A ship concept

[elgeeko]

Players/Factions can not build a base overnight wherever they'd like.

IE any base a faction wants has to be built on a per-mod-version basis.

Now for something completely different.

I was playing the Homeworld demo for the umptienth time today (yes this all DOES have a point)
and I was stricken with an idea for a 'ship class' of which there might be two or three.

(A BW one, a KS one, an IMG one, a Zoner one, a BMM one, and a GMG one to be more precise)

What is this mysterious new 'ship class'? I call it the Mobile Support Tender. MST for short.

What does it do and what is it?
Several things;

1; carries enough bots/batts to resupply several fighters repeatedly
2; has the equivalent of a medium grade transport shield
3; has a mediocre but not too shabby armor rating
4; has some small-fry turrets that are more for show than anything but could in theory assist escorting fighters and shoot down incoming torpedoes
5; has no thruster
6; has the longest feasible cruise charge time the mod can sustain
7; has almost no turning
8; is built to allow players to cozy up inside it like a open hangar
9; has two to three times the cargo size of a transport
10; is as easy to hit as a barn

Why? Imagine this scenario;

In the farthest reaches of space a player run unofficial faction runs a mining operation.
It works by having some players mine, others stand guard/escort the transport(s), others run said transport(s) back and forth every so often to sell off the commodity at a base where it will make profit. (assume this is a LONG trip)

Do these guys want to have to jet back to the nearest base (long ways away) to resupply? of course not!
Do they want to idle around doing nothing while waiting for each transport? heck no!

Solution? MST. It provides a great role-play opportunity to a pilot willing to put his life in the hands of his escorts and willing to act as a galactic 'water-boy'

The scenario is that a fighter/freighter (or 4 as a rough max) comes and pretends to 'dock' by nestling into the generous (and appropriately hitboxed) opening. They can then drop mineables which the MST tractors, pretending it was a port-to-port transfer. this lets far-flung miners store large amounts of commodities away from bases.

The procedure can be done in reverse to;
A; replenish bots/batts on other ships
B; replenish RP items on said ships (food crew etc)
C; transfer mineables to the transport, except that the transport would dock to a port on the side, not inside the bay.

I for one would love to either fly, or fly with such a ship. It could act as the command center and nucleus of a group of explorers, miners, or whatever have you. It involves no new .mats, and I will make the models/Hitboxes unless someone else *really* wants to.

Like? Dislike?

It should be noted;

1; This would be a good ship for weapons/items dealers. It might also add to their RP to see someone visibly 'dock' with them.

2; This would be a powertrader's dream *EXCEPT* that because of the no turning, no thruster, and amazingly long cruise time, no matter how massive its bots/batts count it would be balanced so that it could be fairly easily destroyed if it tried to act without the help of escorts.

3; Pirates could use this. EG lane hackers set a BW one off the lane guarded by two fighters while two others mop up a convoy. Then a freighter and the fighters work to transfer all the loot to the MST, and replenish on their supplies.

Ok, hit me with the opinions. :)

EDIT; It struck me that there should be a generic pirate version and a junker version. Possibly one in the same.
I would also like to mention that house militaries do not get these. They're like poor-mans 'carriers'. I'd make them all 'generic' but since the IMG and GMG are mining factions and would seem to be able to make great use of one of these I put them on the recieving list.

---

[Shagohad]

Like a barge with more bots and bats? Or a larger repair ship?

---

"THE HULL HAS BEEN BREACHED AND THE SCIENCE IS LEAKING OUT!"

[elgeeko]

Not even close to the size of a barge, probably about 3/4ths as long as an advanced train and 2.5 to 3 times as wide with about 2 to 3 times as much cargo space.

But in a sense yes, its a large (and far far more rugged) 'repair ship' though it has other stated purposes.
Factions often need a spot to store money and RP items, weapons dealers might like it, pirates could use it, miners should *love* it.

Imagine 4 or 5 pirates using it as a base deep into a nebula in lawful territory close to a tradelane and far from their own base.

Again, imagine miners being able to make group profit off of far flung mining zones and splitting the profit by 'salary'

(Escorts get X-much, this much goes to the company chest, this much to the MST pilot, this much to the miners, this much to the transport pilots)

---

[Jimothy]

TNG mod, when I played that a little about 4 years ago had playable bases. Slow, heavy, but next to no weapons.
I believe the barge was implemented for this exact scenario, but consider the border station design (You know, that tiny one, two docks and that sticky-up bit) could be a nice thing for unofficial factions and the likes.
Lots of hold, perhaps no shield at all, but more armour to compensate, and open docks, not closed up ones.
I would love something like that, a forward base for smaller factions.

---

I was formerly know as Spiritar.

It's been a while.

[elgeeko]

Maybe... this is meant to be more like a ship pretending to be a micro-station, not a station pretending to be a mega-ship.

Its supposed to be more mobile than a true 'base.'

Its almost like a destroyer hull stripped of weapons, converted to 50% hangar 50% cargo 120% bots/batts, & very little engine.

Plus.. can you imagine a whole base, no matter how small, logging off and dissapearing? that and I kind of like the Homeworld feel of mobility rather than the idea that its actually a 'base'
The barge, BTW, is too large/difficult to obtain for the average small faction.

The barge is like the heaver grand-dad of the MST though... Perhaps if enough want it we can have a 'Mobile Command Tender' for the IMG, GMG, & Zoners thats almost barge sized and is like an MST only with no cruise and 5 times as much cargo/bot/batt space... admin approved only of course, and Im not making the models/hitboxes. I volunteered/pioneered the MST. If you guys want MCT's drag someone else into it.;)

---

[Jimothy]

Hmm, well, I see your point.
But it does have almost indefinite RP possibilities, whatever way it goes.

---

I was formerly know as Spiritar.

It's been a while.

[elgeeko]

And I know it would be the coolest thing (for me) since sliced bread to actually fly into a ships docking bay, have it look cool, and even have it be logistically purposeful.

If I get this off the ground I am buying one the instant 4.86 comes out.

---

[Jimothy]

If I get this off the ground I am buying one the instant 4.86 comes out.

Likewise... *Note to self: Find RP Reason to get one*

---

I was formerly know as Spiritar.

It's been a while.

[Turkish]

It sounds like an extended Repair Ship to me.

---

I have a fetish for all things Norse.

[Jack Ryan]

This. Sounds. Epic.

Could even be used for events if you think about it, "Protect the MST"

I would love one, but how would it look? We have basic dimensions, but no real aesthetic ideas yet.

No matter how it goes, I want one.

---

Pirate Moral Booster