I'm sure the devs get a lot of crazy mod requests, but this one seems reasonable, and would resolve a lot of gameplay and RPing issues.
Basically, my suggestion is a new cruise disruptor that would "tie" one ship to another, making both ships motionless. If the weapon successfully hit another ship, both the victim and the user would have their weapons turned off, like when a ship goes into cruise mode, only neither could move or shoot at each other. In a smaller ship, the weapon would be sort of like a mini-razor; it would take precision and skill to knock out a ship, while in a capital ship, this weapon would have a larger range.
Possible applications:
1. A policeman sees a smuggler coming in with some cardamine. He demands the smuggler to halt, but is ignored (What cardamine? :D). Rather than shooting the smuggler down, the officer fires the beam, and calls in back-up to take him in.
2. I'm a pirate, and I see a trader full of cargo. Before I can say "AArgh hand over your booty!" the trader is thrusting towards the nearest freeport. With no time to speak or RP, I am forced to blow him away, and settle for what I can take of his cargo, rather than demanding a ransom.
3. Theres a big battle over Gamma. The Corsairs manage to defend their homeworld, and coalition bombers are thrusting back to their home system. Rather than spending an hour chasing the survivors around , a battleship freezes one of the fleeing bombers, who is promptly destroyed by the other Corsair fighters. This repeats until the survivors escape or are killed.
Possible Issues
1. Isn't this unbalanced?- I understand freezing another ship would be very useful in a PvP battle. Therefore, it would turn off the weapons of both ships. If a smuggler got pulled over by a policeman, it is just as likely that a friendly pirate could come shoot down the policeman, or the trader's escort could shoot down the pirate. Players would *gasp* have to work in groups. This sounds like an improvement to overall gameplay. Also, it would be nice for a battle to decisively end. If all the capital ships capable of using the beam were destroyed in the battle, the losers could escape freely. It's only game-over if the ship that got pulled over has no friends.
2. Tech use- This technology would be freely available to all House Police factions. Finally, that would give a good reason to be a cop rather than a soldier. Also, this tech would be available to pirate combat freighters, or some other pirating ship, not for Pirate military use. Finally, I think some capital ships ought to be able to use a tractor beam. It would be suicidal to use without a fleet to protect you, but it would make things a lot easier.
3. RP: doesn't need a game mechanic, just pretend- I wish it was that easy. Unfortunately, many smugglers/traders won't stop when you tell them to. If you could freeze them, you would both have time to properly RP (demand to board, demand a ransom, inspect the cargo, etc) without mashing on the thrust. Also, it would force players to work in groups: Pirates would need help for an ambush, traders would need to hire an escort through a dangerous sector. Anything that increases player interaction is worth trying in my book.
Final Thoughts
I'm pretty sure all the files needed for this weapon are included in the game already. Take the command that stops your ship when you have to wait in line to dock. Take the file that turns off your weapons when you go into cruise mode. Use the model and animation of beaming in cargo to show that one ship has locked down another. Put the weapon in the cruise disruptor slot (I guess the weapon would also pull a ship out of cruise mode as well). Only make it so police ships, pirate combat freighters, and maybe some capital ships can equip it, and that it only affects certain classes of ships: we wouldn't want a fighter to be able to stop a destroyer.
If this weapon proves to be impossible to mod or keep balanced, at least add a cruise disruptor that also knocks out the thrusters. Seriously, its really annoying to chase someone down and try to RP at the same time.
Thanks for reading all of this! I don't really know if this is possible, but it seems easy enough after seeing what's already in 4.86. Please leave constructive criticism in the comments. I used to post suggestions on the Freeworlds tow site, and the devs basically told me to piss off, so no tl;dr, thanks.
I like this idea. It seems balanced enough, there's downsides to using it, and not everyship and its mother can use it. You've got a plus from me. Would be nice if my Liberator could actually do something against transports for once.
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I would definitely limit access to the weapon. I wish CDs were in classes like guns and missiles, so they could only let certain ships use them. Still, all House Police need it, and pirates, as long as it's not used for military stuff, just piracy. I just think it would be practical for capital ships to use it to take in POWs, as after-battle cleanup takes forever, but mainly this technology should stay out of military PVP hands.
This won't be like an EMP, because it needs to shut down the ship that is using it too. I kind of like the uncertainty of it: in real life, a cop that just pulled someone over wouldn't know if there was another criminal waiting to shoot him as soon as he got out of his car. I really like that it makes a sort of stalemate, and the only way to get out of it is for one player's friend/escort/backup to show up first, or someone to RP a compromise.
Am I right in thinking most pirates use a combat freighter? I used to pirate in a Correo, so it would have enough space to hold some cargo. If CDs were reorganized into classes like the higher level turrets, combat freighters and cop ships could be able to use this weapon while normal fighters couldn't.
When I say it should be restricted from some ships, I just mean military fighters and the like, ships that have no business pulling other players over. I'd like to let House Police use it but not House Navy, so there would be a reason for people to be cops, as they aren't allowed to do as much as navy players. The point of disabling both ships is so it won't be used in combat. Even if there was a CD that disabled a ship for a few seconds, that would get spammed and players would be unfairly killed.
If anything, an EMP bomb would be more unbalanced, that would just be an instant kill, and really frustrating to the player that got hit with it. This shouldn't be a fire-and-forget missile like a CD, it should take some skill to line up a shot, like with a minirazor. Remember, it has to be fair for the players at either end of the gun. This tractor beam would be fair because the user and the victim would both be defenseless.
There's already the Train CD. It's possible for a CD to not be able to disrupt a certain size of ship. This needs to be able to stop a large transport, just not a battleship, that would make no sense. Can you guys think of a way to prevent everyone from using this? I think it should only be available to cops and pirates, and maybe by cap ships to take prisoners after a battle, but that's just all I could think of. Any other tweaks?
I don't like the 'fleeing bombers' part. Same logic could be applied at the start of the battle. That big ship of yours freezes one bomber, then the fighters (or a single snac) take him out.
Sure, big ship would be unable to move too, but he wouldn't die fast.
It'd make fights all about beaming and killing motionless fighters. There'd be tactics, of course, but less hard-core pewpewing.
I see too many problems with it. Why should a trader be condemned to die if he's caught by two pirates?
And why is a pirate condemned not to get his prey if a trader has an escort?
It'd completely change gameplay, it isn't just a 'tweak'.
Lucendez Wrote:
It is every Corsair's responsibility to die a beautiful death in defense of Crete, regardless of how OORP or how capwhoring the opposition is. Launch your fighter, joust the battlecruisers and die a beautiful death. Then, drink it down in the bar.
Range 500m
Speed 100m/s
Turn rate 0.7 rad
Hull/Shield damage 0/0
Energy 7800u
Rate of fire 1shot/30 seconds
Ammo - expensive
Disables engines for
10 seconds but not guns
Works only when hits unshielded ships
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