Forums » Suggestions

mining cap ship

12»
Apr 20, 2008 ryan reign link
the title says it all really. it just seems that the three nations...(or at least UIT and Itani...Serco and Corvus, would probably just launch raids)...would have a few cap ships, still armed for defense but primarily decked out with various mining beams. it just makes sense, large ship...ample cargo space, defensive capabilities...maybe keep a couple vultures or nation ships in the hanger in case of raids.

it could be a whole new ship or just one of the cappies we currently have.

it could lead to new escort missions, economic disruption missions, mining missions/mining badges, rescue mission...(damaged by hive), give pirates something challenging/profitable to do...etc...etc...
Apr 23, 2008 spine link
This is something I would really like to see to. (Particularly a pilotable version ;P)

Spine
Apr 23, 2008 Peter rabbit link
2 things on cap ship mining:

1. Cap ships have to be able to dock to deliver minerals to a station

2. Could there be more mining vessels docked in the cappie, come out to mine the roid, hide back in the cappie when under attack, and get a free ride. They would be grouped, so the mining beams work in phase.
Apr 23, 2008 missioncreek2 link
Great idea. From the pirate perspective I would love to organize a pirate strike on a lone cappi. Please fill it with sedina chocolates too!
Apr 23, 2008 Peter rabbit link
roids don't give out Sedina chocolates, its a mining vessel
Apr 23, 2008 speeker02 link
Or perhaps the capship itself doesn't mine - its just a platform for smaller cargo haulers - or maybe even three different kinds of ships

1) Vultures for prospecting
2) Centaurs or Mauds for mining (and dumping in space)
3) A Moth or two for flying around to pick stuff up that gets dropped.
4)A couple armed guards to catch any attackers

Potential missions from a setup like this:
1)Take any one of the mining roles
2)Take a mission from a hostile faction to go disrupt a mining expedition
3)Take a mission to defend a mining expedition (An attack doesn't always need to occur, and could be NPCs or PCs)
Apr 24, 2008 Fnugget link
Cappy with mining lasers is absurd. Efficiency with mining beams at that long of a distance should be total fail, and also cappy cant get into dense fields.

Having the ships docked within to do it seems more reasonable, as per speeker's suggestion. Think of this like a real navy. You aren't going to send a super tanker right up next to an oil rig.
Apr 24, 2008 Dr. Lecter link
Cappy with mining lasers is absurd. Efficiency with mining beams at that long of a distance should be total fail

Who says they have to all be spread around? A cluster of beams would be positioned in the forward area of the ship. Either you'd bring them all to bear at once on the piece of rock to be blasted into the massive cargo hold, or you'd get nothing. Rewards good cappie piloting. Which brings me to my next point.

and also cappy cant get into dense fields.


O'RLY?! I think what you mean to say is that "Cappie cannot easily or safely get into dense fields." Again, reward for skill and risk taking. If you pilot your mining Connie into Helios A-5 to strip mine the cluster there, one blip of rock at a time, then you should be rewarded for the effort required to bring the ship to bear on those rocks, as well as for the risk you're taking getting that thing stranded like a pinball stuck in the rebound bumpers should it be attacked.
Apr 24, 2008 ryan reign link
wow...I had an idea Lecter actually likes? feeling a little dizzy now.

also...I like the expanded idea of having it have the other ships for mining, but might I suggest...several Rags with 5 mining beams (jettisoning as the hold fills, and then several moths to pick up the cargo.

OR...

the mining beams for a cap ship could have a longer range so that the ship could settle in above a field and aim down.
as for the saftey issues, I've seen fields with large enough gaps. then again...there are also asteroid rings large enough (several sectors)...that a cappie could easily slide up along side.
Apr 24, 2008 blacknet link
Well if it's a chocolate roid in sedina then it could yield sedina chocolates.

Ed
Apr 24, 2008 toshiro link
I think the idea merits approval.

As for the capital ship being able to move in and out of dense(r) asteroid patches: Ice breaker ships have specifically designed bodies for that, with interesting armour specs and such. Why should there not be a capital ship with armour as thick as a moth is long? Of course you wouldn't be able to repeatedly run into roids headlong without taking damage (the repairing of which would cost you tons, since that armor isn't cheap, and the engineer at the nearest station is going to give you such a look, didn't know any better than to smear bots against roids again, didn't you, and this'll cost you extra).
Apr 24, 2008 iry link
Mining platform Idea
Incapable of jumping, it has the ability to move (slowly) but it can't jump to another sector. It would need a tugboat type ship to move it between sectors/systems, the tug itself would be completely unarmed and able to move up to 2 platforms at a time. The tug's self defense would rely on the turrets of any platforms it happens to be tugging at the time.

Mining platform

Roughly cone shaped with a chopped off tip for the engine, and a hole bored into the bottom center giving it the ability to attach itself to a tug.

~90 meters in diameter and about 30 meters tall, the hole about 15 meters in diameter. (A behemoth is 34 meters long)

4 turrets evenly spaced on its slanted sides giving full coverage from above, while leaving the bottom completely blind and defenseless. With the engine on the flattened tip the turrets would always be facing the rear when the platform's pilots decided to move. The bottom is supposed to be defenseless as that's where the astroid being mined should be.

The bottom flat area would mount several mining beams (a dozen or so?)
Large cargo hold (800 - 1200 cu?).
Limited shielding, 5,000 recharge with a 30,000 max capacity.
Queen range armor, about 300,000.
0m/s non turbo speed
50m/s turbo speed

Tug - Have a cargo space equal to whatever one platform can hold allowing it to ferry minerals from deployed platforms to a nearby station. Also can be used as a trade ship with limited upgradeability. 1000ish cu in the tug, then another 1000 or so cu for each docked platform. The tug could even be roughly dock sized allowing it to enter and leave stations like a standard ship.

200,000 armor
Cargo Space equal to one platform
No weapons
25m/s non turbo speed
75m/s turbo speed

Docking clamp for one platform on the left and right side, giving the pilot a sort of tunnel vision effect when 2 platforms are attached.
Apr 24, 2008 Dr. Lecter link
wow...I had an idea Lecter actually likes? feeling a little dizzy now.

Wake up and smell the institutional memory, reign. I (and probably some others) have been advocating for a mining scow for years.
Apr 24, 2008 ryan reign link
let me geuss..."coming SOON"?
Apr 24, 2008 Peter rabbit link
/me noticed how lecter didn't praise the idea until some1 said something bad, so he can do it with the excuse of getting on his tail.
Apr 24, 2008 Dr. Lecter link
Sanctum Piter oteum, Deus ore uneum.

Hippitus hoppitus reus homine.
In suspiratoreum, lepus in re sanctum.
Hippitus hoppitus Deus Domine.


Why would I praise an idea long since submitted, submitted again, submitted some more, and probably submitted a few extra times over... and continually ignored? But, if someone is dumb enough to say "they shouldn't implement it," rather than "it doesn't matter if it's a good idea, because this is VO and progress is a total myth," then yes, I will correct them.
Apr 25, 2008 ryan reign link
"...and I speak Latin because I'm a pompous ass."
Dr. House

progress is coming "SOON" the Devs said it is. All hands stand by for the arrival of soon.
Apr 25, 2008 Shadoen link
And I've yet to find a reliable translation to that poem.
Apr 25, 2008 ryan reign link
I havent either...
Apr 25, 2008 iry link