Commandeering

(IILoT)Eddyster · Post by **(IILoT)Eddyster** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 3:14 pm

Need I say more?

Would be quite cool. "Boarding party away".

"Standby to repel boarders!"

Edd

Swibble · Post by **Swibble** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 5:37 pm

wouldent "commandering" fall in the stragety catagory?

though it would be cool for a seperate mod and not the part of the game.

just because I suck so hard at stragety.

(IILoT)Eddyster · Post by **(IILoT)Eddyster** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 6:17 pm

No no no...

I meant it much simpler than that. Go to a planet, buy a launch-pod (or whatever) hire a boarding party (better = $$muchos denieros$$) then with your capital ship (needs to be big enough to fit in cargo hold or wherever, could make a seperate component like living quaters?) then when a ship becomes 'inoperable', the launch function could be intiated, blasting your little pod directly toward the ships bridge.

A simple onboard fight occurs (HUD somewhere?) which is just digits racking down (boarding party vs crew, this could later be upgraded). The captain surrenders.

Now it's in your fleet.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:24 pm

It would certainly open up a whole new mission type... military missions to capture enemy ships and repo seizures.

And you wouldn't need tractors and an Ox to start your collection of free ships anymore.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:30 pm

It would certainly open up a whole new mission type... military missions to capture enemy ships and repo seizures.

And you wouldn't need tractors and an Ox to start your collection of free ships anymore.

G3David · Post by **G3David** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:51 pm

I agree.
but you would need some way to disable and not destroy the vessel you want to commandeer
what if we had something that sucked all the enegy and the shields, but did no physical damage to the ship, sucks the energy out of the weapons, propulsion, everything...you board her and then you bring those systems back up.
you could even send aq computer virus that shuts down the ships system, except for life-support(because were not evil) and then has a removal code for when you board it to bring everything back up

pincushionman · Post by **pincushionman** » Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:11 pm

In the case of vega trek, you would also need to disable autodestruct.

-pincushionman

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 8:54 pm

G3David wrote: you could even send aq computer virus that shuts down the ships system, except for life-support(because were not evil) and then has a removal code for when you board it to bring everything back up

I like that idea. Disabling a ship would require a shield draining laser and a ultra high power targetting system to perhaps destroy key parts of a ship (like you say the propullsion would be targetted with low power lasers to ensure no other part of the ship is damaged like important core).

(IILoT)Eddyster · Post by **(IILoT)Eddyster** » Wed Feb 18, 2004 9:30 pm

DAMN it I have to check "Log me in automatically".

scheherazade · Post by **scheherazade** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:17 am

i really like this idea...
but add this to it...

if you take down a fighter, and the person ejects and it doesn't blow up, you should be able to tractor-beam-tow it to base with you and fix it up for your own

BUT, i also think that core damage should cost 50% the ship cost to repair.

i.e. a 100'000 credit ship is 50% destroyed at the core,
then it'll cost you 25'000 credits to repair it.

that way you can't steal super expensive ships after blasting them into oblivion, and then just pay 1000 credits to make it good as new.

-scheherazade

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:56 am

Interesting idea scheherazade, I like it.

If you capture such a damaged fighter though, would you also get its upgrades (weapons, shields, extras etc)?

OR

1. These are destroyed as part of the overall battle damage, so you only get a damaged .blank ship?
2. Based on % core damage, is a % of those components remaining?

If we introduce wrecks, this could be an option to bring on board those wrecks, rather than just raiding them for components.

Lastly, IF (BIG EMPHASIS) a FPS option is ever developed, this would be suitable for a boarding action.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:12 am

Does VS track damage to enemies the way it does to your own ship? Are enemy systems destroyed as you hammer away at them? It would only make sense that some damage should be done to the ship. The way it is now, I think, any ship you capture is pretty much mil spec. Not sure if it remembers the damage you did to it.

Another thang to consider... if you've got a ship with plenty of cargo room and a tractor, you don't need to disable the enemy ship. You just abduct it and either sell it and rebuy it at a base for a pittance or keep it in your hold as fighter support. If you don't have cargo room and tractors, you can't really do anything to the crippled ship except maybe laps... something in the current engine would need to change so that only crippled ships could be brought on board and so that crippled ships could be towed and landed with tractors.

scheherazade · Post by **scheherazade** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:16 pm

you could prolly make it that any ship that is moving on its own can't be tractor locked. So only things dead int eh water could be brought in.
so that amounts to a)engines dead || b)pilot ejected

-scheherazade

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:33 pm

Anonymous wrote:you could prolly make it that any ship that is moving on its own can't be tractor locked. So only things dead int eh water could be brought in.
so that amounts to a)engines dead || b)pilot ejected

-scheherazade

Yes, I think that would be better all round. This stops the 'capture ship via tractor, bring on board, all with little effort'. You have to stop the ship first, THEN tractor on board.

richard · Post by **richard** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:34 pm

Or perhaps tractors should have a power rating. Capital ships could have much more powerful tractors, capable of pulling in ships under power.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Thu Feb 19, 2004 11:41 pm

Makes sense to me. ALthough, the way it should probably work is that if a big ship tractors in a small ship, you start doing the boarding party thing between their crews. Maybe have both ships able to take damage based on the results? I know if my little USS Rav got tractored into the holding tanks of the mammoth USS Microsoft, I'd be firing off every missile on my ship in their cargo hold. Then I'd be fighting tooth and nail, hand-to-paw to keep possession of my ship.

Which brings up another point... if we can cripple and board the baddies, they should be able to do the same to us, no?

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:06 am

LOL Dirty. Hadn't thought of shooting the capship up from the inside :)

Prolly something they'd have thought of already, if they're expecting to tractor in hostile ships. Strategic placement of Big Guns. Not tractoring into the "regular" cargo space, but an armored one.

But you're right that some damage should be applied to internal components if a boarding party enters a ship.

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:14 am

richard wrote:LOL Dirty. Hadn't thought of shooting the capship up from the inside

I had. That was why I agreed with scheherazade that the ship must be immobilised BEFORE tractoring in.

Curious, what ship's captain in their right mind would let an active opponent under their shields? I'd want it immobilised first. Whether shot to pieces, or a boarding action. THEN bring into my hold. Even a well armored hold can't withstand an exploding/self destructing ship (granted we don't have that capability -yet).

a la opening scene of Star Wars. The ImpStar disabled the corvette BEFORE bringing into its hold.

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:20 am

Or the other option - present a force so overwhelming that you'd have to be suicidal to shoot up the cargo hold / landing bay. Witness The Millenium Falcon tractored into the Death Star :)

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:23 am

richard wrote:Or the other option - present a force so overwhelming that you'd have to be suicidal to shoot up the cargo hold / landing bay. Witness The Millenium Falcon tractored into the Death Star

Would YOU give up your ship?

I doubt I would (mind, it would also depend if I could respawn elsewhere, or in MP I had to restart from scratch on death).

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 12:28 am

Respawn certainly changes things a lot. I like that VS does respawn intelligently - loading the last save-game, that is.

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:39 am

Not to belabour the point, but just for the sake of hashing out what would need to be done to the engine...

If you can't tractor in a ship until it's crippled is that decided by the game engine itself or the captain of the ship with the tractor beams? I can see a xenophobic and paranoid species like the Aera, faced with the prospect of capture, allowing themselves to be tractored in and then hitting the "self-destruct" button. "Uh. cap'n, there's a problem in the cargo bay..." Could be interesting tactics when multiplayer comes out, too. So is a question of the game not allowing the tractoring or do you rely on onboard instruments? And can they be "spoofed" with ECM or the like?

Also, when you capture a ship you get the on-board equipment but do you get it's cargo? Can you sell the surviving crew as slaves?

richard · Post by **richard** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:45 am

Hey, for that matter, why not litter the universe with "derelict" ships that are packed with explosives. Your Enemies tractor the derelict in to scavenge it for Fun and Profit, whereupon you set it off. Even the most sensitive sensors would think it's a derelict.

Heh. Starting to think twice about this tractoring gig? :)

Silverain · Post by **Silverain** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 4:48 am

If you can't tractor in a ship until it's crippled is that decided by the game engine itself or the captain of the ship with the tractor beams?

For quick implementation, decided by game engine. If developed down the track, could be captain's decision, but we would need to develop spoofing equipment and suchlike to make the option worthwhile.

Getting extras with the ship depends on the decision making tree for crippling. Does crippling result in only the hulk (read .blank), or is there percentage damage so get percentage of all items ...?

DirtyMagic · Post by **DirtyMagic** » Fri Feb 20, 2004 5:09 pm

For quick implementation, decided by game engine.

Makes good sense to me.

Getting extras with the ship depends on the decision making tree for crippling. Does crippling result in only the hulk (read .blank), or is there percentage damage so get percentage of all items ...?

Personally, I'd like to see the abduction process be relatively difficult (certainly more difficult than just plain blowin' 'em up) but the ship you snag should come with some gear intact. Anything you disabled should probably be either blowed up or in need of repair, depending on what you used to disable the ship in the first place. And repairs should definitely cost more than 1k... it should be a piece-by-piece replacement or repair process.

Just my humble opinion.