Carrier Class Vessels

[Justin]

Hey everyone, I decided recently to add carrier class vessels to the game.

So the player will be able to work his way towards obtaining a carrier with fighters/bombers, this will add an interesting aspect to combat as it is right now.

An interface will allow you to see your fighters health. From here you can control their current behavior. Whether to escort you, attack nearby targets etc. It is not decided how many you will be able to launch at once, or how fast each can be launched. Initially I have 10 controllable at once. I don't think I would go higher than 15.

I am also debating to add bombers, in that they will come equipped with one powerful slow firing torpedo launcher, where as the fighters will have a single rapid firing 360 turret.

Fighters will not be capable of warp, so they will have to dock before you go to warp, or you will just leave them behind.

I am also debating whether to give them some form of fuel, and have them automatically RTB once low on fuel. The bombers will have finite ammunition and will have to return to re-arm.

If anyone has any suggestions or preferences along the above lines, feel free to let me know

The carrier will come with point defense weaponry, but the final weapon slots have not yet been determined.

can also email me: [e-mail]

[smeggy1384]

I'd suggest making the number of fighters based on some crew members stat. Tactical would seem most logical (unless you come up with a new crew member and position for more of a mini fleet type role) with 1 fighter for every few points of the related stat.

Another thought: Different types of mini fighters: Guns, Missiles and Shield fighters. The gunfighters fly out to gang up on and shoot down nearby ships prioritizing smallest class vessels first, missile fighters try to keep their distance and launch missiles and target the largest vessels first, while shield fighters attempt to block fire aimed at the carrier (or to cover the other fighter types if the carrier is not being engaged). Every individual ship would need to be weaker than a single Corvette, maybe 3 fighters being able to take down one corvette without outside assistance (such as the carriers main turret).

Fuel would be great, forcing them to auto dock (as well as the carrier to have a fuel supply, which must be purchased at space stations) and refuel every so often.

When limiting the number of fighters you might consider allowing a carrier to have spares, if someone warps off without them, or the fighters all get shot down the carrier is likely in trouble in the next battle. If there is a new fighter bay section added that has to be MANUALLY told to take fighters from the cargo bay(where, once bought, they are stored like regular cargo until placed in fighter bays) and launch them it should strike a balance between defenseless (with no fighters it would be a gimped form of other ships) and overpowered (lets face it, if the carrier can load up a few thousand of these and launch them as some get lost it would be very hard for the AI to take down).