Landing Gear

Suggestions Controls
#1

I tossed this idea out in general chat, and it garnered some support, so I thought I’d post here.

 

Basic idea is to allow ships to dock onto surfaces in game.  To dock, the ship must be at 0 m/s and a distance of <100 m from the surface.  There is a 5 second deployment period, at which time the ship is still “on.”  Once the 5 seconds are up, and the ship has landed on the surface, and the ship is switched off.  During ship inactive time, the ship disappears from all enemy radars (except captains), its standard modules recharge at normal rates but are disabled from use (though I think multipurpose modules should be usable and have decreased cooldown), but its shields and weapon systems are rendered inactive.  However, since shields go off with the ship, it makes sense to me that they are regenerating at 100% of normal rates.  Ships that are disengaged from combat can still take damage (if a stray shot hits a disengaged ship, the enemy pilot will receive damage notifications, but this would be rare unless the ship was spotted beforehand).  To re-engage in combat, the pilot must wait 1-2 seconds before the ship can undock from its position and be switched back on.  Once re-engaged, the ship will reappear on enemy scanners and  will have regenerated its shield at 100% speed and have access to them again.  Basically, it sacrificed temporary shield durability for double the regeneration.

 

Tactically, this would be extremely useful for coordinated defenses of objectives.  If a squad of 4 were to disengage from combat, waiting for the enemy to arrive at a point in space, they could ambush the enemy in an effective way without anyone being spotted beforehand.

 

Of course, this tactic has its weaknesses and bugs (which I hope to iron out with the community), which are important to note.  First, ships must fully decelerate in order to dock, meaning that adpative shield builds take the biggest hit for this.  Secondly, some jericho ships utilize high shield regen, so they might be overly tanky from the doubled rate.  Of course, they are practically dead if they’re discovered, so maybe it’s not all that bad.  Third, the delay for the docking procedure was created to avoid overuse and spam.  You’d have to wait for the perfect or preferred time to use it.  Someone mentioned having a dedicated module with a set recharge rate to avoid spam, but I’m unsure of which would be better.

 

Anyways, thoughts?

 

**Also, I’d like to mention that games are too short in general.  If this is implemented, I’d like to see longer games so we can have other strategies develop**

#2

I like it but I have some questions. 

 

When you disengage you shield go inactive right? Does this mean that said ship get’s hit directly to the hull? Then once you engage shield regeneration is doubled?

 

I’d like this to be a multipurpose module.

#3

I like it but I have some questions. 

 

When you disengage you shield go inactive right? Does this mean that said ship get’s hit directly to the hull? Then once you engage shield regeneration is doubled?

 

I’d like this to be a multipurpose module.

 

Partially correct.  Your shields do go inactive completely when your ship is off.  However, your shields are “regenerating” while the ship is off at doubled speed.  So when they come on, they had simply been conserving their energy at the expense of hull exposure.

#4

Partially correct.  Your shields do go inactive completely when your ship is off.  However, your shields are “regenerating” while the ship is off at doubled speed.  So when they come on, they had simply been conserving their energy at the expense of hull exposure.

So basically, you get 2x shield regen, but all hits go directly to hull. Is that right?

#5

So basically, you get 2x shield regen, but all hits go directly to hull. Is that right?

 

Exactly.  If you undock from the surface and switch the ship back on before getting destroyed, shields come back up with extra strength than they would normally have regenerated.

 

*Edit* I think the hud should disappear (except for radar, hull/shield, and module info) when ship is inactive.  I know the ship is “off” completely…but maybe it’s just on “standby” mode, and that’s why it can still see such information.  I just like the idea of still knowing where the enemy is without them knowing where you are.

#6

If you want to become invisible to sensors without cloaking you would need to shut down your ship to even the most basic utilities. You want to leave as little electronic radiation as possible. You would have life support temporarily off so why would you have sensors and readings going?

#7

If you want to become invisible to sensors without cloaking you would need to shut down your ship to even the most basic utilities. You want to leave as little electronic radiation as possible. You would have life support temporarily off so why would you have sensors and readings going?

 

Well, right, but maybe it’s not sending a signal, but receiving the team’s sensor data.  I mean, that’s what happens when you have recons, right? Ships share data.

 

 I just think it’d be pointless if you tried ambushing your own ships because you didn’t know who it was, then you actually get blown to hell by the enemy when you’re trying to land again :wink:

#8

Electronic equipment that is turned on will emit EM waves as well as heat. Your own body produces heat obv. All that could be used as data for enemy sensors. Cloaking ships block heat from escaping so you can cloak but eventually you will decloak because you don’t want to be cooked alive.

#9

Electronic equipment that is turned on will emit EM waves as well as heat. Your own body produces heat obv. All that could be used as data for enemy sensors. Cloaking ships block heat from escaping preventing so you can cloak but eventually you will decloak because you don’t want to be cooked alive.

 

So what would you recommend?

#10

Enemies rely on naked eye. So do you. Or just greatly reduce the opacity of the HUD.

#11

very interesting idea. it would be awsome if they implemented it.

 

i would slightly change landing mechanic…attachment to surface would be instant…ship would only take hull damage if speed was too fast.

after it landed and shut down it would still be visible for 5 sec…and couldnt start up first 10-15 secs… you know, we dont want fight around the corner where enemy lands as it looses shield and comes back after few secs fully shielded…

 

however thats a really great idea, love it! i always tought of to attach on surface and wait for ambush when in domination match.

#12

very interesting idea. it would be awsome if they implemented it.

 

i would slightly change landing mechanic…attachment to surface would be instant…ship would only take hull damage if speed was too fast.

after it landed and shut down it would still be visible for 5 sec…and couldnt start up first 10-15 secs… you know, we dont want fight around the corner where enemy lands as it looses shield and comes back after few secs fully shielded…

 

however thats a really great idea, love it! i always tought of to attach on surface and wait for ambush when in domination match.

 

Imo, the ship should remain on scanners until you would have normally lost your lock.  For example, if your team lost visuals on an enemy and then that enemy landed onto a surface, he would be undetectable until the ship was re-engaged in combat.  However, if the enemy was trying to land and was still in view during this, it then is visible for 5 secs after shutdown.  And it’s not like they’ll come back with full shields; it depends on how long they wait.  Shields don’t recharge very quickly anyways, so double regeneration isn’t that game-breaking in my opinion; it just gives a few more options to the defenders.

 

I thought 5 seconds is enough time to be extra vulnerable before being able to recuperate shields at doubled speed.  Having your hull exposed is risky, and if deactivated ships are not healable by engineers, I think this really would be a great trade-off.  Plus, if YOU get ambushed, you still have to wait another two or so seconds before you can re-enter combat effectively.

#13

I feel that game is too fast for such movement in normal matches, but could be neat addition to invasion if we would have mining equipment to drill asteroids instead just flying around them picking crystals that magically appear.

#14

I’d love this for Invasion. PvP-wise it could be fun too, but I love the idea of player ships anchored to floating asteroids, just waiting for a full cargo ship to pass.

 

Heck, even using it as a way to get Bots in Invasion off your tail. It’d be awesome to duck behind an asteroid, land, and give them the slip.

#15

So, can this be forwarded or should it be discussed more?

#16

I would love to see this idea happen! The possibilities for ambushes and strategic play would be insane! Plus the bonus of being off the radar completely and not being given away by engine trails, this would be perfect!

 

+999

 

Seriously though, have the devs seen this yet? I think it actually should be put into the game

#17

If you feel I am missing a suggestion, feel free to contact me per pm

 

but give at least a couple of days for me to read, sometimes RL is distracting me from gaming and forum

#18

from my POV this would lead to a static game - can you please elaborate further

#19

from my POV this would lead to a static game - can you please elaborate further

 

Sure.

 

Right now, the game is far from static, and I am not seeking such a style, either.  However, there are times where it is tactically impossible to escape a situation and your ship is destroyed simply because there is nowhere to hide and you are at a disadvantage.  Having the ability to land onto any surface, disengage the ship from combat to recover, strategize, and ambush or escape an enemy force yields immense tactical possibilities, as you could imagine.  I see this tactic being used to defend objectives and players while also being useful for sneak assaults and flanking maneuvers.

 

The thing is, this game is great.  It really is.  However, it’s too fast-paced and a bit unrealistic at times.  It’s space…there are so many places to hide, but we can’t take advantage of it.  I’d like to see this game be more like a simulation, and giving pilots the ability to utilize the terrain will spawn a myriad of tactical possibilities.

 

Again, I do not think it will make the game static.  It will force players to be more cautious, which I really think is much better.  Also, some players might actually be really daring with this tactic, so it’s not fair to say it will force a static game.

#20

I love it but instead of a module, it just needs to be a “switch on/off ship” hotkey. Where shields, modules, weapons, missiles and engines are turned off at the gain of extra regen/reload time and you are cloaked like an LRF. You are left drifting if you turn your ship off mid-flight.