🚀 Missiles for players are here!
The missile racks are finished. When i rebuilt the unified combat I nerfed Pirates using Missiles. But it was always my hope we could add Missiles in for players! We now have six launchers (across each combat Class) and nine missiles, three for each launcher as a starting measure.
Two racks to a class. A frigate takes the Hornet Launcher or the Longspear Rack. A cruiser takes the Bulwark Launcher or the Farstrike Battery. A destroyer takes the Siegebreaker Array or the Rampart Salvo Rack. The heavier the rack the slower it cycles, so a Hornet puts a missile out every two seconds, while a Rampart takes three and a quarter seconds.
That trade is the spine of the whole system, because the rounds get very much bigger as you climb. Nine missiles, three to a class. Frigate captains have the Sting, the Barb and the Vespid, running from 45 damage up to 75. Cruisers have the Maul, the Breaker and the Kingfisher, 95 up to a 150. Destroyers throw the Sunder, the Cataclysm and the Ruinfall, and a Ruinfall lands for two 230.
Splash Damage
Missiles are a wonderful invention, yes they cost to be manufactured, so each shot has a real world value, But they are homing and most of all missiles come with splash damage! Why damage one ship when you can damage multiples! I will leave it for you to figure the values, read the bios and do the maths.
Ammunition is locked to its class.
A cruiser rack will not take a frigate round, and it will not take a destroyer one either. That is deliberate, and it is what stops a light hull carrying a warhead it has no business carrying. Loading happens in OR out of combat, and the rounds leave your stores the moment you load them rather than when you fire. When a rack runs dry in a fight it reloads itself from your stores, so long as you still hold the same round it was firing.
Launcher Loadout
Your hull decides how many racks you can carry, and it is not the same as your weapon slots. A Marauder or a Hawk can fit one. A Cruiser or Destroyer can fit two. Mining hulls carry none at all for the moment, missiles are a combat item and at this time I did not envisage miners hurling missiles.
Vulcan Ordinance Works
We have added a new store that SELLS Assembly Plans and Blueprints. This allowed us to make missiles in Assemblers and without making you R&D them. (your welcome) you only need to purchase an Assembly plan once. Vulcan also sells Turret Assembler Plans!
Player Based Turrets
Many of you will be aware I’ve taken a fair amount of stick recently over the tough way the combat system has tightened up combat. I’m not apologising for it, this was the plan all along meaning no more ‘wandering in to a Law Level you don’t belong in’ – now toy fight and mine where you can survive. That’s how games work you don’t just amble in the deep end without prep and consequence.
Now that tough love is probably because many of you were playing BEFORE unified combat and that’s to be expected, no one likes change and yet deeper tha level 5 in a miner is no fun…
Or is it… 🙂
I give you player Turrets. They are limited off Engineering Skill, Level 0 you can deploy one at a time. Level 20 you can deploy 2 and at level 40 you can deploy three! Turrets come in two types with six versions.
Sentry Mk1,Mk2, M3 – these sit and attack any bad guy who gets in range.
Lodestone MK1, Mk2, Mk3 these not only attack BUT also agro the pirates.
There is a 15-second timer between deployments and your limited by your Engineering skill as to which ones you can deploy. EVERYONE can deploy a Mk1 Sentry even with Zero Engineering skill. Right mouse on the new shiny icon (Miners helmet till i find a better icon) this will list what you have onboard and if it’s greyed out you can use it, it also carries a number when a Turret is deployed.
These turrets work as Damage Dealers and Argo merchants 🙂 You Should love them, and it will give you back some balance in a tough love world. The Assembly plans for these are over at Vulcan Ordinance. Again you only ever need to buy them once.
Now you will have to excuse me If i point out the obvious these are crafted and are not cheap – So Look after them, let them heal and pull them when leaving!
Bandwidth Costs
Turrets has a BW cost 5 per Sentry and 10 per Lodestone. So even a lowly Maunder can launch them!
Free Drones in your Hull
I have decided new players get a few Mk1 Sentries to start with and because I’m not mean I’ve pushed some Mk1 Sentries into your holds!
Unified Combat – Nearby Panel
After a lot of consideration and performance tests I have allowed you to DRAG / MOVE the ‘Nearby Panel’ (yes it has a title) 🙂 You can now move it around the combat screen to suit you. Want it back on the left Double-click the header and it will snap back. Will it remember last position, NO.
Dev Note: Forged Space is being formed, developed and as such I can’t always foresee the compression points of a change till they have been deployed. I have created a VERY large statistical reporting system that will allow me to see who’s killed what when and who helped and who had hull breaches etc. Same for mining, who mined what where and for how long. Same for Missions and who did what and how many, global XP, Credits even drilling down to what Droffy did between Tea and Bed time 🙂 A TON of data that’s being processed and reported. – This data will help me spot issues faster and review when the community groans. 🙂
When a change comes out is normally for the benefit and longevity of the game. Sending me snotty emails or DM’s in discord does not help. I’m not here for fun, I’m here to make a game that will survive the next decade and appeal to a far wider audience. So please consider your ‘outbursts’ at me. Remember I’m FAAAAR from Done lol. Missiles and Turrets were on the cards and have been released today, I’m far from done on QOL add-ons to make things better. – Nuff said I think.
Remember I’m a solo indie dev who ALSO has a Full-time job!
Coops