note, some of this is already in and i realize, but restating it is part of the train of thought and logic behind the thought. sorry in advance for doing that; oh and sorry for the rambling nature of this post. long day at work and i was/am tired when putting this up, and wanted to post it before i go to sleep and forget.
Mining Stakes -
does not work on owned ships or bases, only on abandoned or wrecked ships. also temporarily flags the marked entity as part of the faction, though without the salveage beam protections within the faction. the 'flagging' is only temporary, logically based say on an internal power supply for the marker. pseudo-weaponized system.
Sensors and sensor relays -
Sensor systems for the ships, and a sensor network common to individual factions. Would be interlocked with IFF and drone systems. basically each ship acts as a sensor relay for the faction it is a part of, and instead of a 'global sensor' in which you can detect ships essentially as soon as they enter a fixed range, the range is shared by the faction as long as you are within faction boundaries. If you are outside faction relay range, you are restricted to your own sensors, and any those of any faction ships nearby. Sensor relays are small deployable, and immobile drones which tie into the sensor net for the faction and extend sensor range for the entire faction. if an allied ship is within sensor range, it ties into the sensor net of any such linked nodes (be they ships or bases)
Cloaking -
cloaking is basically the reverse of sensors, in that they hide the equipped ship from the sensors. it basically reduces the range at which the equipped ships are detected at. the higher the mass, the easier it is to detect, but the stronger the cloaking the harder it is to detect. Cloaking comes in two forms, hardware and software. software acts similarly to shielding, and makes it more difficult to detect the cloaked ship, but actively drains power while enabled (this one was already in when i played, albeit a more simplified form) while the hardware variant does not take power, but is less effecient, and takes up the place of armored hull... meaning its easier to destroy a hard-cloaked ship, but its harder to detect them. the software version doesnt have that particular weakness, just the drain on the power supply.
Transport upgrades-
A proposed upgrade for the purpose of cargo ships as well... or merchanters or whatever. A Cargo module for the ship, which allows for linkage to any and all systems which involve the transference of materials to and from the ship. Salvage beams would be one of the big existing tie ins. Cargo modules would tie in to the existing storage bays on the ship, a required link to make the module function. It would then be able to tie into salvage beams, so that anything picked up by the salvage beams are dumped into the storage bays, instead of player inventory.
also, a beam which allows two ships with cargo mods to link to one another, to allow direct transfer of selected goods between ships, easier than carting it back and forth by hand... would also allow the removal of the 'infinite storage' system, where the only real limit is that of 'goods types' which was also in place last i played... this would be useful on clan level as well as individual player level, and allow a more secure form of... merchanting i suppose, though theres always the risk of piracy.
Drone systems-
already submitted this idea, but this ones a little more... fleshed. Drones are small, mass-limited autopiloted ships with specific and limited purpose. the core of drone systems are the Relay cores. linked cores increase the strength of the relay, and allow more drones to support. Relays can be installed on individual ships, and require power to run. They also require hard points and support systems for the relay to be effective (no point to a drone relay if theres no drones to control...) this would put a 'soft' mass restriction on drone carriers, limiting them to literal carrier class ships, and disallowing a fighter for example the ability to control a mass of drone fighters...
drones would be custom designed, but only serve specific roles, which would be altered through the AI cores (which are accessable through the relays). meaning you could technically have a bunch of drones set as harvester drones, but while they could double as repair drones, you would have to switch their orders through the relay from salvage to repair.
Order sets -
Attack - this would alter slightly dependant upon the weapons equipped, for example whether it is a combat weapon or a salvage 'weapon'. The drone is willing to seek out its own targets at a larger range and attack them with whatever it has available. no special priority is given to targets that fire on the host ship.
Defend - These ships stay in close to the controller, and put priority on enemy ships that are closest to the controller, and ships that actively fire or lock onto the controller.
Support - These drones limit their range to somewhat nearby the drone controller, but are focused on ally ships. They have a loose monitor of whatever they are able to support (for example damage if they have repair beams, or power levels/shield levels if they have power beams) and put priority on the ships that are closest to 'danger' levels.
Carrier support systems-
Docking bay utility would be improved, via the ability to refuel and repair allied ships. for drones specifically, if the ship is large enough it could hold special modules in the bay which allow the ship to re-create drones that are damaged beyond recovery. This would take time to do, and resources available AND tied into the systems. meaning if you stockpile your carrier well, it can have many potential drones in reserve, but its always possible to blow through the supply of drones and get to the carrier, in short term or in long, because it will eventually run dry on supplies to make new drones.
weapons-
i broke down the idea of 'space age' weaponry as much as i could think to do so and they come in three or four different types... even with weapon modification this would prolly be a feasible base template.
Mass weapons - these weapons are straight fire and VERY unsophisticated. its the equivelant of taking a big-arse rock and throwing it at someone, because thats what it basically is. Mass weapons are dependent on two things, though really only one of them matters so much... Mass, which is a given due to the reference 'mass weapons'... and SPEED. in space, if you cant dip and dodge over those extreme distances to hit your target, you better be able to close the gap FAST. in addition, in spatial terms, speed IS mass. think about it. a bullet wouldnt hurt if it was tossed by hand (a pistol bullet) but when fired out of a gun it can kill. same principle for this, except on steroids. Mass drivers are highly effective and simple weapons in pretty well any sci-fi series.
Explosives - now, explosives dont propogate in space worth a crap, because theres no medium for them to propogate through... but when a missile hits a ship, its got a whole lot of medium available to spread an explosion though. since explosives arent dependant on mass, these are able to put some focus on the ability to alter direction... so they are able to track targets, and alter course to make sure they hit... or get thrown off course for a miss. this would play around with the sensor systems, but is already in the game...
Reactionary - this could be considered the same way as explosives, but explosions arent the only reaction possible. Reactionary weapons would be the 'parent' of explosives, and also include imposions and alterations to existing forces that dont fit in either category. i dunno offhand how to make a weapon outta that, but im sure i could come up with something cruel...
Energy- because mass has to play fair with newton to deal damage, at least conceptually, alot of sci fi series turn to energy to break the rules. laser beams, photon blasts, whatever form and result the energy has, they are often the military answer to the 'materials' race... because its hard to guard against pure energy weapons and physical weapons at the same time...
Purpose of weaponry-
it should be possible to tie in weapons to specific purposes, for example point defense for capitol ships, which may or may not double as anti-fighter defenses... functionally, if you tie in a bunch of light guns into a point defense relay, it will start finding and picking off missiles that target your ship for example.
as an overall though, the purpose of weaponry defines what aspects it would need to be 'effecient' in... for example, for point defense weapons, they need to be fast and easily replaceable... they dont need to hit particularly hard, because most times the stuff they aim for is not armored. its just fast and moving. on the other hand, if the weapon is designed to take a fortress down (a bunker buster, yay!) then it wouldnt have to deal so much with the target moving, just all the defenses that come from being a large fixed citadel in space...
armor systems-
the big questions regarding defensive systems would be two primary questions. What are you trying to defend against, and HOW are you trying to defend against it. shields and armor are the simplest answer for the first question... basically, energy based defenses, and physical based defenses. the second question would be adding complexity to the issue... do you try and stop the 'thing' from reaching you? in which case point defense and 'shield drones' (drones designed to physically intercept enemy fire aimed at the host ship) would be the two answers... otherwise, your down to shields and armor... both of which were already in.
Mining Stakes -
does not work on owned ships or bases, only on abandoned or wrecked ships. also temporarily flags the marked entity as part of the faction, though without the salveage beam protections within the faction. the 'flagging' is only temporary, logically based say on an internal power supply for the marker. pseudo-weaponized system.
Sensors and sensor relays -
Sensor systems for the ships, and a sensor network common to individual factions. Would be interlocked with IFF and drone systems. basically each ship acts as a sensor relay for the faction it is a part of, and instead of a 'global sensor' in which you can detect ships essentially as soon as they enter a fixed range, the range is shared by the faction as long as you are within faction boundaries. If you are outside faction relay range, you are restricted to your own sensors, and any those of any faction ships nearby. Sensor relays are small deployable, and immobile drones which tie into the sensor net for the faction and extend sensor range for the entire faction. if an allied ship is within sensor range, it ties into the sensor net of any such linked nodes (be they ships or bases)
Cloaking -
cloaking is basically the reverse of sensors, in that they hide the equipped ship from the sensors. it basically reduces the range at which the equipped ships are detected at. the higher the mass, the easier it is to detect, but the stronger the cloaking the harder it is to detect. Cloaking comes in two forms, hardware and software. software acts similarly to shielding, and makes it more difficult to detect the cloaked ship, but actively drains power while enabled (this one was already in when i played, albeit a more simplified form) while the hardware variant does not take power, but is less effecient, and takes up the place of armored hull... meaning its easier to destroy a hard-cloaked ship, but its harder to detect them. the software version doesnt have that particular weakness, just the drain on the power supply.
Transport upgrades-
A proposed upgrade for the purpose of cargo ships as well... or merchanters or whatever. A Cargo module for the ship, which allows for linkage to any and all systems which involve the transference of materials to and from the ship. Salvage beams would be one of the big existing tie ins. Cargo modules would tie in to the existing storage bays on the ship, a required link to make the module function. It would then be able to tie into salvage beams, so that anything picked up by the salvage beams are dumped into the storage bays, instead of player inventory.
also, a beam which allows two ships with cargo mods to link to one another, to allow direct transfer of selected goods between ships, easier than carting it back and forth by hand... would also allow the removal of the 'infinite storage' system, where the only real limit is that of 'goods types' which was also in place last i played... this would be useful on clan level as well as individual player level, and allow a more secure form of... merchanting i suppose, though theres always the risk of piracy.
Drone systems-
already submitted this idea, but this ones a little more... fleshed. Drones are small, mass-limited autopiloted ships with specific and limited purpose. the core of drone systems are the Relay cores. linked cores increase the strength of the relay, and allow more drones to support. Relays can be installed on individual ships, and require power to run. They also require hard points and support systems for the relay to be effective (no point to a drone relay if theres no drones to control...) this would put a 'soft' mass restriction on drone carriers, limiting them to literal carrier class ships, and disallowing a fighter for example the ability to control a mass of drone fighters...
drones would be custom designed, but only serve specific roles, which would be altered through the AI cores (which are accessable through the relays). meaning you could technically have a bunch of drones set as harvester drones, but while they could double as repair drones, you would have to switch their orders through the relay from salvage to repair.
Order sets -
Attack - this would alter slightly dependant upon the weapons equipped, for example whether it is a combat weapon or a salvage 'weapon'. The drone is willing to seek out its own targets at a larger range and attack them with whatever it has available. no special priority is given to targets that fire on the host ship.
Defend - These ships stay in close to the controller, and put priority on enemy ships that are closest to the controller, and ships that actively fire or lock onto the controller.
Support - These drones limit their range to somewhat nearby the drone controller, but are focused on ally ships. They have a loose monitor of whatever they are able to support (for example damage if they have repair beams, or power levels/shield levels if they have power beams) and put priority on the ships that are closest to 'danger' levels.
Carrier support systems-
Docking bay utility would be improved, via the ability to refuel and repair allied ships. for drones specifically, if the ship is large enough it could hold special modules in the bay which allow the ship to re-create drones that are damaged beyond recovery. This would take time to do, and resources available AND tied into the systems. meaning if you stockpile your carrier well, it can have many potential drones in reserve, but its always possible to blow through the supply of drones and get to the carrier, in short term or in long, because it will eventually run dry on supplies to make new drones.
weapons-
i broke down the idea of 'space age' weaponry as much as i could think to do so and they come in three or four different types... even with weapon modification this would prolly be a feasible base template.
Mass weapons - these weapons are straight fire and VERY unsophisticated. its the equivelant of taking a big-arse rock and throwing it at someone, because thats what it basically is. Mass weapons are dependent on two things, though really only one of them matters so much... Mass, which is a given due to the reference 'mass weapons'... and SPEED. in space, if you cant dip and dodge over those extreme distances to hit your target, you better be able to close the gap FAST. in addition, in spatial terms, speed IS mass. think about it. a bullet wouldnt hurt if it was tossed by hand (a pistol bullet) but when fired out of a gun it can kill. same principle for this, except on steroids. Mass drivers are highly effective and simple weapons in pretty well any sci-fi series.
Explosives - now, explosives dont propogate in space worth a crap, because theres no medium for them to propogate through... but when a missile hits a ship, its got a whole lot of medium available to spread an explosion though. since explosives arent dependant on mass, these are able to put some focus on the ability to alter direction... so they are able to track targets, and alter course to make sure they hit... or get thrown off course for a miss. this would play around with the sensor systems, but is already in the game...
Reactionary - this could be considered the same way as explosives, but explosions arent the only reaction possible. Reactionary weapons would be the 'parent' of explosives, and also include imposions and alterations to existing forces that dont fit in either category. i dunno offhand how to make a weapon outta that, but im sure i could come up with something cruel...
Energy- because mass has to play fair with newton to deal damage, at least conceptually, alot of sci fi series turn to energy to break the rules. laser beams, photon blasts, whatever form and result the energy has, they are often the military answer to the 'materials' race... because its hard to guard against pure energy weapons and physical weapons at the same time...
Purpose of weaponry-
it should be possible to tie in weapons to specific purposes, for example point defense for capitol ships, which may or may not double as anti-fighter defenses... functionally, if you tie in a bunch of light guns into a point defense relay, it will start finding and picking off missiles that target your ship for example.
as an overall though, the purpose of weaponry defines what aspects it would need to be 'effecient' in... for example, for point defense weapons, they need to be fast and easily replaceable... they dont need to hit particularly hard, because most times the stuff they aim for is not armored. its just fast and moving. on the other hand, if the weapon is designed to take a fortress down (a bunker buster, yay!) then it wouldnt have to deal so much with the target moving, just all the defenses that come from being a large fixed citadel in space...
armor systems-
the big questions regarding defensive systems would be two primary questions. What are you trying to defend against, and HOW are you trying to defend against it. shields and armor are the simplest answer for the first question... basically, energy based defenses, and physical based defenses. the second question would be adding complexity to the issue... do you try and stop the 'thing' from reaching you? in which case point defense and 'shield drones' (drones designed to physically intercept enemy fire aimed at the host ship) would be the two answers... otherwise, your down to shields and armor... both of which were already in.