A new feature/weapon

[Coin]

first off, im not sure if this is possible, but hear me out.


i was reading a book called 'Crusade'. Epic space battles where the enemy capital ships get slapped silly by snub-craft, and in there was a weapon developed from tractor beams - essentially it cycles through attracting and repelling the target ship, pulling it apart.

and it got me thinking.

idea 1.

ships with large enough power plants could have a special tractor beam that 'holds' the targetted ship still, perhaps only operational when the targets shields are down and the targeters' powerplant is fully recharged. the targetted ship can move around, but cannot retreat. I think the mass of the two ships should come into the balance also: either not being operational if the target mass is greater than the targeters, or something else, like pulling the targeter towards the target.


idea 2.

smaller ships (bombers? VHF?) could select a ship, select a component, and then press 'tractor'. it would require a few ships tractoring the component to cause noticeable damage, and perhaps they would all need to be pulling from the same direction - flying in formation so to speak - to create the multiplication effect and damage the component. of course, this would make them easier to hit, so they would need a form up on a group leader to steer the targetting ships around the target in unison.


Both light and heavy tractor beams need to be disruptable - perhaps by countermeasures, or even by dropping a commodity: Tractor/Repulsor Beam Counter-Measure. I have a feeling that even dropping ordinary cargo would disrupt it, but the specialised commodity could increase the recharge time. or something.

Both the beams and the T/RBC-M's could be made on player bases, as well as having limited availability on NPC-bases.


Thoughts?

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A Day in the Life of an NPC | Coin | The Journal of Caius Oakley | Build Your Dream Boat

[Huhuh]

Sounds impossibru but interesting.

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[Gentlefood]

I know exactly what book you're talking about. And on the note of that, if you like that author and you haven't checked out some of David Weber's other series, definitely do so. If you want some recommendations for Sci Fi authors, or books just toss me a PM.


On Topic: While a neat idea in concept I don't really think it would be implemented easily/well. You either have "olololol" caps pulling Bomber SNACs/Novas off waay too easily, or you have a completely useless novelty toy that only serves to hike up their repair bill.

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[sajjukar]

So let me get this straight...you want a divice that dosent allow ships to move a certain range from a capital ship (ideea I).Onestly....i playd tons of space flight/combat/economic simulators and none had something like that...mabe the X games had a tractor beam that alowed towing of ships/station/roids but thats all...and it seems prety imposible to implement that in freelancer withought tons of coding and numerous bugs.And if you really want something similar and into my opinion...easyer to reproduce...is the web emmiter (from EVE online) that will reduce the targets max speed by a certain percent...thus not alowing it to flee from the battlefield(exept cruise engine)

[Stefz]

Interesting idea, won't work without source code.

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[Snak6]

What would balance it out? I mean, capspam would simply annihilate snubs if TZ gunboats are in rage as well.

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[Coin]

While a neat idea in concept I don't really think it would be implemented easily/well. You either have "olololol" caps pulling Bomber SNACs/Novas off waay too easily, or you have a completely useless novelty toy that only serves to hike up their repair bill.

i'm imagining that the effect is cumulative, so if the TZ/TS Capjunky aint doing it right, then a squad of tractor-drivers (aka farmers) comes around and starts ripping thrusters/turrets off.

So let me get this straight...you want a divice that dosent allow ships to move a certain range from a capital ship (ideea I).Onestly....i playd tons of space flight/combat/economic simulators and none had something like that...mabe the X games had a tractor beam that alowed towing of ships/station/roids but thats all...and it seems prety imposible to implement that in freelancer withought tons of coding and numerous bugs.And if you really want something similar and into my opinion...easyer to reproduce...is the web emmiter (from EVE online) that will reduce the targets max speed by a certain percent...thus not alowing it to flee from the battlefield(exept cruise engine)

in the wild and crazy imagination generated by too much coffee at 4am, i thought that the tractor beam could hold a target still - or maybe restrict its radius of movement into a sphere of say - 1.5k. this would mean that the cap was vulnerable - it cannot fire any weapons during tractor-time - but the snub craft allies of the cap would be able to take out the target fairly quickly i imagine.

What would balance it out? I mean, capspam would simply annihilate snubs if TZ gunboats are in rage as well.

if the cap-tractor was 'hold the target still' - i.e. like 'forming' up on someone, but the other way around - it could be used by police factions for 'arrest'

if the cap-tractor is 'dont let the bomber escape gun range' then the cap has to be careful - cos he cannot fire guns for a while (it uses a bucket load of powerplant), and the 'captured' vessel could be hammering snacs into him - and his capspam buddies might not be able to get a line on the target.

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A Day in the Life of an NPC | Coin | The Journal of Caius Oakley | Build Your Dream Boat

[Seth Karlo]

Mass wouldn't matter if it came to two things pulling against each other. There is no friction, no resistance. Sure, the force of a moving object is related to its mass, but regarding moving it, there would be no resistance at all.

To make that simple, in the hangar bays of the Space Shuttles, a single astronaut could move a 3 tonne satellite around, but if he got caught between it and the shuttle wall it would crush him like a bug.

It would rely on how strong the engines were, and the structural strength of the ship between the 'tractor beam' port and the engines. Remember that the force would be transferred through it all, so if the stress was too much it would rip one or the others ships apart.

Kind of hard to balance build quality... no?

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Signature by Sleipnir.

[Huhuh]

F=ma

If your tractor beam can exert 1000N of force, and you're trying to move a 1000kg object, it's going to accelerate at 1 metre per second. If the object is half the mass, it will accelerate twice as fast. If the object is already accelerating in another direction, you're going to have a hard time.

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