Forums » Suggestions
Many years ago I played a game called Elite. Whilst playing the game I was attacking by an unknown ship. Unknown because I couldn't see it nor did it appear on my Radar.
After much evasion, I realised that I could see where the plasma bolts where eminating from so I began to try to target the source and evade the incoming shots.
Eventually something blew up and a cargo crate was left floating. I picked it up in my Fuel Scoops and was promptly told that it was a cloaking device, and that I should use Y to activate it.
It was not possible to buy this as an add on, and nor did I ever come across it again. Needless to say I saved the game as soon as I got to the next station so that I didn't loose the device (Although whether this was a good thing was another story)
The cloak was great, when activated you simply vanished from all detection, and better still you could sneak up on things and unleash your weapons, whilst still cloaked. The downside was that it depleted your energy at twice the normal rate, and also brought down your shields, so you were more vulnerable.
Rather than any nation side getting a cloak, why not let the Bots invent the cloak, and use it to their advantage. A Hive cloaking device, that can be acquired by killing, collecting and equiping.
Better still you could command a very high price when selling them on..
I hope that my experience from Elite might be useful to this thread, I feel it would certainly be easier to code into the game.
After much evasion, I realised that I could see where the plasma bolts where eminating from so I began to try to target the source and evade the incoming shots.
Eventually something blew up and a cargo crate was left floating. I picked it up in my Fuel Scoops and was promptly told that it was a cloaking device, and that I should use Y to activate it.
It was not possible to buy this as an add on, and nor did I ever come across it again. Needless to say I saved the game as soon as I got to the next station so that I didn't loose the device (Although whether this was a good thing was another story)
The cloak was great, when activated you simply vanished from all detection, and better still you could sneak up on things and unleash your weapons, whilst still cloaked. The downside was that it depleted your energy at twice the normal rate, and also brought down your shields, so you were more vulnerable.
Rather than any nation side getting a cloak, why not let the Bots invent the cloak, and use it to their advantage. A Hive cloaking device, that can be acquired by killing, collecting and equiping.
Better still you could command a very high price when selling them on..
I hope that my experience from Elite might be useful to this thread, I feel it would certainly be easier to code into the game.
Letting bots invent the cloak is actually an excellent idea, rick.
Then ye gotta kill some kind of special stealth bot to get 'em. Something fast like maybe Valent Assaults but they drop a cloaking device widget 10% to 15% of the time.
Auto-targeting would obviously not work on them.
Then ye gotta kill some kind of special stealth bot to get 'em. Something fast like maybe Valent Assaults but they drop a cloaking device widget 10% to 15% of the time.
Auto-targeting would obviously not work on them.
/me waits for the resident carebears to start screaming:
MY PRECIOUS BALANCE CANNOT BE DISTURBED!
MY PRECIOUS BALANCE CANNOT BE DISTURBED!
Slightly newer thread with the same general idea: http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/20212#251756
(shameless self-promotion I know).
(shameless self-promotion I know).
Indeed, the bot drop sounds good...
Maybe lower the drop rate LeberMac suggested by about 5-8%, but that's nitpicking.
Maybe lower the drop rate LeberMac suggested by about 5-8%, but that's nitpicking.
For all the 'carebears' out there, why not have the cloak disengage upon firing a shot and having to reactivate it? Still keeping the energy drain, but not the shield drop?
I like an idea of a cloak, but even the klingons :) couldn't fire while cloaked. even in eave if you are close enough you will see the person.
If cloaking in included maybe have addons that could detect it like the storm extenders. But i see no reason to allow anyone to firw while cloaked.
If cloaking in included maybe have addons that could detect it like the storm extenders. But i see no reason to allow anyone to firw while cloaked.
Take a page from EVN: only special (read nerfed) weapons can fire while cloaked.
I think that a cloaking device would be a great idea. However, one must take a lot into account. I believe that if a person is cloaked, they should not be visible visually, in the list, or on radar. However, there needs to be a trade off. A cloaked ship cannot fire weapons, will have a reduced speed, cannot use thrust, will be visable at 1 kilometer from any ship or structure, will not work in a sector with a storm, and if targetted by someone they will stay targetted even if they recloak. And, I believe if we're going to have cloaking devices, that we should also have scanners capable of scanning a targetted ship's weapons and cargo from a long range for recon purposes. But that aside I believ only certain ships should have cloaking devices.
My ideas for cloaked ships would be:
Stealth scout: A small fighter-like scout that can move at a quick speed cloaked (70 m/s) and can carry a fairly substancial turbo (220 m/s); however, it will only have 2 small port(one for the cloaking device, the other for a scanner) and will be very poorly armored (possibly the weakest armor). Its purpose will be solely for gathering data and espionage.
Blockade runner: A cargo ship built to be able to contain a cloaking device so as to safely transport cargo across potentially dangerous systems. By itself, it would have only 1 small port for the cloaking device, 1 large port for a decent mining laser perhaps, weak armor, slow speed, and slow thrust. However, it would have a large cargo size and the stealth element of it would allow it to slip by pirates and other ships unnoticed as long as it avoided storms and kept at least 1km from possibly threats.
Stealth fighter type: A fighter with 3 small ports (1 for the cloaking device, the other 2 for weapons) mediocre speed but incredible turbo, and weak armor. It's purpose would be hit-and-run skirmishes where it cloaks, targets, uncloaks, fires while the enemy is unprepared, and then flies away. However, it will have to finish its enemies quickly or persist to get at least 1 kilometer away from them or else they are screwed as their armor cannot sustain prolonged combat, their limited turbo would mean they can be caught quickly. Therefore, they must use surprise to their advantage or they will not last.
Stealth bomber: A larger vessel that is built to have 1 small port (for cloaking device) and 2 large ports (ideally for missles or heavy weapons). These ships are built to do much heavier damage very quickly, however like the stealth fighter, they cannot be expected to withstand combat without the cloaking device. Their mass will be large, their speed slow, their turbo slow, and their armor weak. Their main purpose would be to sneak near an enemy and fire potent long range shots as a means of doing substantial damage before recloaking or turning back and jumping before their targets can retaliate. If they are intercepted, their chances of surviving an encounter would be severally limited.
As for larger ships, I'll leave you to speculate.
I'm just a new player so I'll leave it up to you guys to say if this is realistic but personally, I believe things like cloaking devices, ecms, and such would be very valuable to this game.
My ideas for cloaked ships would be:
Stealth scout: A small fighter-like scout that can move at a quick speed cloaked (70 m/s) and can carry a fairly substancial turbo (220 m/s); however, it will only have 2 small port(one for the cloaking device, the other for a scanner) and will be very poorly armored (possibly the weakest armor). Its purpose will be solely for gathering data and espionage.
Blockade runner: A cargo ship built to be able to contain a cloaking device so as to safely transport cargo across potentially dangerous systems. By itself, it would have only 1 small port for the cloaking device, 1 large port for a decent mining laser perhaps, weak armor, slow speed, and slow thrust. However, it would have a large cargo size and the stealth element of it would allow it to slip by pirates and other ships unnoticed as long as it avoided storms and kept at least 1km from possibly threats.
Stealth fighter type: A fighter with 3 small ports (1 for the cloaking device, the other 2 for weapons) mediocre speed but incredible turbo, and weak armor. It's purpose would be hit-and-run skirmishes where it cloaks, targets, uncloaks, fires while the enemy is unprepared, and then flies away. However, it will have to finish its enemies quickly or persist to get at least 1 kilometer away from them or else they are screwed as their armor cannot sustain prolonged combat, their limited turbo would mean they can be caught quickly. Therefore, they must use surprise to their advantage or they will not last.
Stealth bomber: A larger vessel that is built to have 1 small port (for cloaking device) and 2 large ports (ideally for missles or heavy weapons). These ships are built to do much heavier damage very quickly, however like the stealth fighter, they cannot be expected to withstand combat without the cloaking device. Their mass will be large, their speed slow, their turbo slow, and their armor weak. Their main purpose would be to sneak near an enemy and fire potent long range shots as a means of doing substantial damage before recloaking or turning back and jumping before their targets can retaliate. If they are intercepted, their chances of surviving an encounter would be severally limited.
As for larger ships, I'll leave you to speculate.
I'm just a new player so I'll leave it up to you guys to say if this is realistic but personally, I believe things like cloaking devices, ecms, and such would be very valuable to this game.
@ Tseng
These are all good ideas but I would suggest you level up and try some real VO PvP combat and then adjust your suggestions accordingly.
Main thing is: you cannot hit anything from 1000m away unless you are expert with railguns. Combat in VO happens at distances from 50 to 400m distance tops and if its a real light fighter dogfight, from 0 to 50m.
These are all good ideas but I would suggest you level up and try some real VO PvP combat and then adjust your suggestions accordingly.
Main thing is: you cannot hit anything from 1000m away unless you are expert with railguns. Combat in VO happens at distances from 50 to 400m distance tops and if its a real light fighter dogfight, from 0 to 50m.
Indeed I am new and probably should have gotten more experience before posting suggestions; however, what can I say? I got excited at a thought. I know that much of my current combat is below 400 meters, just didn't know if any advanced weapons could fire at longer ranges. :p Either way, even if you couldn't hit anything at 1 km, it might be good for cloaked ships to be seen from that distance. it may provide the victim a moment's opportunity to spin around and prepare before being attack. If not 1km, perhaps 500m even. I don't know. Just thought I'd prompt discussion. I know at this point I can't provide extremely intelligent opinions because of my lack of experience. Which is why I also left large ships alone, as I know little about them. Any other suggestions?
Recognizing the age of this thread, I didn't read all posts. but here's my take on the general ideas expressed.
Cloaking: No, definitely not a great idea.
Stealth: Excellent idea.
Power-Down: Interesting Idea.
Adding cloaking to this game would lead to massive destabilization of the status quo. Not only is the idea of hiding a ship from sight not only unfeasible per the Backstory, but it doesn't make a whole LOT of sense in a combat oriented game.
Stealth/Powerdown are both interesting concepts. Here's my concern:
People have discussed them as the same thing. They're inherently different. Radar masking (stealth) merely relies on the size, shape, and material of the ship that is "stealth" and lessens the radar return. The ship being powered up or down changes nothing about it.
I think a ship should have the ability to become stealth when it stops moving under it's own power, and a "dampening field" can be placed over the hull. This field would assist in scrambling radar (save maybe Storm Radar due to frequency variables). The stopped ship could scan the system, turn, etc, but it could not fire, or engage it's engines without the field breaking down.
While the field was engaged, the ship would only be detectable at a limited range (say, 1000m).
Ships could also "power-down" to reduce their visibility somewhat (this would be for ships that are moving still, so fields aren't working, but weapons aren't needed). This would reduce the ships visible range to others to say, 2,500m (half range). While "powered-down" the ship could engage 1/2 thrust and maneuver, but it's weapons and turbo are disengaged.
You can justify the difference as being, a ship with stealth hides radar returns by scrambling/absorbing them. Ships in a powered-down mode would be less visible in Infra-Red bandwidth (since less power to the engines and guns means a cooler hull against the absolute zero of space).
If we made the argument that ships rely on a combination of Radar and IR band scanners that is. (which makes sense to me, since Radar and IR complement one another well, and both are easily confused in stellar conditions).
Stealth Generators would be introduced as a device under my thinking, and could be fixed to either a small or large hard-point (due to a large power requirement, Im thinking L-port, and it would most benefit larger vessels in blockade running, heavy warfare.)
For powering a ship down, one would need to program a button into the game, so it would be more labor intensive to produce.
Cloaking: No, definitely not a great idea.
Stealth: Excellent idea.
Power-Down: Interesting Idea.
Adding cloaking to this game would lead to massive destabilization of the status quo. Not only is the idea of hiding a ship from sight not only unfeasible per the Backstory, but it doesn't make a whole LOT of sense in a combat oriented game.
Stealth/Powerdown are both interesting concepts. Here's my concern:
People have discussed them as the same thing. They're inherently different. Radar masking (stealth) merely relies on the size, shape, and material of the ship that is "stealth" and lessens the radar return. The ship being powered up or down changes nothing about it.
I think a ship should have the ability to become stealth when it stops moving under it's own power, and a "dampening field" can be placed over the hull. This field would assist in scrambling radar (save maybe Storm Radar due to frequency variables). The stopped ship could scan the system, turn, etc, but it could not fire, or engage it's engines without the field breaking down.
While the field was engaged, the ship would only be detectable at a limited range (say, 1000m).
Ships could also "power-down" to reduce their visibility somewhat (this would be for ships that are moving still, so fields aren't working, but weapons aren't needed). This would reduce the ships visible range to others to say, 2,500m (half range). While "powered-down" the ship could engage 1/2 thrust and maneuver, but it's weapons and turbo are disengaged.
You can justify the difference as being, a ship with stealth hides radar returns by scrambling/absorbing them. Ships in a powered-down mode would be less visible in Infra-Red bandwidth (since less power to the engines and guns means a cooler hull against the absolute zero of space).
If we made the argument that ships rely on a combination of Radar and IR band scanners that is. (which makes sense to me, since Radar and IR complement one another well, and both are easily confused in stellar conditions).
Stealth Generators would be introduced as a device under my thinking, and could be fixed to either a small or large hard-point (due to a large power requirement, Im thinking L-port, and it would most benefit larger vessels in blockade running, heavy warfare.)
For powering a ship down, one would need to program a button into the game, so it would be more labor intensive to produce.
Stealth: Not gonna happen!
LOCK THIS DAMNED THREAD BEFORE IT GATS OUT OF HAND :P
*hic*
LOCK THIS DAMNED THREAD BEFORE IT GATS OUT OF HAND :P
*hic*
"Not only is the idea of hiding a ship from sight not only unfeasible per the Backstory"
I agree. [Sarcasm]
"AD4431
An Itani defensive fleet, undergoing training exercises near the Itani-UIT border, reports contact with multiple Serco fighters of unusual configuration. Attempts at pursuit are thwarted when the enemy vessels seem to 'disappear'. The Serco government is unresponsive to inquiry. Behavior of the fighters suggests scanning for wormhole areas, perhaps an attempt at locating the Akanese base."
http://www.vendetta-online.com/h/storyline_section12.html
I agree. [Sarcasm]
"AD4431
An Itani defensive fleet, undergoing training exercises near the Itani-UIT border, reports contact with multiple Serco fighters of unusual configuration. Attempts at pursuit are thwarted when the enemy vessels seem to 'disappear'. The Serco government is unresponsive to inquiry. Behavior of the fighters suggests scanning for wormhole areas, perhaps an attempt at locating the Akanese base."
http://www.vendetta-online.com/h/storyline_section12.html
The Necro is strong with this one today.
"It [the idea of hiding a ship from sight] doesn't make a whole LOT of sense in a combat oriented game."
List of popular combat oriented games utilizing cloaking, or a similar feature:
World of Warcraft - Invisibility Potion
Battlefield 2142 - IT-33 Active Camoflauge
Halo 3 - Cloaking Device
Super Smash Bros. Melee - Cloaking Device
Truly, what makes sense is subjective; one's experience may differ from another's. None the less, all of these prior listed games have extraordinarily large audiences, and creators, extensive experience; far be it for me to refute the final judgements from a mental giant of Pyroman_Ace's caliber, so I will merely point out that for them, it made just enough sense to make it out to production.
List of popular combat oriented games utilizing cloaking, or a similar feature:
World of Warcraft - Invisibility Potion
Battlefield 2142 - IT-33 Active Camoflauge
Halo 3 - Cloaking Device
Super Smash Bros. Melee - Cloaking Device
Truly, what makes sense is subjective; one's experience may differ from another's. None the less, all of these prior listed games have extraordinarily large audiences, and creators, extensive experience; far be it for me to refute the final judgements from a mental giant of Pyroman_Ace's caliber, so I will merely point out that for them, it made just enough sense to make it out to production.