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- Sep 18, 2017
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As of the most recent dev build, shields now have a radius. Anything outside that area isn't covered at all.
At first, I hated this idea, but after thinking about it for some time, I realized it could be good if modified.
First, instead of having areas where there are no shields at all, have a system where shields have an effectivity radius, meaning the shields would take different amounts of damage depending on where they are shot. For example, if I shot at an area of a ship that doesn't have as much shielding as some of the more important systems do, the shields would take more damage.
Second, a way to focus shields. If I was starting to take a lot of damage on my left side, I would be able to redirect shielding to there. Basically, it would be some kinda interface where I could decide where I want most of my shielding, and could have presets for different setups corresponding to different combat situations depending on the enemy. You could select certain areas to focus more shielding, and the more areas you selected, the more it would take from a shield balance percentage. This percentage would act as a sort of tool that would let you know if your shields are spread too thin over too large an area. Again, all areas of a ship would be essentially covered, but depending on where it is shot, a weapon might be more or less effective. This would encourage players to find weak points in ships.
Third, nerf the hell out of weapons. With the current shield system in the dev build, if I shot a really powerful weapon at an unshielded portion of a ship, it would overheat it, regardless of how powerful it's shielded sections are. This would be a good idea ESPECIALLY given the current reactor mechanics, as there is no capacity, meaning if I build a bunch of mega weapons on a ship with low power, they would still work, as I could switch between them to negate the whole recharge problem.
Ideally, large ship battles should have massive warships firing at each other being supported by smaller frigates and fighters. My suggestion would make bombers actually useful (if there was some kinda feature to tell ai drones WHERE to fire at on a ship), as you could send a couple out to attack the weak point's in an enemy's shields. Right now, most experienced players can one shot each other, and so it becomes a contest of who can shoot who first. If weapons are nerfed, and a few extra ai features are added, the entire crappy combat problem would be solved.
If you can think of any other good ideas for this, let me know and I'll add em to this post.
At first, I hated this idea, but after thinking about it for some time, I realized it could be good if modified.
First, instead of having areas where there are no shields at all, have a system where shields have an effectivity radius, meaning the shields would take different amounts of damage depending on where they are shot. For example, if I shot at an area of a ship that doesn't have as much shielding as some of the more important systems do, the shields would take more damage.
Second, a way to focus shields. If I was starting to take a lot of damage on my left side, I would be able to redirect shielding to there. Basically, it would be some kinda interface where I could decide where I want most of my shielding, and could have presets for different setups corresponding to different combat situations depending on the enemy. You could select certain areas to focus more shielding, and the more areas you selected, the more it would take from a shield balance percentage. This percentage would act as a sort of tool that would let you know if your shields are spread too thin over too large an area. Again, all areas of a ship would be essentially covered, but depending on where it is shot, a weapon might be more or less effective. This would encourage players to find weak points in ships.
Third, nerf the hell out of weapons. With the current shield system in the dev build, if I shot a really powerful weapon at an unshielded portion of a ship, it would overheat it, regardless of how powerful it's shielded sections are. This would be a good idea ESPECIALLY given the current reactor mechanics, as there is no capacity, meaning if I build a bunch of mega weapons on a ship with low power, they would still work, as I could switch between them to negate the whole recharge problem.
Ideally, large ship battles should have massive warships firing at each other being supported by smaller frigates and fighters. My suggestion would make bombers actually useful (if there was some kinda feature to tell ai drones WHERE to fire at on a ship), as you could send a couple out to attack the weak point's in an enemy's shields. Right now, most experienced players can one shot each other, and so it becomes a contest of who can shoot who first. If weapons are nerfed, and a few extra ai features are added, the entire crappy combat problem would be solved.
If you can think of any other good ideas for this, let me know and I'll add em to this post.
