AI Viper Swarm Drones

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    My last batch of swarm drones caused significant amounts of lag due to the amount of collisions, so I went back and reworked it. This new batch seems to have passed my standards.

    One of the servers I went to was interested in it, but the original drones were too much for his relatively new population. So I went and made this batch of smaller drones.

    The drone is nice and simple:

    (Yeah, I prefer the old block graphics; and graphics are set to minimal)
    60.3 mass
    5322 shield
    27X9X13
    229.7 thrust
    3 guns doing 177DMG each.
    1 SD-KB doing 200.4 damage.
    Enough power to fire and move without issues.

    Link: https://www.mediafire.com/?s33c54ddr868x9a
    There are 3 blueprints in that zip file. For a pack of 6/12/24 drones.
    In order to use them, either set them for use as NPC ships or type in:
    /spawn_mobs Viper_6 -1 #
    You can specify whatever blueprint.
    Replace # with the amount you want to spawn.
    They will not work if bought from the catalog or through /load.

    The drones should auto-undock immediately and the dock is set to self-destruct. There *should* be little to no lag (From collisions at least), but it may vary depending on how many are brought in and your server specs.

    Pirates/Traders spawn in waves of 5-7, and every viper swarm carries 6/12/24 drones. That could be up to 168 drones if they are set as the only NPC ship.

    Note that drones also became much more effective since they can now target your turrets instead of just your main ship.

    Feedback is appreciated.
     
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    Heat seekers seem like a bad idea for swarms... the swarm will be the more likely target than the player.
     
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    SD-KBs ignore ships of the same faction marking last I heard, and this certainly does seem to be the case.
     
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    SD-KBs ignore ships of the same faction marking last I heard, and this certainly does seem to be the case.
    I was not aware if that is the case, I do know when I have used them that they will target turrets on my ship that are of the same faction. Either way, if you tested them and they did alright then you can't argue with that. It is a nifty looking ship too, hope to see more.
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    Ships look like Battlestar Galactica fighters. I do believe they are the same name as well. Props for the reference, if it is as I think it is.

    Looks good, sounds good. Must be good. Props.