Fri Feb 04, 2005 8:31 pm
Searching for different mod
I've been looking, but not finding what I seek. Basically, I'm going to describe the physics of my 'dream mod'. I'm hoping one of you know of an exisitng mod that matches, or know of someone building one. Bear with me, this is a long one.
Basically, I'm looking for a kind of... 'equaliser' mod. Most mods on the net as far as I can tell are about adding more, making faster and doing more damage. More ships, more systems, more equipment. I'm looking for, well, not the opposit, but something a bit different.
The thing that always bothered me about Vanilla is that just about everyone end up in an Eagle. (With the odd exception, of course.) I'd like to see a mod that instead of adding more - simply changes what's already there. There are already light, heavy and very heavy fighters - and a dozen of each class. The problem is that the majority of the ships aren't useful in a multiplayer game.
Assume the light fighters were fast an manuevreable. Faster than vanilla and with similar turn rates. Think of them as... interceptors.
Give the heavy fighgters average stats. Average speed, armor, turn rates... Call them fighter-bombers.
The heavy fighters would of course be something along the lines of heavy bombers. Slower than in vanilla. Easy to evade in a smaller ship but bloody deadly if they get you in the crosshairs.
All classes would now have their own advantages. The ships in the same class would have similar stats, but not identical. Some are a touch faster, some a touch better armored, some a touch more manoeuvreable. Every ship should have a field in which it is better than the others. No one ship should be 'best'. To make speed differences between classes more important, the delay to activate cruise engines should be seriously increased - up to maybe ten or fifteen seconds. If you choose a slow ship - suffer. You are not supposed to catch the small nimble interceptors in a bomber anyway, nor are you supposed to get a chance to run when the interceptors swarm down on you.
The weapons too would need a tweak. The big guns don't need more power - the smaller ones do. Sure a light fighter has lighter armament - but not like in Vanilla where an Eagle outpowers a Starflier 100 to 1. Maybe more along the lines of... 1 to 3?
Cap ships, now that's an idea I really like. They really do fill a niche that doesn't exist in vanilla. And having these would mean the VHFs would really find a use - as heavy bombers. While a light fighter might kill a VHF, a light can't take on a cap ship. You need an armored box of arms to do that - a VHF. Heck, even the large transports are a nice touch to add - though profits on cargo need to be decreased...
Also, what's all this about plundering wrecks all the time? Seriously, the best weapons known to mankind - ALL the best weapons known to mankind - can be found only on wrecks in asteroid fields? Seriously. If the Rheinland navy created a big gun - they'd mass produce it and use it! I like to see everything for sale - for a price, assuming you have the rep. This would also cut down the advantage for older players. It's easier and quicker to get into the game for a newbie.
Something along those lines...
It wouldn't need any new graphics, sounds or code, just a lot of hacked text files. It would however need extensive player testing to get right. Anyone heard of anything like this?
Basically, I'm looking for a kind of... 'equaliser' mod. Most mods on the net as far as I can tell are about adding more, making faster and doing more damage. More ships, more systems, more equipment. I'm looking for, well, not the opposit, but something a bit different.
The thing that always bothered me about Vanilla is that just about everyone end up in an Eagle. (With the odd exception, of course.) I'd like to see a mod that instead of adding more - simply changes what's already there. There are already light, heavy and very heavy fighters - and a dozen of each class. The problem is that the majority of the ships aren't useful in a multiplayer game.
Assume the light fighters were fast an manuevreable. Faster than vanilla and with similar turn rates. Think of them as... interceptors.
Give the heavy fighgters average stats. Average speed, armor, turn rates... Call them fighter-bombers.
The heavy fighters would of course be something along the lines of heavy bombers. Slower than in vanilla. Easy to evade in a smaller ship but bloody deadly if they get you in the crosshairs.
All classes would now have their own advantages. The ships in the same class would have similar stats, but not identical. Some are a touch faster, some a touch better armored, some a touch more manoeuvreable. Every ship should have a field in which it is better than the others. No one ship should be 'best'. To make speed differences between classes more important, the delay to activate cruise engines should be seriously increased - up to maybe ten or fifteen seconds. If you choose a slow ship - suffer. You are not supposed to catch the small nimble interceptors in a bomber anyway, nor are you supposed to get a chance to run when the interceptors swarm down on you.
The weapons too would need a tweak. The big guns don't need more power - the smaller ones do. Sure a light fighter has lighter armament - but not like in Vanilla where an Eagle outpowers a Starflier 100 to 1. Maybe more along the lines of... 1 to 3?
Cap ships, now that's an idea I really like. They really do fill a niche that doesn't exist in vanilla. And having these would mean the VHFs would really find a use - as heavy bombers. While a light fighter might kill a VHF, a light can't take on a cap ship. You need an armored box of arms to do that - a VHF. Heck, even the large transports are a nice touch to add - though profits on cargo need to be decreased...
Also, what's all this about plundering wrecks all the time? Seriously, the best weapons known to mankind - ALL the best weapons known to mankind - can be found only on wrecks in asteroid fields? Seriously. If the Rheinland navy created a big gun - they'd mass produce it and use it! I like to see everything for sale - for a price, assuming you have the rep. This would also cut down the advantage for older players. It's easier and quicker to get into the game for a newbie.
Something along those lines...
It wouldn't need any new graphics, sounds or code, just a lot of hacked text files. It would however need extensive player testing to get right. Anyone heard of anything like this?