Forums » Suggestions
I for one am looking forward to the dynamic hive just as much as player owned cap ships and crafting. I've got dozens of ideas for new hive bot types, but when I sat down and thought about it, the Hive currently does have most of its bases covered (collectors and transports to handle ore, guardians to defend, assaults to attack, observers to scout, overseers and queens to maintain order).
I wanted to kick around a few ideas for new Hive bot types that I think go beyond "more of the same" and would actually add some new dimensions to the Hive, while keeping in spirit with the Hive's nature as I understand it.
Suggested new bot types:
Reaper: Larger than an Overseer but smaller than a Queen, the expensive Reaper would represent the pinnacle of Hive mining technology. Deployed only to large 'roids with valuable ore content, the Reaper would "latch on" to the side of the asteroid with three articulating arms like a giant crab or spider and fire up its array of mining beams, becoming a semi-permanent mining station. Collectors would then dock with the Reaper and ferry the ore back to the nearest Queen or Transport. Alternatively, the Reaper could continually jettison mined ore above its head for Collectors to come by and... collect. Unlike the Collectors, the Reaper would not halt mining production when attacked but would defend itself with turrets, and would probably have one or two Guardians also assigned to its defense. The Reaper would disengage from the asteroid only after it reached a certain temperature.
In this way, the Hive could mine large valuable asteroids more effeciently by allowing a slow, defensible craft to do the bulk mining and freeing up collectors for transport and mining smaller asteroids. Because it would be cost effective only in certain situations the Reaper would be relatively rare, found only in sectors of heavy mining interest to the Hive.
Hunter: The Hive has many opportunities to scavenge ore and other widgets from human convoys, and the Hunter would be designed specifically for that purpose. Preferring to avoid direct conflict, Hunters would behave much like vultures, killing opportunistically but otherwise keeping a safe distance. They would roam from sector to sector (perhaps preferring to hang out around station, wh, or ion storm sectors) until they happened upon a potential target. The Hunter would then trail the target at a safe distance (~500m) but would avoid any engagement until it sensed weakness or an easy kill. Signs of weakness could mean the target sustaining damage, losing its escorts, stumbling into an ion storm, or perhaps picking up additional hunters along the way. At some point a threshold would be reached and all the Hunters would swoop in for the kill, intending to claim the cargo and bring it back to the nearest Hive queen.
Imagine the consternation of a trader (or convoy) having picked up three or four Hunters that trail a half kilometer behind like a pack of sharks or vultures, scattering when attacked but slowly reforming when the trader continues on his/her way. The trader would know that at the first sign of weakness the Hunters might swoop in for the kill.
Hunters would most likely stay out of heavily defended newbie systems, preferring to prey in grey or out of the way sectors.
Interdictor: aka "Bouncer-bot": Recognizing that lethal force is most often met in kind, the Hive would use the Interdictor to discourage human players (newbies, most likely) that do not pose any immediate threat but are otherwise competing with the Hive in some way. Similar to the Seeker, the small, fast interdictor would fly straight for the target until it got within ~50-100m at which point it would instantaneously detonate four concussion mines. Neither the Interdictor or the target would be destroyed, but the blast would throw both ships spiralling away. The Interdictor might return and continue to "Bounce" the target until it was removed from the area of concern.
Say a newbie begins to mine some of the same 'roids as the hive collectors, perhaps destroying one or two. Rather then sending in the cavalry (assaults and guardians) right away, the Hive might first try an Interdictor to get the message across. If the newbie returned and continued to destroy collector bots, then the Hive might turn it up a notch and send in a squad of assaults.
Feel free to critique/discuss/add more
I wanted to kick around a few ideas for new Hive bot types that I think go beyond "more of the same" and would actually add some new dimensions to the Hive, while keeping in spirit with the Hive's nature as I understand it.
Suggested new bot types:
Reaper: Larger than an Overseer but smaller than a Queen, the expensive Reaper would represent the pinnacle of Hive mining technology. Deployed only to large 'roids with valuable ore content, the Reaper would "latch on" to the side of the asteroid with three articulating arms like a giant crab or spider and fire up its array of mining beams, becoming a semi-permanent mining station. Collectors would then dock with the Reaper and ferry the ore back to the nearest Queen or Transport. Alternatively, the Reaper could continually jettison mined ore above its head for Collectors to come by and... collect. Unlike the Collectors, the Reaper would not halt mining production when attacked but would defend itself with turrets, and would probably have one or two Guardians also assigned to its defense. The Reaper would disengage from the asteroid only after it reached a certain temperature.
In this way, the Hive could mine large valuable asteroids more effeciently by allowing a slow, defensible craft to do the bulk mining and freeing up collectors for transport and mining smaller asteroids. Because it would be cost effective only in certain situations the Reaper would be relatively rare, found only in sectors of heavy mining interest to the Hive.
Hunter: The Hive has many opportunities to scavenge ore and other widgets from human convoys, and the Hunter would be designed specifically for that purpose. Preferring to avoid direct conflict, Hunters would behave much like vultures, killing opportunistically but otherwise keeping a safe distance. They would roam from sector to sector (perhaps preferring to hang out around station, wh, or ion storm sectors) until they happened upon a potential target. The Hunter would then trail the target at a safe distance (~500m) but would avoid any engagement until it sensed weakness or an easy kill. Signs of weakness could mean the target sustaining damage, losing its escorts, stumbling into an ion storm, or perhaps picking up additional hunters along the way. At some point a threshold would be reached and all the Hunters would swoop in for the kill, intending to claim the cargo and bring it back to the nearest Hive queen.
Imagine the consternation of a trader (or convoy) having picked up three or four Hunters that trail a half kilometer behind like a pack of sharks or vultures, scattering when attacked but slowly reforming when the trader continues on his/her way. The trader would know that at the first sign of weakness the Hunters might swoop in for the kill.
Hunters would most likely stay out of heavily defended newbie systems, preferring to prey in grey or out of the way sectors.
Interdictor: aka "Bouncer-bot": Recognizing that lethal force is most often met in kind, the Hive would use the Interdictor to discourage human players (newbies, most likely) that do not pose any immediate threat but are otherwise competing with the Hive in some way. Similar to the Seeker, the small, fast interdictor would fly straight for the target until it got within ~50-100m at which point it would instantaneously detonate four concussion mines. Neither the Interdictor or the target would be destroyed, but the blast would throw both ships spiralling away. The Interdictor might return and continue to "Bounce" the target until it was removed from the area of concern.
Say a newbie begins to mine some of the same 'roids as the hive collectors, perhaps destroying one or two. Rather then sending in the cavalry (assaults and guardians) right away, the Hive might first try an Interdictor to get the message across. If the newbie returned and continued to destroy collector bots, then the Hive might turn it up a notch and send in a squad of assaults.
Feel free to critique/discuss/add more
these sound cool
[stamp of approval]™
LOL the Hunter sounds just like BlackHole Goldclaw or Arolte.
I prefer to call those type of bots "Hyenas" since we already have vultures.
I'd like to see a bot like this:
Ranged Assault: Faster than a regular asssault, these bots are sent out by the queen specifically in order to "soften up" sectors that have been found to have a continual human presence. If a specific sector is found to be cleared quickly of bots every time a presence is established, the hive essentially sez "Oh YEAH?" and sends these suckers in. The ranged Assault bot is never found in normal bot sectors, but is usually dispatched to Station sectors, WH sectors, and other sectors that have a strong human presence.
The Ranged Assault has infiniboost at 190 m/s, and a top non-turbo speed of 60 m/s. It has one L-port: an AGT. It's AI should mimic the "jousting" AI of some of the Deneb Border Patrol bots, and it should not fire until it sees the "whites of yer eyes." It'll be a good close-up bot. Perhaps it could be paired with.... the
Hive Swarm Bot:The Hive Swarm bot is the partner of the Ranged Assault bot, it is just as fast straight-line, but it can't dodge worth crap. It essentially will come in to support the Ranged assault bots if the Ranged Assaults are having a hard time eliminating the human presence. A cheap Hive tactic, to be sure. 2 chaos swarms with half-ammo.
also...
Bomb Bot: (Or Mine Bot):This is essentially an avalon torpedo with guidance and an engine. If the hive needs to get somewhere but cannot, due to player interference, this bot is deployed. It arrives at a location and approximately 1 minute later, it explodes. It's got a lot of armor and no other weapons. If you kill it, it explodes harmlessly without detonating. Ideally, it would be escorted by assaults.
I prefer to call those type of bots "Hyenas" since we already have vultures.
I'd like to see a bot like this:
Ranged Assault: Faster than a regular asssault, these bots are sent out by the queen specifically in order to "soften up" sectors that have been found to have a continual human presence. If a specific sector is found to be cleared quickly of bots every time a presence is established, the hive essentially sez "Oh YEAH?" and sends these suckers in. The ranged Assault bot is never found in normal bot sectors, but is usually dispatched to Station sectors, WH sectors, and other sectors that have a strong human presence.
The Ranged Assault has infiniboost at 190 m/s, and a top non-turbo speed of 60 m/s. It has one L-port: an AGT. It's AI should mimic the "jousting" AI of some of the Deneb Border Patrol bots, and it should not fire until it sees the "whites of yer eyes." It'll be a good close-up bot. Perhaps it could be paired with.... the
Hive Swarm Bot:The Hive Swarm bot is the partner of the Ranged Assault bot, it is just as fast straight-line, but it can't dodge worth crap. It essentially will come in to support the Ranged assault bots if the Ranged Assaults are having a hard time eliminating the human presence. A cheap Hive tactic, to be sure. 2 chaos swarms with half-ammo.
also...
Bomb Bot: (Or Mine Bot):This is essentially an avalon torpedo with guidance and an engine. If the hive needs to get somewhere but cannot, due to player interference, this bot is deployed. It arrives at a location and approximately 1 minute later, it explodes. It's got a lot of armor and no other weapons. If you kill it, it explodes harmlessly without detonating. Ideally, it would be escorted by assaults.
i'd like to see Hive capitle ships. the'd basicy be "assimilated" tridents, hacs or teradons, that the hive have salvaged from warzones, or attempted attacks on the hive itself. These vessils would look like wrecked ships, with hive like parts added on, but would have some portion of their original armorment (including those fancy anti-cap ship weapons), as well as swarms of smaller hive bots to provide support functions. these ships would be rare, but most likely found in systems where the hive is routenely attacked. their main function is to engage human controled cap ships on equal footing. and to discourage smaller raids on hive controled sectors by means of intimidating presence.
harvesters: these bots scower the galaxy for salvagable material, and ships. They are common in war zones, but are cowerdly. if a human ship aproches within 1km of them they will run, and they have no weapons. but they will do their best to recover any droipped scrap and widgets they can finde and bring them back to the nerest queen or levi. unlikie collectors they do note mine, or defend themselves.
leeches: tiny bots that have no weapons but an infiniboost speed of 220, and a sub turbo speed of 100. they latch onto your ship and add 500kg to your mass per bot. they have a meger 500 armor points but are exceptionaly small and fast. generaly deploied in packs of 20-30 their perpus is to imobalise small ships that enter hive teratory so that the guardians can more esily dispatch them. also they serve as a distraction to prevent small scale attackers from disrupting other hive activities while the guardians move in, and to prevent hit and run raids.
harvesters: these bots scower the galaxy for salvagable material, and ships. They are common in war zones, but are cowerdly. if a human ship aproches within 1km of them they will run, and they have no weapons. but they will do their best to recover any droipped scrap and widgets they can finde and bring them back to the nerest queen or levi. unlikie collectors they do note mine, or defend themselves.
leeches: tiny bots that have no weapons but an infiniboost speed of 220, and a sub turbo speed of 100. they latch onto your ship and add 500kg to your mass per bot. they have a meger 500 armor points but are exceptionaly small and fast. generaly deploied in packs of 20-30 their perpus is to imobalise small ships that enter hive teratory so that the guardians can more esily dispatch them. also they serve as a distraction to prevent small scale attackers from disrupting other hive activities while the guardians move in, and to prevent hit and run raids.
Somebody played too much Homeworld: Cataclysm...
Somebody needs to use an online spellchecker or one already built into their computer.
I really like the leeches idea. That sounds EXACTLY like something the hive would do.
Lord Q's spelling is his trademark, Miss Kanaka. Telling him to check his spelling is like telling jex to behave, or like telling Blue Streak to stop winning races.
Lord Q's spelling is his trademark, Miss Kanaka. Telling him to check his spelling is like telling jex to behave, or like telling Blue Streak to stop winning races.
Ah, but jex actually behaves once in a while, and if you've been paying attention, Blue Streak hasn't won the Deneb Run in a few weeks.
I admit to not paying attention.
...Telling him to check his spelling is like telling jex to behave, or like telling Blue Streak to stop winning races...
... or telling Miss Kanaka stop giving people lessons and act as she always know all on everything... :-p
before you take your bazooka to flame me, miss, it's a (based on reality facts) joke :-p
We all love our Miharu "Wiki'' Kanaka...
gros bisous
... or telling Miss Kanaka stop giving people lessons and act as she always know all on everything... :-p
before you take your bazooka to flame me, miss, it's a (based on reality facts) joke :-p
We all love our Miharu "Wiki'' Kanaka...
gros bisous
Yes to all the bots Phaserlight mentioned.
LeberMac: What stats do you envision for the bomb bot? If it were, say, as fast as the current moth turbo speed, that would be acceptable.
LeberMac: What stats do you envision for the bomb bot? If it were, say, as fast as the current moth turbo speed, that would be acceptable.
How about telling genka to stop trolling? is that a better analogy?
Well, I think it would be folly to call anything "Hive Technology" after it's been established that the hive does not develop technology of their own.
I like most of those ideas, but I don't see how your bouncer could generate such force without destroying itself.
Well, I think it would be folly to call anything "Hive Technology" after it's been established that the hive does not develop technology of their own.
I like most of those ideas, but I don't see how your bouncer could generate such force without destroying itself.
Same way a conc mine generates force without destroying anything.
The reason I suggested that the bouncer bot persist is that I don't think a single conc blast would be all that effective at removing the target from the area of concern. And it would be pretty funny to watch a seeker play bumper cars with an ec-89.
The reason I suggested that the bouncer bot persist is that I don't think a single conc blast would be all that effective at removing the target from the area of concern. And it would be pretty funny to watch a seeker play bumper cars with an ec-89.
>Ah, but jex actually behaves once in a while, and if you've been paying attention,
>Blue Streak hasn't won the Deneb Run in a few weeks.
And once in a blue moon I post something with no spelling errors.
>Blue Streak hasn't won the Deneb Run in a few weeks.
And once in a blue moon I post something with no spelling errors.
Q, you started that sentence with a conjunction. BAD!
Anyway, tosh: I'm thinking that the bomb bots would be nice and slow, allowing you to get the hell out of there before it went off. Maybe it would beep or something. I dunno.
Kinda like using a flamethrower to make sure no one is in the cave, you know, if they don't get outta there it's their own damn fault.
Anyway, tosh: I'm thinking that the bomb bots would be nice and slow, allowing you to get the hell out of there before it went off. Maybe it would beep or something. I dunno.
Kinda like using a flamethrower to make sure no one is in the cave, you know, if they don't get outta there it's their own damn fault.
hey, i never said anything about my garmer.
anyway i kinda have a hard time understanding why, the bomb bots would exist. i get the metagame point of them, but why would the hive build something like that?
anyway i kinda have a hard time understanding why, the bomb bots would exist. i get the metagame point of them, but why would the hive build something like that?
IMHO, Phaser, conc mines SHOULD do some minor damage. Obviously not enough to endanger the ship that comes near, but if you're sitting on top of 24 conc mines, and they go off, rocketing you from 0 to 700 m/sec instantaneously, can you honestly say your ship wouldn't be damaged? (notwithstanding that fact that whatever pilot was in it would become a goo-like substance...)
Hey, we obviously survive the explosions of capital-class starships, if the ship survives the blast. Conc mines should be like a soothing hand to us.
LeberMac, yeah, that's how I envisioned it, too. It would aslo be great for denying territory or docking to players, since the hive might park it close to a station/wh and threaten to set it off. Or they might make whole moving mine fields. Around storm exit points. Mwaha. Still, I think they'd be fun.
LeberMac, yeah, that's how I envisioned it, too. It would aslo be great for denying territory or docking to players, since the hive might park it close to a station/wh and threaten to set it off. Or they might make whole moving mine fields. Around storm exit points. Mwaha. Still, I think they'd be fun.
I am not sure the conc-mine bumper-bot sounds like fun for newbies. If we have them at all, they should be rare and/or grey-space only. I love everything else though! :)