Ephemeron
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Posted - 2006.04.07 06:12:00 -
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Edited by: Ephemeron on 07/04/2006 06:21:10
I am one of the people that thinks current warping and scrambling system could use a fix in favor of scrambling. I realize that there's no room for radical changes, only minor adjustments.
For warping, I propose a "minimum time needed to enter warp", which would start countdown from moment of "enter warp" command passed by the pilot. This timer would be independent of alignment. Ships would need to complete both warp timer and alignment before entering warp.
Each ship type would have a different timer, with general rule as follows:
pods: 0 seconds
shuttles, frigs: 1 second
cruisers, indys: 3-5 seconds
battlecruisers: 6-7 seconds
battleships: 8-10 seconds
This rule has little effect on pods and frigs. It has most significant effect on sniper battleships, that rely on alignment for insta-warps in case of danger. This idea nerfs battleships and to some extent cruisers. Before you start flaming, consider the next idea:
Warp scrambling.
All warp scrambling mods should have their strength increased by 1.
Warp scrambler: strength 3.
Warp disruptor: strength 2.
Ships would start using their "propulsion strength" attribute by making it equivalent to warp core stabilizers.
The general rule for propulsion strengths by ship types would be:
pods, shuttles: 0
frigs: 0-1
cruisers: 1-2
indys: 2-3
battlecruisers: 3
battleships: 4
This means 1 scrambler could never hold a battleship. But then, they can't warp for at least 10 seconds even if they are aligned.
That's not all, there is 1 last, yet very important idea in balancing warp core stabilizers with warp scramblers:
A "Warp Scramble Amplifier" module, fitting:
low slot
1 power grid
30 CPU
Effect: increases the strength of all warp scrambling modules by +1.
You can stack those just like you can stack your warp core stabilizers. They have same fitting, same slot placement. Now you can have an interceptor that can scramble a battleship with just 1 scrambler.
These three ideas are meant to be used together. They are meant to shift the balance toward better scrambling. Reasons for "why" we need such a shift in game design are not meant to be discussed here. This is just a proposal of "how" to do it.
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