I’ve enjoyed playing Star Conflict so far, but have been toying with an idea in my head about an option for certain types of ships if not all, to completely power down your ship.
Power down/up should take several seconds (somewhere between 5-10 seconds).
Having the ship powered down would effectively hide you from sensors unless another ship is within ~1.5k of you. (this doesn’t count if there is a sensor beacon in the area or you have Spy Drones attached to your ship)
Shutdown would drop your shields, so yes you have the advantage of being effectively invisible, but in a very vulnerable state.
I think this would add more depth and realism to the game. Thoughts, feelings or additions?
I would disagree that powering down a ship would make it invisible despite having spy drones attached. Hidden from sensor beacons - sure, but having a working drone attached to a hull should override this for as long as said drone is there. You would be still able to power down, just… to no avail as far as being invisible goes.
Another question is if I would be able to power down the ship while in full speed and then drift unnoticed by sensors till my target (let’s say enemy captain) was nearby. That would be awesome.
Yet another thing is that powered down ship should basically avoid detection by not sending any signals that would allow it. So heat, energy and radio signatures. Therefore while powered down we should have no sensor range aside from what we receive from allied ships around. We’ll have to spot things with our very eyes. Also no engines, weapons and shields, but that was kinda covered.
There is also a question if this would make a ship invisible for the enemy captain, which it should - else it would be sorta pointless.
And then time to reboot systems will have to be balanced. I’d say something around 4 to 5 seconds should be okay. Powering down your ship is not something you will be doing while in combat anyway. Unless you want to hide in an asteroid field or smth. Powering down itself should not take long, maybe one or two seconds and would be nice to have this action confirmed by holding a button for this time (just like suicide works).
I would disagree that powering down a ship would make it invisible despite having spy drones attached. Hidden from sensor beacons - sure, but having a working drone attached to a hull should override this for as long as said drone is there. You would be still able to power down, just… to no avail as far as being invisible goes.
Another question is if I would be able to power down the ship while in full speed and then drift unnoticed by sensors till my target (let’s say enemy captain) was nearby. That would be awesome.
Yet another thing is that powered down ship should basically avoid detection by not sending any signals that would allow it. So heat, energy and radio signatures. Therefore while powered down we should have no sensor range aside from what we receive from allied ships around. We’ll have to spot things with our very eyes. Also no engines, weapons and shields, but that was kinda covered.
There is also a question if this would make a ship invisible for the enemy captain, which it should - else it would be sorta pointless.
And then time to reboot systems will have to be balanced. I’d say something around 4 to 5 seconds should be okay. Powering down your ship is not something you will be doing while in combat anyway. Unless you want to hide in an asteroid field or smth. Powering down itself should not take long, maybe one or two seconds and would be nice to have this action confirmed by holding a button for this time (just like suicide works).
I agree with you that drones should continue to function - hypothetically the tech is self suffiencent including its’ power source so it should still continue to function, I didn’t word that very well in my initial post - though I’d say that if the sensor beacon is within a very limited range of you it should pick you up (up for debate honestly though).
I’m glad you brought up motion - I knew I forgot something. If we’re going for realism, objects in motion should stay in motion. Being able to drift and powerup was exactly something that I had imagined when I first started thinking about this. I also agree with you on sensors - though I’d go so far to say we can’t even recieve data from fellow teammates, go eyes only, forcing you to really pay attention.
I’m not sure about the captain though, currently the way mechanics work in combat recon the captain can see through an enemy’s cloak, so I’m unsure if that’s something the developers put in the “balance” combat recon and make the games longer, or if it just hasn’t been addressed yet.
Oh snap. I’d vote for it if I can have the MW3 startup sound.
But more seriously, I can’t see it happening. SC isn’t a sneaky submarine game and I doubt the devs want to make it so (it already gets flak in reviews for being “slow”, though I’m not sure why).
If we do shutdown, we should drift indefinitely at the same momentum we were travelling when we engaged shutdown, since the inertial thrusters would also be shut down. Unable to turn, slow down, straif, receive sensor data, fire weapons, or have shields.
Of course, if one is the captain in a game of combat recon, the marker designating them as the captain should not go away. Same for bomb carriers in detonation.
I forgot to mention the 1,5 km thingy. Even bumping enemy ship should not make you visible for them. For their sensors you’re just a brick floating in space. Sorta like current command ships, as one user pointed somewhere, he he.
About seeing sensor data from other ships and the whole captain thing. This should be balanced to somewhat cancel each other out. So if captain can see you, so should you see him no matter what. If he can’t see inactive ships, then I am okay with us going in completely blind. It’s not like captains are jumping all around the battlefield anyway.
Seeing where bombs are… kinda strange and despite it being the game objective I don’t see a good reason for allowing us to see them “just cause”. Ships carrying them already have sparky effects assisting them. Let’s make that more visible for other players and an average Joe should spot said sparks from a reasonable distance when powered down.
_____
A word about sensors. Ship that is just receiving data is not as noticeable as one that sends them along with emitting strong power signatures. I’d vote for fancy mix:
Let’s say we have a [bIND] assigned to the whole powering down / up system.
In order to power down your ship you have to hold [bIND] till ship powers downs (1-2 sec or whatever).
While powered down, by pressing [bIND] you can toggle receiving sensor data from friendlies on and off. Change of state takes few seconds.
If sensor data is received, enemy ships can still detect you, but from close range only (1km maybe - remember that default sensor range is 3km)
If sensors are completely shut down, your ship cannot appear on enemy radar. You still can be seen and shot (and can’t really defend yourself then), but that’s all. You are also completely blind and can only rely on what you see with your own eyes.
When powered down, holding [bIND] again for 1-2 secs will initiate powering up sequence after which we’ll be back in action.
That’s pretty much all there is to say with a disclaimer that powering down with your captain dead does not hide your ship anymore.
Powering down should make you drop the bomb, its not like you are carrying it in your cargo anyways.
Powering down as captain should be pointless except for wasting your shield, none captains should be able to sneak up on captains with this though.
Powering down is quick and stops all outgoing signature when you are completely shut down, therefore, you are seen as soon as you begin powering up even if it takes another 5 sec before you can move.
I as long as it works like this, i think it would be a great addition.
