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On Capital Ships
ANOTHER topic? I'm on a roll!
After some deliberation with my peers, I have come to the conclusion that the current armaments of capital ships is somewhat askew. Not only by merit of the weapons themselves, but the placement thereof.
First off, the Trident:
With only four turrets, it lags far behind its contemporaries in terms of firepower. Although some of this could be blamed on the craft's advanced age, the discrepancy seems a little extreme.
Furthermore, the turret arrangement is aligned mostly for fighting targets to the immediate rear, for the most part. While this is an understandable set-up for the convoy variants of the craft, as they are defending against pursuing pirates, it makes little sense on a dedicated military craft, like the Tridents deployed in border skirmish. A better configuration, even with just the for turrets it has, would be to place them on the outer wings, near or on the engines, for a wider field of fire.
Also, given the military variant's usage of swarms, it would seem that it is trying to fill the role of an anti-fighter gun-ship. This is good, since that particular niche would otherwise be unfilled. What is bad is that a fighter pilot can solo the Trident will little to no effort in its current configuration!
Second, the HAC:
The Heavy Attack Cruiser is the closest thing to a carrier we have, and it ought to play the role. Instead, it behaves more like a very large (and particularly unwieldily) jack of all trades, master of none.
First of all, its positioning of turrets is somewhat insufficient. Its firepower is spread thin across the hull, and has numerous blind spots, which is not ideal for a defensive set-up. Although it is intended by design that its fighters deal out most of its firepower, it seldom lasts long enough to be cost-effective. Additional point-defense gauss guns, better placement, and perhaps even a few short-range anti-capital guns (plasma devastators?) would help the ship last longer. And more dedicated NPC fighters wouldn't hurt either.
Third, the Constellation:
To be perfectly blunt, the Connie doesn't make much sense at all.
For a ship dedicated cargo ship, it has a ridiculously small cargo bay, especially for a ship of its size; Its slow as molasses; and, to top it all off, it lacks the firepower or the armor to be a secure transport.
Why bother with one of these monstrosities when a convoy of Behemoths or Tridents would be, by orders of magnitude, cheaper, faster, and safer? Improving any one of these things would solve the issue, but, frankly, I'd prefer a larger cargo hold. Its a bulk freighter, and it ought to act like one.
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Now, you might ask yourself at this stage, "What about the Terradon?". Well, frankly, reports seem to indicate that, in a rare turn of events, the ship actually fits its role like a glove, and performs admirably as a capital-ship buster. You, however, may add any complaints you care to think of, as well as any comments, thoughts, or criticisms on my earlier statements.
Dig in.
After some deliberation with my peers, I have come to the conclusion that the current armaments of capital ships is somewhat askew. Not only by merit of the weapons themselves, but the placement thereof.
First off, the Trident:
With only four turrets, it lags far behind its contemporaries in terms of firepower. Although some of this could be blamed on the craft's advanced age, the discrepancy seems a little extreme.
Furthermore, the turret arrangement is aligned mostly for fighting targets to the immediate rear, for the most part. While this is an understandable set-up for the convoy variants of the craft, as they are defending against pursuing pirates, it makes little sense on a dedicated military craft, like the Tridents deployed in border skirmish. A better configuration, even with just the for turrets it has, would be to place them on the outer wings, near or on the engines, for a wider field of fire.
Also, given the military variant's usage of swarms, it would seem that it is trying to fill the role of an anti-fighter gun-ship. This is good, since that particular niche would otherwise be unfilled. What is bad is that a fighter pilot can solo the Trident will little to no effort in its current configuration!
Second, the HAC:
The Heavy Attack Cruiser is the closest thing to a carrier we have, and it ought to play the role. Instead, it behaves more like a very large (and particularly unwieldily) jack of all trades, master of none.
First of all, its positioning of turrets is somewhat insufficient. Its firepower is spread thin across the hull, and has numerous blind spots, which is not ideal for a defensive set-up. Although it is intended by design that its fighters deal out most of its firepower, it seldom lasts long enough to be cost-effective. Additional point-defense gauss guns, better placement, and perhaps even a few short-range anti-capital guns (plasma devastators?) would help the ship last longer. And more dedicated NPC fighters wouldn't hurt either.
Third, the Constellation:
To be perfectly blunt, the Connie doesn't make much sense at all.
For a ship dedicated cargo ship, it has a ridiculously small cargo bay, especially for a ship of its size; Its slow as molasses; and, to top it all off, it lacks the firepower or the armor to be a secure transport.
Why bother with one of these monstrosities when a convoy of Behemoths or Tridents would be, by orders of magnitude, cheaper, faster, and safer? Improving any one of these things would solve the issue, but, frankly, I'd prefer a larger cargo hold. Its a bulk freighter, and it ought to act like one.
=
Now, you might ask yourself at this stage, "What about the Terradon?". Well, frankly, reports seem to indicate that, in a rare turn of events, the ship actually fits its role like a glove, and performs admirably as a capital-ship buster. You, however, may add any complaints you care to think of, as well as any comments, thoughts, or criticisms on my earlier statements.
Dig in.
Okay, a summary of current capital ships.
The Trident, something like a frigate, not fast, not strong, but decent for its size. I agree that the Trident needs a overhaul with its current turret configuration to give it a wider range of fire. Say 2 to 4 smaller turrets with jacks and AGT for light fighters? Maybe even make these the torpedo boats of VO. I would certainly like to see capships doing heavy broadside battles.
The Terradon, the destroyer, as said above it's perfect in the sense of being the capship buster.
The Heavy Assault Cruiser, looks like it could be a carrier, I like the above ideas for new turret configuration and a near dedicated fighter escort. But if it is to resemble a carrier it needs more anti-fighter turrets with a better field of fire and maybe a few heavy guns to fend off the slower attackers that can pack a punch like Rags.
The Constellation aka the Connie, it's a freighter, why the heck is it being used as a combat vessel in the first place? Sure it needs defenses like shields and turrets but it doesn't belong in Border Skirmish, it belongs in the trade lanes. And about the cargo, I think the whole scale thing with ships, stations, and cargo containers all need to be looked over again to make it look like it all fits and not just spout out random numbers that sound good.
But one thing that 'grinds my gears' is the lack of diversity. I know there isn't enough manpower to pump out new designs but eventually each nation/faction needs their own variant of capital ship so it doesn't look like they're all buying it from the galactic wal-mart.
The Trident, something like a frigate, not fast, not strong, but decent for its size. I agree that the Trident needs a overhaul with its current turret configuration to give it a wider range of fire. Say 2 to 4 smaller turrets with jacks and AGT for light fighters? Maybe even make these the torpedo boats of VO. I would certainly like to see capships doing heavy broadside battles.
The Terradon, the destroyer, as said above it's perfect in the sense of being the capship buster.
The Heavy Assault Cruiser, looks like it could be a carrier, I like the above ideas for new turret configuration and a near dedicated fighter escort. But if it is to resemble a carrier it needs more anti-fighter turrets with a better field of fire and maybe a few heavy guns to fend off the slower attackers that can pack a punch like Rags.
The Constellation aka the Connie, it's a freighter, why the heck is it being used as a combat vessel in the first place? Sure it needs defenses like shields and turrets but it doesn't belong in Border Skirmish, it belongs in the trade lanes. And about the cargo, I think the whole scale thing with ships, stations, and cargo containers all need to be looked over again to make it look like it all fits and not just spout out random numbers that sound good.
But one thing that 'grinds my gears' is the lack of diversity. I know there isn't enough manpower to pump out new designs but eventually each nation/faction needs their own variant of capital ship so it doesn't look like they're all buying it from the galactic wal-mart.
Wow, this is a good and original capship thread. I am impressed.
Anyway, I agree with most of the content, just would like to add a bit.
If indeed the Trident in BS is meant to fill an anti-fighter role, the missiles need to move faster or be more agile. Perhaps even both. Right now, along with the refire rate, the missiles are largely ineffective against any fighter craft that's moving and a decent clip.
The Teradon is perfect where it is.
The name and shape of the HAC suggests it's not a carrier by trade, the docking bay is too small, it's lightly defended against anti-fighter attacks, there's only entrance and exit docking bay, etc. I'd imagine that the HAC is actually designed to take down other, larger capital ships as well as large manned outposts(Smaller than a station. Think an orbital refinery, gun emplacement, or ship construction dock) rather than providing fighter support for a fleet. Unfortunately, there are no larger capital ships or large manned outposts that are conquerable at this time, so the HAC is sort of shoved into the carrier configuration, even though it's not really good at it. I would rather not the HAC be turned into a carrier before it can actually pursue its combat role, which is quite essential. Perhaps for now equipping it with some better anti-fighter weapons is enough for the interim.
Why wouldn't a Constellation be on a battlefield. Certainly, it should be quite a distance away from the battle itself, but a Constellation would be essential for prolonged operations as a supply ship. The configuration of the docking bay on the Constellation suggest it was designed with at least a bit of military use in mind, for now the Const is a great ship for fielding fighter repairs and reloads, and in the future I can see the Constellation being essential to any campaign.
Unfortunately, the AI is dumb and just sends the Const into combat, where it really doesn't belong.
A thing that sort of bugged me about capships is that they all move at roughly the same pace. I'm not entirely sure how a Teradon is not faster than a Constellation, but watching my nation's Teradon chase an enemy Constellation into oblivion was slightly annoying; it's sort of like a Vulture going at exactly the same speed as a Behemoth in that regard.
Anyway, I agree with most of the content, just would like to add a bit.
If indeed the Trident in BS is meant to fill an anti-fighter role, the missiles need to move faster or be more agile. Perhaps even both. Right now, along with the refire rate, the missiles are largely ineffective against any fighter craft that's moving and a decent clip.
The Teradon is perfect where it is.
The name and shape of the HAC suggests it's not a carrier by trade, the docking bay is too small, it's lightly defended against anti-fighter attacks, there's only entrance and exit docking bay, etc. I'd imagine that the HAC is actually designed to take down other, larger capital ships as well as large manned outposts(Smaller than a station. Think an orbital refinery, gun emplacement, or ship construction dock) rather than providing fighter support for a fleet. Unfortunately, there are no larger capital ships or large manned outposts that are conquerable at this time, so the HAC is sort of shoved into the carrier configuration, even though it's not really good at it. I would rather not the HAC be turned into a carrier before it can actually pursue its combat role, which is quite essential. Perhaps for now equipping it with some better anti-fighter weapons is enough for the interim.
Why wouldn't a Constellation be on a battlefield. Certainly, it should be quite a distance away from the battle itself, but a Constellation would be essential for prolonged operations as a supply ship. The configuration of the docking bay on the Constellation suggest it was designed with at least a bit of military use in mind, for now the Const is a great ship for fielding fighter repairs and reloads, and in the future I can see the Constellation being essential to any campaign.
Unfortunately, the AI is dumb and just sends the Const into combat, where it really doesn't belong.
A thing that sort of bugged me about capships is that they all move at roughly the same pace. I'm not entirely sure how a Teradon is not faster than a Constellation, but watching my nation's Teradon chase an enemy Constellation into oblivion was slightly annoying; it's sort of like a Vulture going at exactly the same speed as a Behemoth in that regard.
Yes.
Some of this shouldn't take forever and a day to fix (
)
Some of this shouldn't take forever and a day to fix (
)