AetherVagrant
Cipher
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2015
- Messages
- 519
It's like the german Truck Driver sims except in space,
"Arbeit macht frei" even in the future.
"Arbeit macht frei" even in the future.
I think it is also the case in Star wolves, but the game is more about the fighters than the carrier iirc.Something asymmetric like a homeworld scenario would work for creating a narrative justification for just having a single big capital ship.
Something going on has pushed humanity to the brink and forced them to travel around in giant militarized city ships to protect the remnants of humanity. You would need some additional narrative justification if you also wanted to make it so you were only fighting other big giant ships one at a time, but I would prefer more variety in the types of enemies encountered anyway.
i tried both. concentrated shit.I tried neither of them
I would love to have a 3D(ie, non abstracted ship vs ship combat) FTL with a capital ship; but I don't think it will ever exist.FTL: Faster than Light? Definetly not large ships, but it is 1v1 ship combat and does evoke that star trek feeling of people manually controlling systems.
I think it is also the case in Star wolves, but the game is more about the fighters than the carrier iirc.Something asymmetric like a homeworld scenario would work for creating a narrative justification for just having a single big capital ship.
Something going on has pushed humanity to the brink and forced them to travel around in giant militarized city ships to protect the remnants of humanity. You would need some additional narrative justification if you also wanted to make it so you were only fighting other big giant ships one at a time, but I would prefer more variety in the types of enemies encountered anyway.
Which one is it?Well, there are games like that :
The Cosmic Balance, 1982, where you design your own ships (capital or not). Screen is from my blog.Which one is it?Well, there are games like that :
Negative on that one, the X series just don't understand what makes capital ship combat tick (or the purpose of capital ships). They typically just have bigger hitpoints, shields and guns than everything else while being miserably slow and expensive to repair. Although to be fair, this also extends to every other combat craft in the X series, with some very boring combat mechanics applied everywhere, the scale of which goes well beyond problems with the capital ships.Is there any installment of the X series in whcih captaining capital ships doesn't suck?
The essence of capital ship combat: That sense of invulnerability,
I said the SENSE of it, not the actuality of it. The Hood is a classic example of this. If they had not gone into the business with that sense of invulnerability, they wouldn't have suddenly exploded.Tell that to HMS Hood.
- Universal Combat (On sale here on Steam)
- Klingon Academy (Not available digitally)
- Rules of Engagement (An updated version is on Itch, https://halkun.itch.io/rules-of-engagement, originals not availably digitally)
There's really nothing else that comes close to this level of complexity.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
What do you mean by "non-abstracted" combat, anyway? I mean, FTL's combat isn't really terribly abstract: You very specifically fire pewcannons into very specific parts of the enemy ship. How non-abstract do you want it, and how does whether or not it is 3D fit into this? Does it need to simultaneously capture the immensity of space at the same time rather than being ships that move at speeds slower than cars and fight at ranges shorter than triremes?I would love to have a 3D(ie, non abstracted ship vs ship combat) FTL with a capital ship; but I don't think it will ever exist.
It is actually, because there is no range or positionning whatsoever. Your own ship is pretty detailed, but I consider the simulation itself abstracted. But as you pointed out, it would be hard to do it well indeed. I think using orbital mechanisms, and have the battles be more about chosing when to engage, when to save fuel and ammunition (ie, more about resource conservation) could both capture the scale without making space like sea.What do you mean by "non-abstracted" combat, anyway? I mean, FTL's combat isn't really terribly abstract: You very specifically fire pewcannons into very specific parts of the enemy ship. How non-abstract do you want it, and how does whether or not it is 3D fit into this? Does it need to simultaneously capture the immensity of space at the same time rather than being ships that move at speeds slower than cars and fight at ranges shorter than triremes?I would love to have a 3D(ie, non abstracted ship vs ship combat) FTL with a capital ship; but I don't think it will ever exist.
Well, range and positioning play relative little role, probably because the relative movement capabilties of ships are almost wholly irrelevant compared to the potential range of weapons. When your acceleration is measured in maybe ones of gravities at the high end and your ranges are in in the tens to hundreds of kilometers, how much are you able to change your range in the timespan of the shootout? The only way you're leaving (or entering) the fight is through your magic warp drive.It is actually, because there is no range or positionning whatsoever.
That's the CoaDE style approach to it.I think using orbital mechanisms, and have the battles be more about chosing when to engage
The resource management angle is similarly very FTL. Although if you push it into a logistics game, it starts to move away from the capital ship aspect.when to save fuel and ammunition (ie, more about resource conservation) could both capture the scale without making space like sea.
I did, Starshatter is very good at capital & fleet warfare. It's an ever moving battle between X-ray laser batteries, shields, torpedo and point-defense system. Positioning and rotation are also important because capitals can go down fairly quickly without functioning point defense/shields, so you always bring the most important aspect to bear depending on the hostile you're facing and you never want to get hit by a torpedo. If you lose something critical, it can take days of repair, burn through all your supplies, or can be outright impossible to restore during the campaign.I want a good capital ship game so bad. It could be amazing if done right. One game I rarely see mentioned is Starshatter - The Gathering Storm. Unfortunately you have to start as a fighter pilot and work your way up to capital ships. I never played enough to get that far.