Pre-SysNES2: Beta-testing and Submission

[Disenfrancised]

ShipDesigner2_V11_fix

 

[Thlayli]

So do 1e, 1v, 1m, 1a, etc. all take up the same space in a cargo bay? How much cargo space do armies take up?

I think that needing Cargo Bays to carry specialists around is a bit silly, unless a "Specialist" is actually an abstract for an entire team of people with specialized equipment in tow.

Basic (cheap) planetary defense package which can also be dumped into an enemy's atmosphere:

CSS Marksman

5x Basic Fusion Core
2x Ice Sinks
1x Microwave Beamer
5x Titanium Armour (Refined)

Cost: 53e (24e) / 31m / 33v / 0a / 0t / 24s
Size: 43 / Mass: 51 / HP: 50 / Power: 21 / Heat: -10
IS: 0 / IP: 0 / Range: 0
Init: 0 / Dodge: -100 / Avoid: 0 / Armor: 23 / Shield: 0
Refine: 73e / 18s
EM Damage: 42

CSS Gadfly

2x Deuterium Drive
1x Pulse Drive
1x Mirror Sail
1x Ion Cannon (Refined)

Cost: 29e (13e) / 7m / 9v / 0a / 0t / 15s
Size: 14 / Mass: 10 / HP: 13 / Power: 1 / Heat: 6
IS: 0 / IP: 6 / Range: 0
Init: 0 / Dodge: 6 / Avoid: 0 / Armor: -4 / Shield: 0
Refine: 39e / 10s
Particle Damage: 8

Even without the Marksman bonus, the Gadflies are pretty fast, but with it they zip around at 10+ IP.

 

[Disenfrancised]

So do 1e, 1v, 1m, 1a, etc. all take up the same space in a cargo bay? How much cargo space do armies take up?

v, m, and f take up 1 slot in a cargo bay.
a cannot be carried in cargo bays, only specialist containers.
Each army division takes up 1 slot in a cargo bay.
Each Specialist takes up 1 slot in a cargo bay.
Each Special unit (Prisoners of War, Relics, Data Cores) take up 1 slot in a cargo bay.
e takes up 1/10th of a cargo bay, or 10 to a slot. This compactness is why its the typical medium of exchange.

I think that needing Cargo Bays to carry specialists around is a bit silly, unless a "Specialist" is actually an abstract for an entire team of people with specialized equipment in tow.

Yes. Or did you think it was just one guy doing a survey of a continent in a year?

Also note - if you don't have an IP drive score, you have to check the orbital installation box.

 

[Thlayli]

Thanks. So, do Ion Cannons work at long range? The calculator seems to indicate that they can, but they're classified under "Short Particle".

Never mind, I was just being stupid.

 

[Frozen In Ice]

So if one ship in a fleet has scanners, then they aren't strictly necessary on the other ships, even with no comlinks? If my one ship detects enemy ships then my other ships will know about it too?

EDIT:
Also, there might be a small error with habitat section's range. The refined range looks like it could go down from the unrefined range.

 

[Thlayli]

CSS Outrider Mk XI

16x Burst Drive
1x Fission Rocket
5x Deuterium Drive
1x Pulse Drive
1x Habitat Section
2x Computer Module
3x Ion Cannons (Refined)
1x Kinetic Lances
1x Titanium Armor (Refined)
2x Carbon Armor

Cost: 91e (41e) / 38m / 38v / 0a / 0t / 37s
Size: 80 / Mass: 57 / HP: 71 / Power: 0 / Heat: -10
IS: 1 / IP: 3 / Range: 2
Init: 2 / Dodge: -17 / Avoid: 0 / Armor: 11 / Shield: 0
Refine: 131e / 33s
Particle Cannon Damage: 24
Fast Missile Damage: 6

This version still packs a punch and is less vulnerable to faster fighters that want to play at long-range.

 

[Disenfrancised]

So if one ship in a fleet has scanners, then they aren't strictly necessary on the other ships, even with no comlinks? If my one ship detects enemy ships then my other ships will know about it too?

EDIT:
Also, there might be a small error with habitat section's range. The refined range looks like it could go down from the unrefined range.

Yes.

Can't seem to reproduce this? Do remember range is non-linear, adding more becomes progressively harder.

 

[Symphony D.]

A musing on lasers: perhaps make it the heat addition is equal to the highest laser output and not the total laser output (i.e. 3 beamers coupled together make more heat than 3 separate beamers)

This would require integrating coupling into the builder, which would then probably need more detailed weapon damage readouts.

-Catapult relationship with shields tweaked

Seems damage went way down across the board (back to old values). You can still couple but since size/mass/power didn't, it's quite the nerf (they're basically back to v9 unless coupled). I will choose to believe this means future models are in the offing a la Railguns for Coilguns.

-Atmospheric streamlining added, increases cost but makes it easier to be built in an atmosphere

Will the presence of Streamlined attack units provide a bonus to ground forces in the form of Air Supriority buffs?

Fire control rebranded as regeneration

I'll throw out "Damage Control" as a good compromise.

-Efficency of providing slave charm drive boosted when charm drive is refined

This is very nice.

---

How many design slots are you anticipating allocating per faction?

 

[Kal'thzar]

This would require integrating coupling into the builder, which would then probably need more detailed weapon damage readouts.

I did consider this, my easiest to implement solution was to simply have a box with the highest coupled weapon. For example you have (2,2,1) or (2,1,1,1) and put a 2 in the box.

 

[Disenfrancised]

This would require integrating coupling into the builder, which would then probably need more detailed weapon damage readouts.

Yes which is one of the reasons I'm not doing it, the second being it making no sense, why would combining them produce more heat than them separately?

Seems damage went way down across the board (back to old values). You can still couple but since size/mass/power didn't, it's quite the nerf (they're basically back to v9 unless coupled). I will choose to believe this means future models are in the offing a la Railguns for Coilguns.

Nope. Most things that scale nonlinearly with tech don't have better versions. Remember that higher tech unlocks more levels of barrel casings as well. With casings III and Materials 8 a single ring catapult is doing 65 damage unrefined, and 288 damage refined. With tech 5 and casings II it does 99 when refined.

Will the presence of Streamlined attack units provide a bonus to ground forces in the form of Air Supriority buffs?

Possibly, was going to have ground combat be done after space combat so you'd need control of space.

I'll throw out "Damage Control" as a good compromise.

That could work

How many design slots are you anticipating allocating per faction?

A nice round number like 10 or something. Another utility from having cargo bays on your patrol frigates is decommissioning them to the merchant fleet on obsolescence rather than junking them.

 

[Disenfrancised]

Kal helpfully pointed out a bug with the charm drives:

ShipDesigner2_V11_fix2

 

[Symphony D.]

A simple tweak and we're looking Neon Egyptian. Dumped the colored subsector background because the data was conveyed by name colors and I couldn't make it look satisfactory with colored jumps.

So now additional data can be added.

 

[Symphony D.]

Has anybody come up with a design where Ion Drives are a superior option to any other possible means of propulsion? Because I haven't.

 

[Kal'thzar]

I can see a VERY narrow set of circumstance to do with excess power and too much heat and ion drives....

But even then you would be better off fine tuning your power output...

 

[Disenfrancised]

Has anybody come up with a design where Ion Drives are a superior option to any other possible means of propulsion? Because I haven't.

Well they're meant to be a very small drive you can put on SpySats and the like, letting them being carried around in a single hanger whilst still being able to move (and thus not being auto interceptable and having horrid dodge).

Something like Capacitor, Ion Drive, Scanner

However its not really fit for purpose because the fission rocket is so small and better in most aspects. I will make the fission rocket larger and the ion drive lighter and cost less non-e resources.

 

[Thlayli]

Oh jeez you're nerfing the fission rocket?

NOOOOOOO

The only reason the fission rocket is even remotely usable is because it's one size smaller than the Deuterium Drive. Make it larger and there will be literally no use for it.

 

[Kal'thzar]

The size doesn't need to change, could just boost Ion drives to always small and give them a boost to IP and a bigger Boost to refined IP.

Or you know, something different, theres a lot of stuff that could be done.

 

[Disenfrancised]

Oh jeez you're nerfing the fission rocket?

NOOOOOOO

The only reason the fission rocket is even remotely usable is because it's one size smaller than the Deuterium Drive. Make it larger and there will be literally no use for it.

And its two tech levels down, meaning you can use it if you don't have a basic fusion drive. It's meant to become obsolete.

The size doesn't need to change, could just boost Ion drives to always small and give them a boost to IP and a bigger Boost to refined IP.

The former doesn't make any physics sense, and the latter is completely at odds with their purpose .

 

[Kal'thzar]

Is anyone going to be in the situation where they don't have access to fission drives? Its a tech 1 access thing...I sort of assumed they [ion drives] would be present on some NPC ships...

 

[Disenfrancised]

Is anyone going to be in the situation where they don't have access to fission drives? Its a tech 1 access thing...I sort of assumed they [ion drives] would be present on some NPC ships...

Maybe, NPCs don't have well defined tech levels like that though.