Forums » Suggestions
Repair Gun
The problem I see with the current repair gun is that it's so hard to actually hit someone with it in battle.
Instead, make it like the mining beam - you have to stay within 100m, a beam attaches from your ship to theirs, and the targeted player's ship health climbs up slowly, the progress indicated on your HUD (allowing you to keep watching for enemies). For now, make it just use energy and the internal pseudo-ammo like the current bullet-based system, but in the future...
Make it eat cargo, sort of a reverse mining beam. Depending on what you had in your hold as food for the beam, it would heal faster or slower. Some materials break down more easily to be reassembled into temporary hull.
-Scrap Metal: Light and cheap. Can be found damn near everywhere, in bots. Heals at 100/second. (10,000 health points fixed in 1:40 of solid, uninterrupted contact)
-Ferric Ore: Heavy and slightly less cheap, but heals at 175/second (done in 58 seconds)
-Steel: Also heavy, but slightly more refined than Ferric. More expensive, too. Heals at 225/second (done in 45 seconds)
-Ishik Ore: Middling mass, middling cost. Heals at 255/second (done in 39 seconds)
-Xithricite Ore: Like carrying an anvil around, and quite pricey, but heals at 325/second (done in 31 seconds)
-Xi-Rite Alloy: A slightly more refined anvil, and even pricier than Xithricite. Heals at 375/second (done in 27 seconds)
Nanofeed: The creme de la creme of repair substances. While the repair gun CAN break down other stuff, Nanofeed is purpose-built for it. Available primarily at research stations. Heals at 450/second. (done in 22 seconds).
Of course, the beam goes for the best available material first, then works its way down the list.
Instead, make it like the mining beam - you have to stay within 100m, a beam attaches from your ship to theirs, and the targeted player's ship health climbs up slowly, the progress indicated on your HUD (allowing you to keep watching for enemies). For now, make it just use energy and the internal pseudo-ammo like the current bullet-based system, but in the future...
Make it eat cargo, sort of a reverse mining beam. Depending on what you had in your hold as food for the beam, it would heal faster or slower. Some materials break down more easily to be reassembled into temporary hull.
-Scrap Metal: Light and cheap. Can be found damn near everywhere, in bots. Heals at 100/second. (10,000 health points fixed in 1:40 of solid, uninterrupted contact)
-Ferric Ore: Heavy and slightly less cheap, but heals at 175/second (done in 58 seconds)
-Steel: Also heavy, but slightly more refined than Ferric. More expensive, too. Heals at 225/second (done in 45 seconds)
-Ishik Ore: Middling mass, middling cost. Heals at 255/second (done in 39 seconds)
-Xithricite Ore: Like carrying an anvil around, and quite pricey, but heals at 325/second (done in 31 seconds)
-Xi-Rite Alloy: A slightly more refined anvil, and even pricier than Xithricite. Heals at 375/second (done in 27 seconds)
Nanofeed: The creme de la creme of repair substances. While the repair gun CAN break down other stuff, Nanofeed is purpose-built for it. Available primarily at research stations. Heals at 450/second. (done in 22 seconds).
Of course, the beam goes for the best available material first, then works its way down the list.
As I said in my missile thread, I think a repair missile would be fun. It guides itself towards your target, and it still fits with the "packet of nanites" idea.
I prefer ctishman's beam idea. The beam graphics are so cool and well done, that they really ought to use it for other things. Of course, they need to fix the "latch point" problem before it can be used on moving targets. But Incarnate already mentioned a solution to that.
I can see a blue beam, say 2x the width of our current ones, with sine-wave pulses moving out of your ship into theirs, maybe with little blue sparkles around it as nanites.
I don't like the idea of repair beams only using energy, though. I think that instead they should be a different sort of ammo weapon- not rapid fire, but not like our current ones. Say, 1 unit for every second you have someone targetted, and 500 repair/second with the lvl1 repair gun. That way you could do 15000 repair on 30 ammo, without using energy. IE: You could repair while boosting. :)
I can see a blue beam, say 2x the width of our current ones, with sine-wave pulses moving out of your ship into theirs, maybe with little blue sparkles around it as nanites.
I don't like the idea of repair beams only using energy, though. I think that instead they should be a different sort of ammo weapon- not rapid fire, but not like our current ones. Say, 1 unit for every second you have someone targetted, and 500 repair/second with the lvl1 repair gun. That way you could do 15000 repair on 30 ammo, without using energy. IE: You could repair while boosting. :)
Heh, I took too long editing cargo into this. Read back.
Mmm. Cargo.
I like the idea of the repair gun being a beam and eating cargo. I would like to suggest however that the gun itself is capable of turning pure energy into repairs albeit at a very low efficiency, maybe 25/second with nothing to fuel them.
If combined with uncledave's engineering skill idea
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/9096
Different repair beams could then have different efficiencies as you gained levels in it.
If combined with uncledave's engineering skill idea
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/9096
Different repair beams could then have different efficiencies as you gained levels in it.
Hmmm...
Actually there are a lot of ideas which could all be amalgamated together. Improved missiles dictate some sort of counter-measure, which rather than being built-in could be a support gizmo, available through the engineering skill, which enables repair beams, which eat cargo. :P
If each type of cargo had a fuel conversion rating or something, as well as CU and mass, this sounds workable...
But then we don't know if everyone likes it or not yet.
But it is pretty unique to have all these things bound together like this... just as Combat, Light, and Heavy go hand-in-hand, so do Trading, Mining, and Engineering. :P (mining to get premium ores for efficient conversion for on-board manufacture of ammunition which can then be beamed aboard with the right engineering gizmo, whilst the other L port slot on the support ship might be providing long-range radar coverage or providing periodic ECM blasts to support the fighters on the front line, and the heavy fighters perhaps carrying some extra fuel for the engineers to chomp through if need be. Meanwhile you have the traders moving back and forth trying to ship high-quality Xi-Rite in large quantities to the nearby outpost... etc...)
Actually there are a lot of ideas which could all be amalgamated together. Improved missiles dictate some sort of counter-measure, which rather than being built-in could be a support gizmo, available through the engineering skill, which enables repair beams, which eat cargo. :P
If each type of cargo had a fuel conversion rating or something, as well as CU and mass, this sounds workable...
But then we don't know if everyone likes it or not yet.
But it is pretty unique to have all these things bound together like this... just as Combat, Light, and Heavy go hand-in-hand, so do Trading, Mining, and Engineering. :P (mining to get premium ores for efficient conversion for on-board manufacture of ammunition which can then be beamed aboard with the right engineering gizmo, whilst the other L port slot on the support ship might be providing long-range radar coverage or providing periodic ECM blasts to support the fighters on the front line, and the heavy fighters perhaps carrying some extra fuel for the engineers to chomp through if need be. Meanwhile you have the traders moving back and forth trying to ship high-quality Xi-Rite in large quantities to the nearby outpost... etc...)