AI Combat Decoy System - already possible in game

[Mork2]

The Bobby AI and probably AI controlled ships usually target the closest ship or ship core. Missile salvos were wasting my well shielded turrets, or internal docked ships. The area damage that missiles do are a feature not a bug by the looks. I read though the bug reports and fixes. They are suppose to blast the area and hurt docked entities that aren't completely shielded against that amount of damage. I'm going to do a separate post about how I think the current missile damage system seems to work.

This system is designed to take advantage of the AI targeting and provide temporary way of protecting docked entities on your ship, cheaply. Basically construct decoys that the AI will target rather than your actual turrets or docked ships till they run out.

Design
Put docking ports 20 to 40m away from your hull and attach a ship core. Call the ship cores decoys. If roleplaying there tractored decoys/jammers.

Points
-The AI should/may target them first. Keeping your real turrets/docked ships alive longer.
-Due to being one block size they will be hard to hit. Guns and beams will probably have a hard time.
-Any Missile hit will still do damage to your shields when the blast hits the docking module
-But the blast should be far enough away to not collect your turrets/docked ships. Or do less damage.
-If the decoy is to close to the main ship hull a missile hit there could wipe out the decoy.
-If the missile phases through due to hit detection lag it will orbit the decoy. Maybe close enough to hit you maybe not. Will have the interesting SFX effect like the deflectors in the latest Space Pirate Harlock 3D anime.
-Any decent hit will destroy the decoy. They shouldn't last long.
-Replacing them it's exactly safe, you being a fair distance from the safety of your hull.
-Quite a few of the misses is likely to hit your ship anyway.
-Human pilots can still discriminate between the proper turrets and the decoys.
-Biggest draw back is the massive increase in docking area. Any ship with this installed isn't going to fit in small docking areas.

In the end this is just a temporary way to increase the lifespan of your turrets in combat against AI controlled weapons. Players will just ignore it.

 

[Criss]

I agree that this could work with AI turrets, but not AI ships. AI ships would technically just be an NPC driven ship. They should not get confused like an automated turret would.

 

[Saber]

One thing I've seen done is essentially chaff for enemy fighters, if you have a bunch of small pods docked to your ship, then undock them as you flee enemy AI (I assume the pods had AI in them) then the enemy will often engage the cloud of decoys you left behind you, allowing you to escape. Occasionally one or two will still follow you, but it's better than a dozen or more!

 

[NeonSturm]

One thing I've seen done is essentially chaff for enemy fighters, if you have a bunch of small pods docked to your ship, then undock them as you flee enemy AI (I assume the pods had AI in them) then the enemy will often engage the cloud of decoys you left behind you, allowing you to escape. Occasionally one or two will still follow you, but it's better than a dozen or more!

I think it might work better if you put a single bobby + 1cannon+1stop computer + 2cannon+2stop modules + 2reactor + 3-4 thruster + 2-4 shield caps on these cores as it increases their life time and also works partially against players.

1. These 2 stop beams might not sound like much, but if the enemy fires longer at decoys, he fires less at you (also it's 2 PER DRONE
   
2. Stop beams might add the tiny bit that lets you escape the enemy fire range for just the seconds you need to charge your jump drive.
3. Can be used offensively (undock from a jammed ship that came into 1km distance)
4. As it increases the life time of individual decoys, you have less docked entities (less target-diamond-spam and may be required to not break server-rules)

 

[Krazykat]

expanding on this: adding some logic into the mix with push pulses and docking systems can also scatter the ai cloud creating for a larger surface area of the target's screen that's filled with diamonds, I wanted to design something along those lines as well as launch-able torpedoes with dis-integrator bombs on them and ai so they chase enemy ships over unlimited range

 

[Gamel]

expanding on this: adding some logic into the mix with push pulses and docking systems can also scatter the ai cloud creating for a larger surface area of the target's screen that's filled with diamonds, I wanted to design something along those lines as well as launch-able torpedoes with dis-integrator bombs on them and ai so they chase enemy ships over unlimited range

I did this on request last month, too lazy to record it twice and upload to youtube
hope you can see it, it's in cantonese......I call it tracer ammo
http://www.bilibili.com/video/av1323295/
Btw, this is the v1, using push cannon
v2 of tracer ammo is using push pulse, you can find that here
but the push pulse and the clock is not connected well yet, coz i havn't finish docking all the tracer
http://starmadedock.net/content/humpback-g.1181/

 

[Krazykat]

I've stopped work on my mothership to give this concept a test, a hypothetical ai torpedo and defensive system cruiser can be devastating to fight if the dis-integrators do enough damage

 

[Gamel]

I've stopped work on my mothership to give this concept a test, a hypothetical ai torpedo and defensive system cruiser can be devastating to fight if the dis-integrators do enough damage

torpedo is not effective, if your ship is moving/rotating, there will be barrel explosion
push cannon will made the torpedo go forward but keep spinning
when it spin, the dis-integrators may touch the barrel and blow-up
but the same system can be use for launching escape pod

 

[Krazykat]

ye I found that out the hard way. just gonna use the pulsators for decoys