Forums » Suggestions

Capital Ship Philosophy

Jun 15, 2005 nuthou5e link
While we are on the subject of Capital Ship suggestions, I just wanted to voice my outlook on the concept. And I do realize they are still a work in progress.

1. They not only need to be different colors, they need to be different designs. See Ship Design Contest thread: http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/1/10209?page=8 . They should reflect the existing designs of the respective nations, i.e the Vulture and Prometheus for the Serco, the Centurion and Valkrie for the Itani, and the Bus and Marauder for UIT. All of these ships are specifically attributed and I think we should use them as a guide for design. We should also use the backstory as a guide for design, focusing on their attitudes towards war: Serco, aggressive; Itani, defensive; UIT, neutral traders.

2. Capital ships should be difficult to defeat and feared by the enemy. They are not a destination for antics. If you come across one by yourself, you should either run or prepare to die. They should be able to fend for themselves in ion storms picking off all but the most powerful bots (guardians and overseers) easily. How else are we going to defeat the Hive?

3. They should be mobile stations with more functions in tact, not just docking and repairing. I'm not talking about setting it as a home station because that would not work, but there should be an arsenal to reload. In the case of the UIT, there should be a marketplace to sell ore and buy wares, they are gypsies after all. The UIT should have that special function.

4. They should foster teamwork and roleplaying. That is why we are here, right?

Questions, comments?
Jun 15, 2005 Suicidal Lemming link
First off, it's already been known that there needs to be more models of cap ship but making models for use in-game takes time. Right now we only have the heavy assault cruiser, other models of capital ships would be designed for different uses such as a carrier would be of use for other ships to dock, repair, rearm, et cetera.
Jun 15, 2005 CrippledPidgeon link
"Serco, aggressive; Itani, defensive; UIT, neutral traders."

Okay, well I disagree completely with the idea that the Serco would be offensive based, and the Itani would be defensive based. The Itani preach non-violence, yet maintain a large navy ready to go to war if the Serco attack (which really only happens once.. I think... my memory's fuzzy atm)

I personally think that the Serco tend to go for harder lines, and predatory bird motifs. The Itani go for more sculpted lines with few hard edges. The UIT tend to use ships converted from freighters and other vessels, so their ships are more patchworks of armor laid over existing hull.
Jun 15, 2005 johnhawl218 link
I'd have to agree with nuthou5e on all 4 points but, the current HAC should not have anything more then repair and rearming. A carrier as SL suggested would be more fitting a place to be able to grab a new ship or sell off some ore for there repair nanites to work with etc.

In the back-story, the Serco were always the aggressor once they discovered that they were still alive, they stopped at nothing to try and invade and finish the genocide that they started. The Itani were forced to build up a fleet for the sole purpose of defending there territories, they made no incursions into serco space. So yes, Serco=aggressive Itani=defensive, but, there are also the Order of Akan which were the separatists that were the Itani aggressors, which are separate from the pirate clans from grey space. And since they have been scavenging ships for there own fleet, they could have a cap that looked serco/itani/or uit in nature.

I've always imagined the UIT Cap Ships to resemble the freighter from Alien. Long rectangle with docking ports and large cargo holds, lots of antenna, etc.

I like where Myko was going with the model that looks like a valk only if the proportions were a bit more scaled up. But like CP said, more organic, soft edged.

Serco should definitely be very angular, if not the model we currently have in game.
Jun 15, 2005 nuthou5e link
Crippled Pidgeon likes to ignore the backstory in his role playing propaganda war.

I think the current capital ship is perfect for the Serco. The only change I suggest for it is to put an entry docking port on the back end for easier access and make the current port exit only.
Jun 15, 2005 johnhawl218 link
wouldn't it be better to keep the port on the rear "exit only"?
Jun 15, 2005 nuthou5e link
No. Docking from the front is difficult. Plus it just looks cool to have fighters come flying out of the front of a ship.