Pilot Archive
Thread: Focus Thread: POB Ships (YT, Deci, Nova)
MonsofoLexius
Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:24 pm
#92
Just adding a link with some great ideas for co-pilot from the JTL forums for my own reference.......
MonsofoLexius
Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:25 pm
#93
And the post from the above link................
Pseudopd wrote:
Currently, being a co-pilot on a multi-player ship is a dull, dull job. What even sit in the chair when all you would do is press the occasional droid command...if you were aware of what droid commands were available to you already. Why couldnt it be YOU that was firing a gun? Why do you feel so useless in a fight?
Here are some ideas to make a co-pilot a really fun part of the crew:
"Chewy! Rotate the defectors!..."
The co-pilot doesn't really do much, and is near impossible to have him issue droid command on time in the heat of battle. Other than that, they do NOTHING but grow bored.
Lets try these options:
1) Secondary shield with 6 segments that can be rotated by the co-pilot. Many MP pilots would love a MP ship to have two shields like the corvette, otherwise the MP ships are just floating coffins in a real fight agains solo pilots.
Have the co-pilot control the secondary shield in a battle, like a REAL operations crew member!
If a segment falls, he can rotate a full segment to the portion of the ship thats being atatcked. this shield can a second blue circle above the main shield. He might also have the ability to drain the outter shield to shore up the inner front or back.
2) Back-up capacitor: A second capacitor that a co-polot can shunt to the two guns as he seems fit. The co-pilot could have two guages on his screen for the caps, and he can drain his seconadary cap to recharge the main as needed, or, use a cap to shield shunt, etc.
3) Better Damage Control status display: it'll show what parts are being attacked, wheres a plasma leak, the health of the crew, etc. Not some big blue screen. Something that shows real status.
4) Better Droid Interface controls and timer: When a co-pilot sits down to the Ops chair, he has NO idea what droid command are available to him. He has to ask the pilot, the set his quick keys, lots of trouble. Why not have the droid commands graphically present to anyone who sits down in the ops chair? Quick and easy, and better than staring out in space! And, include a timer to see when another command is ready, and when a pilot can execute the next pilot command.
5) Other Commands: Have the Co-pilot be able to access and plot a hyperjump, with pilot final appoval for the activation. Make, activate, and deactivate waypoints for the pilot (nav plotting). Access to missile weapon groups, have them help choose what missle gets launched ("Chewy! Give me the concussion missiles online!").
6) What else would make the co-pilot fun and an important part of the crew?
Lets see other ideas...
Baz Pseudopod
atytula
Tue Mar 01, 2005 7:17 pm
#94
RIght now, as many agree, MPS are useless.
Why?
1. Any movement of the ship, even forward motions can make turrets too hard to control. Forward movment is a little choppy on average and any other motions are very choppy. If it were smooth, I think it would work well, but because it isn't, the MPS needs to be moving slow and straight to be useful.
2. Fighter ships (the typical target for MPS) move too quickly out of firing range. NPCs are easy because they are dumb, but players can easily come into firing range and pull out because firing range is only around 500m.
3. Other then the gunners, the rest of the crew are bored most of the time. The co-pilot only has to worry about droid commands and such. A doc has to wait for a fire to hurt the crew, and an enginereer has to wait for damage to be done.
4. MPS use the same equipment as a fighter.
Solutions!
1. Two things could fix this issue. One, some sort of gyroscopic stabilizer that smoothens the motion of the ship, making it easier to control. This would allow a gunner to use skill to take out a ship, not luck. Second, for a more newbie approach, the turrets can autotrack the target and the gunner just makes minor adjustments and fires. The autotrack won't be very good, but will make being a gunner a little more fun for newbie type players. Skilled players would want to turn this off.
2. MPS should require more power then a fighter, but in turn, their guns should have a longer range. Say 700m. This would mean the fighter ships would have to be a target for 200m before they can start damaging the MPS. This also means that a larger group would be required to take on the MPS.
3. At the minimum, they need to have a way for players to see what is going on outside the ship while waiting for those sirens to go off. This way, a doctor can watch the space battle and when someone catches on fire, they go do their job, then go back to watching. Maybe put a view screen of the battle in the ship somewhere. The players watching the view screen can be a tactical advisor for the active crew.
4. Like so many players mentioned before, MPS need their own gear. An engine that fits on a TIE Fighter is too small to be able to push a MPS. The guns that are equiped on an Xwing are made for fighters, and are not the quad lasers we see on the YT-1300. MPS need an upgrade to make them worth the 3-8 players that are its crew. Right now, 3-8 Kimos are better then on MPS.
Zanholo
Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:00 pm
#95
Everything else is mostly covered...
Give each/most of the rooms in these ships some windows!!! If I am a repairman on one of these things, that doesn't mean I want to be shoved in a bland room with no way to see space or anything that is going on outside.
atytula
Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:00 pm
#96
Most combat oriented ships won't have windows like the Yatch, but I think viewscreens would be cool.
D8alus
Wed Mar 02, 2005 10:47 am
#97
MonsofoLexius wrote:
Great ideas imho. The one issue I see is how to include Privateers in this. Find a way to get all 3 space pilot professions involved and we might have a better chance to even get it considered when the time comes.....
BlkGryphon wrote:
I like the idea of Faction Pets in space....
Hmm...an excuse to bring in the mercenary faction that was dropped pre-release? *wink, wink...nudge, nudge*
Also, I've never been in a POB ship yet (save for the Yacht 
) but, do the guys running around reparing stuff have anyway to know what needs repairing while they're between stations? If not, an item that you could buy/craft or maybe that just comes with the ship that works as a data uplink for the ship so that you can activate it onboard a ship and see a status readout would be super.
) but, do the guys running around reparing stuff have anyway to know what needs repairing while they're between stations? If not, an item that you could buy/craft or maybe that just comes with the ship that works as a data uplink for the ship so that you can activate it onboard a ship and see a status readout would be super.
Kevie
Thu Mar 03, 2005 10:16 pm
#98
Knightcrest wrote:
Malanello wrote:Fire Extinguisher: Yes, a really good idea there, could be craftable by shipwright or master artisan professions, or possiblyto be really extravagent have a fire extinguisher droid module from Droid Engineers to place in astromechs.Really like all of your ideas. Especially the one I am bolding. Would offer a good addition to DE's as well.
it is a part of starwars canon, r2-d2 used one on the mellinium falcon over hoth (i believe that's when it was, but i could be mistaken about when, but i know for a fact the little guy did)
Coran_Sienar
Mon Mar 07, 2005 8:13 am
#100
Just turn off the star rating system in your profiles, Mons. It's used often asa forum griefing tool, anyway.
MonsofoLexius
Mon Mar 07, 2005 9:17 am
#101
Coran_Sienar wrote:
Just turn off the star rating system in your profiles, Mons. It's used often asa forum griefing tool, anyway.
Ya but but I acually almost fell off my chair laughing when I got the 1-star on this thread. How could I possible throw away moments like that???
(AKA I really don't care 
just thought its was terrible funny)
GTomlinson
Tue Mar 08, 2005 1:51 am
#102
I have to say, I'd use mine more for party flights if I didn't have to switch equipment in and out all the time. I'd love to be able to lock the turrets forward and fire them from the pilot's chair.Perhaps have the pilot be the secondary for all positions so that if a copilot/turret station is vacant, the pilot can do the commands?
You'd see a lot more POB ships flying around if I didn't have to hunt down a crew whenever I wanted to fly mine. Make it so that it's usable without a crew, but more effective with one.
Washell
Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:02 am
#103
Non-JTL owners able to man turrets.
Makes getting a crew easier and SOE might sell a few more copies of JTL.
Brutus_TOD
Tue Mar 08, 2005 6:47 am
#104
I know this is just a focus thread, but have the Devs given any hints or shown any interest that they are thinking about making changes to POB ships? Im just curious at what stage the process is in (whether you started the thread to prove that changes need to be made or if the devs told you to start coming up with ideas).
Im happy to see it being discussed though!