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IDEA: Alert status and ship postures

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Ships need to have alert statuses and postures. You activate an alert or posture to get a specific type of small buff while that alert or posture is active.

These should be abilities available for all ships and all classes from the outset, but captain abilities or consoles should augment the status effects. You can only have one alert active at a given time and only one posture active at a given time. Alerts are meant to be situation use and temporary (so they grant buffs and debuffs or can only be used in combat situations), postures are meant to be long term use and there must always be some type of posture active. ship NPCs should have alerts and postures as well, and use them.

ALERTS:
Red Alert - It's iconic from Star Trek. If you suspect danger, the first thing the captain says is 'Red Alert'... also often followed by "Shields up!"... the whole ship swings into action.
Effects: Small buff to Shield energy level movement (so if it's low from being at Full Impulse, activating Red Alert will make the shield power levels return a bit quicker) and a small buff to weapon accuracy. Red Alert will place you in combat while active.

Yellow Alert - A little lesser known, but has appeared in a couple Next Gen episodes. It's a raised level of alertness.
Effects: Small buff to stealth detection and small buff to ship turn rate and significant debuff to weapon power levels (deter this status from being used 100% while in combat). Yellow Alert will place you in combat while active.

Blue Alert - Blue is a non-combat status used in the tv shows when docking, landing or cloaking.
Effects: Small buff to repair rates and turn rate and significant debuff that increases damage taken. Blue Alert also prevents you from using Full Impulse while active.

POSTURES:
Aggressive Posture - "Sir, they're powering weapons".
Effects: Small buff to weapon power level recharge rates.

Defensive Posture - "Sir, they've raised shields."
Effects: Small buff to shield recharge rates.

Protective Posture - "Sir, they've positioned between us and the target."
Effects: Small buff to threat caused from damage.

Neutral Posture - "Sir we're reading no change in the enemy ship."
Effects: All system power levels have a small flat power level increase.

Inquisitive posture - "Sir, they're scanning us."
Effects: Small buff to ship's overall avoidance.


Then there could be more alerts and postures specific to class of captain or of ship type. Or postures could eventually be a way of offering choices during missions (like if you approach a ship in a defensive posture there could be a diplomatic solution to the mission when the ship hails you, etc.)
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    well put sounds like fun.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I think that's what the settings should be for. I think the power management needs to be generally re-worked as we never Kirk or Picard or Sisko playing a power management game beyond the "powers" we have in the game already ("Full Impulse" , "Emergency Power to Weapons/Shields" etc).

    If if they were going to keep them, I'd go with standard/balanced, you're in a "normal" condition. If you go heavy sheilds it would be 'yellow alert' ... if you go heavy weapons, you're in "red alert." Discard engine-priority (full impulse makes it redundant).

    As noted, I would replace them and make it green/yellow/red system. Yellow would energize shields to half, leaving a minimal amount for weapons (say half the beams) putting the rest in engines while Red would fully power shields and weapons. There would be negatives (diplomatic/conversation tree) to running around fully powered... maybe also have a crew fatigue (since all hands to stations during alerts while ordinarily there would be a 3 or 4 shift scheme going on) so performance would suffer without going back to condition green after awhile...

    Yellow alert was also mentioned in TWOK IIRC as Reliant approached.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited May 2010
    Like the idea.
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