Pilot Archive

Tomo asked for focus ideas on POB ships. I had some "wouldn't it be cool if?" running in my noggin already, and the question about POB's stimulated some thoughts coming together. I apologize that this is long, but it is pertinent to POB's in the end, I promise!

There are four parts to this. The first two parts are the "wibci" I was thinking about, which applies to all JTL flight. It comes together in the third part, which is specifically applicable to POB ships. While the first three build on each other, the fourth is separate and for POB's only.

I'm not going to comment on the relative damage absorbtion and output of POB's to fighters, either in PvE or PvP. I've already weighed in on that in other threads, and I think it's already pretty well in hand in this focus discussion.

Thanks for reading!

mal

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** Part 1: decay adjustments **

The purpose of decay is to provide business for shipwrights. Decay currently happens when 10 or more points of damage are repaired. Decay for overloads can be entirely avoided simply by repairing them before you set out for your flight. Even the damage from the level 4 overloads, which exceeds 10 points, can be repaired with no decay simply by getting several partial repairs. Repairing at the station provides no business for shipwrights, either.

Also, repairs underway in space are undesirable due to decay, discouraging one of the fun parts of being a POB crew. Decay is easily circumvented by a short trip through Deep Space.

To change all of this, remove the current decay system, of 1 point lost per 10 repaired.

Add "vitality" to all ship components, much like the system used for ground pets. Components begin with 100 points of permanent vitality. Any time a component is reduced to 0 hit points, it loses one point of vitality. A new component, for example, which has been shot off and repaired five times would display [95/100] vitality.

Upon launch, components automatically suffer damage proportional to their missing vitality. In the case of our [95/100] component, it would suffer 5% damage immediately upon each launch. This provides incentive to keep components at top vitality.

Damage may be repaired without decay or vitality loss (unless the negligent pilot let it get damaged all the way to 0%!) by using a standard repair kit on the ground, or in space at a POB's access panel. Damage may be repaired at a station, but the uncaring NPC's at stations do a slapdash job and always cause 1 point of vitality loss when doing repairs. This will channel repair funds to our shipwright friends, instead of into the stations.

Vitality may be repaired by using a component vitality kit, purchased at lavish expense from a shipwright. (This should require lots of asteroid resources and enough ground resources to make the pilot seriously consider just buying a new one -- keeping those outstanding RE'd components is possible, but going to be expensive to keep them running!) Using a vitality kit on a component reduces the permanent vitality by 1 point, and returns the vitality to this new maximum. Repairing our example component above, would return it to [99/99] vitality, and it would no longer suffer damage upon launching.

To continue our example, if our component had been re-vitalized several times and then incapacitated some more, and wound up at [60/80] vitality, each launch that component would suffer damage equal to 25% of it's hit points... starting to get expensive!

If a component ever reaches 0 vitality, it is lost and gone forever.

Permanent vitality should be an RE-able attribute, with the normal RE bonus applied, but a hard cap of 101. Current vitality should be the *worst* current vitality (by ratio), because if you build with worn out parts you get a worn out part. If you can maximize your RE'd permanent vitality, you can then at least revitalize it and get a shiny new RE'd component at [100/100].

Change the nodecay rules in PvP/nodecay zones, like Deep Space, so that component damage stops at 1 point away from being destroyed. It'll still be crippled to the point of being almost nonfunctional -- and if you try to limp home on it you'll be having problems! But, stopping at 1 hit point left will prevent any sort of decay from happening. Alternately and even better, make all factional PvP damage stop at 1hp... which would encourage PvP in all zones, and also channel repair funds to our shipwright friends!

This is a benefit to POB ships, because they can repair easily in space, and so will be better able to function with moderate vitality loss on components, while fighters will be pretty much stuck flying on damage until they re-vitalize. (Please see the "repair bay" in part 4 as well, for another way that this change enhances the utility of POB ships.)

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** Part 2: droid & flight computer adjustments **

The purpose of droid programs is to customize the flight performance characteristics of a ship. Each program was to enhance or make more efficient the function of different components. As it is, there is little reason to run any but the best, most efficient overloads of all types, and few choices to be made. I personally don't know of anybody who's using the underload programs.

The repair costs of overloads to not go to shipwrights (but see part 1). The risk of decay is easily avoided.

While using droids and flight computers is established in the canon, the time taken to run overloads is simply a time sink that keeps pilots from the fun for a minute or two, and has no analogy in Star Wars.

To change this, make droid programs run instantly upon launch into space. Instead of being run to modify the flight characteristics of a ship in mid-flight, consider them to be ground-programmed modifications to the built-in flight software -- they'd be already running from the moment the reactor is fired up and the computer is booted. This would eliminate the time sink aspect.

This would cause the normal damage of the overload immediately upon launch. That's OK -- the maintenance schedule of high performance fighting ships is supposed to be expensive. It would be good to prompt the pilot to use a repair kit in their inventory to repair all damage before launch. It would also be good to allow them to tell their droid or FC when a component is too damaged to run an overload. (never run, 75%, 50%, not if near destruction, always do it anyway)

A droid interface that is disabled or low-power during flight causes the programs to stop functioning, as normal. As does a large in-flight repair, the ending of special factional powers, and so on, which will render the component unable to be re-overloaded for a short cooldown period. When overloads can be run again, the droid or FC will attempt to do so, checking again for component status rules before doing so.

Overload programs should be split out by function, making more choices for how to spend droid memory on overloads.

The overload list should look more like this:

* overloaded reactor generation

* overloaded capacitor charge

* overloaded capacitor regeneration

* overloaded weapon output

* overloaded weapon fire rate

* overloaded engine speed

* overloaded engine turn (one each for Y, P, R)

* overloaded shield regeneration

* overloaded shield charge

Each with levels 1-4. All of them take up a similar amount of memory to what the current programs do now. So, there's no way to get all of them into one ship at the same time (But please see "gimmicked droid interface" in part 4) Running both overloads on the same component, of course, inflicts the runtime damage from both.

If a droid is set to "never" run an overload on launch, it can still be executed in-flight as normal. This would allow pilots to launch into space for an easy flight, without putting stress on their systems.

Replace the underload programs with this list:

* efficient power grid (makes all components use just a weeee tiny fraction less power)

* efficient capacitor

* efficient weapons

* efficient engine

* efficient shield

Efficiency programs do not cause damage, but take up the same amount of memory space as do the overloads. Levels 1-4, as usual.

Add the following repair programs:

* repair reactor

* repair engine

* repair weapons

* repair capacitor

* repair shield

* repair conduit (*)

* repair droid interface (*)

These programs let your droid or FC slowly repair your components in flight. The droid must be loaded with appropriate repair parts. Ships with FC's may store repair parts in the cargo hold. Levels 1-4, same memory as the overloads. They should probably do about as much repair as a similar overload does damage, with a tick once per [DI speed]. These will automatically attempt to run on damaged components, and do not interfere with other programs' execution time. These droid repairs would, of course, still be channeling repair costs to the shipwrights.

The repair programs with (*) would, naturally, only be useful for a droid called inside a POB ship. (Please see part 3)

Keep the following adjustment programs:

* capacitor to shield shunt

* emergency shields F/R

* emergency shields balanced (drains capacitor and balances shields front and back)

* shield adjust F/R/balanced

* mute droid

Adjustment programs cause no damage. They work as currently, and take up the usual amount of memory. (I don't think the balanced emergency shield would be unbalancing, because in a fight, you'd have to be careful about turning your now-reduced other shield facing to the enemy.)

Each faction would get the set of programs analagous to what they have today. By undertaking a very difficult mission (ground and space parts) for their faction, a pilot would be able to get a mission reward of an optimized version of one of their programs -- a programmed chip with a program that takes up only half to 2/3 or so of the usual memory. These chips could also be aquired by running a very difficult mission (ground and space parts) *against* the faction that owns them, with a goal in mind to steal one as the mission reward. This extra content would offset the memory costs of the large number of new programs, and make the quests for a Master's signature ship more fun.

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** Part 3: decay, droid & flight computer adjustments just for POB ships **

OK, I promised that this would start to make sense in the context of improving POB ships, so here goes.

The big innate advantage that POB ships would have, with respect to the changed decay rules, is that the crew could use their repair tools to keep a POB flying longer, without fear of decaying their Pilot's ship too badly. Obviously, the Pilot would now rather his crew repair stuff quickly and immediately (instead of holding off for a Deep Space visit) rather than risk a vitality hit. If a POB is in a hard fight, and the repairs keep on getting interrupted, the component will still take a vitality hit for each incapacitation, but that can still all be recovered (minus the same one permanent vitality) with a vitality kit.

Pilots should get a repair skill that's similar to what a "repair component" skill is at that level. So, a tier 1 pilot would repair as much damage as a droid with a level 1 repair program, per tick. (Tick for people should be once every 10 seconds or so -- about like what a bacta infusion on the ground feels like) A Master Pilot should get a bonus on top of that, and be better than any droid.

Shipwrights should get a similar repair skill, but it stacks and affects the entire crew of the POB he's on, much like a squadleader bonus. We can imagine that he's directing the repair team. (only one SW bonus applies per group though!)

Smugglers should get the ability to /technicaltap or /hotwire a component, to make it work correctly despite damage, for a short while. This would slow repairs by half or possibly cause damage per tick of time, but would be handy for getting out of danger.

(And please see part 4 for other ways that the crew can be helpful in space.)

POB ships would also have an advantage in droid program usage. POB flight computers should be unable to effect any ship repairs -- the hull is just too big to get repair probes into all the mounting locations. So, they don't need to spend memory on repair programs.

Droids that are called inside the POB, and which are equipped with the correct repair program, will automatically move to the damaged component and start to work, at their usual rate. Not limited by the droid interface, they get the same 10 second tick as player toons.

Even though the damage repaired per tick is still going to be low, with a full crew of 8, and all of them with droids out, the repair amounts are going to be quite impressive.

A droid with a repair program, may be given an order to /watch a particular component, instead of going on repair patrol.

Non-astromechs (ie, not Pilot-programmable) with a generic repair function may hold one stack of generic repair tools and one stack of conduit tools, and may attempt to repair any POB shipboard component at a rate equal to the lowest repair program.

Pilots, because they know how to program an overload, may be allowed to manually overload a component. This would be similar to running the overload program, but would not take memory in the FC. This would cause damage as normal. Only those overloads known by the pilot due to his profession could be done this way, and if a re-overload is required, it too must be done manually. On the plus side, such manual overloads may be done in the case that the DI is incapacitated. If a DI loses function in mid-flight, it should crash all manual overloads as well. (just because otherwise you'd have to have a lot more monitoring about what was manual and programmed, and it would be a mess) It should require a warmup of 10 seconds per overload level to manually overload a component, and it should be done at the access panel. Only Pilots grouped with the ship owner may be allowed to do this. (assumed /consent)

All of this would give POB ships much more room for customization and more longevity than a fighter.

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** Part 4: Special Roles just for POB ships **

While parts 1, 2, and 3 were all inter-related and depended heavily on each other, this part doesn't quite so much. Sure, it would make more sense if 1, 2, and 3 were in place, but should work OK without them.

POB ships could use some special roles, that only they can fulfill... or only they can fulfill well. The heavy guns & shields of a POB, and it's relatively high maneuverability should make them a good choice to use against large vessels.

Give NPC ships the assumption that their crews will be trying to repair, just as we will be in our own POB ships. A disabled Corvette's crew should be working frantically trying to get the reactor, engines, and shields back online. There should be a built-in delay as the damage control teams are imagined to be running to the scene of the damage, and then the component percentages should start creeping back up.

Elite weapons (and please add an Elite ordnance type, that takes factory crates in the ammo hopper!) would cause enough collateral damage to multiply that delay before repairs can start. If we calculate collateral damage to be something like 5 seconds' delay per weapon tier for starfighter scale weaponry, that gives us up to a minute's time to carry on with the battle against the bigbad ship. Elite weapons should have enough collateral damage to cause, let's say, 3 minutes' delay before repairs can begin on any destroyed component. (30 seconds in PvP maybe?)

That right there would make POB's desirable for corvette and gunboat duty. They'd still need fighter escort, which is well and good.

Also, add actual shield values to the Star Destroyer and Corvette. This would be just like the gunboats have -- you have to wear through the shields to get at the components. The large values of shields should be proportionally appropriate for the Corvette and Star Destroyer.

But, give Elite weapons a shield-splashthrough value. This is a fraction of damage that's beyond what a ship's shields can stop cold, and will carry on through to hit the targeted components. This would make Elite-equipped POBs practically mandatory for securing a safe underbelly to work from on a Corvette, and make a POB flyby over the command tower of a Star Destroyer very desirable too.

This change would also make the Imperial /bomberstrike not quite as trivial a way to take down a corvette. The bombers summoned would be unable to do very much except start to ablate the shields. When the shields are dropped, though, it should be open-season on bomberstrikes, as it is currently.

Once a shield component and it's secondary (if any) are destroyed, the shields should drop completely, unlike what they do on gunboats. It's only fair, after all. Gunboat reactors when destroyed should disable the guns, but should not be targetable until the engine is gone anyway. Make 'em practice for going after a corvette.

I think, that with the NPCs repairing, and being delayed from repairing by POB weapons, and also the implementation of shields and shield-splashthrough, that POB ships would have a solid combat demand right there.

There were some good suggestions though, about ways to customize your POB ship, and make it truly a signature vessel. To that end, I suggest that additional components, which take no slots but do consume lots of mass and some energy, can be added as content rewards. Han's YT was customized all to heck, and mine should be too! *But it shouldn't be easy!*

All of these components should require some difficult ground and space missions, looted parts and supplies, and parts crafted by as many different professions as logic may be stretched to include. We're talking about turning an ordinary, off-the-drydock ship into a character's signature vessel here. This should be an undertaking as long, difficult, rewarding, and I dare say, sacred, as any Jedi's quests. Getting *one* of these should be at least as much involvement as Secrets of the Syren, or any Village quest. Parts for them should only be purchasable from NPC's, by spending Prestige. Getting a ship full of them should be the sign of an old veteran scoundrel, or a true space warmaster.

These are items that should be fairly easy to introduce individually, a la the little quests that have been appearing with one episode each publish lately.

* Gimmicked Droid Interface: (50k mass, 500 energy) Han had several droid brains in the 'Falcon. They helped his ship keep on running with all of it's overloads, but they bickered with each other. Gettign one of these allows you to load a second FC into your POB ship, but adds 50% to the DI speed for each additional unit. Want a third FC? Add another gimmicked DI, but be ready for the long DI speed delays. Creatable by any MSW, requires loot and DE crafted parts, modifications by a Smuggler, etc.

* Advanced Medical Bay: (1 mil mass, 1k energy) Allows the implantation and removal of cybernetics. Allows MDocs' buffs to recharge with nearly zero cooldown, and last twice as long. (This would still not interfere with the need to have a doc in the group -- we're talking what, 40 mins total now?) Wounds heal moderately in the bacta tank, or very very quickly if in the bacta tank while a Doc assists. Requires MDoc, MCM, Architect, DE made parts, loots, a mission of mercy through ground and space, and all that good stuff. Looks like a bacta tank with bubbles (and toons can hop inside for wound healing!). These should be craftable for player Medical Centers as well, because architects and cities need love too.

* Splendid Entertainment Center: (1 mil mass, 1k energy) Allows whatever entertainers do to be done better. Sorry Ents -- I'm thinking of you, but have no idea what you guys are going to wind up doing. Looks like lots of extra decorations scattered about inside the POB. May be added to the Yacht. Requires... stuff to be determined when Ents are sorted out. These should be craftable for player Cantinas as well, because architects and cities (and especially entertainers) need love too.

* Repair arm: (1 mil mass, 1k energy) Allows a shipwright aboard a POB ship to offer repairs to other ships in space. Adds a box inside the POB which may be loaded with repair parts. Allows a SW to repair for free (say, for friends and guildies), or to set a covercharge per point of repair. Allows diagnosis and examination of a grouped or consenting player's ship as well, so the SW can offer advice on ship builds, etc. Adds a visible repair arm on the outside of the ship. Also adds a terminal inside the POB ship which the SW uses for his services, or he can do it from the ops chair. The terminal should also be able to be added to a house, where a pilot can drag his ship from his datapad to the terminal to show it to the owning shipwright, for a ground based consultation. (no repairs there though) Requires a space based quest to go and repair ships under fire, as well as the usual assortment of loots and so forth.

* Resupply arm: (1 mil mass, 1k energy) Allows a shipwright aboard a POB ship to offer in-space rearmament. If the supply box is stocked with the right kind of ordnance or countermeasures for a ship, he can offer to refill them for free. Or, a ship may request a vendor-like interface, which will be filtered to only show the ordnance and countermeasures currently installed on his ship. Paying the set price, the resupply arm loads the purchased ordnance automatically. (The SW can, of course, reload friends for free) Similar requirements as the repair arm. Doesn't really make sense for ground use. Installs an arm, visible on the outside of the POB ship.

* Flying drydock: (2 mil mass, 3k energy) Requires both the repair and resupply arms to be installed. Allows the SW to offer (either free for friends, or for purchase through the vendor-like interface) revitalize kits to be used on the spot on the purchasing ship. Also allows a SW to offer new chassis of identical type to what the pilot is flying. When purchased, the automatic packing service moves all components, items, and people into the new chassis, arranged just as they were. (what really happens is that the old ship's mass and hitpoints are replaced by the new chassis -- allowing people with old worn out POB ships to easily, if expensively, move into a new one.) This should be super-rare, requiring work and components similar in scope to Mandalorian armor. When completed, a flying drydock should be essentially full (4 mil mass used), but probably in very high demand.

* Smuggling Compartment: (500k mass, 500 energy) Allows Smuggler-related items to be stored within it, such that similar items stack. So, all the new slicing components that take up individual spaces in inventory, may be stored away neatly and cleanly, and spices may be stacked beyond their usual limits. Items pulled out are either individual or pulled by the usual crate-load. Only serial# identical crates may be stacked, of course, but individual looted items need only be similar. Looks like a hatch in the floor, that only visible for Smugglers. Should require a space quest similar in scope to the particularly excellent suggestion of the Kessel Run, posted here in the Pilot and also in the Smuggler board. Should be available for houses too.

* Resource Hopper: (500k mass, 500 energy) Allows Artisan-used resources to be stacked within, beyond the normal stacking limits. Identical resource containers only will stack. Should require crafting quests equivalent to the entire crafting set of Village quests, with additional quests to learn the required schematics. Should be available for houses too.

* Spares Locker: (500k mass, 500 energy) Allows ship repair kits to be combined in remaining power up to the maximum crafted amount, and also allows factory crates of them to be stacked beyond normal limits. Purchase the schematic with a completely full bar of post-master shipwright experience. (Instead of the ability to trade it in at the Village, like some have asked) Requires lots of asteroid resources to build.

* Automated Ammo Feed Hopper: (500k mass, 500 energy, tied to one ordnance slot) Allows factory crates of ordnance to be loaded within. When the ordnance launcher runs out of ammo, this device pulls a stack from a factory crate and loads it. Looks like an ammo hopper inside the hull, from which it is loaded. Requires a combat quest in space and on the ground, and probably looted motor parts similar to a resource crusher. One may be attached to each ordnance launcher.

* Automated Countermeasures Rack: (500k mass, 500 energy, tied to one countermeasures slot) Just like the Ammo Feed Hopper, but for countermeasures.

* Hotwired Capacitor Bay: (1 mil mass, 1k energy) Allows a second capacitor to be mounted. Recharge rate and max charge are combined. Damage to the capacitor is applied to both of them. If one is incapacitated, the entire capacitor bay and both capacitors go offline. Requires the usual space and ground questing, and some items that may only be looted from a successful GCW base takedown on the ground.

* Flag Bridge: (2 mil mass, 2k energy) Requires MSL combined loots. Allows a Master Pilot/MSL to take command of a fleet of ships. Other consenting friendly ships may be invited to the fleet. The fleet shares groupchat, and all fleet ships show up in the group bar on the left side of the screen. Group bonuses from SL and SW do not apply. Ships that land automatically leave the fleet. This is useful for easy targeting of fellow ships. Allows formation flying with the expanded fleet. Allows monitoring of all fleet ships' status. Allows the "Admiral" in the Flag Bridge to nominate a hyperspace point so that the fleet jumps all together. Allows the Admiral to designate fleet targets. Looks like a bridge layout from everybody's favorite sci-fi shows, with lots of cool radars and comm systems and such goodies. No higher-class vessel or higher-faction-ranked pilot may be invited to the fleet. (Not really applicable unless/until we get beyond-POB ships, but best to be Colonel already.)

Cliffnotes?