Just some thoughts about ship crews we had in chat today. Not sure if this goes in this section, rea

[Ithirahad]

15:14Ithirahad

I really want this next patch to come out, though, because it stops sector disorientation...

15:14therimmer96

Yeah

15:14Ithirahad

So we can have actual crews walking around on our ships.

15:15therimmer96

I like to have crews in build blocks that repair weapons if they get shot out inbattle

15:16Ithirahad

That's good too...





I mean RP-ish crews.





Not necessarily fully practical.





What I'd like to see, though...





Is a requirement of multiple people to fly a massive ship.





Or multiple NPCs and one person, but it wouldn't be as good.





Or might only work against pirates, etc.





In addition to the removal of the ability to enter computers and cores.





You should pilot from a seat.

15:20therimmer96

Yeah, I think that is planned

15:25Ithirahad

Currently there's no reason to have a ship interior

At least there'll have to be a cockpit/bridge of sorts.





Even if the rest is just a doombox.

15:25Heillos

Well, the reason to have interior is for the sake of RP/aesthetics





And that's reason enough for those who want it

15:26Ithirahad

That's why I make one, Heill.





But IMO it should be a legitimate necessary part of gameplay, at least sort of.





A hallway to a tiny cockpit with a seat and some consoles around it is better than a tube to a core which you can just enter.

15:27Heillos

Yeah, I suppose so

15:27Ithirahad

And for larger ships, a larger bridge room would be required because of the character requirement.





(for system size or something)





No idea how to balance a character requirement, all I know is that I want one

15:28Heillos

What, like having an actual crew needed?

15:28Ithirahad

Yes.

15:29Heillos

Just give some bonus to any computer which is manned, and let manned computers run simultaneously, perhaps

15:29Ithirahad

After a certain mass, or size of a system, or whatever, the conn officer/captain/pilot can no longer control it himself, or at least not efficiently.





That sounds like a good idea.





But I'm trying to fight gigantism here.

15:29Heillos

Totally not stolen from FTL .>





damn line breaks.

15:32Ithirahad

To the point where a massive ship... anything larger than a large destroyer, I guess, would need more than one pilot to be a viable wartime vessel, and even for non-battle vehicle usage one pilot wouldn't want to use anything larger than a smallish to medium cruiser, and that only if he was showing off.





Also, the ability to switch to docked ships should be removed, so you can only switch to docked turrets.





And if you exit the turret, you end up where you would be if you'd exited the parent ship.





-Copied from chat.

 

[ltmauve]

I mainly play single-player, but the impression I get is that a limited portion of the server population is on at one time. Assuming this is accurate, getting the crew together for a raid or for defense would be difficult.


Also, the ability to switch to docked ships should be removed, so you can only switch to docked turrets.


How about just remove switching all together? It\'s annoying when you hit the wrong key and have to go out and reactivate the AI on a turret. And if you happen to be moving... You want manually controlled turrets, make a corridor to them.

 

[Snk]

Oh, I can tell you about crew\'d ships, mate!

First step: Turn off orbits. I\'m pretty sure that removes sector disorentation or whatever it is

Most of the ships I design are made to be crewed - I have a \"bridge\" and weapons computers with decent views so they can fire the main guns. You don\'t really need to have turrets.

And I have an engineering system, where you have a room (usually shaped like a long corridor) and build blocks. That way, my crew can place blocks midflight and customize the ship, to give me extra thrust, firepower, shields, or whatever else I desire.

Also, I have astrotechs placed throughout the ship, so the crew can repair her mid-fight.

 

[Heillos]

A couple of points about your post that I feel should be addressed:

Firstly, turrets are quite important on board slow-turning ships, as they enable damage projection without having to painstakingly (probably even never, if the target is agile enough) align your main guns. So, yes, on a ship that needs crew, you are also likely to need turrets.

Secondly, I\'m not quite sure what you hope your astrotechs to accomplish, based on a few different points. Firstly, unless they are seperate turrets on board the main ship, their beams will not even collide with your ship (any weapon or beam does not interact with the ship it is part of).
Secondly, I shall once more assume that your ship is large; if so, it is likely the only serious combat you\'ll be in involves ships which 1-hit all of your blocks (hardened hull included), rendering astrotechs in their current state useless.
Thirdly, assuming that the other 2 points are somehow false, astrotechs are a point-target beam, and it would be rather hard to create a network of them which can actually repair a good portion of your hull.

As to your other crew-friendly modifications, they are interesting ideas, and I hope they win you and your crew some battles!

 

[Snk]

The astro techs actually work pretty well when im fighting small groups of fighters. My ship is pretty small, and if I see a ship that can one hit hardened hulls, i\'d run anyways. As for turrets, well, I can turn fast enough that I dont need them. Thanks for your input though

 

[NeonSturm]

1 person can fire weapons assigned to 1 cpu simultanously.



If you have 2 peoples, 1 can fire power absorbtion beams, while the other crew man fires the weapons.

A 1mille poewr generator can be 23^3 (according to forum). You could put 12167 blocks in this area, that much power gens would produce 304175 base energy, but if you put it on separate docked ships, you get 1 mille with less power gens/mass. Or you could put shields into them and locate them around your core for additional protection, or just drain these turrets which are at the wrong side of the ship.

 

[Imperial_Gold]

What about fighters? How will the pilot seat thing affect them? What will happen to core transport (just hopping in a core for short travel)?


After a certain mass, or size of a system, or whatever, the conn officer/captain/pilot can no longer control it himself, or at least not efficiently.


I like the idea of that, if used properly it would make for an interesting mechanic. I think that the more systems (salvage, AMC, thrust, etc) the less efficient the pilot gets in addition to the mass of the ship.


Also, the ability to switch to docked ships should be removed, so you can only switch to docked turrets.


Eh. If your ship is big enough that you have a shuttle or docked ship, it would be a chore to walk over to it every time. It would get annoying after a while. The astronaut doesn\'t walk/ \"float\" too fast either.

 

[NeonSturm]

Then either add sprint or Ringtransporters, as suggested in another thread.

 

[Ithirahad]

A running feature is being added (yay!), so no worries there now, unless you have a stupidly large ship (In that case... put the hangar closer to your core room. :P)

...And the pilot seat thing would only affect fighters in that they would have to have some way of entering them and getting in the pilot seat (And seeing out of the fighter, I guess, but there\'s always the zooming-out feature). Core transport wouldn\'t work any more, but you can just fly a pilot seat with a power block and a thruster, assuming it\'ll fit where you\'re trying to go. If it doesn\'t... plan out your interior better, just run over there, or use gravlifts. :P

 

[Ithirahad]

the impression I get is that a limited portion of the server population is on at one time. Assuming this is accurate, getting the crew together for a raid or for defense would be difficult.


Well, if you didn\'t have a ton of people there, which most people don\'t...


Or multiple NPCs and one person, but it [perhaps] wouldn\'t be as good.


Also.


It\'s annoying when you hit the wrong key and have to go out and reactivate the AI on a turret. And if you happen to be moving... You want manually controlled turrets, make a corridor to them.


Easy - AI doesn\'t have to instantly deactivate when you enter something, if said something is docked at least.