Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Shadowlord]

What's the key to load an existing design into the current design, e.g. so you don't have to repeatedly create the same missile over and over and over? I don't see a key listed for that anywhere. (Or warship, if you're putting your entire fleet into a single design...)

[Apollyon]

Just upload the EMP when you are ready guys.

Also, if you saved your design, and you close the designer, when you load it up, and select the mod, it will give you an option to choose a design you previously worked on.

There is no key to however, load an existing design on top of another design I am afraid.

[ekolis]

You can always zip up a collection of emp files and rename it to emp in order to upload to PBW. Maybe include a text file in there to indicate how many of each design you want. I guess in the future we should change the emp file format so it can contain multiple ships that aren't on the same design grid...

BTW, Draxis, those are some expensive missiles you've got there

[SuicideJunkie]

I should clarify a misconception about the deflector shields;
They actually block 80% of the damage, but only on the glowy blue field hexes.
That 80% does decrease towards zero as the shield is worn down; when the shield is at 30/60sp, it will only block 40%.

The 25% value that was being mentioned is the opacity of the shield *generator* itself.
Most hull components have 25% opacity, so damage blasts will dig into the guts of your ship a bit rather than splashing directly on the surface.  (for thin ships and small fighters, a lot of the damage from heavy guns will pierce right through and out the other side)
The stats shown for HP/AP/SP are for the particular hex you're hovering over with the mouse.  Shields only provide their protection where the barrier is, and most weapons and engines have a weak point right on the barrel/nozzle, which will take more damage than normal when hit.


As for starting a game with multiple designs, it may be easiest if you design the ships separately from the bases.
What you can do, is zip the EMPs together with a .txt saying how many of each design you want.
If you rename the zip to .EMP, you can upload it to PBW, and the game host can download, unpack it and add the various ships to the start scenario.
Being able to tell if your ships hold together and how fast they are is really handy.


Some general design tips for your fighters and gunships:
 - Typical acceleration for a fighter is 2.5 forward/back and 0.2 in the four sideways directions.  Warships should try to have accel in at three directions, with 1.5 or better forwards.  Missiles are good at accel 5, usually in a SE/SW direction so you get a cone of options. 
 - Turn rate for fighters is best at 2.01 or better so you can turn to face any direction at any time during a dogfight.  This generally requires a starfury style design, with smallish thrusters way out on struts for huge torque.  Big ships can get away with 1.0 turn rates, or even 0.5 if they stay at long range.
 - Watch for the color of the acceleration stats.  There is a big difference when the color changes.
 - Even a teensy bit of sideways acceleration is really handy.  0.1 accel sideways isn't much use in combat, though it can get you out of the occasional jam when a missile has you boxed in.  Where you will really love it is when you're trying to dock.  Being able to kill a small sideways motion without having to take a couple turns to rotate the whole ship is really nice.

 - At least a small amount of Energy storage is critical;  most weapons require some stored power to fire and shields require stored power to recharge since those events occur before the energy generation phase happens.  Everything else can be run straight from the reactor.
 - Energy storage is a lot cheaper and lighter than reactors, so its good to have them on your attack craft while the reactors stay behind.  A small reactor on a larger ship is still nice since it lets you fly around forever, but don't expect it to help in combat when you need full shields and guns.

 - Point defence == small lasers, and lots of them.  If you need to shoot down a missile, small laser spam is where it is at.
 - Accuracy scales inversely with weapon size.  Medium guns are good vs small ships or fighters, heavy guns for big ships.
 - Weapon shots DO travel out from your guns in a straight line before they reach space and can attack the enemy.  Make sure your gunbarrels are clear of obstructions, or the offending parts will be severely damaged (and the shot may not even make it to the enemy)
NOTE: this also applies to explosive warheads and EMP warheads.  If you detonate one, your ship will be toasty.  Be sure to lower shields before detonating an EMP.

 - Always have more than one CnC component just in case.  Headshots happen.
 - Enable your defences one turn before you enter weapons range.  Shields come up and gunports close only after weapons have fired during the turn.  On the other hand, shields drop and gunports open *before* weapons fire during a turn, so make sure you really are clear.

 - Weapons fire happens before movement.  Always aim at where the enemy is now.
 - Friendly fire is a thing.  Check that your shot path is clear of allies before attacking the enemy behind them.  Also; ships in the same hex as the ship which is firing, have a 1/6 chance of being in the way.
 - Small ships can hide behind big ships if the angles work out that way.  Conversely, if your enemy lines up multiple targets in a row, you're pretty much guaranteed to hit something if you fire that way.

PS:
As a reward for making this far, here's a time-lapse video of a fighter over the first 900 turns of a PBW game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez-6pXs6jW8

[Draxis]

THANCS for that, Draxis; although the thing with keeping it off the ship in space is it shows it all as redlinked D:

How does this little nublet look for a fighter?

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It won't work because the hull isn't connected - All L3 hull must be connected by L3, all L2 hull must be connected by L2, and so forth.  You can't have little islands of hull.  Also, it is very expensive for a fighter.  (I consider fighters small enough to be made by the Medium fabricator - under $4000).  I would recommend starting that one over.

Is it viable to make long-burning, durable missiles for attacking bases and slow ships at long range?  That was the basis for those large missiles I have, that the bombers run up and launch at aroudn 20 spaces, then they run away and the missiles try to go in as fast as possible.  Has this been tried?

[SuicideJunkie]

Range 20 is pretty short actually.  You're within medium laser range by then.
If you launch the missiles from REALLY far out, like 70 or 100, then you can get them up to speed 25 or so even with a modest engine and they can cross that final point defence line in less than a turn.

[Girlinhat]

When firing a missile, do you have control over when it'll explode?  I imagine if it's traveling at 25 speed, you can't really rely on it to end its turn near an enemy.  Can you tell it when to explode in particular?

Also take note that debris continues to travel at the speed of the vessel it was detached from.  You could make a missile with no engine, by getting a delivery ship moving quickly, detaching a warhead + hull + computer + capacitor, and then back the delivery ship up before it gets too close.  The 'shrapnel' bombs will continue moving and the computer can be ordered to explode.

I was curious about warheads in general.  If multiples are on a ship, do they all ignite?  Do they automatically explode if they're destroyed?

[se5a]

No, the warhead detonates where it is that turn.
if you have multiple warheads you'll need 1 CnC for each Warhead you want to detonate on that turn.
warheads, are detonated the same way as weapons are fired, they even show an arc (though when it detonates it is arcless, ie, even though you must pick an aimpoint for the warhead, it doesn't affect anything)
They don't explode if they get destroyed.

[Draxis]

Does any sixth player want to join?  There is one more slot needed for a 3v3.

[Girlinhat]

No, the warhead detonates where it is that turn.
if you have multiple warheads you'll need 1 CnC for each Warhead you want to detonate on that turn.
warheads, are detonated the same way as weapons are fired, they even show an arc (though when it detonates it is arcless, ie, even though you must pick an aimpoint for the warhead, it doesn't affect anything)
They don't explode if they get destroyed.

Does this mean that having 2 warheads on the same missile doesn't get you any more damage output?

[ekolis]

Regarding CNC - note that there is diminishing returns. Bridges provide 10 points, cockpits 4, and computers 1. But only the best CNC component counts for its full value; the second best counts for half, and the rest count for a quarter. So a ship with two bridges gets 15 CNC points, not 20, while a ship with a cockpit and six computers gets 6, not 10.

Two warheads on the same missile will work, but you need 1 CNC point for each warhead you want to detonate. Remember to detonate (fire) them all, because if you only fire one, the rest will just be destroyed by the first one's blast!

[se5a]

No, the warhead detonates where it is that turn.
if you have multiple warheads you'll need 1 CnC for each Warhead you want to detonate on that turn.
warheads, are detonated the same way as weapons are fired, they even show an arc (though when it detonates it is arcless, ie, even though you must pick an aimpoint for the warhead, it doesn't affect anything)
They don't explode if they get destroyed.

Does this mean that having 2 warheads on the same missile doesn't get you any more damage output?

It'll get you twice the damage output, but you'll need to fire both of them.

TBH I've not found missiles, Torpedoes, or bombs to be that effective in a battle, other than as a distraction or to break up a formation. they do have uses, but tend to be very expensive for the amount of damage they deal, since there's a good chance they'll miss or get destroyed before you can fire it.

[Azrayel]

Hmmm.

These fabricators in game, anyone know how well they work?  Is it like ship editing but during yo turn?

update:  I've decided to line my flagship with tiny lasers for missile defense.  Or is it worth going up a level for that?

p.s.:  is the player just that one ship or is the player just following that one ship of theirs?

[se5a]

fabricators just allow you to spawn individual components or already designed ships for credits.
you can also scrap wreckage with them. (which gives you credits) 

[Azrayel]

fabricators just allow you to spawn individual components or already designed ships for credits.
you can also scrap wreckage with them. (which gives you credits)

Aaah; so any ship I want fabricated has got to be saved before hand.  Or has it's turn based can I design and upload ships midgame?

AlsoAlso: if we can't get more than five I'd say I'm the gimpiest thus far; iCould be on a lower starting kreddit team?