First off, let me say that these could be used as a way to 'siege' an area if used in masse. But that aside, this is the most 'compatible' idea I have been able to see.

These platforms should be race specific and should be available only on mining stations and home planet stations ( Sol II, Itan, Dau, and one in extra at Sedina ). Buying and selling should only be available at your races stations. If possible, each station could keep an "inventory" of the ships sold to it so they can be resold.

If this is possible, then they should have mining guns that cannot be removed in the large ports and a scanner in a small port (non-removable) also. Generally speaking, they should not be easily maneuverable. Cruising speed should be slow to reach and top speed hard to hit due to the cargo. Serco ships would have a better speed ( +5 ), Itan ships would have better Armor ( +750 ), and UIT ships would have better mining speeds ( +1 ), and Gray space ships would have better maneuvering ( +15 ).
I suggest the following:

MiningSkill = 05 - Basic Mining Ribbon = 2
Cargo - 200
Small Ports - 1
Large Ports - 2
Cruise - 40
Top - 100

MiningSkill = 07 - Basic Mining Ribbon = 2
Cargo - 250
Small Ports - 2
Large Ports - 4
Cruise - 50
Top - 110

MiningSkill = 09 - Basic Mining Ribbon = 3
Cargo - 300
Small Ports - 3
Large Ports - 6
Cruise - 60
Top - 120

MiningSkill = 11 - Basic Mining Ribbon = 3
Cargo - 450
Small Ports - 4
Large Ports - 7 . . . <- 8 if hard coded guns
Cruise - 70
Top - 130

MiningSkill = 12 - Basic Mining Ribbon = 3
Cargo - 600
Small Ports - 5
Large Ports - 8 . . . <- 10 if hard coded guns
Cruise - 80
Top - 140

submitted for your inspection...

Regardless of how possible this is or isn't. I think that the Serco and Itani bonuses should be switched.

If mining beams are eventually lowered in Power Grid usage (to, say, 0.5), then this could be simulated by having a ship with 6 L ports and a 3.0 power grid availability...

Or a merchant powercell line meant for miners / traders.

Trader
High recharge / low capacity / low grid / high mass
Ex - 60 recharge / 300 capacity / 4 grid / 1000 kg

Miner
Very High Recharge / High Capacity / low grid / very high mass
Ex - 90 recharge / 900 capacity / 7 grid / 3000kg

Maybe even some energy using beams.

Beam type 1 - Extraction rate unaffected by temp but uses energy per second based on the astroid temperature. (Would still heat the astroid)

Beam type 2 - Auto rare ore extractor (will only work on rocks containing said ore) Uses energy per second based on the beam's specialization.

Ex. A Helio auto extract beam would always extract Heliocene even if the rock is .01% but each beam would use say, 20 energy per second. The beam would not function if the rock being mined has no Heliocene.

Beam type 3 - Insane extractor - has incredibly high extraction rate but uses energy based on ore extracted.

Ex. If a crate of say Pentric were extracted using this beam then 18 energy would be used, while extracting a silicate crate would only use up 3 energy.

grey isnt a nation, its just space that no nation owns.

How about, instead of making an entirely new line of ships, we tweak the Mining variants of the ships we have to take advantage of this new power-grid system?

"Beam type 1 - Extraction rate unaffected by temp but uses energy per second based on the astroid temperature. (Would still heat the astroid)"

That's a sweet idea.

I like making the mining variants extremely slow, because then it doesn't unbalance them to have a high recharge rate, and thus super infiniboost.

So, no one is disagrees with the idea. Thats good! Now, if we could get more people to comment on it, maybe it will become a reality.

As a note: I was thinking that it would look like a box. Square from the top and about 3 meters shorter in hight than a 'Moth. It is - after all- a platform.

Even if you don't want to mine, at least give this an approval nod. We really need to build this up like other areas fighting, ships, and missions.

Please post here!

There's alot more that can be done with mining besides making bigger, more powerful ships. This thead discusses
Heated Roids ... exploding, but goes off on a few wacky tangents that involve more than just exploding.

What happens to the mining object has no bearing on the ships development. Ships are still needed to perform the job. They are two different things. Let's keep them that way.
And good luck with your exploding....

Im completely for the idea of mining platforms.
The specs listed were good, but I agree that the Serco and Itani stats should be switched.

Also, on a sidenote referencing the exploding 'roids. I think the platform should be able to almost devoir roids, tearing them apart as their mined, until the heat hits critical mass and it shatters.

There was another, large, slow ship that I had seen on some other archaic thread... It had sketches too and people liked those... I really want that one, this thread depresses me because of that. Just remembered about the miner/bomber...
[/sob]
Like this idea too, though.

I like the idea of there being more mining ships as well, but really the serco and itani bits should be switched... typically the serco have more armor (see- Prom) and the itani have more speed/agility (see- Valk).

Great idea. An easy first release could be to sell the dev 10 port superbus.