Sun Feb 22, 2004 10:15 pm
Making a class 10 mod; balance questions
I'm designing a mod tentatively titled "Class 10 Mod". It will add class 10 ships/equipment into the game that should exist in order for things to be complete (example: there exists a class 10 freighter shield, but no freighter can mount it; some ships have class 10 turret slots, but there are no class 10 turrets).
First, class 10 Molecular and class 10 Graviton shields. These items already exist in the game, but players can't use them because they're not sold anywhere. I think the Barrier (Molecular) shields should be sold at Deshima Station in Shikoku and Pirna Border Station in Dresden, because these places sell class 9 weapons and belong to factions that use molecular shields. I think the Champion (Graviton) shields should be sold at Gas Miner Naha in Sigma-13 for analagous reasons. Does this sound reasonable?
Regarding class 10 turrets, I'm thinking of making a Turret version of the Nomad weapons, and making the Nomad ships drop them. Looking at existing weapons, there are many turrets that have the same name as a gun and the identical stats. Then again, a few of them have identical stats except slightly higher or lower projectile speed. I'm thinking perhaps I'll make a Nomad Turret with 600 m/s, and another one with 700 m/s for people who want to speed match their weapons. Does this sound reasonable?
As for making a class 10 freighter, I've compared the data of existing freighters with fighters having the same level requirement, and found that:
* Freighters have the same power plant as their fighter counterparts.
* Freighters are 20% more expensive than their fighter counterparts.
* Freighters have the same class weapons as their fighter counterparts; either 2 guns and 6 turrets, or 3 guns and 5 turrets. For the ones that have 2 guns and 6 turrets, 3 of the turrets are of the lower weapon class.
* Freighters have 20-30% more armor than their fighter counterparts.
* Freighters have no Cruise Disruptors or Torpedoes (their Light Fighter counterparts have Cruise Disruptors).
Using the above rules to design a class 10 freighter with a level 30 requirement (same as Eagle and Sabre), I'd come up with 10400 power, 1040 regen, 606000 price, 12800 armor, 2 class 10 guns, 3 class 9 turrets, 3 class 10 guns.
There's the problem of the cargo hold, though; freighters have somewhere between 3.2 and 7.86 times the cargo space of their fighter counterparts. So the cargo space of the class 10 freighter could be anywhere between 224 and 550. I'm not sure how to choose this number, as it would have significant game balance implications on making money. Any suggestions about this?
I'm also not sure about manueverability. I'm thinking I might just use the Humpback's manueverability figure, since I don't know how the manueverability numbers work, and any slower would be painful.
Also, is there anything else a class 10 mod should include that is logically missing? A class 10 Light Fighter, perhaps?
First, class 10 Molecular and class 10 Graviton shields. These items already exist in the game, but players can't use them because they're not sold anywhere. I think the Barrier (Molecular) shields should be sold at Deshima Station in Shikoku and Pirna Border Station in Dresden, because these places sell class 9 weapons and belong to factions that use molecular shields. I think the Champion (Graviton) shields should be sold at Gas Miner Naha in Sigma-13 for analagous reasons. Does this sound reasonable?
Regarding class 10 turrets, I'm thinking of making a Turret version of the Nomad weapons, and making the Nomad ships drop them. Looking at existing weapons, there are many turrets that have the same name as a gun and the identical stats. Then again, a few of them have identical stats except slightly higher or lower projectile speed. I'm thinking perhaps I'll make a Nomad Turret with 600 m/s, and another one with 700 m/s for people who want to speed match their weapons. Does this sound reasonable?
As for making a class 10 freighter, I've compared the data of existing freighters with fighters having the same level requirement, and found that:
* Freighters have the same power plant as their fighter counterparts.
* Freighters are 20% more expensive than their fighter counterparts.
* Freighters have the same class weapons as their fighter counterparts; either 2 guns and 6 turrets, or 3 guns and 5 turrets. For the ones that have 2 guns and 6 turrets, 3 of the turrets are of the lower weapon class.
* Freighters have 20-30% more armor than their fighter counterparts.
* Freighters have no Cruise Disruptors or Torpedoes (their Light Fighter counterparts have Cruise Disruptors).
Using the above rules to design a class 10 freighter with a level 30 requirement (same as Eagle and Sabre), I'd come up with 10400 power, 1040 regen, 606000 price, 12800 armor, 2 class 10 guns, 3 class 9 turrets, 3 class 10 guns.
There's the problem of the cargo hold, though; freighters have somewhere between 3.2 and 7.86 times the cargo space of their fighter counterparts. So the cargo space of the class 10 freighter could be anywhere between 224 and 550. I'm not sure how to choose this number, as it would have significant game balance implications on making money. Any suggestions about this?
I'm also not sure about manueverability. I'm thinking I might just use the Humpback's manueverability figure, since I don't know how the manueverability numbers work, and any slower would be painful.
Also, is there anything else a class 10 mod should include that is logically missing? A class 10 Light Fighter, perhaps?