More QDS
The QD is not the primary weapon of the Iocrym, it's the launcher. It has two others which don't require ammo. Makes sense to me.
I don't think mass is an issue (as far as acceleration, there is only so much room in the hold though). The Iocrym's accel is weak anyway, not to mention that big doesn't necessarily or at all mean high thrust.
Having only 500 shells for one of three weapons might be unrealistic. Hovering on a planet and being invincible is definitely so.
Also, remember: one day this will NOT be the end of the game. 2 million QD shells is a LOT of loot.
I don't think mass is an issue (as far as acceleration, there is only so much room in the hold though). The Iocrym's accel is weak anyway, not to mention that big doesn't necessarily or at all mean high thrust.
Having only 500 shells for one of three weapons might be unrealistic. Hovering on a planet and being invincible is definitely so.
Also, remember: one day this will NOT be the end of the game. 2 million QD shells is a LOT of loot.
If the Iocrym could produce its own shells, I'm in favor of it doing so at 1/10th the normal rate of fire. It doesn't make sense for a ship to carry thousands of shells that instantly disintegrate a ship. Granted, your shields still have to be down, but the Iocrym probably isn't expecting a big enough battle that it would have to disintegrate thousands of ships.
There's also the narrative explanation of "They don't want their technology falling into enemy hands." What if the Iocrym don't want other races to have their disintegration technology? Limiting shells so that they have a higher chance of running out before the ship dies seems like a decent way to solve the problem.
Also, Oddbob has a great point. Eventually, the Iocrym will just mark the transition between explored space and unexplored space. Having tons of QD shells would destroy balance.
I also hope that something is done about being able to hide on planets and gates. I don't know what, but it shouldn't work like that. I can see hiding in an asteroid field or a debris field, but sitting on top of a planet or a gate is a dirty tactic. I do my best to avoid doing it in my games.
There's also the narrative explanation of "They don't want their technology falling into enemy hands." What if the Iocrym don't want other races to have their disintegration technology? Limiting shells so that they have a higher chance of running out before the ship dies seems like a decent way to solve the problem.
Also, Oddbob has a great point. Eventually, the Iocrym will just mark the transition between explored space and unexplored space. Having tons of QD shells would destroy balance.
I also hope that something is done about being able to hide on planets and gates. I don't know what, but it shouldn't work like that. I can see hiding in an asteroid field or a debris field, but sitting on top of a planet or a gate is a dirty tactic. I do my best to avoid doing it in my games.
Or we could fix the hiding on planets problem and then it doesn't matter how many shells the QD has because you can't cheat to avoid them.
If the QD is ammoless then the player gets a chance at a free disintegrate weapon upon leaving human space that doesn't require ammo.
Are you NOT in favor of allowing the player to wait them out if he can do so by dodging them or otherwise legitimately blocking them with autons, crates, barricades and wrecks?
If the QD is ammoless then the player gets a chance at a free disintegrate weapon upon leaving human space that doesn't require ammo.
Are you NOT in favor of allowing the player to wait them out if he can do so by dodging them or otherwise legitimately blocking them with autons, crates, barricades and wrecks?
I'm not suggesting removing the planet. I'm suggesting making it impossible to hide on top of ANY object, stations, ship, planet or otherwise, yet still be able to hide behind it.I just want the user not to be able to wait for the shells to finish. And if you remove the planet what stops you from staying on the stargate?
I set out a possible way to do this earlier.
If there's a way for the game to find the path of the weapon (and it's entry and exit points from the planet or object) then it coudl make the point at which it hits in the center of that, but that sounds complicated.One is that planets and scenery be made transparent to weapons up to one half the length of the object in question. This means you can hide behind it, but not on top of it (as all shots will go halfway through and hit you at the center.
However this means that grazing shots will pass through the planet, greatly reducing it's shadow as cover. Decreasing the pass distance below half allows the player to hide in the center again.
It also may be possible to check to see if the player is on top of an object and then make that object transparent to weapons fire in that case.
I don't think there should be any change. Cowering on top of planets may not be terribly realistic, but it is a good strategic option which has kept me alive many, many times.
Regarding the poor, gormless iocrym that fires his precious, limited ammo at you even when he can't possibly hit you. Either improved AI or unlimited ammunition would be good. Alternatively, I have an vicious solution...
The Quantum spheres are sourced by the suns rays. If the player waits out the Iocrym and it runs out of spheres, the Iocrym cruiser will then halt attack on the player, call you a big sissy girl, and then will go and sit on the sun for an hour waiting for his ammunition to regenerate. Quid pro quo for waiting while the player employs this hideous, boring tactic
Regarding the poor, gormless iocrym that fires his precious, limited ammo at you even when he can't possibly hit you. Either improved AI or unlimited ammunition would be good. Alternatively, I have an vicious solution...
The Quantum spheres are sourced by the suns rays. If the player waits out the Iocrym and it runs out of spheres, the Iocrym cruiser will then halt attack on the player, call you a big sissy girl, and then will go and sit on the sun for an hour waiting for his ammunition to regenerate. Quid pro quo for waiting while the player employs this hideous, boring tactic
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
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Why would a ship that guards a gate for millions of years have ammo anyways? Why not use energy weapons?
>.<
That has been addressed. An ammoless disintegrator would be a lot more unbalanced than even 1,000,000 shells.
Also, how do we know the same ship protects the gate for millions of years? Maybe there's a bunch of ships that take shifts?
Also, how do we know the same ship protects the gate for millions of years? Maybe there's a bunch of ships that take shifts?
I think I prefer to believe that a single ship guards the gate, otherwise as soon as the fight begins more Iocrym would theorectically be available as reinforcements.
Don't ya think?
Don't ya think?
No matter where you go... there you are!
Welcome to the forums HunterHunter wrote:I think I prefer to believe that a single ship guards the gate, otherwise as soon as the fight begins more Iocrym would theorectically be available as reinforcements.
Don't ya think?
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
Hmmm... good point Sponge. Of course during the battle the Iocrym would certainly have alerted that fleet, especially when they realized the battle was about to be lost. That means they would be speeding towards Heretic to deal with the gate-crasher.
If that is the case, there will be plenty of ammo available when they arrive!
Thanks for the "welcome" Cardinal! Nice to be here.
If that is the case, there will be plenty of ammo available when they arrive!
Thanks for the "welcome" Cardinal! Nice to be here.
No matter where you go... there you are!
Unless they're fighting another war or something and neglected to check in on human space (Star control 2)Hunter wrote:Hmmm... good point Sponge. Of course during the battle the Iocrym would certainly have alerted that fleet, especially when they realized the battle was about to be lost. That means they would be speeding towards Heretic to deal with the gate-crasher.
