Read by Council Possible mechanic for AI/Fleets

[Exodist]

There are infinite possibilities when it comes to building and piloting your ships.

Although currently from what I have seen the AI has a "one way fits all" mentality to each and every ship, from a small Fighter to a Capital.

My idea is this:

Have a way to designate how the ship we have created/have selected (and owned by yourself) should be flown by the AI (too include fleet operations and also pirates and soon to be procedural factions) it would be really neat to see different fleet styles of fighting between the five main factions.

For a simple example:
When I think about a (basic) fighter, I see a small, nimble, very quick craft with forward mounted weapon systems.
I envision the attack to be a full on assault firing at the target until it has to break off and turn around for another run.

For my ships in my fleet that I would want to attack like this I would select FIGHTER.

This allows for roles to play a huge part in fleet dynamics as they should, and would make for better gameplay and footage (leaps and bounds over the current system)

As I have discussed "fighter" in detail I will make a list of some of the others I feel should be implemented. With a description for each one.
(Remember these are engagement types/tactics and NOT a classification for ships)
-fighter

-gunship
Much like the gunships of today (C-130 as reference) once the target is in range the ship will begin to orbit around the target while engaging either with turrets or broadside weaponry. (You should be able to choose the clockwise or counter clockwise)

-Non Offensive
Such as drop pods, transports, scouts, freighters/cargo haulers. Pretty much anything that you wouldn't want destroyed, or to be in a combat environment. These ships would flee the area to a non contested region (possibly have a set location for these ships to head towords if the fleet is raided (feel free to throw in your ideas)

-Self Propelled Gun (SPG)
Pretty much a flying gun to add to a fleets firepower.
The ship would stop at its max range and be used similar to today's modern artillery. (I would also include ships that only fire long range missiles here)

-Protect
Much like a fleet protecting a system, this function could be used for "flak ships" to protect from incoming missiles. These ships can be set to protect a particular group of ships such as SPG's or the flagship.

-Escort
These ships when selected as escort will remain in close proximity to the selected ship/entity they are to escort (keeping the same speed)(possibly just an extension on "protect" but I felt like it deserved its own selectable icon)

-support
power give and shield give
type ships would stay with a particular type of ship or just fleet in general (not sure just throwing this one out for everyone to weigh in with their ideas)

-Capital/ Carrier
Not necessarily a direct combat ship but will remain near the battlefield to provide its firepower and docked ships to the conflict (mobile ship yards?) but stays away from any major engagements, allowing the "battlefield commander" to command and control.

Remember all of these are a ships AI actions to be taken on a target/targets depending on what is selected.
This means you could have a fleet of "insert whatever ship you want here" that have "fighter" selected and under AI control they will act accordingly.

I think this should be a second layer to what is currently and or will be implemented for fleets as a whole. You give the fleet a mission/objective then within that fleet you have the actions that the individual ships and groups of ships will take to complete the fleets mission/objective.

This will give fleets an actual fleet feel (to me a Fleet is comprised of multiple different ships and tactics that are used in conjunction with eachother to accomplish the mission given to the fleet) and allow for a much more diverse system that will lead to some pretty awesome battles.

Let me know what you all think and feel free to throw in your ideas/ criticisms.

-Exodist

Oh and a planetary invasion/assault with drop ships and smaller fighter craft/bombers would be pretty neat having them fly from a carrier to the surface to drop off NPC's while getting attacked from planetary based installations =awesomeness. I end my want rant.

 

[StarWars1981]

I love it. Those options are great.
Things I would add:
The position for these options would be a drop-down next to the ship information in the Fleet menu.
They would dictate individual ship behavior only inside a Fleet, as that's where they'd be most useful.
Some changes to options:
Capital - for ships of heavy cruiser class or bigger (this being based on the capability to perform in that role - ship to ship combat), this option dictates that they stay near the center of the fleet, and upon sighting hostiles, target the largest one with the main ship and proceed to get as close as possible while keeping main weapons on line, while battering it to pieces. When target falls, rinse and repeat.

Escort - for ships of any class whose mission is to escort freighters/other valuable non-combat vessels. This option dictates that the vessel maintain a perimeter location, with a short distance between it and the other vessels. Upon sighting a hostile, this vessel will immediately move to head them off and attempt to block their advance towards the other vessels. Targeting focuses on the closest hostile to the designated noncombat vessels.

Noncombat - freighters or repair ships, or whatever else you want. These vessels are programmed to go. You tell them where to go, and they go there. Subclasses include repair ships and freighters. Repair ships would automatically repair battle damage in the sector they are assigned to. Freighters need a way to be remote-assigned to a docking port, unless you want to spacewalk out and fetch them. If engaged, their primary option is to flee, and this could be programmed if they have, say, a jumpdrive and coordinates to head towards.

Fire Support - as you said above, SPGs and artillery vessels. Orbit enemies (to dodge SOME cannon/dumb missile rounds) letting loose extreme amounts of punishment at maximum range. They attempt to maintain a good distance between them and ALL enemy vessels, including raiding fighters and incoming backup.

Dropship - eventually. This thing's sole job is to take NPC assault teams to designated (laser pointer!) locations, deploy them, and then return to its carrier vessel and await a pickup point (LZ, landing zone) designation. Can include: large vessels (then pops a hole wherever it's designated. Must be programmed to NOT blow holes if it's dropped at a breach) - mind the location, just cause it's a hole doesn't mean it connects to crew areas, planets (mind the turrets), or space stations (mind the armada defending it, turrets, possible drone swarms, nasty defensive systems like baseball bats - I'd love to see one - and antipersonnel turrets inside).

Escort (second option, needs a different name) - Protect option above, basically. The ship acts as an escort, but stays close to its assigned fleet/specifically assigned vessels (unique option for this group). It focuses on missiles and small ships, and attempts to shepherd its charges to a safe sector,

 

[Madman198237]

Yeah, great ideas. It will be nice to see where Schine goes with these fleet mechanic suggestions being thrown about.