Hull sub-lines and pilot-less ships [hull lines overhaul]

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Oberlus
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Hull sub-lines and pilot-less ships [hull lines overhaul]

#1 Post by Oberlus »

Would you like to have different sublines within each main line?

Mixing up many ideas in the forum and elsewhere I've got this (all names are just temptatives).

Robotic line

I imagine the hulls of the robotic hull line as actual robots with the shape (and abilities) of a spacrafts. Their guts are full of machinery where regular spacecrafts (standard/basic hull line) would have cargo holds, corridors, living rooms for the crew, cabins for the gunners, etc. The crew is greately reduced, usually to one single pilot except for the bigger ships, and pilot functions are mostly to make the tactical decissions: i.e., the pilot is just the commander, the ship can automatically pick up targets, aim weapons and shot, make automatic doge maneuver against incoming attacks, etc. The ship also performs any maintenance or emergency repair by itself. It has requirements on robotics not required for standard hulls.

The ships of the autonomous sub-line would have fully functional AI that completely replace the pilots and can follow orders from the fleet command. This sub-line allows (with the required AI techs) to would allow with late-game techs ships with weaponry bonus better than average-species pilots, although more expensive than the regular robotic line counterparts and with extra requirements on AI-related techs.

Organic line

Basically like the robotic hull line, but organic instead of mechanic. This line relies heavily on genetics and biologiy related techs.
I would say these ships have the lowest speed of all ships but greater autonomy (at least in terms of really fast fuel regeneration) and increasingly better stealth.
It would be great to allow some if this sub-lines to use monster-like equipment (either the same as is already available, with the necessary balancing, or some other of new design). I take it as granted in the following, but it's optional.

The hollow sub-line has the ships organically built but dead in the end (like shells), and used much like standard spacecrafts, allowing with standard equipment without extra requirements.

The living sub-line (or some better name, maybe just "base organic line") is about growing actually living yet brainless space monsters, with some automatic ship abilities thanks to reflexive mechanisms of the living organism that it is. It grows over time and can eat space stuff to refuel. Each ship is controlled by a pilot through his psionic abilities (so telepahtic species would have easier to get this sub-line). Requires cybernetic techs to equip regular (non-organic) equipment.

The sentient sub-line is composed of the high-end of the living sub-line, with autonomous space beasts that do not require a pilot (much like the autonomous robotic sub-line). Also requires cybernetic techs to equip regular (non-organic) equipment and is the slowest to build sub-line (the thing must learn to think).

Some or all of this sub-lines could get bonuses from controlling space monsters nests (e.g., +X% HP or +1 pilot level if built in a system with a kraken nest, +20 speed if built in a planet with a snowflake nest, is there a nest for the monsters that have fighter-like creep? that could give extra fighter capacity or damage; are all this bonus could be just supply-group bounded to avoid messing with the ship mechanics).

Asteroid line

Similar to standard hull line (i.e. not automatic nor self-growing stuff within the ship, just a spacecraft, with a full crew within) but built from/within real asteroids. This gives them better stealth and bulky hulls (better HP/PP ratio) but lower speed.

The camouflaged sub-line has hulls with superb stealth but less combatant abilities (maybe just less extern slots).

A third sub-line could be scattered, tied to gravitronics and something else. And this sub-line could have some asteroid-dedicated weaponry, like asteroid bombardmend of planets.

Energy line

I like to imagine the energy hulls as something completely different to the current artwork. Not something visually "solid", but more like a fluctuating, solid/liquid/gaseous (all at once) bright floating thing. I would make this the late game hull line, tied to some trans-organic tech so that pilots are themselves energy, and make it the only hull line with access to the most powerful weaponry (DR), shields (BS) and engines (TD). This ships should be the most expensive (less efficient) in terms of PP/strength, to help compensate the advantage that would give early access to this line (that implies having huge PP and RP production so if you got here first then you are probably the winning empire already).
No ideas for sub-lines though.



Toss in here your ideas.

Jaumito
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Re: Hull sub-lines and pilot-less ships [hull lines overhaul

#2 Post by Jaumito »

Oberlus wrote:Not something visually "solid", but more like a fluctuating, solid/liquid/gaseous (all at once) bright floating thing.
Already in the game, sort of. It's called degenerate matter, which neutronium is an example of. Except neutronium isn't really bright, but electron-degenerate matter (the stuff white dwarfs are made of) would fit your description nicely.

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