New Class: Swarm

[3835727]

Swarm class ships would be a moderate cross between the current classes such as interceptor/fighter/frigate/etc. They would not be a singular ship, but more like a “swarm” of very small ships all controlled by the player. Flight mechanics would be very different too. The “ship” would enter a sector as a singular, massive entity, then, via use of the special module (toggling on and off) the ship would split in to numerous smaller crafts all with their own radar, weapons, missiles, etc. The core stalk of the ship would contain the active modules that effected the swarm and the like. The singular ship would be very slow and heavy-flying. Essentially like piloting a train. Then once split, the speed of the crafts would be increased greatly. Individual ships would pursue and attack targets and when an enemy was close-by, the whole swarm of ships could all fire in unison for higher damage. Each individual ship would have very little firepower, but once the swarm is close enough to a target, there is no hope for them. Not even destroyers. This would be the first ship to show damage states, as swarm units are destroyed. Here are some example stats that can of course be freely changed depending on how they will ultimately function:

Class: Swarm

Name: Ambokh

Faction: Precursors Jericho

Lore: “Ancient modulation technology blueprints utilised by the Precursors to make their exploratory crafts more versatile and mobile was extracted by a pirate spy aboard Miss Summer’s dreadnought and sold to the black-market. As soon as some unnamed Jericho technicians saw it, they immediately started building prototypes. The very first military modification of these blueprints, the “Ambokh” ship, was released to mercenaries for a hefty price. The ship was a thing of marvel. It was not one ship, but a squadron of drones controlled by mercenaries aboard the “Stalk” or core of the ship. Upon activation, a score of these drones would peel away from the Stalk and proceed to be controlled in whichever way they were modified for. Several months after the ship was developed, several unique and powerful drone modifications were released to the public.”

Primary Module:

Name: Myriad Stem

Recharge: None, as long as all living units are within 800m.

Tooltip: Activation releases all available swarm units and opens their command GUI. Activate again to gather them back on your ship stalk.

Singular form:

Speed: 115m/s

Shield: 66,560pts

Hull: 53,970pts

Special features: Has no offensive capabilities aside from active modules and the “Swarm Pulse” weapon. Takes double damage from explosives.

Stalk:

Speed: 385m/s

Shield: 10,225pts

Hull: 12,430pts

Special features: Contains the primary module arrangement, as well as the trigger mechanism for the “Swarm Pulse” weapon. Controls all swarm units and if destroyed, the swarm will self-destruct. Is cloaked until an enemy is within 5,000m.

Swarm units (x10):

Speed: 560m/s

Shield: 3,845pts

Hull: 4,220pts

Special features: Extremely agile. Each one has very little firepower, but if all 10 attack the same target, there will not be survivors after long. Takes half damage from explosives. If destroyed it explodes, dealing massive thermal damage in a 250m radius to enemies and the Stalk.

Example Modules/Weapons/Ammo:

Name: Swarm Pulse

Type: Swarm Main Weapon

Damage: 25,000 EM (5,000+2,000 per swarm unit within 300m)

Range: 9,500m

Rate of fire: 2 shots/min

Charge: 1 second

Beam radius: 200m

Turrets: 1 (center of Stalk)

Tooltip: All attached drones dump their energy reserves in to charging up a massive beam of EM radiation. Upon charging, the beam area is highlighted for 1 second, then the beam is fired for 1 second.

Name: Backup Drone

Type: Swarm Secondary Weapon

Recharge: 20s

Tooltip: Launches a drone to fill in for a lost one. Maximum of 10 active at any time.

Name: Orbiters Of Death

Type: Swarm Command

Tooltip: Commands selected drones to spin around the selected target and open fire for 5 seconds.

Name: File In

Type: Swarm Command

Tooltip: Tells the selected drones to attack the selected target one by one.

Name: Return

Type: Swarm Command

Tooltip: Tells the selected drones to gather around the Stalk.

Name: AI Mode

Type: Swam Command

Tooltip: Tells the selected drones to act on AI and attack nearby enemies.

Name: Transport Gate

Type: Swarm Active Module

Drone minimum: 5

Recharge: 60s

Energy: 60/s

Tooltip: Calls in 5 drones to open up a very large warp gate for you and your allies to travel through in the direction of the crosshairs.

Name: Repair Modification

Type: Swarm Active Module

Drone minimum: 1

Recharge: 3s

Energy: 90/s

Tooltip: Switches all drones to repair mode. Drones will repair targeted allies or the Stalk for 110 hull and shield points per second per drone.

Name: Rogue Drone

Type: Swarm Active Module

Drone minimum: 3

Damage: 1,245 Thermal

Rate of fire: 90 shots/min

Projectile speed: 4250m/s

Drone speed: 540m/s

Recharge: 120s

Energy: 700

Tooltip: Three drones slam in to the same location and bind their hulls to form a single massive and powerful drone. This drone cannot be controlled and does not count towards your total forces. Once destroyed, explodes, dealing 10,000 Thermal damage in a 750m radius.

Name: The Collective

Type: Swarm Active Module

Drone minimum: 1

Recharge: 60s

Energy: 250

Tooltip: Drones warp to your location. Drones will absorb protect you for 30 seconds, firing at enemies and healing your hull and shield, if damaged, for 150pts/s per drone.

Name: Swarm Wall

Type: Swarm Active Module

Drone minimum: 5

Recharge: 30s

Energy: 300

Durability: 40,000pts (no resists)

Tooltip: Drones project their energy reserves in to a solid barrier in the direction of your crosshairs that absorbs damage for 90s or until destroyed.

Name: Command Beacon

Type: Swarm Command

Tooltip: The selected drone is disabled in place and repairs the most damaged ally within a 900m radius for 125pts/s. Also increases radar range by 3,000m for all allies.

Name: Dagger Missiles

Type: Swarm Hull Module

Tooltip: Allows drones to fire a small missile dealing 1,950 kinetic damage every 20 seconds.

Name: Radiation Beam

Type: Swarm Hull Module

Tooltip: Fits drones with small electromagnetic laser weapons, each dealing 850 EM damage per second. The target suffers continued damage by radiation for 5 seconds after last hit.

Name: Thermal Blaster

Type: Swarm Hull Module

Tooltip: Fits drones with small blaster weapons that deal 890 Thermal damage per second.

And many many more. The possibilities are endless!

Swarm Heads Up Display (Slightly transparent to allow the Stalk to be controlled, etc.):

[3121479]

10/10 for the effort

0/10 for how this fits into star conflict

[4444640]

We’ve been chit-chatting about future destroyers (after Suppressors) maybe being drone carriers, or the like. Perhaps the “core stalk” could be that.

 

Following your line of thinking though, and then altering it a little though - what if you had fighters that would click together geometrically - kinda like the Kha’ak Cluster in X-Universe (each of those ships was a small 3-cornered pyramid shape that nestled perfectly into a much larger 3-cornered pyramid). If your ship was, say, the front ship in this cluster, then you could more-or-less pilot the mass from the front and then break-up and be a flight-leader of the drones, dog-fighting along side of them. 

 

Not to just thumb down without a word (like a certain other poster always does) - even though I like the idea of your interface - it seems too complex for this game. Especially once you start talking about the map relating to three-dimensional space - which would make it even more cumbersome. Perhaps if they just returned to you, formed up on you like the current attack drones, and then fly back to your new target if you lock on to something. That might work. And the reason I simplify it so much is…

 

Unfortunately, the developers have to think about the lowest common denominator. For me, I loved the complexity of the X series and spent hundreds of hours managing fleets and stations there, but there’s a reason that game was never a chart-topper - they didn’t accomodate the lowest common denominator (those people who are not interested so much in thinking and complex management - but just in shooting stuff). Those types are the majority of gamers, unfortunately.

 

10/10 for effort.

__/10 on how we can mold your idea into this game with this playerbase. That number is yet to be found.

[3835727]

That’s how I was thinking it would be like actually, in terms of graphics. Much like little stretched parallelograms that fit together to tile the plane of the surface of the stalk.

And I understand that this would be excruciatingly hard to implement and it would be very complex, but that is exactly what I love about the idea of controlling a “fleet” of ships/drones like this. There are so many possibilities and tactics just waiting to be thought of. It would be awesome!! X3

Though you mention the “lowest common denominator” but what about players like us? If you appeal to more than one party, you get more than one source of income! This could definitely be implemented, but it would be a “you must be an expert at multi-management to fly this” kind of craft.

[2800201]

Seems like a neat idea, just as with destroyers, how do they fit into game mechanics? Seems cool just not reachable at this time…

[3835727]

Seems like a neat idea, just as with destroyers, how do they fit into game mechanics? Seems cool just not reachable at this time…

That’s what they said about destroyers ages ago so we’ll see. ;3

[37718502]

This sound like a Khaaaakcluster. O.o

20x(or even more?) of the m5+1xm3 ship.

Little doomball/missile of death and doom. o.o

[39939376]

THAT. IS. COOL. But, I’m afraid our technology would not handle it by now

[3835727]

Figured, but it seems like with a bit of tweaking, your engine can do just about anything. Take destroyers for example. They are completely different from other classes, yet they are remarkably similar. It would just take patience and LOTS of tweaking. XD

The hardest part of the class would be individual control over specific drones/groups of drones.

That, and the HUD.

Bonus command:

Name: Kamikaze

Type: Secret Swarm Command

Tooltip: Commands the selected drone to rush the target and self-destruct upon impact, dealing massive damage.

[16054898]

THAT. IS. COOL. But, I’m afraid our technology would not handle it by now

[3525415]

I love the concept, but it would be an absolute hell for developers to put in the game…

 

Still, I’m going to write some ideas on how to acquire these ships. 

 

First of all, there should be a quest line that leads you to the discovery of ancient precursors sectors, with fully functional devices. Then you’ll do some missions about scanning and getting debris, that will make you discover the blueprints for the Swarm class ship. Then you’ll have to gather the resources for the ship, which are found only in precursor sectors. 

[3835727]

First of all, there should be a quest line that leads you to the discovery of ancient precursors sectors, with fully functional devices. Then you’ll do some missions about scanning and getting debris, that will make you discover the blueprints for the Swarm class ship. Then you’ll have to gather the resources for the ship, which are found only in precursor sectors.

My idea was a secret gate that had to be “activated” in an alien sector (possibly leviathan or otherworld) that would bring you to the precursor sector hub to warp to mission objectives. The hub would function as a sort of waypoint/dock to complete missions in, in order to complete the whole quest line. Some prec sectors would be like Naberia where you are flying over the “ground” around their superstructures, having to dodge and deactivate the automated security systems before they wipe out you and your “team” (probably just bots with good AI).

After that, a mission would require you to defeat a “boss” which is the swarm class ship. It would quickly overcome you and your team but the encounter would unlock more storyline and quests in order to complete the quests and get the blueprint for the ship. After that, parts should be only acquired in prec sectors, like you said. There is so much more story here that is just waiting to be developed and I love it all.

[39481814]

Looks good. Too bad devs find this hard to fit it into SC. Btw fox, you should make a compilation of all your ideas for SC. Those always sparks new ones.

[3525415]

Looks good. Too bad devs find this hard to fit it into SC. Btw fox, you should make a compilation of all your ideas for SC. Those always sparks new ones.

They should make a specific suggestion section called “Fox’s Ideas”, so Cinnamon knows where he shouldn’t look  :005j: .

 

Just joking, some of your ideas Fox are just brilliant and amazing. 

[39481814]

They should make a specific suggestion section called “Fox’s Ideas”, so Cinnamon knows where he shouldn’t look  :005j: .

 

Just joking, some of your ideas Fox are just brilliant and amazing. 

 

Yeah, Fox is trying hard to improve the game. Not everything is gold, but usually is nice and always fun to read.

[3835727]

_{I try. I really do. The problem, (for the relatively good suggestions,) is not the suggestions, but the lack of an open-minded dev. They have their plan for the next year or so and nothing changes that. Hence why you always see “not planned” under awesome suggestions. Like a bunch of Koromac’s economy suggestions, they are simply shot down by devs or Kato.}

I’d say that the phrase “not planned” and Katovisky are the two most progress-inhibiting things in the game.

And a “Fox Suggestions” subsection would be awesome.

…some of your ideas Fox are just brilliant and amazing.

Shhhh don’t make me blush. X3

[3525415]

I’d say that the phrase “not planned” and Katovisky are the two most progress-inhibiting things in the game.

Let’s nerf them.

 

Jokes aside, it’s sad but true. I’ve seen lots of awesome ideas from people just ignored because it wasn’t in devs’ plans

 

The other problem of our devs is that they don’t like to admit their errors. They have to understand that an happy community makes them earn a lot more money than a community that is forced to pay in order to make the game less painful.

[39481814]

I supose this is a game for us but a living for devs. Then a misstep is really dangerous.

[3835727]

And if you look back, I’m only one of few (active) vets that are actually still playing the game. It’s kinda sad seeing everyone leave. Taggart esp. He was gr8.

[35361365]

I’d say that the phrase “not planned” and Katovisky are the two most progress-inhibiting things in the game.