver is a staple in the Terran arsenal and larger variants have even been used against planets and asteroids. Reliable and accurate, no pilot ever went wrong activating a mass driver.

This basic fighter weapon has solid damage potential, and is reliable and accurate. Heat buildup, refire time and power drain are minimal, and the mass driver requires less energy per shot then most blasters. On the other hand, ammunition is required to fire and the fired projectiles tend to have less range then their energy blaster counterparts.
Penetration 35 du
Energy 12 nJ
Range 2000 k
Refire Delay 0.30 sec

===========

Right now, the PR/PU mass driver is an infinite ammo weapon. The capship version is the Stormfire (gatling mass driver - point weapon primarily for missile defense).

PR railguns tend to be short range though. how would you alter the mass driver canon to fit into the PU universe?
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Post by chuck_starchaser »

z30 wrote:If there was some way we could incorporate weapon jamming or stutter into the PU weapon systems - more complex weapons would greater hitting power but higher jam rates.
True. But on the other hand, they already jam. If you put 4 plasmas on a Cent, you run out of juice in one shot. It may not be technically a jam, but it's pretty similar in effect.
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Post by Dilloh »

Solon wrote:I'd like to see the Righteous Fire upgrades (Isometal armor and such) unlocked from the start in PU.
I must disagree, this won't fit the concept of letting the player grow into the game. What do the others think?
Zool wrote:OK I agree with this, esp with the Orions. One thing I thing though, the pirates should have access to a heavier ship, maybe a pirate Orion, as well as the Talon. Once again it would not be seen very often though.
Maybe keep the Sparrowhawk as a heavy Pirate fighter only, after all the Retro's get the Krant as well as the Talon
Maybe taking the OrionMK2b (=MK3) as a solely pirate Orion and skipping the GalaxyHK completely (who uses it as long as there is the GS?)?
Zool wrote:This would be a must (having access to everything, even if over time). One of the best things about PO was the ability to be what one wanted and not be restricted to certain ships or weapons/equipment or regions of space just because you belong to a certain faction.
Partially agreed... but what is the advantage of belonging to a certain faction then? Things becoming cheaper? Endless money to make? Or spoken in other word, if you "joined" the confed faction, aren't you enlisted then?

I'd suggest the player is only able to join Militia, Pirates and Retros, giving him/her the ability to get a few additional stuff which is not available for the other factions, nor for the Privateer branch. I think about one ship, a special armament, something like that.
Zool wrote:Perhaps I'm too honourable for combat, I'd rather face my enemy up close or
I think the best reason is that you do not need to reload missiles.
chuck wrote:IMO, the best gun in Privateer was the lowly laser.
Yes!
z30 wrote:And yes, I still appreciate women very much even at 40+ - just differently from when I was 16 or 26
:oops: hehe
Onyx wrote:Railguns- Always loved this theoretical weapon. In my imagination it would have an insane exit speed and range, with a slightly slower refire rate than lasers. Great for piercing through the defenses of most ships.
Sounds like phase damage to me.
Onyx wrote:Singularity warhead- Doubtful this one is remotely possible, but it would basically be a miniature black hole with a decent area of effect. Probably should last thirty seconds at most, should have the effect of a tractor beam on steroids and destroy everything unlucky enough to get caught in the center.
Create a warhead, mount invisible turrets with invisible tractor beams and you have a first concept.
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Post by Shissui »

OnyxPaladin wrote:Railguns- Always loved this theoretical weapon. In my imagination it would have an insane exit speed and range, with a slightly slower refire rate than lasers. Great for piercing through the defenses of most ships.
Actually, this is not so theoretical as you think -- railguns were one of the more "successful" projects of the (USA) Regan "Star Wars" spending fiasco.

Technologically, they would be appreciably simpler to construct than any of the other weapons in this game.
Dilloh wrote:Sounds like phase damage to me.
Well, this depends on your concept of the nature of shielding. If you accept that these ships are capable of travelling at relativistic speeds (regardless of whether they do or not), then we know that shielding is capable of protecting a ship from relativistic particles. If that is the case, then a very sub-relativistic relatively high mass projectile from a rail gun would be inflicting the same nature of damage as any of the other guns, except (potentially) the tachyon and steltek guns.

Do remember that the idea behind torpedoes' phase damage is that they are traveling SLOW enough that they can get through the shields before detonating.
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Improving escort ships

Post by z30 »

For the brave soul(s) who will tackle escort AI & all things tied up with it :

* a better command system is needed, the best one I've seen so far is in the Mechcommander game series. Interesting options would be:

- Guard Planet/Ship/Nav point

Escort ship will stay within 7k of guarded object, will attack any hostiles that comes within that range but will not stray beyond the guard perimeter

If the object is moving then the escort ship will move with it.

- Attack target

Unlike the PR version which orders all escorts to attack the same target, this one can direct a specific escort to a specific target

- Group/Ungroup

This will bind specific escorts to a group number. You can order group #X (maybe bind it to Alt-1, Alt-2 etc) to peform any legit maneuver as if they were one ship.

- Use energy weapons only

for ammo conservation


- Patrol Nav points

Order escorts to do a round of all Nav points within the system

Discussions & alternate viewpoints much appreciated
Sunfire
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Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:41 pm
Location: Livin the Dream... kinda

Post by Sunfire »

Dilloh wrote:
Solon wrote:I'd like to see the Righteous Fire upgrades (Isometal armor and such) unlocked from the start in PU.
I must disagree, this won't fit the concept of letting the player grow into the game. What do the others think?
i have to say that i agree with you dilloh... i think that the reason why 'one year later' is in RF, is merely there to mean 'time passes' which explains why commodities prices change and theres a host of new gadgets to use... maybe there could be a /dev switch to accomodate modders and people that want it all, all at once. that way, theyd blatantly know they were cheating... :wink:
Dilloh wrote:
Zool wrote:This would be a must (having access to everything, even if over time). One of the best things about PO was the ability to be what one wanted and not be restricted to certain ships or weapons/equipment or regions of space just because you belong to a certain faction.
Partially agreed... but what is the advantage of belonging to a certain faction then? Things becoming cheaper? Endless money to make? Or spoken in other word, if you "joined" the confed faction, aren't you enlisted then?

I'd suggest the player is only able to join Militia, Pirates and Retros, giving him/her the ability to get a few additional stuff which is not available for the other factions, nor for the Privateer branch. I think about one ship, a special armament, something like that.
thats what i meant about almost everything... unique items are needed for incentive for the player to bother with trying something new... but can you then hold on to those 'special items' and go sign up with the retros after the campaign to reward you for your time/effort?
freedom/accessablilty was one of the things that made OP great
z30 wrote:And yes, I still appreciate women very much even at 40+ - just differently from when I was 16 or 26
:smirk: i greatly appreciate women who are 16, 26, or 40+...
Onyx wrote:Singularity warhead- Doubtful this one is remotely possible, but it would basically be a miniature black hole with a decent area of effect. Probably should last thirty seconds at most, should have the effect of a tractor beam on steroids and destroy everything unlucky enough to get caught in the center.
the energy requirement to construct a singularity sufficent in size to last 30 seconds would be HUGE! not to mention the fact that you would be constantly bathed in high level x-ray radiation while the thing decays...
really neat idea tho... lol.. just dont shoot the sun... :shock:
and really... in theory it would be the supremely powerful weapon... what materiel can withstand the gravimetrics of a black hole? i can just imagine the cinematics of a huge capship or station buckling in on itself while being lit up with x-ray radiation...
Sunfire
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Posts: 143
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:41 pm
Location: Livin the Dream... kinda

Re: Improving escort ships

Post by Sunfire »

z30 wrote:For the brave soul(s) who will tackle escort AI & all things tied up with it :
1) - Guard Planet/Ship/Nav point: Escort ship will stay within 7k of guarded object, will attack any hostiles that comes within that range but will not stray beyond the guard perimeter If the object is moving then the escort ship will move with it.
2) - Attack target: Unlike the PR version which orders all escorts to attack the same target, this one can direct a specific escort to a specific target
3) - Group/Ungroup: This will bind specific escorts to a group number. You can order group #X (maybe bind it to Alt-1, Alt-2 etc) to peform any legit maneuver as if they were one ship. - Use energy weapons only for ammo conservation
4) - Patrol Nav points: Order escorts to do a round of all Nav points within the system
1) yes yes and yes :)

2)yes definately

3)nothing like grouping to reduce micromanagment time

4) or how about 'scout' nav points... dont engage, just let you know whats out there

something else id love to see, trading badly needed supplies improves your faction rating... if you get a reputation for bringing food/fuel to malnourished pirates... they would certanly be greatful... (lol or they would just kill you and take it :) but if youre running a blockade, you should definately get some points...
Zool
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Joined: Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Roaming the Gemini Sector looking for profit!!

Post by Zool »

For the brave soul(s) who will tackle escort AI & all things tied up with it :
* a better command system is needed, the best one I've seen so far is in the Mechcommander game series. Interesting options would be:
- Guard Planet/Ship/Nav point
Escort ship will stay within 7k of guarded object, will attack any hostiles that comes within that range but will not stray beyond the guard perimeter
If the object is moving then the escort ship will move with it.
- Attack target
Unlike the PR version which orders all escorts to attack the same target, this one can direct a specific escort to a specific target
- Group/Ungroup
This will bind specific escorts to a group number. You can order group #X (maybe bind it to Alt-1, Alt-2 etc) to peform any legit maneuver as if they were one ship.
- Use energy weapons only
for ammo conservation
- Patrol Nav points
Order escorts to do a round of all Nav points within the system.
All very good suggestions and something PR could use.

Leave the isometal availability where it is.

Hi Z30 and welcome back.
Time is an Illusion..............Lunchtime doubly so!! -Ford Prefect-
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