Forums » Suggestions
Balance and cargo capacity
With all the talk about balance I just want to toss out a quick addition to the concepts. At present the light fighters have all the advantages in combat, and are still mostly useful for piracy and CtC.
I say, limit all light fighter style craft to between 0 and 2 cargo. this list includes the following ships IMO
Vulture
Centurion
Valkarie
Medium size fighter ships such as the hornet and warthog should have no more than 10 cargo capacity.
On the other end, we could bump up the trader ships, (atlas centuar marauder) by 5-10 each.
This would do several things, it would require more teamwork for pirating/CtC; It would provide a real incentive to use more of the medium ships; and it would give the traders a slight boost in profit margins, maybe allowing them to hire an escort.
I say, limit all light fighter style craft to between 0 and 2 cargo. this list includes the following ships IMO
Vulture
Centurion
Valkarie
Medium size fighter ships such as the hornet and warthog should have no more than 10 cargo capacity.
On the other end, we could bump up the trader ships, (atlas centuar marauder) by 5-10 each.
This would do several things, it would require more teamwork for pirating/CtC; It would provide a real incentive to use more of the medium ships; and it would give the traders a slight boost in profit margins, maybe allowing them to hire an escort.
Errr...Hmmmm...I see where you want to go with this, but...
At present, cargo capacity has almost no effect on balance one way or the other.
In the long term, I've always wondered as new things get added to the game whether the Marauder's extreme and inexplicable cargo capacity would present a series balance issue. Adding even more cargo capacity to it worries me.
In practical terms, the cargo capacity of a ship should be proportional to its volume minus a factor proportional to its agility and a factor proportional to its firepower and (probably) some constant value that represented ship's lifesupport and other required features. We could probably come up with an equation if we really wanted. Whatever equation we came up with, the Maruader would be a point lying well above the line. The Maruader's cargo capacity is every bit as 'magical' as the Valk's high hull points.
I'd be very worried about reducing any ship's cargo capacity below 2-3 in case in the future we wanted to make available to players options that used that 'extra' space. Just because cargo space has no effect on combat ability now doesn't mean it always would.
At present, cargo capacity has almost no effect on balance one way or the other.
In the long term, I've always wondered as new things get added to the game whether the Marauder's extreme and inexplicable cargo capacity would present a series balance issue. Adding even more cargo capacity to it worries me.
In practical terms, the cargo capacity of a ship should be proportional to its volume minus a factor proportional to its agility and a factor proportional to its firepower and (probably) some constant value that represented ship's lifesupport and other required features. We could probably come up with an equation if we really wanted. Whatever equation we came up with, the Maruader would be a point lying well above the line. The Maruader's cargo capacity is every bit as 'magical' as the Valk's high hull points.
I'd be very worried about reducing any ship's cargo capacity below 2-3 in case in the future we wanted to make available to players options that used that 'extra' space. Just because cargo space has no effect on combat ability now doesn't mean it always would.
If you add cargo space to the Marauder, it needs a large mass hit too.
it will get a mass hit when you put cargo in it.
The light fighters have too much cargo space IMO. adding cargo to the maud isnt the main idea of the post. even if the cargo ships are left alone, lowering the cargo of the light fighters needs done.
Celebrim, You have a point, but i personally dont ever see the cargo slots being used in such a way as to make combat more effective.
The light fighters have too much cargo space IMO. adding cargo to the maud isnt the main idea of the post. even if the cargo ships are left alone, lowering the cargo of the light fighters needs done.
Celebrim, You have a point, but i personally dont ever see the cargo slots being used in such a way as to make combat more effective.
my impression based on screenshots and concept art is that unlike other cargo vessels (which carry their cargo internally, in a hold), the Marauder is a tug that pulls a string of external cargo modules. thus ship volume is not related to cargo capacity in this case.
not that this is particularly relevant to anything practical.
not that this is particularly relevant to anything practical.
oh, I just have to chime in with agreement here.
Yes, Celebrim has a point, however, its easy to just re-add a few slots of cargo to the ships once we reach that time, rather than the other way around.
As for the Maud, I'm not sure how much work it'd be to make it even longer+larger (extend the cargo part) if it was to carry more, perhaps not as much as a completely new one? This would make the larger mauds a larger target area , and give them different flight-characteristics.
Yes, Celebrim has a point, however, its easy to just re-add a few slots of cargo to the ships once we reach that time, rather than the other way around.
As for the Maud, I'm not sure how much work it'd be to make it even longer+larger (extend the cargo part) if it was to carry more, perhaps not as much as a completely new one? This would make the larger mauds a larger target area , and give them different flight-characteristics.
I wonder if you could digitally strap another cargo box or two onto the back of the maud we allready have.
Actually, that is exactly what I would like to see. The maud, completely unloaded should appear without ANY cargo modules and should be a highly light and maneuverable ship. As cargo is picked up, cargo modules should be added. It would help pirates, as they would know when a maud was empty (hrm, maybe not such a good idea - oh well, at least they would know I wasn't bluffing when I said I was empty.)
A suggestion I just posted about batteries and such would relate to this one, as having weapons and batteries take up space would make cargo capacity affect balance.