Wyrdysm Games

Will fighters be returning in 2.0?
In the current metagame, the fighters seem a little too big. I think the fighters should be on a similar size to the fighters in Gratuitous Space Battles. In GSB, it takes speacial weaponry to take out fighters, and they are much more numerous. the biggest thing I like about fighters is that when left unchecked, they can take out a capital ship all on there lonesome. (In GSB, torpedo fighters)

In my opinion, fighters should be small, hard to hit, numerous and nasty.

So, what do you guys think the role of fighters should be, if we include them?

You should also still be able to actually make the fighters, y'know. For instance, if you make a core too small, it'll grow buggy in game. Furthermore, our fighters currently have about 20 threat average. That's small for a BSF ship. Even if you cut the size down to half that size, you'd have a 20 pixel fighter at best lentghwise. That's not a lot of room to work with.

Methinks fighters are fine as they are, though it would be nice if we got minimum/maximum targeting size to work for 2.0.

i'm thinking around the same plane as you derekiv, but if fighters get any smaller BSF won't be able to hit them(dunno why not) so unless this problem gets fixed somehow, where going to have to stick to same sizes.

EDIT:hmmm, ninja'd

It's largely a problem with BSF, min/max target size, and the fighters in GSB being done as a seperate kind of ship object, I think.

It's quite possible that they will stay with the game, but for the time being I think the sizes are fine. We just need min/max targeting behaviour to work.

To get the effect of gsb, could bsf be fixed to the point where we can edit Demeter drone skins like other weapons? Then they wouldn't be susceptible to normal weaponry, and would be standardized because there wouldn't be any custom guns on them. I recall there being a reason this wouldn't be easy to do, but it would go a long way towards making all things fighters easier.

Then also the demeters would require additional code to do movement and turning correctly for fighters too.
Basically it would be a total overhaul of the demeter system, which I don't see any of the coders doing in the near future.

It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to add a simple line that makes the sprite face the direction the demeter itself is moving in, but actually editing the movement behaviour would be harder.

Actually, demeter drone movement behavior is fairly decent for fighter purposes already. Don't they fly over targets and back, and strafe (to an extent)? That's probably as good as fighter AI will ever get in BSF, IMO.

Ya and for the purposes of the metagame, its not unreasonable to say the reaction times required for the speeds involved, as well as the physical stresses on the pilot from the acceleration and turns would necessitate drone fighters, which would be much more likely to make such sharp turns.

I think M1's strikecraft are fine as they are., we just need Min-Max targeting fixed so dedicated anti-strike craft weapons will actually work.

Pirate_Che wrote:I think M1's strikecraft are fine as they are., we just need Min-Max targeting fixed so dedicated anti-strike craft weapons will actually work.

Unless that happens though, I'm thinking strikecraft probably won't be widely used. The attrition/loss rates are way too high right now, anti-fighter guns or no anti-fighter guns.

Fighters are usually used to keep people entertained in war scenarios. in any combat situation where they are used properly they can only be useful for surgical strikes and taking out other fighters and bombers.

but the thing is they are cheap, and only require one man to fly most of the time, so they would become useful for factions when they have a little cash left over and need a quick strike team.

maybe they could be used as a system only defense, produced by large stations, and carriers. Just as a mobile renewable defense, a flak screen in other words.

I don't like the idea of fighters like in MG 1.0. I think all the stuff needed to keep someone alive in that tiny space is unrealisated. I don't mind having drones as research options through, as long as we have some good starting PD to counter them.

But people don't need to have that much stuff to keep them alive, our current shuttles are 37 m long for 4 people for several days, a fighter would be a bit smaller, only need to support 1 person, and only for a few hours, more for an ejection/life pod system.
Remember people survive in the space suits, just add two bottles of O2 to go with them under their seat and they will survive.

Basically the same as a modern jet fighter. Survival equipment is minimalistic, and fuel and payload takes up most of the space.

Drones would only be a little smaller, and maybe an easier shape due to the loss of life support sections.

It'd be a shame to get rid of them, that's for sure, but they are definitely somewhat unwieldy. I think a replacement might be the Gunships we already have.