Forums » Suggestions
Minefields along Deneb borders
I propose adding minefields along the borders of Deneb space. It would make sense for the mine fields to be located in GR and Eo rather than Deneb so as to not interfere with the skirmish missions there.
Given future technology, I'd expect the mines would be keyed for IFF where the proximity detection is only triggered by enemy ships. That way Serco ships would be able to fly freely though minefields in their own space and likewise for Itani. A friendly unit could still take damage from one of their own nation's mines if they were in range of it when the mine is detonated by a hostile.
I don't expect the mines would be terribly difficult for smaller vessels to avoid, being highly maneuverable. This suggestion is aimed at more for capships and perhaps moths with a heavy load. The implication would be in order to get capships into enemy territory, a smaller ship would be needed to scout ahead of the capship to help destroy/navigate around the mines. In the case of a moth with lots of momentum, I suppose it would just need to go slower through the mine field.
Since the mines would be targeted for capships, in order to be effective they would either have to be:
A) Some sort of EMP blast that drops the capship's shields (and perhaps even makes the time to regenerate longer, like 5 minutes instead of the normal 2). In addition, the mines would have to do some amount of armor damage too so that non-capships (without shields) would be adversely impacted by the blast.
B) The mines can do damage to the capships' armor through the shields.
Fogged reefs would be the best location for such a minefield. The reef would force players to fly through it and the fog would help to obscure the mines on radar.
Given future technology, I'd expect the mines would be keyed for IFF where the proximity detection is only triggered by enemy ships. That way Serco ships would be able to fly freely though minefields in their own space and likewise for Itani. A friendly unit could still take damage from one of their own nation's mines if they were in range of it when the mine is detonated by a hostile.
I don't expect the mines would be terribly difficult for smaller vessels to avoid, being highly maneuverable. This suggestion is aimed at more for capships and perhaps moths with a heavy load. The implication would be in order to get capships into enemy territory, a smaller ship would be needed to scout ahead of the capship to help destroy/navigate around the mines. In the case of a moth with lots of momentum, I suppose it would just need to go slower through the mine field.
Since the mines would be targeted for capships, in order to be effective they would either have to be:
A) Some sort of EMP blast that drops the capship's shields (and perhaps even makes the time to regenerate longer, like 5 minutes instead of the normal 2). In addition, the mines would have to do some amount of armor damage too so that non-capships (without shields) would be adversely impacted by the blast.
B) The mines can do damage to the capships' armor through the shields.
Fogged reefs would be the best location for such a minefield. The reef would force players to fly through it and the fog would help to obscure the mines on radar.
+1
Also... mines should not time out/disappear when you leave sector.
Also... mines should not time out/disappear when you leave sector.
+1
-1
Who need minefields when they can have smart turrets and Golliath Cannons?
Much better adding a dozen heavy turrets than hundreds of mines. And mines are gone once blown, while turrets remain firing...
Who need minefields when they can have smart turrets and Golliath Cannons?
Much better adding a dozen heavy turrets than hundreds of mines. And mines are gone once blown, while turrets remain firing...
Alloh, we haven't had GCs in a very long time and we do not have smart turrets.
Naturally mine fields would have to be maintained, but so what? Mines are strategically important weapons that VO has reduced to ineffective irritants that traders drop in back of them while fleeing.
Naturally mine fields would have to be maintained, but so what? Mines are strategically important weapons that VO has reduced to ineffective irritants that traders drop in back of them while fleeing.
Even though my life would get THAT much harder, +1.
Mines are cheaper than turrets, if they aren't constantly having to be replaced anyway. Mines vs. turrets also have different failure modes when multiple ships are involved: A turret can only shoot at one person at a time, so if multiple people warp in at the same time, they can quickly max out the amount of damage the turrets can deal. Minefields, on the other hand, are wide-area but expendible. If a group of people fly away in multiple directions, they'll all equally hit the same number of mines (assuming equal distribution). If they fly in a line, only the lead vessel will encounter mines, and the followers will proceed through the cleared path unscathed - unless they are more persistent mines like the lmine.
Differences like those are what make multilayer defensive systems generally more effective than single layer defense systems. In the case of mines in a turreted sector, they force nimbler ships to fly slower and more carefully, which makes it easier for turrets to hit them. Minefields also make it harder for invaders to dodge any defending force that may try to evict them. And their potential to keep people grouped together to follow a cleared out path can make it easier to eliminate them all at once, rather than having to deal with invaders that spread out to increase overall chances of escape into safer unturreted sectors.
Differences like those are what make multilayer defensive systems generally more effective than single layer defense systems. In the case of mines in a turreted sector, they force nimbler ships to fly slower and more carefully, which makes it easier for turrets to hit them. Minefields also make it harder for invaders to dodge any defending force that may try to evict them. And their potential to keep people grouped together to follow a cleared out path can make it easier to eliminate them all at once, rather than having to deal with invaders that spread out to increase overall chances of escape into safer unturreted sectors.
+1 only if devs build a mine targeting function into the game.
Targeting mines would be cool, but I don't think its necessary. We can already destroy them, an invading force would really only need to fire a volley of swarms/flares at them or spray them with a gat cannon (which would finally give that weapon a practical use.) and they could open up an area large enough for a ship to get through.
In VO I see minefields more as a way to slow down an enemy,rather than stop it completely.
In VO I see minefields more as a way to slow down an enemy,rather than stop it completely.
an invading force would really only need to fire a volley of swarms/flares at them or spray them with a gat cannon (which would finally give that weapon a practical use.)
Gentlemen! Let's plow the road!
Gentlemen! Let's plow the road!
At first I didn't like the idea, but the I read the more i got excited about it. I think the IFF should only count toward members of the military for each nation. Deneb is a war zone, and should be treated as such. You don't see merchants or sight seers heading off into modern wars zones to just check it out. They hit up the support bases to sell their wares and take pictures.
Either way +1
Either way +1
A way to do this that might be easier for the devs could be to eliminate the feature of mines that makes them time out/disappear (or make the mines last at least an hour before time out) when a player leaves the sector. This way, players themselves would be responsible laying and maintaining minefields.
Station guards and Strike Force would still automatically seek out and destroy mines laid in a station sector, so abuse/grief would not be much of an issue.
Station guards and Strike Force would still automatically seek out and destroy mines laid in a station sector, so abuse/grief would not be much of an issue.