147 replies to this topic

[Unikraken]

The in-game timeline progresses from early Covenant war to post-schism, exact dates aren't specified and mostly a guideline rather than rule.

[Aunt Gruntie]

Could the final armor/HP upgrade include shields? is this possible?

[Unikraken]

Could the final armor/HP upgrade include shields? is this possible?

Yes. Very simple to do, but I would worry about balance and canon.

[Crisiss]

Yes. Very simple to do, but I would worry about balance and canon.

The FLEETCOM upgrade path is going to have to be insane economically to pass up the shielded ships that the ONI path is projected to receive.

[ARC 179]

Okay don't hate about to necro, but I did have an earlier post and unfortunately because I forgot to do my research a forum post that I wish I could delete, however I think posting my ideas here could be useful now.

 Give it ONAGERS and Deck Guns at the start, 1>Because I  F***ing love the in game effects with deck guns, 2> They would help with ship defense.

Give it twice the AA damage of an Anchor Station for star-fighter defense, remove any upgrades for star-fighters so you have to make a choice between an Anchor station or an Omega Defense Platform. 

Give it the first round nukes that the Halcyon has but with 1 and a half the reload rate so that the nuke missiles fire every 1st and 5th phase of combat, (Only available through Halcyon research, It's a purchasable slot for the starbase) give it a lower Archer damage value than normal to emphasize the nuke waves

Make it about as tanky as the standard TEC starbase when fully upgraded (minus shields of course). This would give it a large pool of health while still making it an expensive investment for the player 

Lastly give it 9 upgrade slots. This would better help balance it, if we give the station infinite slots then a fully upgraded station would be all you need in a grav well, at least economically.

 

 

Slot designation as follows

1. Weapons-->Stage 1 Deck Guns and multitudes of Helix AAA guns are emplaced on the station providing excellent fighter defense--->Stage 2 Multiple ARCHER missile silos are placed on the ODP giving it a long range attack--->Stage 3 Tactical Nuclear Missiles are placed on the starbase giving it an immensely powerful punch (increases all other weapons damage by 15%)

 

2.Superstructure Upgrades--> Stage 1 Multiple plates of ancillary Titanium A armor are placed on the starbase improving health and armor values--->Stage 2 Internal Engineering bays and supports are added increasing Health and armor--->Stage 3 Layer upon layer of MAC impact plated armor is placed on the station greatly improving armor and health values

 

3.Manufacturing--> Stage 1 Multiple repair and retrofitting bays are installed allowing the starbase to craft ships (40% efficiency)--->Stage 2 Additional engineering bays and staff are added to the starbase allowing it to construct fleets even faster(75% efficiency)---Stage 3 Hordes of Engineers are brought aboard the starbase allowing for large scale production of vessels (100% efficiency)--->Stage 4 Improvements in automation allow for jobs that were originally human held to be replaced by machinery. (125% Efficiency)

 

4.Trade-->Stage 1 Mercantile bays are added to the starbase allowing for a trickle of trade income to flow through (1-2Creds per second)-->Stage 2 Multiple bays are opened allowing for mercantile vessels to enter and leave the starbase with regularity (7-8 Creds per second)---> Stage 3 The starbase is converted from a weapons platform to a mercantile one allowing for massive trade income  (20 creds per second, WEAPONS DISABLED, can still build ships)

 

5.AI Enhancements ( Cost: 60 Antimatter Radius & antimatter ability 30 second duration)--> Stage 1 AI blocks are temporarily transferred from running the platform to analyzing and plotting enemy vessel movements (10% Increased range)-->Stage 2 More AI blocks are transferred over allowing for faster calculation of enemy movement (15% Increased range)-->Stage 3 AI blocks are completely transferred from starbase functions and slaved to computing enemy vessel movements for a short time (20% Increased range 10% less damage from starbase)

 

6. Weapon system enhancements (Cost: 80 Antimatter Radius & Antimatter ability 40 second duration can be cast with AI enhancements)--->Stage 1 Weapon firing patterns are computed faster for a brief time (10% increased reload speed for friendly vessels and SMAC stations)-->Stage 2 Weapon reload mechanisms are briefly enhanced allowing for even faster reload speeds (15% increased reload speed)---> Stage 3 Starbase AI's utilize an experimental algorithm allowing for increased recharge speed for MAC's and other weapon systems (20% faster reload speed)

 

7. Gamma directive---> Stage 1 All personnel except for a skeleton crew are evacuated form the station, the station then self destructs inflicting a large amount of damage on enemy vessels

 

These are some ideas I had for the station, my line of thought was that the Omega station needed to do 3 things very well 1 defend, 2 Buff friendly forces, 3 allow for a mercantile build for the starbase. I often find myself only building starbases for the economic benefits, by giving the Omega a better fleet build time than the anchor and a much better credit income rate it can become a 1 stop shop for economic buildings freeing up more logistic slots for more important stuff like research or fleet/ capital cruiser building facilities. With the system ideas I also wanted to make the starbase an extremely high priority target for enemy forces, by giving the base the potential to buff fleets and defenses near it, it become target number 1 in a gravity well. I also really like the idea of giving it a shiva ability and a probe ability.

[SPECTRE]

There we go.

[ARC 179]

Yes much better now.

[vikinghoof]

Posting this in the public area to iron out any potential badness from it and to once again mingle with the peasants...

 

Basically, due to time constraints, a lack of resources, and a desire to adhere, nay, cling, to canon...the two starbase idea for the UNSC is out. At this time we no longer plan to do a heavy starbase for the UNSC. However, we're also getting rid of the current model for the UNSC starbase. It was a loaner from Homefront and even they are getting rid of it in favor of a more personal design (also very resource intensive).

 

So where does that leave us? Whatever we're doing is going to have to be from scratch and we don't have the manpower/time to do two somethings. So we can create something that fits within the lore and is less resource intensive than the previous model, but it also needs to provide the kind of utility that starbases provide in SoaSE.

 

 

Anchor 9

 

I think an Anchor 9-type station is the best option because of the utility and available references. With starbases in SoaSE you can have sections of a model tie into starbase upgrades. With that in mind, one can have something that starts out as the initial Anchor station and have modular components pop in by upgrading the station, such as those nearby shipyards when one researches the shipyard upgrade and then upgrades a specific station to have them. Conceptually, the station would start out fairly basic with only PDS guns. One would then upgrade to archer missile pods, shipyards, hangars, trade modules, all of the little things starbases typically get, and even eventually Onager-type MACs mounted on the station, as well as abilities like shiva nukes or slipspace probes that allow you to take a peak at nearby gravity wells.

 

The idea being, UNSC starbases start out cheap and through an investment of time and resources they become powerful tools for the UNSC to project military power and defend the empire. At this point I'm thinking that there will be enough upgrade slots to allow for all upgrades, so it's really a choice of how much cash are you willing to drop rather than having to tailor stations to defense or econ. I think this is more in line with the defensive nature of the UNSC. In some areas you may only slap down a cheap station with a trade station to extend your trade route, and then in another location you'll a significant amount of moula into a fortress meant to deter the enemy and push out more ships for the local fleet.

 

Feel free to add your thoughts about this below but please be rational and mature.

...

 

marry me?....

 

Let me carry your babby ... using the power of my total love of this idea to somehow make that physically possible?

 

umm... Let me hug you and pat you on the back for being F*CKING BRILLIANT! The modular design idea makes TOTAL SENSE! and the idea that it just takes time and dedication to reach its full potential makes way more sense then the limited upgrades in standard SoaSE. AND! it would explain why you would only choose (be able) to build one in orbit! Why make another station when you could just add on to a already existing station?!

[Emperorfluffball]

Since the UNSC Anchor Stations have little to no use against anything above a CRS frigate... can we make it so we can get more than one... maybe something like the TEC Loyalist's Twin Starbase upgrade? but they can only be a certain distance from each other or something like that....

[Stephan-338]

Starbase is getting an overhaul 

[Crisiss]

Since the UNSC Anchor Stations have little to no use against anything above a CRS frigate... can we make it so we can get more than one... maybe something like the TEC Loyalist's Twin Starbase upgrade? but they can only be a certain distance from each other or something like that....

Be patient, young padawan. You will be rewarded.

[Emperorfluffball]

Yes. Very simple to do, but I would worry about balance and canon.

Maybe make the shields weaker than Covenant shields... 
Instead of being 5-6 thousand shields... maybe be only enough to have block one or two volleys from a single ship...
it would help keep the game balanced...
or add shields to ALL UNSC craft, however they lose 15% of their hull points or have it so that shields are super expensive and as a side effect increase unit cost and build time by say 15-20% 

[WarthogRacingMan3]

At this point I'm thinking that there will be enough upgrade slots to allow for all upgrades, so it's really a choice of how much cash are you willing to drop rather than having to tailor stations to defense or econ. 

That is... AWESOME! 

[Crisiss]

That is... AWESOME! 

Stations really are great. They can do everything to want them to do.

[sloosecannon]

Stations really are great. They can do everything to want them to do.

And they're not even OP because it costs an arm and a leg to get them that way.

[Unikraken]

And they're not even OP because it costs an arm and a leg to get them that way.

Glad that what I threw together in the wee hours of the morning was solid enough to last through playtesting.

[Emperorfluffball]

And they're not even OP because it costs an arm and a leg to get them that way.

are they supposed to be OP? It just seems like all they guys here who have made this beautiful mod try extremely hard to make this as accurate and balanced as possible...

if they wanted it to be unbalanced Unikraken could just add the plot device-Class Supercarrier with all of its goodies and make it so the Covie Plasma Torps ONE SHOT KILL anything with less health than an Autumn-Class and severely damage the other ships...

[Crisiss]

are they supposed to be OP? It just seems like all they guys here who have made this beautiful mod try extremely hard to make this as accurate and balanced as possible...
if they wanted it to be unbalanced Unikraken could just add the Plot Device-Class Supercarrier with all of its goodies and make it so the Covie Plasma Torps ONE SHOT KILL anything with less health than an Autumn-Class and severely damage the other ships...

Yeah, no, the balancing process is pretty chaotic. It is by no means graceful or efficient.

That aside, what the hell are you talking about?

Anchor stations are VERY expensive, but give great returns for their cost and build times. They're a very "prepare or get fucked" type of defense, if they aren't maxed out they aren't getting the most use out of themselves. Unless, of course, they're at the back of your empire, when at that case they should only be for trade.

[Fleet Admiral agigabyte]

If they wanted it to be unbalanced Unikraken could just add the Plot Device-Class Supercarrier with all of its goodies and make it so the Covie Plasma Torps ONE SHOT KILL anything with less health than an Autumn-Class and severely damage the other ships...

Dafuq?

[David0425]

will the anchor still deploy fighters/bombers?