Forums » Suggestions

A stelth ship

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Feb 10, 2006 Lord Q link
OK i was thinking about stealth and ambushes recently, and i came to the conclusion that it's basicly imposable to actualy ambush a player. the problem is the color coded radar. no mater whether you are Red or Green you still stick out like a sore thum. And the sector list doesn't help either.

So i thought why not make a stealth ship that showes up like an asteroid (dull grey) on radar and always has the pilot's name dimmed out in the sector list (so it shows up as being out of radar range). Then if the ship's paint job is sufficently dark it could actualy aproach within close procsimity of another ship without being noticed.

now obviously it isn't invisable so it would take skill and strategy to actualy suprise somone, but i think it would be cool.

I'd recomend something similar in size and shape to a warthog. it's hull would be painted black, except for the regions coverd by the player selected color, and of coarse the cockpit and engins.

It should have a top speed of 75 m/s, and a top turbo speed of 100 m/s.
A turbo drain of 45
a high thrust/mass ratio, but a mass slightly lower than the TD hog.
1L weapon slots
1Cu of cargo space
and average spin torque for it's expected loaded mass.
Armor ewuivelent to a low end Vulture.

the idea is for a fast (sub-turbo) ship that can hide and dart out for a quick attack, but if it fails to kill it's target it wouln't be able to run away.

also it would be cool if as reward for some event (killing x players while flyign the stelth ship for example) granted acess to 'roid cammo, that made your ship's hull 'roid textured.

discuss
Feb 10, 2006 LeberMac link
Q, I love ya, man, but could you please have your mom or your neighbor or someone check spelling for you?

I'm trying to take your point seriously but, well, the spelling ends up being too funny and i didn't get past "proxcimity"...
Feb 10, 2006 BoxCarRacer link
OK, I was thinking about stealth and ambushes recently, and I came to the conclusion that it's basically impossible to actually ambush a player. The problem is the color coded radar. No matter whether you are Red or Green you still stick out like a sore thumb. The sector list doesn't help either.

So I thought, "Why not make a stealth ship that shows up like an asteroid (dull grey) on radar and always has the pilots name dimmed out in the sector list? (So it shows up as being out of radar range). Then if the ship's paint job is sufficiently dark it could actually aproach within close proximity of another ship without being noticed.

Now obviously it isn't invisible, so it would take skill and strategy to actually surprise someone, but I think it would be cool.
I'd recommend something similar in size and shape to a Warthog.
It's hull would be painted black, except for the regions covered by the player selected color, and of course the cockpit and the engines.

It should have a top speed of 75 m/s, and a top turbo speed of 100 m/s.
A turbo drain of 45
A high thrust/mass ratio, but a mass slightly lower than the TD hog.
1L weapon slots
1Cu of cargo space
An average spin torque for it's expected loaded mass.
Armor equivalent to a low end Vulture.

The idea is for a fast (sub-turbo) ship that can hide and dart out for a quick attack, but if it fails to kill it's target it wouldn't be able to run away.

Also it would be cool if, as a reward for some event (killing x players while flying the stealth ship for example) granted acess to 'roid cammo, that made your ship's hull 'roid textured.

Discuss.

There you go Leb's.
Didn't fix the grammar but its readable now.
Feb 10, 2006 who? me? link
I thonk that this is a winderfil idean. After all, wouldm't the peipill who are amvusjing want to be hudden as much as posssinlw? The m ass stats are about clrekt in mu oponin.
i think thoug thats their shoyld be morw cargp rpom in the stelth ship whish we all ciuld fly aroums
Feb 10, 2006 Doukutsu link
Ok thats just cruel. Now back to the discussion...
Feb 10, 2006 Dr. Lecter link
Oh Yes++ to this one... that much new content alone would make it worth playing again
Feb 10, 2006 Chikira link
... ABSOLUTELY NOT! it' will give Dr.lecter more ways to do his dasterdly deeds.
Feb 10, 2006 Lord Q link
thanks for the help BoxCarRacer.

who? me?,
lol, the sad part is i can actualy read your post reasonably well

Chikira,
is there by any chance a perticular aspect of the stelth ship i perposed that you object to or is it the idea a a whole.
Feb 11, 2006 rothgar link
i dont think that one large weapon slot is going to cut it. how about a unique weapon for that ship specificaly like a weapon that would take no time traveling to get to its target and it would take one realy long time to recharge, but it would do a huge amount of damage to the target ship.
Feb 11, 2006 mgl_mouser link
It'd ben kind of funny to see that asteroid radar blip moving toward you.

It would still be a give off for the "trained eye".

If you want stealth, it shouldn't even show on radar until, say, half normal radar distance.

And there should be a S or L port tradeoff. Perhaps this could be an equipped port thing you buy.
Feb 11, 2006 LeberMac link
Yep. An "other" equipment thingy. Good idea, Q. And thanks, boxcar - instead of playing thread necromancer, could you just "Shadow" Lord Q on the boards and correct his grammar & spelling? Heh.

I'd love stealth ships. /me has flashbacks to his life as Ory'Hara...
Feb 11, 2006 Shapenaji link
Rothgar: an Lport is plenty...
Feb 11, 2006 Dihelical Synthesis link
dimming the player name in the sector list seems a bit overkill... would make the ship far too superrior to anything else ingame. I think the grey radar dot is a good idea though... would prevent you from targeting with a hostile mark too, making them dangerous in combat.

Also, I think the Vulture should be the ship... seriously. Backstory-wise, and image-wise, it's perfect... have a special varient of the vulture with this capability, but make it REALLY, REALLY expensive, and Exceedingly hard to get - it should be a novelty, not a staple combat ship... reserved for special occasions which are worth the high risk of losing it.

The 2-S port layout is also more appropriate on a stealth ship than one L... L port weapons are for heavy assault and defense, not infiltration... Heck, to keep it from being overused, maybe even cut it down to one S-port, or require that one of the 2 S-ports is used to provide the stealth ability.
Feb 11, 2006 Ghost link
It's a neat idea, but in order to keep it from being an uber ship, it should have to rely upon its stealth abilities to win a fight. In other words, it should not be a superior combat ship. So not a lot of armor, maybe the manuverability of a vulture. 2 small ports would be good.

Instead of having the player name constantly dimmed in the sector list, why not give it a special ability to do so. Something that uses a significant ammount of battery power, but once engaged makes you untargetable.
Feb 11, 2006 Dr. Lecter link
(1) Single L port allows the mounting of the mega-posi, which is probably the only thing this ship would want to mount. The only other weapon which could achieve overwhelming force would be a tube of jacks (screamers have that pesky energy drain). Conversely, an s port set up isn't going to allow you to kill your target before it whips around and beats your lightly armored ass to death, or just runs off (note the low top turbo speed on the SS).

(2) Dimmed name at normal range would be important for avoiding detection when camping things like ore deposits, item exchanges, etc. These aren't ships we'll see flying around B-8 much, but rather in isolated areas (hell, most of VO is a target-sparse area); having the name not be dimmed within 3000m is a sure way to make the stealth nature useless.

(3) However, I think it should clearly be targetable once detected with the eyeball, just like a roid or cargo. Hell, it would show up on a sensor sweep using the targetNext key, just like a roid or cargo. Mainly, it's important that once targeted, autoaim can be used on the stealth ship. I'd suggest a false targeted name or something as an upgrade, that allows the SS to avoid being so labeled when targeted, so it would be harder to find in a section search but no harder to kill in an upfront fight.

(4) Armor should be light, like a cent (the price of stealth is less effective hull plating). Frame is harder to say: I find a hog more aesthetically pleasing than a vult, but more relevant, the Hog frame lends itself to a 1L port ship more readily, I think. Also, the hog is again easier to hit once in the open.

(5) Finally, I think the stats generally look good. I'd rather see a 110-120 turbo speed, but nothing more. This critter should not be a sneak and annoy Arolte special; it engages, it stays. I like the 45 drain, a lot. Lets you mount the heavy batt for your longer initial attack (especially nice with mega posi) but doesn't have the annoyance of turbo drain. Also great for that 100m/s attack rush w/o losing your firepower. Roid texture camo would be nice indeed... or just some shit brown on the color palette.

(6) Ooo, one more thing. As long as we're on wishlist items, I might as well say it. Mega posi, while probably the best stealth ship weapon currently in game, isn't what this thing should mount. Three words: Large Port Rail. No clue about stats or how to get it (standard L port rail available at Stealth Ship levels; subsequent Mks available at 25, 100, 500 PKs with the Stealth Ship, like BusHunter, maybe). But that would again look more Hog like: ship built around a giant rail gun, basically.
Feb 11, 2006 Lord Q link
>It'd ben kind of funny to see that asteroid radar blip moving toward you.
>
>It would still be a give off for the "trained eye".

actualy i think you'd be suprides how often players just ignore those dull-grey radar blips. anyway that's the point. the ship is easy to finde if you know how, and take the time to try. however most of the time prople aren't going to be searching for stealthy ships.

Ghost,
i have to disagree, i'd like to see it be a decent (say hog-vult level) combat ship even without it's stealth ability, if used and equipped properly. However it wouln't be an unbalanced ship in that even an EC-88 can out-run it and 1L while good for an ambush isn't that much firepower in a fair dogfight.

to be honest i wanted to sugest a 2L port ship (for 2 mega-posies) but i'm not sure i'm comfertable with the posability of it having 2 swarm tubes.
Feb 11, 2006 Dr. Lecter link
This particular ship might be a good one to see if *less* player-configurability would be workable. A stealth ship armed with two unremovable mega posis would be ideal. Devs?
Feb 11, 2006 ArAsH link
This one:

http://images.vendetta-online.com/extras/luis1.jpg

looks like the ideal candidate for stealth to me.
Feb 11, 2006 Dr. Lecter link
Looks damn good to me... could be a little more menacing looking.
Feb 12, 2006 mgl_mouser link
I kinda think of that Luis1 ship as the TPG Dart ship I proposed once. That's why I proposed "Arrow" as name previously until we find out what's the intent on that ship.

Say, I have another idea for stealth.

How about one mounts a L-port thingy and selects a wing man. Shooting that "radar disruptor" on that wing man essentially camos that ship. Range, about 1500m. perhaps less. So the idea is that two ships are required. The attacker moves up front while wingman follow, camouflaging the attacker upfront.

The target will eventually see the wingman on radar but not the attacker. until wingman runs out of battery of course.