Forums » Suggestions

Nation Specific Weapons

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Apr 19, 2004 grunadulater link
Now hold on. Traders shouldn't be confined to NT. Sure, they're supposed to be the trader/pirate nation, but ya know, we have pirates and traders everywhere already.
Apr 19, 2004 harvestmouse link
"Sure, there will still be some tri flare valks, but they'll have to go through hell and back to get one. It would be just as hard for an Itani to get a flare as it would for a serco to get a Valk, so if you agree that valks aren't uber without the flare, blue would have no special advantage."

valks are uber, flares or no!
: D

"Except.... the Valkryie couldn't mount flares. Again, it would be just as hard for an Itani to get flares as it would for a serco to get a Valk, so they would each have an equal opportunity to get a triflare valk. (The same goes for neutrals, obviously)"

really, a rail/tachyon/graviton/gemini (ubersetupofdoom as amq likes to put it) valk still hurts more than anything. running away is also not as simple as you'd think. turboing away from a valk with rails? you'd be the perfect target. running from a tri gemini ramming valk? the valk catchs the slow trader/heavy ship with homers easily, and at 1900 damage per shot, 5700 damage per set of 3 small ports...

just some examples. the valkyrie is an awesome ship for rails and energy weapons, since it has the best agility for aiming.
having nation special weapons is a very feasible idea, but the way the weapons/ships are skewed currently, fiddling with nation configs is just too iffy for now.
Apr 19, 2004 Magus link
I'm not sure about taking these weapons away from the rest of the nations, but giving advanced versions of them as "specials" to designated nations would be nice.

For example, the regular sunflare would be cut down to 10 ammo and 1k damage per rocket. The special sunflare gets 16 ammo and 1600 damage per rocket.

The regular gauss gets a reduced arc and reduced damage amount. The special gauss gets additional damage and improved auto-aim.

The regular gatling cannon gets beefed up considerably to have very good auto-aim and damage. The adv. gatling gets beefed up even more and given to their designated nation.

(These are just examples. They have nothing to do with anything.)

Ideally, I would like to see the Serco get a lot of weapons that do lots of damage, pack a wicked punch, but suffer from a lack of precision. Things like sunflares, gatling cannons, (unnerfed) flechettes, etc. It seems to fit their characterization as brutal, fierce warriors that don't especially give a damn about finesse.

The Itani on the other hand, would get better versions of the fancy "smart" weapons. Homers like the yellowjackets and stingrays (assuming they ever get unnerfed,) weapons that require tactical aiming like tachyons and gravitons, and maybe even a nerfed down beam cannon (with the fading gradient that Arolte likes so much.)

Meanwhile, the Neutrals would take the middle of the road, electing to use "guerilla" weapons. Mines and homing weapons like geminis, railguns (for sniping), and beefed up plasma cannons and gauss (with decreased energy efficiency and increased damage), etc.

Each nation would get their own versions of mines, geminis, gauss, railguns, s-port rockets, tachyons, etc. But the ones designated would excel at them.


"NT well, NT aren't true "warriors" so why sacrifice a genuinely NEEDED weapon to them? I dont mean to bash NT here, they are good at what they do, they just dont DO the fighting thing."
-Do tell how a nation full of pirates, bounty hunters, and mercenaries "don't do the fighting thing?" Read the game story. Why do you think the Marauder has 3 weapon ports and medium agility? If it was designed to be a perfect tradeship it would carry mines and a helluvalot of cargo (30 units or more.) The fact is, the Maud is an "all-around" ship. It can fight, but not as well as a vulture. It can trade, but I would much rather the Atlas and centaur get huge boosts in their cargo capacities (20 to 30 units.)

"As the vulture is the mainstay of the Serco Dominion's Fighter Wings,"
-The vulture is the mainstay of the NT as well.

But overall, I agree with harvestmouse to say that it's too iffy to designate specific weapons to specific nations.

" I've seen them killed in heavies, although I can't actually afford a heavy. I guess I just am and see lucky people."
-I have killed valks in hornets and warthogs before. But you know what? I'm an above average fighter and the valks I fought were generally below average. If both pilots are at equal skill the valk trumps everything.


Apr 19, 2004 Pyroman_Ace link
Whoa whoa whoa. By no means did I mean NT was a pacifist nation. But in the current war the major players are Serco and Itani while NT has been swept aside by the fighting. Currently, I see the majority of NT pilots are in Marauders and Centuars, thus at the current time, my frame of mind is a good defense weapon should be given to them since the psuh for the "Centuar B-Class Armed Hauler" isnt really going anywhere.
Apr 19, 2004 Magus link
"current war the major players are Serco and Itani while NT has been swept aside by the fighting."
-What? No. . . Just because we decided not to take a side doesn't mean we won't kick whatever ass that gets in our way.


"I see the majority of NT pilots are in Marauders and Centuars, thus at the current time,"
-I fly around in a marauder because I like it. I hop into a vulture when the situation calls for it. Nothing more complex than that really.
Apr 19, 2004 Pyroman_Ace link
I understand, but if you were jumped in a Mara or Cent. I know you'd love to have those Mines on your tail popping holes in the enemy and throwing them offcourse till you could make station
Apr 19, 2004 Magus link
I'd rather turn my maud around and send a few flares their way before my railgun pokes a hole in their cockpit.
Apr 20, 2004 Phaserlight link
The other thing you may want to consider, Pyro, is that if you gave NT mines as their special weapon(s), traders of the other nations wouldn't have access to them. Before I learned how to fight, my only hope as a trader was to boost like hell, lay prox mines, and hope the pirate was dumb enough to run into them.

But as Spellcast says, the NT is not just a trader nation.

Definition of marauder: "One who roams about and raids in search of plunder." (merriam-webster.com)

Giving NT a defense-only weapon would be gimping them, and it just wouldn't go with their character. If each nation had a special weapon it should be an unequivocally useful one, like the gauss, rail, flare, tach, or advanced gatling.

Magus: "I'm not sure about taking these weapons away from the rest of the nations, but giving advanced versions of them as "specials" to designated nations would be nice."

That's a neat idea, and it works just as well I guess. It would just mean a little more work for the devs.

Harvestmouse: "having nation special weapons is a very feasible idea, but the way the weapons/ships are skewed currently, fiddling with nation configs is just too iffy for now."

I'm sure the devs would agree with you. As I said it's just an interesting thought experiment.

Spellcast: "also after removing the ability to home in 17/18, I think that I would make 18 the black market for ships, and 17 the black market for weapons. This way you cant buy both special ship and special weapons at the same place."

Great idea! That way snagging a black market config would be a 2-stop process.
Apr 20, 2004 Suicidal Lemming link
First we need to balance the economy, otherwise everything is well, useless. The black market items need to be 50%-150% more expensive, changing hourly. The items available should appear randomly, one hour a Valkyrie can be bought, the next it can not, the probability of a ship or weapon being available should be around 30%.
Now, we need something to discourage the black market, being that it is illegal. Patrol ships around a nation's boundaries, two ships that jump from 4 into sector 7 every now and then. They jump in for 10-20 minutes (randomly decided), then jump back to sector 4, and they will come back in 20 minutes. Now, depending on the severity of the black market ship they spot, they will either engage or run for reinforcements, this is thinking ahead to when you can illegally get very big ships.
Apr 20, 2004 SirCamps link
Well, I have to admit that I didn't not read through the entire thread, but let me post my ideas on nation-specific weapons

Assumptions:

Serco Dominion is a warrior race that is less interested in advanced technology and more interested in blowing things up.

Neutral Territories is a practical trading guild that wants sufficient defenses, but abhors paying too much for unnecessary advancements.

Itani are a race that specialize in advanced technologies, and pride themselves on their advanced, deadly weaponry that require finesse and skill.

In current Vendetta weaponry, I would see these weapons as nation-specific:

Itani Weaponry
Un-nerfed gravitron*
Rail Gun
Locust Swarm Missiles

Serco Weaponry
Sunflare Mk.II*
Gauss Cannon
Screamer missile

Neutral Weaponry
Proximity Mines*
Gemini Missiles
Un-nerfed Charged Cannon*

* = The gravitron could have a slightly higher velocity, I'm thinking around 190 or 200 m/s. The Sunflare Mk.II would do 1800 damage per round, and the only rocket available to other nations would be the old Level 1 rocket from 2.x days. The charged cannon would be proximity detonated (15m sounds good to me).

Now, those are the existing weapons I think would work well as being nation-specific.

Itani - Weapons are light, fast, and can strike from a distance.

Serco - Heavy-hitting. Slow(er), and incredibly destructive.

NT - practical and get the job done.
Apr 20, 2004 Magus link
That's what I said, only I wanted the NT to get "guerilla" style weapons. The kind that a mercenary/assasin/guerrilla fighter would use. Sniping via railguns, mines, and homers. But since those weapons are piss-poor when it comes to actually getting in a fight, I thought an advanced version of the gauss cannon would be handy (since they don't have rockets or any other medium ranger weapon.)
Apr 20, 2004 Pirogoeth2 link
The Itani must get the rail gun, no other rail deserves the rail gun. My list is similar to camp's, hehe, yes, make rails a Itani special and the world will be MEIN!!!
Apr 21, 2004 Magus link
No Piro. Just. . . no.
Apr 21, 2004 harvestmouse link
/me tranquilizes Piro, and changes the config of his ship: "hmm... what would Piro like? oh yes, free battery, you're lucky if you shoot just one rail. unbind his togglefly key so that he can only fly in arcade. heavens, the unsightly valk! have a nice prommy instead, it's much better."
at last. /me replaces Piro's beloved rails with a gemini and a bus cannon. then /me beats the hell out of Piro's ship with that big smile on her face.

-_~
Apr 21, 2004 Phoenix_I link
*Sigh* why waste time implementing this when we don't even know that the whole ship setup could change, and we already know that the weapons are gonna change/be a huge selection....
Apr 22, 2004 Phaserlight link
/me points to his opening statement