The ultimate drone R&D thread

[Thalanor]

That is a pretty complete and yet compact classification. As with all tradeoffs, there is likely a sweet spot in ratio of assault/support drones for example on a given rack.

 

[Loadout]

@keptick I think support drones would be better at disabling other drones or systems. Such as shooting down Assault drone missiles. This doesn't directly mean they destroy the Assault drones, just disable their main weapon systems, hence Support. Otherwise support would really just be a special case of defense drones.

Specialty drones = skoomdrones? space-mines?

@Thalanor I would imagine the sweet spot is entirely dependent on your enemy though, so balancing would be tough. Probably best to presume few-er enemy drones for the moment as this is still experimental tech. So running with that assumption, 3:1 Assault -> Support sound reasonable?

 

[Gerion]

I think you should have three types of racks in your catalogue:

One with no-shields, alpha-damage drones against ships that have high-damage turrets as their main defense.
One with shielded drones which boast high-dps weapons for enemies using fast-fire turrets.
And one with balanced drones in the case were you dont know what you will be up against.

And if you are evil, you have all 3 types in your super-carrier and it really doesnt matter what those drones are as you swamp the enemy in thousands of little objects.

 

[Keptick]

@Loadout Specialty drones is stuff like the skoomdrone, yes. It's out of the normal scope because if affects the battle in a different way.

 

[Loadout]

@Loadout Specialty drones is stuff like the skoomdrone, yes. It's out of the normal scope because if affects the battle in a different way.

Agreed, just can't wait for the AI to be able to handle this though. Imagine seeing sniper AI's with long range punch cannons. That would be a scary day for drones.

 

[Gerion]

Agreed, just can't wait for the AI to be able to handle this though. Imagine seeing sniper AI's with long range punch cannons. That would be a scary day for drones.

Pling! Pling! Pling! And boom goes the drone.... Also, deployable sniper turrets that float in deep space? Possibly cloaked/jammed? Terrifying.

 

[Argyle_Ninja]

Oh there will be missiles.... :D @Loadout I'm sure they've got some sort of gold star award that I could give you for slipping in that video. It's around here somewhere. I can only hope that I can bring the carrier at least halfway up to Cylon standards when it's all said and done. 'Cause yea.
Base Stars: Making point defense turrets s*** bricks since 1978.

 

[Loadout]

...
Base Stars: Making point defense turrets s*** bricks since 1978.

Chrome bricks no less.

Also, the Dune is now available for download here.

In related news I've begun work on an escort vessel that will make use of small shotgun turrets to provide area denial. It'll range ahead of the main fleet and hopefully clear out a significant portion of the enemies defenses. I plan to include some small drone racks on the underbelly that only launch when enough damage is taken.

In addition to this I've also sketched out future plans for a freighter/retrofit carrier. It'll be semi-RP based and provide some fleet aesthetics to tie everything together.

 

[Argyle_Ninja]

I want to make a ship that looks like a coiled up fire-hose. put like 30 shotgun amc outputs on the nozzle, and make it rain. :P

 

[Thalanor]

I sure hope the missile penetration bug will be fixed soon. It is just an absolute slap in the face for drone usage if a hit to your hull decimates a drone rack on the opposing side of the ship.
The same applies to turrets currently, so basically after 5-10 seconds in battle, a ship will be stripped down to the parts shielded by the main systems. Drone launching would become more strategic (not necessary to ALWAYS eject immediately on sight of the first red diamond) and the same goes for bombing runs on turrets / droneracks, too.

 

[Gerion]

I sure hope the missile penetration bug will be fixed soon. It is just an absolute slap in the face for drone usage if a hit to your hull decimates a drone rack on the opposing side of the ship.
The same applies to turrets currently, so basically after 5-10 seconds in battle, a ship will be stripped down to the parts shielded by the main systems. Drone launching would become more strategic (not necessary to ALWAYS eject immediately on sight of the first red diamond) and the same goes for bombing runs on turrets / droneracks, too.

Shouldnt be hard to do, if you think about it. We already have such a system for astronauts, extending it to ships (docked or not) would be hugely benefisal.

 

[Keptick]

People are catching on to the skoomdrone tech!!! To be honest I don't know if that's a good thing :p

 

[Thalanor]

As they are catching on to drone tech in general (and skoomdrones are basically the evil icing of the drone cake).
Now I also need an anti-carrier corvette in my fleet. Swarm missiles yes, but I was thinking more like overdrive-kiting with PT cannon/cannon.

This little neat corvette could do VERY well if I attached a skoomdrone to the front, and delivered it manually to the big target (radar jamming enabled). Basically the Hug Of Skoom.

 

[Loadout]

As they are catching on to drone tech in general (and skoomdrones are basically the evil icing of the drone cake).
Now I also need an anti-carrier corvette in my fleet. Swarm missiles yes, but I was thinking more like overdrive-kiting with PT cannon/cannon.

This little neat corvette could do VERY well if I attached a skoomdrone to the front, and delivered it manually to the big target (radar jamming enabled). Basically the Hug Of Skoom.

I had a thought just now regarding anti-carriers... what about instead of swarms, because right now they're very anti-fleet ship, use a broadside of rapid fire missiles?


about 36 seconds in they start firing and it would be absolutely spectacular to see that ram into a carrier. Granted you could also use some punch through or explosive AMC combos as well, you don't have to use rockets. :D

 

[Loadout]

So I have pretty much given up on altering the Flea chassis any further. As far as that particular design goes I believe it is as good as possible in the current meta. Moving on, I now have a heavy drone design! I'm reposting this from my shipyard thread so i'll attempt to quote myself...

Presenting the Kabuto heavy drone.

Armed with a pair of heavy duty toaster certified Overdriven Extensor Beams, and a pair of Hercules Class Tactical Nukes, the Kabuto comes with one heck of a bite. Capable of delivering extended range high power death beams straight into the enemy core (or the giant space toaster oven we have here). It can launch a pair of vertical tactical nukes sure to overload or destroy most smaller prey with ease as well as lay a serious alpha beat-down on the enemy.

Disclaimer: We at LSNY are not responsible for mother-ship damage due to careless discharge of heavy weaponry inside/outside your hangar(s), please read the owners manual for more information on radiation poisoning and handling instructions of nuclear weaponry. As always enjoy responsibly.

Specific Stats:

• Mass/Thrust: 68/38.3
• L x H x W : 17 x 7 x 11
• Power/Regen: 50k / 5835.3
• Shields: 11110.0/242
• Laser Alpha: 210/hit * 4-hits * 2-arrays = 1680 / 5 Seconds
• Missile Alpha: 1800*2 = 3600 / 90 Seconds

Note on the missiles: I tried beam slaves but with vertical launch they have to be slower in order to hit without circling forever. Only Damage pulse slows down the missiles so it was pretty much a given. Didn't bother with an effect either given 90 second recharge, extra shields appears more useful given it's role.

Overall I'm quite pleased with it. Essentially a heavier version of what the original Phaser Flea was meant to be. This drone brings alot of firepower to the table and it only costs ~120k. Expensive for me, but compared to some of the other designs around here I think it fits into it's weight range quite comfortably. As a plus it's also not entirely reliant on the missiles for damage as the lasers do a considerable amount.

 

[Winterhome]

People are catching on to the skoomdrone tech!!! To be honest I don't know if that's a good thing :p

ehehehe~

 

[Keptick]

ehehehe~

Make is pulse-amc, it'll fire 6 times faster ^_^

 

[Loadout]

I decided to redo my drone cruiser, here is a sneak peak at it. This will be fully AI manned complete with drone launch via logic.

I honestly can't decide between a Single launch bay (outlined with top row of crystals) or a Double launch bay (bottom row outlines that). The single looks waaaaaaaay better, but more drones is always a plus. Oh and in case you're wondering these will be my Kabuto heavy drones, not the Fleas. So firepower is already a non-issue. That said it's not really a carrier so it'll only hold maybe 6 total. Enough for fire-support but not enough to really make it a carrier class.

For those curious as to how the drones will launch well lets just say it'll be painful and logical all at the same time...:D

 

[Thalanor]

Dual launch bay would probably be too cramped and collision heavy @Loadout . If its not a carrier and uses drones just as support, go with single rack Rather make a rack carry more drones than having two of them if youwant a couple more.

 

[Loadout]

@Thalanor I was leaning that way, good to hear someone else say what I was thinking. Gives a bit more reassurance that I'm not completely crazy:D.

Rack size is hovering between 3-4, I made it A-Lot bigger obviously but I'll still manage to get a few out. Alternatively I was considering just docking them to the ship itself. That takes the least amount of space and this is mostly an AI cruiser, so fewer collisions maybe if I just blast them all out at once? Players could use it, but it's purpose is mostly Escort and Sexy.