Forums » Suggestions
Battery Mass/ Why do we have other batteries than the UC/Heavy?
I let my brother sit down with my account today, to hang out and play a bit, and I noticed something (besides the downright silly 4 wormhole transit in a newbus from Eo to Itan)
Why do we have Light and medium batteries? they're 2 items which serve only a couple of purposes, to make it more difficult for new players to get around and to create the impression "Hey, you're leveling up!"
Most of the things we have, (with the exception of a bunch of lower mark ions and plasmas) are useful in some way later on in the game, I mean, that's the idea after all, grinding in this game shouldn't produce strictly better stuff, just different kinds of stuff.
But really, these batteries don't... and after someone reaches combat lvl 4 (which happens quite quickly), who cares about em?
So, I suggest we take these items, which are already in the system, and tweak them in some way to serve new functions.
It could be as simple as reducing the mass (which has been discussed before I think) for light batteries,
or, it could be a matter of increasing charge rate at the expense of battery power.
Really, I'm open to ideas here, but lets think constructively about how to make these useful and balanced.
The mass idea is a good start, how about this:
Light Battery
Mass: 100 kg
Rech: 40
Energy: 150
Medium Battery
Mass: 400 kg
Rech: 45
Energy: 350
Heavy Battery
Mass: 800 kg
Rech: 45
Energy: 550
Fast Charge
Mass: 900 kg
Rech: 50
Energy: 250
Ultra Charge
Mass: 1000 kg
Rech: 48
Energy: 400
Here I've changed the stats for the Ultra Charge, since it just strikes me as a redundant battery, a superior FC, so why not make it unique, 400 Energy to encourage quadrail users (we could use more of them) but at the cost of a slightly slower recharge rate (I mean, after all, the UC is really a combat battery anyway)
Thoughts or suggestions appreciated
Why do we have Light and medium batteries? they're 2 items which serve only a couple of purposes, to make it more difficult for new players to get around and to create the impression "Hey, you're leveling up!"
Most of the things we have, (with the exception of a bunch of lower mark ions and plasmas) are useful in some way later on in the game, I mean, that's the idea after all, grinding in this game shouldn't produce strictly better stuff, just different kinds of stuff.
But really, these batteries don't... and after someone reaches combat lvl 4 (which happens quite quickly), who cares about em?
So, I suggest we take these items, which are already in the system, and tweak them in some way to serve new functions.
It could be as simple as reducing the mass (which has been discussed before I think) for light batteries,
or, it could be a matter of increasing charge rate at the expense of battery power.
Really, I'm open to ideas here, but lets think constructively about how to make these useful and balanced.
The mass idea is a good start, how about this:
Light Battery
Mass: 100 kg
Rech: 40
Energy: 150
Medium Battery
Mass: 400 kg
Rech: 45
Energy: 350
Heavy Battery
Mass: 800 kg
Rech: 45
Energy: 550
Fast Charge
Mass: 900 kg
Rech: 50
Energy: 250
Ultra Charge
Mass: 1000 kg
Rech: 48
Energy: 400
Here I've changed the stats for the Ultra Charge, since it just strikes me as a redundant battery, a superior FC, so why not make it unique, 400 Energy to encourage quadrail users (we could use more of them) but at the cost of a slightly slower recharge rate (I mean, after all, the UC is really a combat battery anyway)
Thoughts or suggestions appreciated
I use medium sometimes if I know that I'm gonna die a lot.
EDIT: Note, all numbers here are changeable, I just wrote some stuff down off the top of my head, it would need to be tweaked more, but I think this is an eminently reasonable balancing exercise
Alternately, I would love to see separate Energy reserves for turbo/weapons, and batteries could be unique in the way they optimize for ability on the straightaway vs power.
Energy management is an ability that we all develop, and I think that's good, but perhaps an unnecessary skill.
If this had been implemented, the first generation Corvus Vulturious would have been fine, a high speed interceptor that couldn't run far, but could run fast. The problem was that this limited the user to rockets, which couldn't safely be mass-balanced for just this ship.
Create a second energy bar? suddenly energy weapons become more interesting for chasing.
Trader vessels could optimize by having a battery with very little energy (or none perhaps) stored for weapons, but excellent reserves for charging.
Or, perhaps the user could adjust how they want their reserves charged up to some maximum in each, dependent on the battery.
So maybe you could have this:
Battery Prototype A:
Mass: 800 kg
Weapon Energy Reserves: 300 units
Turbo Energy Reserves: 300 units
Max Weapon Energ Rech: 50
Max Turbo Energy Rech: 45
Total Rech to spend: 65
Then combine this with the following ship
Vulturious Prototype A:
Mass: 3800 kg
2 s ports
-Neutron Blaster mk II
-Neutron Blaster mk II
Turbo Thrust: 450
Thrust: 220
Spin Torque: <something>
Turbo Top speed: 250 m/s
Top speed: 70 m/s
Turbo Drain: 60 m/s
So, when this thing gets going, assuming the user allocates all their rech to turbothrust (this would take place in the station, no adjusting the engine on the fly), their Turbo energy drains 15 per second (60-45 max recharge on turbo), which gives them a 20 second turbo. Meanwhile, their energy weapons will charge at only 20 per second, So they'll have some energy to use if they catch up, but it won't help them if they can't catch em.
This makes it clear when a user leaves a station, what role they intend to play, that 20/s recharge makes a pretty rotten dueling recharge, but excellent from the standpoint of a chase.
Furthermore, if they want to get the full recharge to their weapons, they do so at the expense of being able to turbo much at all, turning their craft into exclusively an in-sector fighter.
Alternately, I would love to see separate Energy reserves for turbo/weapons, and batteries could be unique in the way they optimize for ability on the straightaway vs power.
Energy management is an ability that we all develop, and I think that's good, but perhaps an unnecessary skill.
If this had been implemented, the first generation Corvus Vulturious would have been fine, a high speed interceptor that couldn't run far, but could run fast. The problem was that this limited the user to rockets, which couldn't safely be mass-balanced for just this ship.
Create a second energy bar? suddenly energy weapons become more interesting for chasing.
Trader vessels could optimize by having a battery with very little energy (or none perhaps) stored for weapons, but excellent reserves for charging.
Or, perhaps the user could adjust how they want their reserves charged up to some maximum in each, dependent on the battery.
So maybe you could have this:
Battery Prototype A:
Mass: 800 kg
Weapon Energy Reserves: 300 units
Turbo Energy Reserves: 300 units
Max Weapon Energ Rech: 50
Max Turbo Energy Rech: 45
Total Rech to spend: 65
Then combine this with the following ship
Vulturious Prototype A:
Mass: 3800 kg
2 s ports
-Neutron Blaster mk II
-Neutron Blaster mk II
Turbo Thrust: 450
Thrust: 220
Spin Torque: <something>
Turbo Top speed: 250 m/s
Top speed: 70 m/s
Turbo Drain: 60 m/s
So, when this thing gets going, assuming the user allocates all their rech to turbothrust (this would take place in the station, no adjusting the engine on the fly), their Turbo energy drains 15 per second (60-45 max recharge on turbo), which gives them a 20 second turbo. Meanwhile, their energy weapons will charge at only 20 per second, So they'll have some energy to use if they catch up, but it won't help them if they can't catch em.
This makes it clear when a user leaves a station, what role they intend to play, that 20/s recharge makes a pretty rotten dueling recharge, but excellent from the standpoint of a chase.
Furthermore, if they want to get the full recharge to their weapons, they do so at the expense of being able to turbo much at all, turning their craft into exclusively an in-sector fighter.
honestly quad rail stuff is kinda stupid IMO one hit kills in a twitched based mmo don't really fight. I KNOW rails are hard to aim but seriously someone sniping another person at 30 percent heath or something is well kinda lame
I know it has been mentioned before but.... how about dual cells?
One power cell (or a power generator) for propulsion (turbo) and one power cell for powering weapons.
Why am I proposing this?
From my exp. it would be very hard to balance existing power cells with more weight, recharge rates and drain. On the other hand, dual cells option could provide many more layout variants suitable for players needs.
Something like this:
Propulsion power cells:
- light
Energy/recharge/weight: 150/48/100 kg
- medium
Energy/recharge/weight: 200/46/200 kg
- heavy
Energy/recharge/weight: 300/44/400 kg
- ultra heavy
Energy/recharge/weight: 500/40/800 kg
Weapons power cells:
- light (ultra charge) for light energy weapons
Energy/recharge/weight: 200/50/200 kg
- medium (fast charge) for combinations of light and heavy weapons excluding agt
Energy/recharge/weight: 300/45/500 kg
- heavy for agt & rails
Energy/recharge/weight: 500/40/1000 kg
One power cell (or a power generator) for propulsion (turbo) and one power cell for powering weapons.
Why am I proposing this?
From my exp. it would be very hard to balance existing power cells with more weight, recharge rates and drain. On the other hand, dual cells option could provide many more layout variants suitable for players needs.
Something like this:
Propulsion power cells:
- light
Energy/recharge/weight: 150/48/100 kg
- medium
Energy/recharge/weight: 200/46/200 kg
- heavy
Energy/recharge/weight: 300/44/400 kg
- ultra heavy
Energy/recharge/weight: 500/40/800 kg
Weapons power cells:
- light (ultra charge) for light energy weapons
Energy/recharge/weight: 200/50/200 kg
- medium (fast charge) for combinations of light and heavy weapons excluding agt
Energy/recharge/weight: 300/45/500 kg
- heavy for agt & rails
Energy/recharge/weight: 500/40/1000 kg
If peytros has a problem with it, then surely it must be a good idea (/cheapshot).
But seriously, I have to ask: where does the Hive FC fit into all this?
But seriously, I have to ask: where does the Hive FC fit into all this?
I actually see crappy batteries as a good training tool. They force the new player to conserve their fire and only shoot when they think they can hit their target. The government issue loadout can be fired for a very long time, a better ship with proper guns can generate a couple second burst. I think a medium setup, one that requires discretion yet still allows for some spamming to compensate for aim is a good transition.
For great justice!
http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/21151
http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/21151
agreed spidey. Although, when I think about it, I prefer either Bojan's double battery idea or the battery with 2 bars with allocatable recharge idea.
Ultimately, I'd like to see chases with energy actually have energy to spend.
Ultimately, I'd like to see chases with energy actually have energy to spend.
Batteries with pre-allocated
engine(capacity)/weapons(capacity) weight cost
distributions along the lines of
10(100)/10(500) 600kg 35,000c
10(200)/20(500) 700kg 15,000c
10(300)/30(500) 800kg 10,000c
10(400)/40(500) 900kg 15,000c
10(500)/50(500) 1000kg 35,000c
20(100)/10(400) 500kg 10,000c
20(200)/20(400) 600kg 7,000c
20(300)/30(400) 700kg 5,000c
20(400)/40(400) 800kg 7,000c
20(500)/50(400) 900kg 10,000c
30(100)/10(300) 400kg 5,000c
30(200)/20(300) 500kg 4,000c
30(300)/30(300) 600kg 3,500c
30(400)/40(300) 700kg 4,000c
30(500)/50(300) 800kg 5,000c
40(100)/10(200) 300kg 10,000c
40(200)/20(200) 400kg 7,000c
40(300)/30(200) 500kg 5,000c
40(400)/40(200) 600kg 7,000c
40(500)/50(200) 700kg 10,000c
50(100)/10(100) 200kg 35,000c
50(200)/20(100) 300kg 15,000c
50(300)/30(100) 400kg 10,000c
50(400)/40(100) 500kg 15,000c
50(500)/50(100) 600kg 35,000c
?
Obviously adjusted to be balanced, with different stations needing access to more exotic materials to achieve higher charge rates, effectively making them rarer and more expensive in dynamic economy?
engine(capacity)/weapons(capacity) weight cost
distributions along the lines of
10(100)/10(500) 600kg 35,000c
10(200)/20(500) 700kg 15,000c
10(300)/30(500) 800kg 10,000c
10(400)/40(500) 900kg 15,000c
10(500)/50(500) 1000kg 35,000c
20(100)/10(400) 500kg 10,000c
20(200)/20(400) 600kg 7,000c
20(300)/30(400) 700kg 5,000c
20(400)/40(400) 800kg 7,000c
20(500)/50(400) 900kg 10,000c
30(100)/10(300) 400kg 5,000c
30(200)/20(300) 500kg 4,000c
30(300)/30(300) 600kg 3,500c
30(400)/40(300) 700kg 4,000c
30(500)/50(300) 800kg 5,000c
40(100)/10(200) 300kg 10,000c
40(200)/20(200) 400kg 7,000c
40(300)/30(200) 500kg 5,000c
40(400)/40(200) 600kg 7,000c
40(500)/50(200) 700kg 10,000c
50(100)/10(100) 200kg 35,000c
50(200)/20(100) 300kg 15,000c
50(300)/30(100) 400kg 10,000c
50(400)/40(100) 500kg 15,000c
50(500)/50(100) 600kg 35,000c
?
Obviously adjusted to be balanced, with different stations needing access to more exotic materials to achieve higher charge rates, effectively making them rarer and more expensive in dynamic economy?
Roguelazer: I understand there have been prior threads about giving batteries mass, but this was more of a general suggestions thread for making batteries more interesting.. and I think the allocatable recharge is the main idea that I'm proposing at this point.
Antz: I like a lot of those ones! but are the numbers next to the numbers in parentheses the max recharge rates on that portion of the battery? or simply the recharge rate. In other words, are you going with the ability to allocate recharge, from some pool, or is it hardcoded?
Antz: I like a lot of those ones! but are the numbers next to the numbers in parentheses the max recharge rates on that portion of the battery? or simply the recharge rate. In other words, are you going with the ability to allocate recharge, from some pool, or is it hardcoded?
Hardcoded. Chargepool on the left is related to charge rate on the right, and charge pool on the right is inversely proportional to the charge rate on the left. Weight is the sum of charge pools, and cost is exponentially higher towards the extremes making the most extreme batteries 10 times more expensive than the middle (cheapest) one.
It is all quite rough (as in, most of those might unbalance the game) and would need adjusting before it became practical for introduction into the game.
Just allowing the players to set the actual stats on their battery would be acceptable, but hard coded batteries make it beneficial for crafting that might be brought into the game later.
I neither like nor dislike this idea of separating the pools, but if it were to happen I envision something similar to this to be one possibility of doing it.
It is all quite rough (as in, most of those might unbalance the game) and would need adjusting before it became practical for introduction into the game.
Just allowing the players to set the actual stats on their battery would be acceptable, but hard coded batteries make it beneficial for crafting that might be brought into the game later.
I neither like nor dislike this idea of separating the pools, but if it were to happen I envision something similar to this to be one possibility of doing it.