Cloaking, an Anthology

[Darkkon]

Alright, skimmed the previous posts so don't throw me in a pit if i make a mistake here.

I personally like the idea of the shimmer effect depending on your cloak module to (insert formula for cloak effectiveness here) ratio. It makes sense from a logic perspective since not having enough modules would mean you're not as efficiently bending light around your ship.

I also like the idea of the shield hit effect being visible even under cloak. No real reason though, just a cool effect and gameplay piece.

Cloaking itself, I think, should be a manual disengage unless you completely run out of power due to thrust, weapons, cloak, shields, and whatever other systems you have running. That in and of itself means that your cloak will drop when you get shot up enough due to the shields draining your power. and your weapons. and your jammers. you get the idea. Other than that, i dont think that cloak dropping should force you to lose systems simply because your already losing systems due to lack of power.

 

[Blodge]

Yeah, agree with everything apart from possibly the shimmer effect. Were you thinking the shimmer should only be visible if your ship is moving? And the more "cloak" blocks you have the more effective it is at hiding the shimmer?

 

[Darkkon]

not sure if you mean me or the OP.

My personal thought is that the shimmer should only appear if you don't have enough cloak modules, otherwise it doesn't appear. (not talking about the shield hit shimmer). The fewer modules you have, the more apparent the shimmer.

 

[Blodge]

not sure if you mean me or the OP.

My personal thought is that the shimmer should only appear if you don't have enough cloak modules, otherwise it doesn't appear. (not talking about the shield hit shimmer). The fewer modules you have, the more apparent the shimmer.

Sorry! Yes, I did mean yourself
So, you mean the shimmer should just be there as a visual indicator that you're not cloaked and need more modules?

 

[Darkkon]

Sorry! Yes, I did mean yourself
So, you mean the shimmer should just be there as a visual indicator that you're not cloaked and need more modules?

Pretty much. Basically an indication of just how effective your cloak is. If you're trying to be cheap about it, your going to pay for it with a cloak that isn't perfect. Or if you just want to look shimmery i suppose.

 

[Blodge]

Pretty much. Basically an indication of just how effective your cloak is. If you're trying to be cheap about it, your going to pay for it with a cloak that isn't perfect. Or if you just want to look shimmery i suppose.

I see. At the moment, you have no decent visual indicator of whether you are cloaked or not. So, yeah, I think that's a good use of the shimmer idea Provided the shimmer is present even when not moving though, otherwise people will be able to get away with cloaking huge space stations with basically one module.

 

[Darkkon]

I see. At the moment, you have no decent visual indicator of whether you are cloaked or not. So, yeah, I think that's a good use of the shimmer idea Provided the shimmer is present even when not moving though, otherwise people will be able to get away with cloaking huge space stations with basically one module.

Cloaking a space station....what have we created...

 

[nightrune]

Cloaking a space station....what have we created...

I think its awesome, but it should be hard. There are a lot of role play aspects that could be explored including hidden stations in far off sectors to be found.

 

[Darkkon]

I think its awesome, but it should be hard. There are a lot of role play aspects that could be explored including hidden stations in far off sectors to be found.

Oh definitely. Cloaking in general should be difficult, but doable for any size ship.

EDIT:

or station.

 

[Blodge]

Cloaking a space station....what have we created...

Romulans.

 

[Dire Venom]

Oh definitely. Cloaking in general should be difficult, but doable for any size ship.

EDIT:

or station.

For any ship??
I was thinking more along the lines of cloakers being a specialist ship, they trade one thing for another. You shouldn't be able to just wham down a modual and then you can cloak a ship... it should be an intergated part of the ships structure.

And why would you want to cloak a base? It could be very difficult to balance.

 

[Darkkon]

For any ship??
I was thinking more along the lines of cloakers being a specialist ship, they trade one thing for another. You shouldn't be able to just wham down a modual and then you can cloak a ship... it should be an intergated part of the ships structure

I'm saying that any ship or station should be able to cloak, but that doesn't mean that they can do it easily. It should be difficult for them to cloak, but to keep with the current going idea of complete freedom, we shouldn't have predefined limits on only letting a certain type of ship cloak. Having to meet specific requirements would fit the bill. However forcing a specific shape may not be the best thing to do. It make sense for the warp gates and shipyards, but for ship systems I think that having it rely on mass is likely the best option. Just a matter of balancing.

 

[Dire Venom]

I'm saying that any ship or station should be able to cloak, but that doesn't mean that they can do it easily. It should be difficult for them to cloak, but to keep with the current going idea of complete freedom, we shouldn't have predefined limits on only letting a certain type of ship cloak. Having to meet specific requirements would fit the bill. However forcing a specific shape may not be the best thing to do. It make sense for the warp gates and shipyards, but for ship systems I think that having it rely on mass is likely the best option. Just a matter of balancing.

Agreed!
I was alos thinking along the lines cloaking moduals being arranged in a 'skeleton' sort of way inside your ship gives the greatest effciencey, that way your shape isnt restricted, but you need the moduals in thto back it up

 

[Darkkon]

Agreed!
I was alos thinking along the lines cloaking moduals being arranged in a 'skeleton' sort of way inside your ship gives the greatest effciencey, that way your shape isnt restricted, but you need the moduals in thto back it up

I don't believe theres a way to specify a "skeletal" shape for the blocks since such a structure would be vastly different between ships and stations. The easiest way to do something even remotely similar would be to set it up similar to how reactors work with them being based off dimensions. However, I believe that is commonly frowned upon for enabling doomcubers.

 

[nightrune]

Why don't we have a small energy cost for mass, and then basically a huge increase based on the number of system blocks/systems hp. A basic shuttle with no/little systems cloaks easily, but a ship with a massive weapon array is quite hard to cloak. That's your tradeoff.

 

[Blodge]

Why don't we have a small energy cost for mass, and then basically a huge increase based on the number of system blocks/systems hp. A basic shuttle with no/little systems cloaks easily, but a ship with a massive weapon array is quite hard to cloak. That's your tradeoff.

I like the idea. It works well for fluff reasons too. Systems would presumably give out all kinds of radiation which a solid lump of metal presumably will not.

 

[tr0njonen]

Why don't we have a small energy cost for mass, and then basically a huge increase based on the number of system blocks/systems hp. A basic shuttle with no/little systems cloaks easily, but a ship with a massive weapon array is quite hard to cloak. That's your tradeoff.

This could also further encourage the use of actual, expendable, logic torpedoes. I like it. Although the power requirement increase should likely only count for "non-essential" systems. Leaving thrusters and power out of it.

 

[Blodge]

For any ship??
I was thinking more along the lines of cloakers being a specialist ship, they trade one thing for another. You shouldn't be able to just wham down a modual and then you can cloak a ship... it should be an intergated part of the ships structure.

And why would you want to cloak a base? It could be very difficult to balance.

Yes, any ship. It's already not possible to create a ship that's good at every role. The game won't allow extreme shielding, weapon power, manoeuvrability *and* balanced power output at the same time. Adding cloaking just gives you one more thing to balance. As nightrune suggested, if having more systems increases the power consumption of a cloak at a much higher rate than basic hull, then you may have to drop shields or weapons from your design altogether or your cloak may have a very short battery-life.

There are lots of reasons to cloak a base:
Secret research/construction facility,
Hidden listening post,
Invisible mine-field,
You're a Pirate and you want to hide from The Man,
You're a Romulan and you don't have to explain yourself,
[DOUBLEPOST=1449176831,1449176306][/DOUBLEPOST]

This could also further encourage the use of actual, expendable, logic torpedoes. I like it.

Cloaked torpedoes?! Now *that's* scary!

Although the power requirement increase should likely only count for "non-essential" systems. Leaving thrusters and power out of it.

No, I think Power at least should be included, otherwise you can have an invisible space-station the size of a small moon with no real hardship. It might also work as a good way for Schema to introduce a soft-cap if needs-be.

 

[Dire Venom]

One idea I quite liked the look off was 'radar signitures' e.g the % effciencey of your cloak determines at what range you can be seen, with 100% effciencey meaning invisible at all ranges, 95% your visible only if your 100 or so m away and so on, therefore you can chose the degree to which you can 'cloak'.

Regarding cloaking bases, how would you get around the icon on the map giving away your bases location:?

 

[NeonSturm]

I agree on Dire Venom and Blodge - most of it was suggested by me earlier too (maybe with more explanation...)

Small static mines should be able to cloak easier than small moving torpedoes.

Stations could be buffed by giving them a singularity-power-reactor (ships can't use it because it's locked onto a sun's distance and rotation).

Just lore-wise, it would use the same blocks tough.
Maybe above certain size of an reactor-block-array.​

The same singularity-power would penalize the station when it wants to cloak.

Basically a station could choose between superb power or cloak.​