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Game Balance (Devs - Please Read) |
Arcanum {C?}
Cadet
Joined: June 25, 2005
Posts: 222
|  Posted: 2005-07-21 14:11
I have been harboring this idea for a long time, but I have kept quiet about it until now, because I did not believe it would fit into the direction of where the game had been going. But given Faustus' new intentions, I would urge the development team to hear my ideas on game balance and gameplay. (I did quite a bit of research and have taken a lot of time to condense all the information into what is relevant for our purposes, so I hope that someone will bother to read it.)
Naval Fleets and Darkspace
A quick examination of the current naval fleets of the world gives us a good basis to understand the different roles of each ship type, on a two-dimensional plane - the ocean.
Aircraft Carrier
This ship was designed originally as a mobile platform from which aircraft can land and take off. The fighter jets are themselves the weapons of the aircraft carrier, which carries few if any turrets. Thus, even in modern naval warfare, the aircraft carrier is treated as a vessel which projects power over a long range.
Battleship/Dreadnought
The ultimate gunboats, which have been outdated since WWII, these vessels had the most firepower of any ships on the sea. In short, they were slow, heavily-armored goliaths of destruction. While carriers could often travel alone because the enormous firepower of fighter/bomber planes could seriously damage an enemy fleet, battleships required escorts. Because they were slow moving, they needed the support of smaller, more maneuverable vessels to keep them from being outmaneuvered. Basically, give a smaller vessel enough time and good seamanship, and it could destroy a battleship. But one good salvo from the broadside of a battleship, and no ship could survive.
Cruisers
A large warship capable of engaging multiple targets simultaneously, the cruiser is large enough to fend off attacks from smaller surface ships and self-sufficient enough to roam far from their home bases. Some newer cruisers have a helipad as well, to enable better mission flexibility and maneuverability. Missiles and good radar/sonar are the hallmark of cruiser class ships.
Destroyers
The battleship and submarine's worst nightmare. Armed to the teeth with depth charges and guns, these highly maneuverable ships were light on armor, but easily capable of taking out larger and more powerful ships.
Frigates
The frigate is a lightly armored vessel, usually customized for scouting activities, anti-aircraft or anti-submarine combat. These were able to move even faster than destroyers, but were also more lightly armored.
Freighter/supply vessels
Often the target of submarines, these vessels, usually filled with fuel and supplies were positioned at the center of the fleet, where they were protected by larger combat ships.
Amphibious/Troop Transport vessels
These ships were actually quite large, and were quite well armored. This was due to the nature of their role in naval warfare, which was to transport large numbers of troops and land them safely on the shore. Having a strong hull was necessary to carry out such a mission, amid heavy land-side defense fire.
Submarines
Usually unseen and undetected, these vessels were able to travel at moderate speed underwater and surface only to fire torpedoes at their enemies from safe distances with reasonably high accuracy before resubmerging to the safety of the waters. Their appearance in naval warfare were responded to via depth charges and sonar, which were a means to detect the approximate location of a submarine, and use sinking mines which would explode at a predetermined depth in the hope of damaging the submersible.
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I believe that there is a lot we can use here, including the ideas of how speed and maneuverability can be weapons in and of themselves, and how dreadnoughts should be the power center of a fleet, but by NO means an independent ship. Transport ships should be more heavily armored, to reflect the beating they must take to get to the planet. Smaller class vessels like frigates should have specific tasks to take care of, and for them, combat is less of a priority. Submarines have the advantage of surprise and stealth.
In summary, there are some aspects of gameplay which I urge the development team to consider carefully to balance:
a. Tradeoff between power and armor vs. mobility and speed
b. Weapon range can be an offensive and defensive tool as well
c. The effect of long-range power projection - carriers should change the way a battle is fought.
d. The effect of stealth - cloaked and ECM ships should change the tactics of those who are facing them.
I will not make any suggestions as to what should or should not be done. I have faith that with some good brainstorming, the development team will be able to design something that we can all enjoy.
[ This Message was edited by: Esari (Bums Away!) on 2005-07-21 14:12 ]
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Coeus {NCX-Charger}
Admiral, I can't read,
Sundered Weimeriners
Joined: February 16, 2004
Posts: 3635
From: South Philly
| Posted: 2005-07-21 14:17
Taking from the submarine idea... possibly... corvettes (not scouts, but corvettes!  ) should have a stealth skin that lets them sneak up on enemy targets - obviously not with the power of a submarine - but with a few torps to give them a good morning wake up call that can't be detected (save mass ECCM/sonar).
Just a thought.
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Dwarden
Admiral
CHIMERA
Joined: June 07, 2001
Posts: 1072
From: Czech Republic
| Posted: 2005-07-21 18:25
i got massive document about this already in past ... only tiny bits were put in ...
for various reasons ...
also DS is not 1:1 to actual fleets ...
You should know that today missile boats are most powerfull forces on sea ... (also submarines but that is very special specific class which not work in space (in fact submarines can be taken as kluth cloak )
that mean Sloopy, Frigates, Destroyers and Missile Cruisers ....
BattleShips are very rare...
Cruisers too...
Carriers are expensive and powerfull because of own fighters/bombers/awacs etc
but usually vulnerable w/o escort .... even Vulcano type of PD system can prevent attack .... w/o own fighters and escort it will be possible to sink
and that's it ...
in last century was NAVAL structure changed radically more than once... mainly because of submarine , air and long range (missiles) combat ...
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Trekkie_zero
Cadet
Joined: October 14, 2003
Posts: 146
From: A state with too many A\'s....
| Posted: 2005-07-21 18:38
The next thing to change naval warfare the Railgun yeah I wonder how the rules will change when we have guns that can shoot you from 250 miles away... Then theres lasers too...
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