Decided to just reply than edit the previous post since you added more
I'll try to summarize things to keep from writing too much.
Agreed, there are actually far too few things the player can do to affect combat as it happens.
The flying's always been an issue. Pilots don't seem to know to slow down to take advantage of staying on an enemy's tail - which results in all the wheeling around and strafing runs you see ingame. It would be advantages to not slow down to match the target's speed occasionally though; for example if you're also being pelted by an enemy. To handle this the player should be able to tell the pilot whether to prioritize destroying the target (meaning to slow down to match target speed) or avoiding incoming fire (meaning don't slow down). Or perhaps simply allow to specify a threshold minimum speed% reduction, like "don't fly slower than 50% of top speed". Assuming speed is the only factor here.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
Or take fighter vs. Capship.
I finally manaully positioned my team in, say, a Mastiff's blind spot (behind and slightly beneath). Will they sit and fire until it dies? No.
They'll start strafing runs, costing firing time. And not only that, they'll break off at angles when they're done, taking them out of the blind cone I so painstakingly put them in, and back into the Mastiff's turrets' crosshairs.
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Pretty sure the AI in this game isn't equipped to handle avoiding enemy firing cones (or ships will be wheeling around all the time trying to get behind each other). However, I agree they should at least consider this if the target was much slower i.e. fighters vs capships.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
^ This one, by the way, appears to be an automatic offender in any 3d space combat sim, e.g. Homeworld series, Freelancer (though somewhat warranted there, as you can rarely ever get a fighters vs. capship fight uncomplicated enemy fighters), Freespace 2 (iirc).
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I've never actually seen a game AI which would slow down and park itself in a blind spot even though, theoretically, it shouldn't be hard to do. Granted, most of the time it'd be pointless to try but as said it would be viable against much slower targets.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* The ability to manually assign the fighter-launch order would be good. (Alternatively, if the ability exists, documenting it would be nice. I haven't managed to figure out the Hangar-order -> Launch-order logic (though admittedly I haven't put much effort into it. I just disable auto-launch).
* Also, The ability to launch selected fighters than simply automatically 'launching all'.
Both of these would make a very big difference in some of the 'as soon as you enter the system' scripted events. i.e. "ARGH! There's an ambush over here! Why the $(*@ does my <special purpose ship> always launch first?!"
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I don't auto-launch either (some of the modded motherships are fast enough to outrun some trash mobs you'd not want to waste time with). It would be nice if the ships launched in the bay number order.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* A method of making money (and/or gaining experience) outside the main plot. e.g. Return the SW2 random 'Jobs' from trade stations.
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A working random missions board would be beyond awesome.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
^ In my SW3 experience:
If you need to do this, it's because you're not strong enough to fight through a scenario in the plot, probably meaning that you're either Gen1-1.5 and with a non-combat spec or Gen~3 and coming up against one of the first large-scale battles.
So, your options are:
A) Try to find a system with 'level-appropriate' encounters.
And since finding a level-appropriate area isn't possible without actually scouting every single system (without digging into the randomcontacts.script), odds are that you're going to get your MS pulped so many times (by higher-gear wings) you'll just give up (from experience). Leading you to
B) Finding lower-level enemies to bully. Less risk of dying, but the exp/loot-value drop-off is too steep to be worthwhile. Or
C) Find a system that spawns equal-or-higher level wings from opposing factions. Let them kill each other. Pick up the loot and resume your plot-line.
The problem with this is:
A) Worthwhile ones are very rare, so you're unlikely to find them without textfile digging (which a newbie won't (know how to) do).
And B) likelier than not, your gear-Gen is high enough that you're 'overleveled' and the previously unwinnable fight will now be (more or less) a breeze.
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Agreed, difficulty scaling needs to be fixed. I think most of us acknowledged this. The figures are all over the place in multiple files though. It'd be quite a job.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
<stuff about missiles>
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Which is why my first priority was to mess with the missiles, heh.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
-> Unguided missiles are next to useless against fighters (Point-blank range sometimes hits, anything else is a waste of rockets, berthing space, money). Intended?
^ Then why the heck are they so ubiquitous? The only allied non-scripted cap-ship generally around is MY FRIGGIN' MS.
Which means that, unless I distract every single missle-carrying trash mob with my fighters, my MS will get pounded by un-AMS-able dumbfire rockets.
Grrr.
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Exactly. Unguided missiles are pretty much useless for the player except vs capships; realistically you're not gonna hit anything else.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Is it possible to disconnect missiles from launchers? (i.e. carry missiles as cargo, split as demanded between launchers.) Note: This'd probably require giving fighters cargo capacity, and unless there's something more to do with it, it's probably not worth the coding time, and capships can't fire missiles.
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Sounds good, but yeah, you'd have to split missiles into launchers and cargo-able ammo. Capships not being able to fire missiles is a big boo-boo imo. Unlikely to see this being fixed without an engine rework although it doesn't really sound hard to do.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Why can AI Missile Carriers stand off and pummel me with rockets and I can't return the favor? (It keeps strafing.)
^ -> Rocket Attack seems... not to be working as intended, imo. When used beyond missile range, nothing happens, when used in range, it - as far as I can tell - just attacks normally, i.e. strafing.
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No separate AI for firing rockets exists I think.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Make friendly kills (i.e. last shot on hostile by a green-name) share exp. PLEASE.
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Yeah, I really hate exp-on-kill systems.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* SW3: The ability to 'hang on' to the (scripted) 'long jump' so it's not a 'now or never' would be great.
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Agreed, if you don't take it, you're faced with an epic trek across the game universe. Choice should be something like "jump now" and "minimize this message box", so you can click on it to un-minimize it and jump when you feel like it. Should also expire when you reach the target system.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
<stuff on weapons>
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It's pretty messy all around.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* One-shot systems are barely worth using (i.e. only if you have *nothing* else to put in those system slots, and even then I almost never end up using them). Is this a problem?
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Never used any one-shots either, they're horribly inefficient considering how many encounters you get into during the average flight. I always felt these were a waste. Maybe if ships had unique slots dedicated to one-shot systems they'd have some use, but right now? No.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* The ability to store/call manually pre-configured ship loadouts (without having to actually have them (taking up one of the limited slots) in the hangar) would be nice, as it'd make putting a goal-specific ship together less of a hassle when you have a (nearly/) full complement of pilots.
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Would be very convenient especially if it could check whether you have items that require specific skills to handle.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Showing the gun placement on ships' wireframe is good, but can we get a toggleable 3d display of their firing arcs (,i.e. Coverage, lines of sight, whatever) in the tactical display, please?
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Yeah, would be great to have this. You'd think a mothership carrying enough equipment to assemble fighters from parts would already have this capability lol.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Could we get deployable radar bouys, please? Oneshot or retreiveable, as you like.
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Now
this would be a useful one-shot; actually, it's more of a deployable (unless it gets blown up).
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* I understand that #uses/mission abilities used to =per system.
Given that SW no longer uses that model, could it be changed to maybe a lockout system, with levels either invreasing duration or shortening the lockout?
(I mention that specifically since the archetecture is, I believe, already used, i.e. Skill duration isn't always equal to the skill's cooldown.)
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Aren't skill usage reset when the pilot docks, I don't quite remember. It's just that docking is kind of a hassle so you can't simply do it in the middle of a huge fight.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Another reason that I ask for a leveling alternative: that off-mission exp divisor coefficient (exp*0.1) is a killer.
But for the reasons mentioned above, just increasing it won't be enough.
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Seems like they didn't want us traipsing around, haha. But yeah, simply adjusting this figure - while it would help exp - doesn't address the other issues.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* The 'defend' pilot assignment is wonderful if that wing is the one being attacked.
If, for example, your fighters are all in one wing and all set to defend, but the enemies are attacking your MS, you'll have 1 fighter, the team leader, shooting, and all the rest just flying aimlessly in and out. :/
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Yeah, I find it better most of the time to have everyone fly separately; the wing bonuses just don't cut it when the wingmen contribute nearly nothing to the fight.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* Hacker attack suffers from generally low quality vs quantity opponents, and the cooldown means you can only ever disable 1 ship at a time.
Great for busting an enemy capship's shields, and for paralyzing SAM when he tries to escape from New Kyoto (so you can kill him there and not have to chase him). And not imo much use beyond that.
* Suggestion/request:
If possible, could it be made to affect a wing per use?
Same effect vs. Capships, more use the rest of the time.
(also, why can Hertic do it but I can't?!  ) |
Yeah, it's like a vs boss skill and overkill on everything else. I'd rather it have a effect like making it harder for people to aim at you or something.
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Originally Posted by Sing_In_Silence
* One last thing:
The SW world is huge.
And as far as content is concerned, mostly barren.
(as far as I can tell, less than half the systems are put to use.)
SW1 had most every point of interest do something, even if only offer you a 'kill this' or fedex quest.
The fact that SW3 doesn't gave that is not my problem (though it could be an the alternative leveling method, if implemented generically.)
My problem is that I'm forced to fly back and forth, slowly across huge tracts of barren (though not actually emtpy) space, at least until midgame rolls along, bringing the first 'long distance travel' script, assuming I can immediately accept it.
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SW1 didn't have a universe, it was pretty much system = mission, so they could afford to put in details. SW3 feels quite empty especially in the systems you normally don't visit outside of missions.