Any pointers for fleets?
Moderators: th15, Moderators
Any pointers for fleets?
Well I was wondering if any of you could give me some pointers for making a desent fleet. I'm working on one now (nine ships so far).
[img]http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg43/Kane_Lives/BSFS1.jpg[/img]
Be specific, are you asking about organization structure?
How to give all your ships an identifiable, unified look?
Trying to decide on a naming theme for your ships? Backstory?
You can always look to other fleets made by people to get a vague idea of where to start.
Most importantly, you must enjoy making your fleet.
How to give all your ships an identifiable, unified look?
Trying to decide on a naming theme for your ships? Backstory?
You can always look to other fleets made by people to get a vague idea of where to start.
Most importantly, you must enjoy making your fleet.
A very roles-oriented fleet does end up being hamstrung by the AI, to an extent, since it's not intelligent enough to, say, position the ship with the nano as close to as many other ships as possible.
Still, if you want to make a fleet (as opposed to a bunch of ships), each ship should be different. Not just a different shape, or more blasters instead of lasers, or some drones on the back . . . if two ships end up doing exactly the same thing, you only really need one of them.
The stock ships are a really good example of this: some are optimized for close range, high-damage output, some are built to keep at range and consequentially are a bit more fragile . . . but none of them are the same, and choosing which ships you want to use is much more a matter of tactics and less of choosing which of a series of nearly identical variants you want to use today.
At least, that's how I approach it.
Still, if you want to make a fleet (as opposed to a bunch of ships), each ship should be different. Not just a different shape, or more blasters instead of lasers, or some drones on the back . . . if two ships end up doing exactly the same thing, you only really need one of them.
The stock ships are a really good example of this: some are optimized for close range, high-damage output, some are built to keep at range and consequentially are a bit more fragile . . . but none of them are the same, and choosing which ships you want to use is much more a matter of tactics and less of choosing which of a series of nearly identical variants you want to use today.
At least, that's how I approach it.
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Stormcaller
- Commander
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:39 am
Yeah- if you're looking for the best AI results you can, plan each ship to operate as if it was alone. The AI tends to operate each ship independently and ignore everything except one target. This can lead to watching your ship turn its back on a dozen heavily armed enemy cruisers because it's trying to shoot down that one, mostly dead frigate.
From what I've seen there's a few ways to theme your fleet: limited parts, limited gear, and limited function.
Limited parts means you restrict yourself to certain sections, or a general look to the silhouette of the ship. You don't want to narrow your focus too much, because if you have only three or four sections, your ships are going to look bad. Generally you can have more leeway filling in your ships, so long as the silhouette sticks to a certain theme, such as the brick, lots of curves, or spiky bits.
Limited gear means you restrict your weapons and modules to a smaller list. There's a low-tech fleet on here that follows this idea, as well as the stock fleets in the game. Pick a set of weapons and modules that you think fits your theme, and use only those to arm your fleet. Again, too few and you'll end up with Blaster-Equipped-Cruiser #17, too many and you lose the theme.
Limited function is just that- you try to stick to a certain style of fighting. Maybe all your ships are close-in brawlers, or maybe you just make sure that 90% of your fleet's set up for Broadsides. This is one of the more subtle themes, since it's not as obvious on first glance (though Broadsides-only style stuff is a little easier to catch on to). This can limit your tactics and your ships' varieties, but you can still work with it to get some solid results. It can also help balance your fleet since everything will have the same weaknesses.
From what I've seen there's a few ways to theme your fleet: limited parts, limited gear, and limited function.
Limited parts means you restrict yourself to certain sections, or a general look to the silhouette of the ship. You don't want to narrow your focus too much, because if you have only three or four sections, your ships are going to look bad. Generally you can have more leeway filling in your ships, so long as the silhouette sticks to a certain theme, such as the brick, lots of curves, or spiky bits.
Limited gear means you restrict your weapons and modules to a smaller list. There's a low-tech fleet on here that follows this idea, as well as the stock fleets in the game. Pick a set of weapons and modules that you think fits your theme, and use only those to arm your fleet. Again, too few and you'll end up with Blaster-Equipped-Cruiser #17, too many and you lose the theme.
Limited function is just that- you try to stick to a certain style of fighting. Maybe all your ships are close-in brawlers, or maybe you just make sure that 90% of your fleet's set up for Broadsides. This is one of the more subtle themes, since it's not as obvious on first glance (though Broadsides-only style stuff is a little easier to catch on to). This can limit your tactics and your ships' varieties, but you can still work with it to get some solid results. It can also help balance your fleet since everything will have the same weaknesses.
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Stormcaller
- Commander
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:39 am