10 replies to this topic

[johnchm.10]

so a while back i had an idea that would allow for more ships to be produced, while avoiding the issue with the GUI being locked. i have since added on to this

here goes

to put it quite simply, we increase the number of shipyard variations that one can build

at this moment, there are 10 different types of station in this mod; 5 shipyards, 3 golans, a research station and a trading station. there is also the space colony, but i dont really count that since it cant do a whole lot other than enable the production of all the other stations. if memory serves, there are 24 areas in the GUI with which to add buttons so you can research or build things, w/e, just over double of what is used right now.

what i propose is this

we have a tier-style system for the shipyards, so that each of the shipyards has 2 or 3 tiers.

the tiers would be Low, Medium, and High tech yards. using the RA/NR faction as an example, a level 1-Low yard would be able to produce 2 fighters and 2 strike craft (bombers). the Z-95, X-wing, Y-wing, and R-22/A-wing. (i would classify the X-wing as a strike craft because early Z-95s only had guns, as well as the R22, and the rarity of the X-wing early on). while this might be seen as a crutch, the advantages of a "1L" yard would be: cost, how quickly they are built, and how quickly they build fighters and the fighters' cost. on the other hand, at a certain point, the Zed becomes obsolete by just about every other ship, as the late model Y-wings can reach almost the same speed, while having greater armaments and durability, as well as great anti-ship weapons; the early-mid model X-wings can outrun, outgun, and outmaneuver the late-model Zed, and the1st upgrade to the A-wing brings the A-wing on par or better than the AF4/5 Zeds. in addition, the shipyard would have weaker defenses and a smaller income.

a 1-Medium yard would be the average of course, a 1-M yard would produce 3 fighters and 3 bombers. the Zed, the X-wing (reclassified as a Fighter as by this point, there are enough of them to become widespread) and the A-wing as the fighters, the Y-wing, R-41, and the B-wing as the bombers. i am classifying the R41 as a strike craft because of its Ion Cannons. these yards would be middle of the road in all categories. not too pricey, and they dont take too long to be built or to build from..

then, the 1-H yards. the heavy yard would produce 3 types each of fighters and strike craft. the X-wing, A-wing, and E-wing for the fighters, and the Y-wing, B-wing, and K-wing for the bombers. in addition to producing better ships, the yard also has the best defenses out of all the yards, as well as having the greatest income, although it would cost the most, and the yard would produce ships at a slower speed, and itself taking longer to build.

this makes sense from a canonical standpoint in that the Zed and Y-wing were phased out as the Rebellion became the New Republic, and its said that the R41 pretty much vanished from the Forces of the Rebellion when the X-wing was introduced. as for that one, i imagine the fighters were sold off to pay for the new fighters or cannibalized of anything useful then scrapped

an additional idea i have is to eliminate the Research station, having each yard be able to research ships and upgrades, or at least to replace it with an armed version so its not useless in a battle.

next thought. instead of using the vanilla models, we could use models that look more like the shipyards seen in other SF like in other Star Wars games, or in Star Trek.

on a somewhat related note, the same or a similar set-up could be applied to the trading platforms.

last item. i think. arming the Space Colony. im not talking the Octuple cannons like on the ISD, but more along the lines of a dozen or so turreted lasers for dealing with fighters and bombers, as well as some Turbolasers and maybe a missile or torpedo tube to deal with light corvettes. nothing intense, but enough so that we dont have to task a Dreadnought and a pair of Nebulon-B's to give it adequate cover

[MawDrallin]

I wouldn't really bother with the shipyards, as a lot of those guys who complain about it are probably people who want to build all shipyards (Level 1-5) on several planets and are frustrated that they cant build everything on one planet like in vanilla EAW. My solution is just to designate certain planets to produce snubfighters, corvettes, frigates, destroyers, and dreadnaughts. Example, I usually have a Level 4-5 and maybe a Level 3 built on Mon Calamari dedicated to producing those ships, while on the other side of the galaxy I dedicate Sluis Van to researching new units and upgrading others of those same classes.

Edited by MawDrallin, 22 August 2012 - 01:23 AM.

[johnchm.10]

usually, ill just have a level 1, 3 and/or 4 at most of the planets, an xq5, and then as many golan 3s i can have, with level 2 yards and maybe a golan or xq5 at the planets that cant support anything larger or where theyre already built.

my main issue is that at a certain point, there will be too many ships to fit in the GUI, and unless the petro guys or the lucasarts guys release at least part of the code that has to do with the GUI, something is going to have to be done. i am mainly presenting an idea of how to at least hold this off.

as for my other ideas, any issues?

[P.O._210877]

I always believed that building corporate specific shipyards above planets that are supposed to have them would be "a great asset..." So instead of building generic shipyards everywhere you'd have the option of building KDY, CEC, SFS, MonCal shipyards... Of course each company would build it's own ships and maybe a limited amount of other companies' ships. For example lets use the Rendili shipyards. Canon says Rendili bypassed the Senate legislations by operating subsidiary yards spread all over the Republic. So, with that in mind, a lot of systems outside the Core had access to Rendili designs, hence their widespread presence; it also could build other ubiquitous designs (TIE Fighters come to mind) albeit at a different cost and/or build time, etc. I think something could be done to represent this reality and give more depth to the game. It goes without saying that you could build generic yards anywhere but company yards would be limited to certain planets and would offer advantages generic yards could never hope to match. You could even push the envelope and determine that research can only be done at company yards or that company yards can build different classes without needing different yards i.e. a KDY shipyard could build corvettes, frigates, cruisers... all at the same yard but only it's products would be buildable this way. There are actually quite a few permutations that could be explored.


@ johnchm.10 Don't take how people react to your ideas so personally, "That leads to the Dark Side." And hair loss too!

[Kitkun]

Corporate shipyards are represented by planet bonuses.

[Madurai]

Shipyards being everywhere has always kind of bothered me anyway. It seems amazingly backward that shipyards and space habs are cheaper and faster to build than forts.

[johnchm.10]

I always believed that building corporate specific shipyards above planets that are supposed to have them would be "a great asset..." So instead of building generic shipyards everywhere you'd have the option of building KDY, CEC, SFS, MonCal shipyards... Of course each company would build it's own ships and maybe a limited amount of other companies' ships. For example lets use the Rendili shipyards. Canon says Rendili bypassed the Senate legislations by operating subsidiary yards spread all over the Republic. So, with that in mind, a lot of systems outside the Core had access to Rendili designs, hence their widespread presence; it also could build other ubiquitous designs (TIE Fighters come to mind) albeit at a different cost and/or build time, etc. I think something could be done to represent this reality and give more depth to the game. It goes without saying that you could build generic yards anywhere but company yards would be limited to certain planets and would offer advantages generic yards could never hope to match. You could even push the envelope and determine that research can only be done at company yards or that company yards can build different classes without needing different yards i.e. a KDY shipyard could build corvettes, frigates, cruisers... all at the same yard but only it's products would be buildable this way. There are actually quite a few permutations that could be explored.


@ johnchm.10 Don't take how people react to your ideas so personally, "That leads to the Dark Side." And hair loss too!

no when i say 'any other issues' i want critique so i can refine the ideas. incidentally, ill add on to you idea. for the ubiquitous ships, have slight variations in performance like having the shields of an X-wing being stronger if its built at a Mon-Cal yard, or tweaked engines at Corella, better hull at Kuat, etc. like nothing major, but something like a few hull-points or a couple MGLT

[Kitkun]

That would require different variants of each unit, so would mean murderous lag and an incredible workload.

[P.O._210877]

Corporate shipyards are represented by planet bonuses.

True, but they are not mutually exclusive.

That would require different variants of each unit, so would mean murderous lag and an incredible workload.

There is a way around the lag but the workload would indeed be a tall order. Still with a pooling of resources the load could be lightened.

[johnchm.10]

ah. point taken for the second bit. again, just a thought.

[Phoenix Rising]

I haven't yet conceded that filters are impossible with PR. Until then, we'll just have to work around the interface. Development is all about priority.

Madurai, expect a build time standardization at some point. It's been needed for a while.