Post
by rustybucket » Wed, 13. Apr 05, 21:26
Raider,
Don't forget the AP Gunner, the X2 UFO, the Xenon MO, and many-many of your excellent ship designs.
Would this allow us to do anything to change the basic configuration of the ships:
i.e.:
1) Allowing the M6 to carry something other then an M5
2) Allowing the M2 to carry TP or TS ships
3) Creating something that could carry M5, M4, M3, TS, TP, and M6 ships (something along the lines of your Glaxy Class Superliner - anyone for Battlestar Galactica?)
I have always wondered whether it is possible to cheat the X2 engine into spawning multiple ship models that appear to function as a single ship. For instance creating 50% of a ships body on one m1, and the other 50% on a second M1; then having the two fly in absolute unison thus creating a ship with multiple launch tubes, or one receiving and one launching bay.
Using multiple ship slots to define a single model would allow for a unique package of turrets, launch tubes, shields and other devices. It would also provide real time compartmentalization and perhaps even a graphic representation of battle damage. You would have to continually shift shields and other hardware between the ship slots to maximize efficiency, and someone could actually destroy significant portions of your ship without effecting the rest of it. You could actually have your primary engines blown away and have to rely on secondary engines (all components function as if they had the engines of ship A - if that no longer exists then they function as though they have the components of ship B). It would be an interesting way to construct a massive MO class ships. We didn't have the slots to define a ship as an MO's bridge or hindquarters; but, perhaps that is something that we can do now.
Such an M0 might be constructed from a combination of:
2xM2 - Primary weapons batteries port and starboard
4xM1 - Two receiving and two launch bays - the receiving carriers ready
and "transport the ships to the launch bays.
1xTL - Primary engines/cargo bay
1xM6- Primary Bridge (you can default (be automatically transported) to
a secondary bridge in each of the other modules - however, only
this one has access to the full gambit of the many command
features)
The game would see this as a fleet of ships that just somehow happen to fly the at near zero separation. But, from the players perspective it would be a very large ship equiped with up to 56 functional turrets, 4 main fighter bays, several secondary ship bays, real long range cargo capacity, and a very elaborate bridge. Since the bodies of each component are designed to fit together; destroying one of the ships - like the port side M2 would reveal the side of the adjoining M1s; those sides could be texured to look like so much battle damage - adding to the overall illusion.