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[Idea] New Ship Equipment - Ships Computer

coupaholiccoupaholic Member Posts: 2,188 Arc User
This is an idea that has been in my head for a while now. It came up because of a couple of reasons. One is the on-going issues players have with STO concerns the ships themselves, how some are considered obsolete these days and how certain factions have little or no choice for certain careers. Another reason, more my own opinion, is that I find it odd that ships computers don?t exist as a piece of equipment in the first place. They are pretty important seeing as they take care of well?everything.

So here is the idea in full, you?ll need to bear with me.

In order for this idea work the ships themselves need to change. They'll need to lose the console slots, device slots, the power bonuses and the BO seats completely.

They would keep the following stats:

- Hull points
- Shield points
- Shield modifier
- Weapon hardpoints (includes weapon compatibility)
- Impulse modifier
- Turn rate
- Inertia
- Crew
- Hangar (if applicable)
- Cloak (if applicable)

Basically everything you would expect to know for the base hull of a ship.

The ship tiers will remain as they are. As for C-Store/Lockbox ships they would obviously stay as well. I realise one of the main selling points of a ship could be its Boff layout or console slots, but I also think the aesthetics of a ship, any special consoles or mechanics on top of the stats listed above would be enough to convince the consumers.

Now for the magic.

Another all new slot would be for the ships computer. Slotting in a specific computer would determine the function of the ship itself. It would be responsible for the Boff seating layout, console slots, device slots and default power levels for any ship hull its plugged into.

And that?s it, they won?t have passive stats or set abilities - there is enough of that with all the other kit in the game. There could be plenty of computer choices for each career, specialist builds, faction builds and hybrid builds. After choosing a computer and installing it on your ship of choice the Boff seats and slots pop up in the ship loadout screen, and you are free to fill the spaces as you would normally.

With ship computers players would have the choice to use their favourite hull and customise it to favour their skillpoints, career choice and playstyle. Flying lower tier ships would be possible, but obviously difficult since they have lower stats across the board compared to higher tier counterparts. But what about all those poor 2 tac console ships rotting away in spacedock? Or the on-going KDF requests for science ships?

It would also re-introduce the idea of choice. Yes you could have a tactical computer on the biggest cruiser you can get your hands on, but you?ll have to keep it alive with minimal heals, only a couple of device slots, 50 power in shields and having to cope with the sluggishness of a cruiser hull in a sustained fight. I?m not saying its impossible but still tougher than having more power in shields and better BO seating for tanking.

I daresay it would also give more options for each career, especially with hybrid computers. Science players could fly ships that have just enough tactical bite to be competitive while still having diverse science capabilities. Engineers could sacrifice a level of their survivability for increased firepower. Tacticals could sacrifice firepower for more tanking or science potential.

Now I'll be the first to say this idea is not perfect.

Custom power settings will no longer be available since it is the computer that will decide power levels. I see this as one of the main balancing factors, so players will have to make do with the power they have in each sub-system. Perhaps there could be some wiggle room with an actual emergency power mechanic (like for example 20 power in subsystem X for 15secs) and let?s not forget warpcores, batteries and eng power consoles (which could be made useful again).

Since I envision a diverse choice of computers and Boff seating configurations to go with them uni seating would be quite pointless from what I can see. The new Raider changes would ensure BoPs still have something to set them apart, unless of course it gets nerfed into uselessness in the meantime.

And of course the inevitable chance everyone uses the same computer since it is considered 'best'. I would want all these computers to have some degree of usefulness and be balanced with each other but in a game where DPS is still very much a focus? Things are changing with new content but DPS is still comfortably in the lead and that needs time and something more than this idea to fix.

I?m sure there are things I have missed while considering this, perhaps both good and bad.

So?what do you think?
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • johngazmanjohngazman Member Posts: 2,826 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    coupaholic wrote: »
    In order for this idea work the ships themselves need to change. They'll need to lose the console slots, device slots, the power bonuses and the BO seats completely.

    So all we need for this to work is a complete overhaul of the game engine?
    You're just a machine. And machines can be broken.
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  • vivenneanthonyvivenneanthony Member Posts: 1,278 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    coupaholic wrote: »
    This is an idea that has been in my head for a while now. It came up because of a couple of reasons. One is the on-going issues players have with STO concerns the ships themselves, how some are considered obsolete these days and how certain factions have little or no choice for certain careers. Another reason, more my own opinion, is that I find it odd that ships computers don?t exist as a piece of equipment in the first place. They are pretty important seeing as they take care of well?everything.

    Sounds nice but not reasonable. It will require to overhaul the whole system and probably merging everything together.

    1. All ships should have a shuttle bay (shuttle bay console).
    2. Carriers should have hanger bays (hanger bay console).
    3. Each ship should have a specific layout (more realistic ship).
    4. All ships should have a hull (console)
    5. All ships chould have a computer core (core console)
    6. Follow Artemis Space SImulator format to allow real bridge members.
    7. Make a ship a ship, not a character costume.
    8. Make ship consoles(regular) into ship upgrades.
    9. Have ship interior (engineering, science, etc) changed on the selected nacelle,pylon, saucerm and hull type, and upgrades.

    Sounds reasonable. Almost impossible to do because it would require a base STO code rewrite.
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