Forums » Suggestions

Defensive Systems

Oct 03, 2004 WingC3 link
Having played for a few days now, it is somewhat frustrating to me that there are no energy based defensive systems i.e: shields. Everytime you get hit by anything it's permanent hull damage that u have to go and get repaired. This is very frustrating especially in ion storms where a single hit can ruin your day. I feel very strongly that there should be some type of regenerating defensive system that can be purchased and mounted on a ship. Take a look at Freelancer or it's long ago predecessor Privateer for an example of what I mean.
Oct 03, 2004 Suricata link
If you look at the storyline release, shields are mentioned. I believe one of the devs mentioned they will become available to players with certain lvl's and faction ratings some time in the nearish furture, also known as soon(tm) :-)
Oct 03, 2004 Spellcast link
at sometime in the future maybe, but i dont think it wil be nearish
Oct 04, 2004 mr_spuck link
Hmm ... the first half of freespace was fun. Even without shields. :P
Oct 04, 2004 Animalist link
It would seem to me that sheilds should be on every ship.As a new player it is had to level without them.And targeting could be inproved
Oct 04, 2004 Panzerbox link
even if it would add only a hit or two more it would sure be nice! (this TT remembers his best combats skills: supercharging and recharging sheilds) ^_^
Oct 05, 2004 Gazneth link
Additionally, shielding would help ease the combat leveling curve that has been complained about by allowing people to rest without going back to a station between fights. Additionally, it would cut down on the downtime generated by needing constant, and annoying, repairs.
Oct 05, 2004 roguelazer link
Some light shields COULD be nice. I know that I've never been much of a proponent of shields. But I've been thinking, and I think that a 1000hp shield which recharged at a rate of, say, 20hp/second could do good things. I don't know, though. Devs, can you page Celebrim please?
Oct 05, 2004 Senji link
After reading every word of the backstory, some type of shielding does make sense, although maybe not for ALL players.
Oct 05, 2004 Magus link
Speaking of Celebrim, where did he go? Without him, who is going to lecture us about the cruciality of balance and direction?
Oct 05, 2004 roguelazer link
I dunno, but we really do need him to make anothe 40-page post to tell these n00bs a thing or three.
Oct 05, 2004 Phaserlight link
I don't buy the "shielding will make leveling easier" argument. The devs have already balanced the ships to their liking, adding shields will just cause everything to get rebalanced, probably knocking armor points off of all existing ship models. How are shields any different from just adding more armor? What would they contribute in terms of gameplay?
Oct 05, 2004 Hoax link
The key difference is that a shield would take a hit, but recharge itself without one having to dock and repair. If people only take one hit, no big deal their shield will absorb it and recharge over time. If they take enough hits to completely drain their shield then their hull begins taking permanent dammage.

The advantage is it acts as a bit of a buffer between you and MINOR mishaps, but doesn't offer much more help against a sustained onslaught.

I'm not sure I'd like shields to be readily available but I wouldn't mind seeing them as a higher level thingy.
Oct 05, 2004 octopusfluff link
I'm reminded of Terminus' shields, which would actually -attract- some types of shots, meaning they were advantageous in some situations, but liabilities in others.

It's possible that some types of defensive widgets could not just be ineffective against some types of strategies, but actually a negative factor, making you more vulnerable to certain things.

I do agree, tho, that minor damage cannot somehow be shrugged off is a vague annoyance; the difference between true structural damage and 'minor nicks and scrapes' is one that'd be nice to have.. But as previously stated, there's vastly more important things to address for now. This is a 'it would sure be nice' sort of thing.
Oct 06, 2004 roguelazer link
Or you could go for something like armor, like Celebrim suggested long ago. IE: Energy armor would absorb 20% of the damage of energy weapons, so a 800dmg graviton shot would only do 640 dmg, but a rocket would still do full damage.
Oct 06, 2004 Gazneth link
Another possibility instead of shields would be "repair bots" of sorts, something that will allow a slow repair rate (haven't played enough to give exact numbers) to heal minor damage, but something that would be easily overwhelmed under a sustained attack.
Oct 06, 2004 Hoax link
R2 see if you can lock down that stabalizer...

beep-beep, whir, beep
Oct 06, 2004 Magus link
Rogue: No no no! That was my suggestion! Back on my ancient account.

http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/2258