So..

[DamoclesX]

lets assume for the moment that there are no limits here in what we suggest.

[Dragonlead]

Damo,

You've got to work on your subtlety. This is obviously going somewhere, and as you are one of the true old heads around here, this is significant.

Anyway, as for drones. Is it possible to make deployable mines? We can script them in, sure, but what about a minelayer ship? Personally, I would love to be able to swamp anyone using a farcaster by having a "no notice" minefield pop up in their face.

It would also be nice to have some "programming options" on our drones. In other words, be able, in game, to set up time delays, scan durations, etc. For example, the current drones are a one-shot affair that broadcasts from the moment of launch. What if we could set that up so it didn't start transmitting, or scanning until a pre-determined distance from the launching ship. This would have several benefits. It would also be nice if we could set up an orbit for these scanners, as opposed to a straight line flight with burn-out.

Just my 2 cents.

V/R

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: Dragonlead

It would also be nice to have some "programming options" on our drones.

What drones? Don't you mean probes?

[Diabolico]

What drones? Don't you mean probes?

Now, he means drones, like those used on stock SS missions for target practice.
The current drones are not armed but you can build missions using them.

=S=

[Dragonlead]

Actually, I mean both.

However, I used the term drone because it is one of the four types of weapons allowed in the game. Probes are a type of drone.

V/R

[Velosipo]

Your ideas are great! I love to have some drones around the ship ala Seaquest... (i know that was in the sea but the ship was just like an spaceship!) even they could have defensive options... i mean like the defender fighter un homeworld they where like movile turrets that you could made them follow your ships in a sphere formation around the ship and where a great defense against figthers...

And what about ground forces as Diabolico said it is need much more activity down in the planets...

I mean... there should be some kind of special Starship for planetary assault... some kind of BIG transport with little defenses or poor complement of figthers that need much protection from the fleet. They're used for just carrying dropships, space barges or descent capsules to the orbit of planets and dorp them from there staying in orbit as command, support and telemetry to the ground forces deployed in the invaded planet... The SS version of the amphibian assault transport used today, or even a destroyer hybrid with these capabilities. Something like Starship Troopers starships, i've you have played with the great game GROUND CONTROL.. you know what i'm talking about... or even in Star wars Episode I Comerce Guild used landing barges to drop his army for the invasion of Naboo from the Droid control ships in orbit... also Imperials used barges for landing his AT-AT walkers on Hot.
The other option is allow big ships like the transport to land directly to surface ala Star Wars with the Aclamator class troop transport seen in Episode II. Another good option.

That gives a whole new vision to planetary misions... As the fleet arrive to the orbit of the planet (after several big battles agaisnt the defender's fleet) the assault of the planet start, Assault starships stay in position and launching the invasion barges to the surface (or transports start his landing operations to a point to the surface of the planet).
Prior to this operation, land defenses have been cleaned by attackfighters on surface-to land operations. And now that the transports/barges/dropship are descending thru the atmosfere to the surface, during the descent they are much vulnerable so they need close escort and defense by starfighters. Once they have landed, and the "Beach-head" (Maybe "planet-head"?) secured and established, the ground invasion begins... an invasion that could take days or weeks.

Maybe a new kind of figther could be done... A air only based figther... or gunship that is just used for ground support duties. It can't go out to space.

These are my two cents.

[Kuokkanen]

Velosipo, have you noticed there is no mobile ground units? And likely there will not be. So forget droids, AT-AT, BattleMechs and other mobile surface things.

[Diabolico]

Velosipo, have you noticed there is no mobile ground units? And likely there will not be. So forget droids, AT-AT, BattleMechs and other mobile surface things

Not yet but perhaps they will come. What do you know?

[Amazhad]

Hello, just the other day I found the website for this game. I am an old fan of space sims so it got me interested, I haven't had a chance to play yet, but after doing some reading in the forum, I have some ideas I'll throw out there.

Mind you these are ideas in general, as I have not experienced the game engine yet. Someone may like an idea and run with it though. No offence taken if anyone wants to shoot them down either.

-Ship Defense:
1) EW (Electronic Warfare) Drones. Think of them as pods that you can deploy, one or two at a time that have a short lifespan (30-45 seconds?). They increase the chance of making a missle miss (or harder to target in the first place) by 15 to 30 percent. Limited number per ship, more can be stored, the larger the ship.

2) Defense or PD Fighter. Specialized fighter with limited offence ability but has numerous turrents (no or almost no standard forward facing guns). Ship is highly manuverable for flying around a ship (up/down/side to side), but low forward acceleration speed. Hence limited offence ability.

3) Electronic/Power emissions stealth. I find this more intriging than the standard "cloak" system. Instead of making the ship invisible to the naked eye, make it invisible to the sensor systems. This can be worked out in many ways, you can have a "stealth device" that can hide your emmissions if you restrict yourself to 1/4 power and no active sensors, etc... The idea is you can be detected if someone is close enough, but it is very difficult and requires more skill and cunning on the part of the person sneaking.

Strike Cruisers where brought up that would jump out of system after dumping its fighters. What about instead it enters a powered down mode making it very difficult to detect. The cruiser could then also move to a new location under stealth to make the pickup, and hopefully avoid anyone trying to intercept it at the spot where it launched its fighters.


Ship Size

1) Personal opinion here, but for fleet actions I imagine sticking with the destroyer and up categories. Cutters, Frigates, Corvettes, and patrol boats are something I think of as anti-piracy or law enforcement ships. Small in size, cheap to operate and enough to deal with your every day problems. They operate behind the lines in relatively safe areas or in this case, star systems. You leave the serious fighting to the bigger ships built for the purpose of fleet actions.

2) Perhaps adding something like a heavy cruiser, or battle cruiser. Something that is heavy and fast enough to raid areas defended by destroyers, light cruisers, or fighters, and fast enough to have a chance at catching them, but to light to take on heavier defenses. This though would be highly dependent on the game engine though. I know some "universes" treat cruisers as big lumbering ships, and others treat cruiser as fleet footed strike forces compared to bigger battleships and dreadnoughts.


Well that is it for now, I think I'll download the demo and give it a whirl.