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[SuicideJunkie]

Note:
Server update to fix alliance change orders being rejected.
The changes you make on the politics screen should be permanent now.  (no download required)

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That shield on the missile is good, because it protects the warhead which is super-fragile.  Even a single light laser pulse will do heavy damage to the warhead.  The thrusters on the side are exposed, but they aren't important and it is OK if you lose a few to point defence.

The small laser drone designs that can thrust sideways will do quite well against it since they can shoot from the NE and NW arcs to get around the shield, but the heavy ship or base itself that you're targeting will be helpless.



As to the missile ship, if you add some braking thrust by turning the large thrusters to point NE/NW instead of SE/SW, then your ship can fire both of those together to counter one of the main drive engines.  The ship will get a pretty good turn rate by firing just the left or right hand drive in that case.

The other thing I see, is that you've got a lot of hull1 segments in that ship's spine.  Hull 1 segments are really slow to repair, and can only take 3 hits before popping.
Using hull struts wherever you have 5 hull segments in a row (and don't need all of the hardpoints) would be good.  Faster repairs, and it doesn't shatter as easily.
A hull 2 strut would be even stronger, but you'd have to move your cockpit and capacitor.

Note:
The strut has less hitpoints than 5 hull segments combined, but you only need one hull segment to fail before your ship breaks up, so it can take more hits on average.

[Rainbows]

woop woop

[SuicideJunkie]

Warning:
The posted image I was replying to has changed.  The following may be confusing now:



Those shields are disconnected; you'll need an extra hull1 segment just south of the light lasers to hold them on.

Also note that that each of those hull 1 segments you currently have is holding half your shields and half your armor each.
They're fairly well protected, with shields or armor on 4/6 sides, and the rest of the ship between them and danger on the other 2 sides, but it is a weak point to keep an eye on.

Strategically, the ship will be a bit tricky to use.  Mostly short range guns and almost no deceleration.  You'll have to fly fast towards the enemy to get in weapons range, and then Newton will demand that you fly through the enemy fleet.  That'll give them opportunities to shoot you from behind, but not very many if you are still accelerating
Some auxiliary CnC would be good, just in case your bridge gets hit.
I'd also recommend that you bump the turn rate up to 1.01 so you can save up and turn 2 notches at once.  That will let you keep the shields and guns towards the enemy as you go zooming past.

[Rainbows]

Updated
That craft is on the previous page. On the last post I pasted the wrong link.
I added a docking strut to the back and placed a shield inside because I couldn't think of anything better.

[Draxis]

That one won't be able to be grabbed by docking clamps; since it has L3 hull segments, it would need either a docking port or a spacedock to land.  If a clamp grabbed that strut, the strut would tear off where it meets that L2 segment, as L1 cannot support anything above that.

[SuicideJunkie]

Note:
Rather than having the ship be dockable, you could also just put a small clamp on the ship.
You can then feed it "power pellets" made of charged capacitors when it returns to base.  (the base can recharge them after the ship spits them out)

Another alternative is to have a clamp on both ship and base, and a noodle of hull struts.
If both the base and the ship grab the noodle, then the noodle will snap free from one of the clamps before the end of the turn.  However the ship would still be docked long enough to share energy.

[Rainbows]

I feel when I get into a game I will have a lot of fun discovering the intricacies of construction.

[Draxis]

Probably, I can say that my designs were mostly bad until now (probably still, to some extent.)

Anyone want to start another game?  This one seems to be starting to finish up.

[Girlinhat]

I'm learning a lot about construction and combat in the game.  It's worth making your designs capable of upgrade, small, and shielded.  The upgrade is relatively easy, you just leave 2 attachment nodes empty.  On an upgrade part, you line up those nodes with a structural segment, and an explosive bolt.  The bolt allows the new upgrade piece to dock to the target ship, the structure matching to the structure makes a firm connection, and the explosive bolt is blown the next turn to free that node again.

Small ships are less likely to be hit, and can allow shots to simply miss entirely, as well as costing significantly less in general - lower thrust required and fewer gyros mean a great deal in cost.

Shields are MASSIVELY important to survivability in combat lasting longer than a few rounds.  They also only cover a limited area, so the small size matters here as well.  Due to their energy-consuming theme, large batteries and generators help.

The ships I'm ending up looking at are protected reactors with a few hard shields surrounding, and a limited number of engines.

One of the few things I'd really request for the game, is to have some types of reactors that fit more cleanly.  They're shaped strangely and don't integrate very well with any real structure...

[Draxis]

I think that the biggest things I have learned are the importance of sidethrusters, and to not overestimate my firepower.  My torpedoes have been having problems all game because of their lack of sidethrusters, and I let that missile hit my flagship and aborted my torpedo run on Girlinhat's because I thought that what was already being done would be sufficient.  Neither estimation was correct.

[Iceblaster]

Sooo...

Tips on how to build a ship?

I always go in to the builder with an idea, but never get past putting a bridge and a few hull segments.

[Girlinhat]

I think that the biggest things I have learned are the importance of sidethrusters, and to not overestimate my firepower.  My torpedoes have been having problems all game because of their lack of sidethrusters, and I let that missile hit my flagship and aborted my torpedo run on Girlinhat's because I thought that what was already being done would be sufficient.  Neither estimation was correct.

That torp hit was pretty nice.  I was a bit disappointed in the firepower of the bomb, but you do have massive deflection shields over the whole ship, and the missile design I'm using only costs like $407.  It worked well enough to keep you repairing for a while!

[Draxis]

Tips on how to build a ship?

I always go in to the builder with an idea, but never get past putting a bridge and a few hull segments.

I start with whatever is the point of the ship - a main armemant, a certain engine pattern, a certain-sized reactor, a fabricator, and so forth, and just build the rest of the ship to what is needed.

That torp hit was pretty nice.  I was a bit disappointed in the firepower of the bomb, but you do have massive deflection shields over the whole ship, and the missile design I'm using only costs like $407.  It worked well enough to keep you repairing for a while!

Yeah, those shields cost 4500, so the missile was pretty cost-efficient.  Didn't quite disable any components, though.  In the future, I will leave some point-defence around anything which can't handle itself.

[Iceblaster]

What exactly is needed in general?

I hear of ship building, salvaging, and combat.

I've seen a picture on the last page that had these big 'circle of control' type circles, so now it looks like a strategy game over a larger area.

Apologies for any confusion, trying to get into this, but my brain is saying 'NOOOOOO IT IS NEW. DO NOT PLAY'

[Girlinhat]

The 'circles of control' on the map are not.  They're just shading based on the size and proximity of ships, so that you can easily locate ships.  There is no ownership of space.

What you -really- need to fight, is firepower and energy.  To fight effectively, you need to add engines and armor/shields.  To fight long-term, you need construction options, and salvage is there as an option to make construction easier.

I'd personally like to see a theme game.  2 or 3 players, you may take a single ship as large as $100,000 with NO construction and no fighters.  Just pure dreadnaught slug-fest.  Slow to get into range of each other, probably, but when they do it takes a long time to get back out of range!