Constellation/Auton Bay tweaks and changes (CC)

[Song]

I've been using the Conny rather a lot since CC came out, and it's generally been a pleasant experience. However, there's a few things that I think could do with some tweaks here and there. I'll list them all, then go into details:

1. The conny needs a better starting setup.
2. The auton bay needs to show all limitations for installing equipment on an auton (armor mass, power, slots)
3. The auton bay should allow the use of barrels, armor repair items and single-use enhancers directly onto the equipment fitted to an auton, with all their regular effects (including negative ones).
4. Launching autons from the auton bay should not close the dockscreen.
5. The 1M battle auton could use some more power, allowing it to fit 10mw weapons. It may be the case that the 1M/i could also use a boost as well.
6. It should always be possible to replace the original equipment onto an auton, regardless of level.


So on to the details.

1. The constellation starts out with very weak armor, an appallingly weak shield, very little cash, a terrible weapon that is virtually useless and an auton with no shield that breaks down really easily. The only decent thing on it is the auton bay, which is useless in the early game. Thus, the only way I've ever been able to get a good start is by selling both the Moskva 11 and the auton bay, then buying some decent gear so I'm not picked off by hornets/centauri/random particles of dust. There's several possible paths to fixing this. First, the moskva. It's an OK weapon for a light gunship, but the conny can't go fast enough to close within range of a fast enemy like a hornet or corsair. It might be worth giving an omnidirectional weapon of low damage and about 35-40ls range instead, although such a weapon does not currently exist. Secondly, the auton. Autosentinels are, to put it mildly, disposable items at best. They have very little room for customising, cannot mount even the smallest of shields, and die very quickly. However, that autosentinel makes up the only decent weapons system the conny has to start with......once it dies, the player is left with the moskva, and will almost certainly die if they end up in a major scrap (as you can't run away). This can be worked on in a few ways. First off, giving autosentinels the ability to mount a tiny shield. Maybe a Class A or small Cyclotron at best. That allows the first combats to be done without losing your only decent weapon. Alternatively, giving the player a better auton (like a 310 or some customised model), 2 starting autosentinels, or enough money to buy a few more autons if necessary. In theory the conny could also be given better armor (or a decent shield) to start with, but I rather like the idea of a fragile ship acting as a mini-carrier.

2. This is the single biggest annoyance when using the auton bay. You can buy a whole bunch of gear for your autons, but you won't know if you can fit it until you try......unless you've written down the limits from the XML. The auton bay really needs to show these things when an auton is selected in the bay.

3.Again, fairly simple.....letting us patch/enhance stuff without removing it and installing it on our own ship. Because doing so is fiddly and annoying and also rather expensive. Also allows more flexibility for field repairs, although I can see why maybe limiting armor repairs would be useful to make auton use balanced.

4. At present when you launch autons, the dockscreen for the bay closes. This is really annoying...the only reason to use the bay for launching is to launch a specific bunch of them for a situation....and having to open the screen again and scroll to the next thing is really annoying (this also applies to things like armor repair items in vanilla). Just having the layer decide when they're done instead of pre-emptively switching to the main screen streamlines the process and makes it more enjoyable.

5. The 1M is currently pretty useless. It has a low damage weapon, and cannot fit even a 10MW weapon. Thus, slam cannon autons are out of the question, along with a huge variety of slightly decent weapons. Anything with "battle" in the name should be able to fit something tougher than a Rassiermesser laser or turbolaser. Buffing its power caps a little to allow for medium weapons like Slam Cannons and the like would allow it to be useful far later in the game. The 1M/i may be in a similar position, but I haven't checked.

6. The reason I haven't checked the 1M/i is because you can't refit its original gun back onto it, from what I've been told. It should always be possible to do this, regardless of the auton involved. Plus, allowing the 1M/i to mount heavier weapons makes it useful after EMP becomes useless in the later game and encourages more use of the auton bay.

[Aury]

1) yes, auto sentinels are still bad, and the moskva 11 just doesnt work for the connie - however a good start is certainly possible without selling the auton bay, just poses a higher skill cliff rather than a more gradual curve like the other ships.

2) definitly

3) thats a good point

4) agreed

5&6) A lot of autons... dont really seem to be useful beyond early game - I think this may have been because they were designed much earlier in the game's development when the salvager nomad and tripoli destroyer were the biggest ships around. They still seem to be more of a gimmick. The M1/i is an exception due to being able to keep things indefinitely paralyzed.

[Song]

Well, the auton bay provides a means to make autons last later into the game. The trouble is that the autons themselves don't have enough upgrade options to make it really practical. Even the 1M/i isn't that good later on.

[Aury]

The M1/i becomes pretty useless when the level IX+ armors start showing up, yeah.

And yes, the idea of the auton bay is to extend their use, but like you were noting, that use is pretty much minimally extended (or even not at all) due to the poor upgradeability.

[sun1404]

I think the autons should be upgradable to the point that they're still useful until when Lumiere autons can be found. Then you'll need to switch, or be stuck with lame old things.

[Miguk]

Letting the Class A shield fit on an Autosentinel would also give it some purpose for the player, since you would never put it on your own ship.

[Watch TV, Do Nothing]

Autons are a good use for those disposable missile pods; if you fit an auton with a missile pod, it should automatically de-equip it and try to mount another one from your cargo bay when it's recalled after running out of missiles.

Weapons that can take "detachable magazines" would make sense, too- for example, if you mount an Akan 30 cannon on an auton , it should be able to reload the weapon from Akan 30 ammunition boxes you have in inventory- but ONLY from packaged ammo boxes, not loose ammo; this would create an interesting new use for ammunition boxes.

I'd also suggest that auton bays self-destruct or at least get damaged when they are removed; this would keep Conny's bay from becoming a 18000 credit pawn at the very beginning of the game, which is a najor cash injection that early.

[Song]

Autons are a good use for those disposable missile pods; if you fit an auton with a missile pod, it should automatically de-equip it and try to mount another one from your cargo bay when it's recalled after running out of missiles.

Weapons that can take "detachable magazines" would make sense, too- for example, if you mount an Akan 30 cannon on an auton , it should be able to reload the weapon from Akan 30 ammunition boxes you have in inventory- but ONLY from packaged ammo boxes, not loose ammo; this would create an interesting new use for ammunition boxes.

I'd also suggest that auton bays self-destruct or at least get damaged when they are removed; this would keep Conny's bay from becoming a 18000 credit pawn at the very beginning of the game, which is a najor cash injection that early.

Well, auton bays are kinda rare otherwise. I'd just make their tech level quite high, so you can't remove them in the early game. But the conny needs a setup that doesn't *require* the bay to be sold in order to be viable.

I like the idea of using ammo boxes on autons. It'd make sense. Depends how many shells you get from each one of course.....it could be seriously annoying if you're constantly having to reload them.

And missile pods would be handy.....but they don't have many charges and cannot be refilled (unless that's changed). Being able to reload them with missiles would make them far more useful, as you'd be able to shuffle between a set of them. They're also pretty rare.

[sun1404]

Actually, I've used the Constellation many times, and I don't think it's that hard to use... I mean, right, it's a bit harder than the other ships, but no where near impossible. And without selling the bay, too. You just need to do some missions and take out some weak enemies (Miners, Centauri, Charon in the early systems etc.) and before long you'll have enough money for a decent gun (You might even loot one from the enemies). And the rest is just like flying the EI500, except with an interesting bay waiting for later use.

[george moromisato]

Great thread! Thank you!

I'm planning an update to Corporate Command for 1st Quarter next year and I definitely like a lot of the ideas here. Keep them coming!

[FourFire]

I agree with Sun1404 here
the Constellation simply requires more skill to play with than other ships, it may be difficult to start out, but that can be fun, and you can, if careful certainly clear out all hostile stations (besides the [spoiler]) with the default setup (autosentinel can be repaired with looted armor segments)

[Atarlost]

I don't believe premium content is the place for an unlabeled high difficulty option, particularly not an opening hump like the Constellation has. Any increased difficulty option should operate over the whole game rather than be a result of avoidably poor starting equipment.

[PM]

The biggest problem with the Constellation is the game becomes easier when the auton bay is sold for almost 20K, and the money is used to equip the ship with much better gear, better than what other ships can start with. Selling the bay is also encouraged if the player's SOP is to get a miner's cargo hold for increased cargo capacity and mine systems dry for ore and cash.

[Song]

The biggest problem with the Constellation is the game becomes easier when the auton bay is sold for almost 20K, and the money is used to equip the ship with much better gear, better than what other ships can start with. Selling the bay is also encouraged if the player's SOP is to get a miner's cargo hold for increased cargo capacity and mine systems dry for ore and cash.

The game also encourages this by making the bay incredibly easy to buy back...it's only about 24K.