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TPG Raptor test pilot program (aka, ship assessment)

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Apr 05, 2006 Lord Q link
or a prototype non-psychic shield generator (represented by a huge increase in armor)
Apr 05, 2006 vIsitor link
TPG is more of a Shipwright, stuff like sheild generators are typically devveloped by research-heavy factions like Inebus or BioCom.
Apr 05, 2006 mcduff link
I also support kelix's 4 corner s-port idea and a turbo similar to the old wtd (or even slightley faster cough 265 cough), wich is now really not worth buying after it lost its only real usefullness; a high drain 250m/s turbo wich allowed it to persue/ evade anything. However i agree with the nerfing of the valks over the top infini boost.
Apr 06, 2006 MSKanaka link
mcduff: the Valks never had infiniboost, except for the Rune, and that had its infiniboost removed a good long while ago.

With the speed cap of 225m/s, I'd expect the Rune to get back its old infiniboost capabilities--otherwise it's just useless, and will never be used. I don't think people even use it now, or did before the speed cap.
Apr 06, 2006 LeberMac link
I have not piloted a Valk Rune since it lost infiniboost. Nor have I seen anyone else do so.
Apr 06, 2006 Cunjo link
Leber: that's because if you had reason to haul more than 2u of cargo (the only reason you would use a Rune anyway) then you almost certianly have reason to haul more than 6 as well... 6u of cargo space just isn't worth flying a 'cargo' ship for.
Apr 06, 2006 johnhawl218 link
If you could do multiple special deliveries there would be a reason to use a low cargo space varient that's fast. Just a thought.
Apr 07, 2006 ghostieboy link
Yeha, easy to get away from pirates :p
Apr 07, 2006 Phaserlight link
I've never liked the idea of giving one ship type special abilities... why does a certain technology work on one ship type but not on any other?

if things were to be balanced this way I'd be more in favor of introducing mod ports and giving the raptor an extra mod port... see what I'm getting at?

for now, I think the raptor could easily be balanced just by tweaking its stats.
Apr 11, 2006 LeberMac link
What if you gave the Raptor a spin torque between 9.0 and 10.0, so that it was (close to or "the") fastest-turning ship in the game, able to keep its nose pointed at anything out there? Leave all the other stats alone.

That might offset it's having a long "body" - if you can keep your low profile in relation to your opponent, then your length doesn't matter that much. Would take the same kind of skill that a Vulture takes to pilot - keeping yourself "thin".

It's a shame that the ship's stats are a little substandard now. I'd love to fly it more - 'cause it looks kickass.

It would definitely lend itself to a specific style of pilot, and I think that's what the devs might be going for here.
Apr 11, 2006 LeberMac link
Oh, and Cunjo - The Valk Rune used to be *THE* CtC ship - it held 8 cargo, 50 drain and a top speed of 220 m/s. It would hold the Xith from the early runs of the week all by itself and was a nice all-around ship. I loved it.

Then it was whacked with the "nerf stick" and I haven't seen anyone fly one since - except a couple of folks who were using it just because they hadn't hit level 9 pilot yet and couldn't get the IDF Valk. No one who can get an IDF Valk ever flies a Rune. So basically the "target market" of the Rune Valk is itani-admired level 8 pilots. Kind of a small demographic.
Apr 12, 2006 sarahanne link
but there IS a demographic :P

Maybe sales of the Rune would improve if they included heated, leather cockpit seats with purchase. Space gets pretty darn cold.

However back on target. Would you give the Raptor to say a noob pilot? I mean I think it does look better than the bus and it may be enough eye candy to hold onto a player long enough for them to get into the game and become a subscriber.

There is a lot of competition out there are I get the impression that attention spans are short and the buying public can be fickle. You need to think outside of the box, what would the average person want to see and do to convince them to give Guild $10 a month?

How many potential players are turned off by the grahics or sound or music? How many don't make it past the tutorial cuz the bus looks soo dorky?

I was thinking that you could start out the player in the raptor and if they blow themselves up without enough credits you then give them the free bus as an option but that may become to cruel a joke on noobs. . The bus becomes the loaner car you get when your own is in the shop.
Apr 12, 2006 LeberMac link
OK, thinking outside the box, instead of trying to make the Raptor into a good close-quarters combat vessel, why not just make it into something that new players would like, and replace the bus with it?

I'm thinking that the Raptor "LOOKS" like a racing ship. So maybe just make it fast and with good thrust, but with not a lot of turning torque in that case. Maybe give it 12 cu of space? Higher license-level Raptors could trade space for speed until you get to the Mk IV or Mk. III with 0 cu of storage and 250 m/s turbo with 55 drain. Or whatever.

That would make it great for trading runs, and able to outrun pirates and the bane of new players: bots in ion storms. My personal opinion is that the best thing for new players is to start TRADING, not mining.

Pardon my bluntness, but mining is boring as hell. Especially when the new players just start going from asteroid to asteroid in their home station sector, doing mindless grunt work while admiring the pretty scenery. I propose that the best way to get the new players interested is to get them moving between sectors (if not systems) as soon as possible. You know, to boldly go and all that.

It will increase interaction and get them moving about. The economy is going to be one of the really neat things about this game soon, and IMHO, that's what will hook people initially. Making money in order to get that next ship.

I think the PROBLEM will be making sure that new players transition into combat before their 8 hours are up in the trial. The combat engine is what "hooks" them. Once they have a successful series of combats against bot opponents, and maybe even against some other players, they're in.

Perhaps have a "training" ground for new combat pilots? Like flight school or something? Something more structured than the basic combat mission which basically is : Go kill bots. Good luck. I'm sure that the new tutorial missions that the team is working on are going to be great, so I'll wait and see what develops.

Wow I wandered everywhere on that post, so much for staying on-topic.

Summary: Raptor would be cool as a fast ship that n00bs could buy for trade runs and higher-level types could buy for Deneb runs.
Apr 12, 2006 Infinite_Skillz link
**Waves arms and points at the post I made waaaay earlier in this thread.** :P

Yep Leber, thats what needs to happen.
Apr 12, 2006 toshiro link
...and the qualification missions could stay, if somewhat lessened in bot count, but
heightened in wave number. Of course, the new player *gets the raptor to do the
mission*, not the other way round. But he still has to do the mission. This would be
great to do a 'forced' tutorial.

On a sidenote, the quali missions reminded me of The Gauntlet in Wing Commander
III's flight sim, were you fight wave after wave of enemy ships, increasing in difficulty.
I would appreciate more of such stuff.
Apr 12, 2006 LeberMac link
tosh, the current raptor qualification missions would be WAY too hard for a new player. I'm assuming that they'd be "dumbed-down" a great deal.

However, harder qualification missions are a neat idea for OTHER ship qualifications. For example, to be able to fly an IDF Valk, you'd need to take it up against a Serco SCP bot and win 1 v 1. Make sure the Bot prom pilot uses the good "jousting" bot AI.

And Hi Skillz. Are you, uh, gonna be ingame anytime soon? I need someone to share some "stew" with...
Apr 12, 2006 Lord Q link
>I've never liked the idea of giving one ship type special abilities... why does a
>certain technology work on one ship type but not on any other?

because that technology isn't modular enough to add to ships that weren't designed to use it. or even just it's a new technology and older designes can't be efficently upgraded

as for early ship qualification missions i'd like to see a short run through a race-track like tube, followed by a duel with an orun collector the mission then runs twice (once for FA mode and once for Physics mode), to teach new players how to fly and fight before sending them out to kill bots en-mass
Apr 15, 2006 softy2 link
Why don't give the Raptor 4 Small ports, but make it very light 2500kg with a very low thrust (say 160N) and low spin torque (6Nm)? (Make the raptor as agile as an IBG with 1 N3 blaster, when it is equiped with a single N3.)

This way you don't have to worry about an uber flare platform, but is flexible enough to take on 4 guns if one is ready to fly a duck. (A 4 phaser raptor would be fun to fly...)
Apr 17, 2006 mgl_mouser link
OK. Back on topic, wich is THIS Raptor, not any Mk fantasy...

The new weapon spacing is much better than previous., It's not a whole lot different but it does make a difference in aiming.

The ship feels less nose-heavy, but I think that for something that has four huge corner-mounted engine, it should have more torque spin.

It's top speed and acceleration seems decent enough and I dont think it needs to be made faster. This will give room for enhanced models down the line.

It's still a fat target compared to the Vult so it's not necessarily a better ship for it. This thing screams for a third center port to give it a chance.
Apr 18, 2006 toshiro link
mgl_mouser, the spin torque cannot be linked to the location of engines, since they are non-newtonian ones for one thing, plus I don't think the numbers for spin torque are directly linked to the location of engines anyway. The latter statement is purely speculative, I shall have to verify that.