Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Colonol Dekker on April 16, 2008, 10:46:02 am
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What sort of depraved lunatic would volunteer for that sort of job??
Either a flunked pilot applicant, or it's more of a repremand / punishment assignment...............
**Discuss. :D
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Or someone who doesn't want to die/fight. Normal pilots would have to defend support ships, as it's the "only hope to resupply".
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I tend to jump them out between resupplys as i don't want them to 'splode.......
But other times i think what the hell and slay them, but why would any sane person "volunteer" for that role when you could be a canteen worker on an Aeolus and remain relatively safe by comparison :nod:
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But the safest job IS a support ship pilot. Anything other than a support ship can get nuked easily in-game. And for support ships, just 'keep safe distance' them, or order to depart. Anything else is meant to attract hostile bombs :)
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In the "Old days of Squadwar TM" I used to nearly always target them while the other team were mid-supply. I'm thinking from an agressors point of view here. (Especially Sobek / Aeolus duel)
I always got space-raped on Rebel Intercept too. Rather than Resupply I'd Just SHIFT+END and respawn with a full rack of Torps......
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Fail to project the Aquataine in "Argonautica" (IIRC) and you get busted down to support pilot in a backwater system.
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Yes, it seems that the fighter pilots who screwed up and were demoted fly support ships. There is also an earlier failure debriefing where Samsa says "frankly, I think we'll be lucky if they let us fly support ships." :D
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In homesick, they explain how support ships are piloted mostly by mercs, as 'nobody actually signs on to fly tubs instead of fighters'. (incorrect quote- i know that's not what they say in the mission, but its close enough)
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Oh, Titan...that is soo canon! :P
I think you're confusing the game with the Universe here.
In the Universe a support ship's pilot should be intelligent enough to keep a safe distance from the enemy and jump out when there are poor chances of survival. If a support ship is far from allied units and there are fighters closing in on it, well...I don't think it would remain there.
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I still think pilots would/should protect support ships. After all, it's the only in-game-universe way to rearm. And a support ship SHOULD leave a pretty big shockwave if it exploded ( considering the ammount of weapons in it ), so little fighters would get destroyed.
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You sustain considerable damage at high dfficulty levels. Same thing for exploding torpedoes.
I know pilots are supposed to protect support ships but they have their own objectives. Support ships should simply escape when needed, it would be pointless to risk losing fighters in desperate conditions.
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Here's a new question, actually two.
Are support ships more valuable than fighters? Bombers?
About how many support ships are there on a Destroyer?
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Maybe they should let the support ship fire some of its on-board munitions. Then maybe it won't be so defenseless...
Hell, why not make support ships into bombers? Seems like they have an infinitely large cargo bay for every type of missile. They'd be a whole lot more effective than those useless Boanerges (screw lack of afterburner, the Seraphims and Nephilims does just fine without them!
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Maybe they should let the support ship fire some of its on-board munitions. Then maybe it won't be so defenseless...
Hell, why not make support ships into bombers? Seems like they have an infinitely large cargo bay for every type of missile. They'd be a whole lot more effective than those useless Boanerges (screw lack of afterburner, the Seraphims and Nephilims does just fine without them!
I think support ships can actually run out of ordinance. Also, I don't think they have the mechanisms for firing the warheads. Hell, I don't even think they have afterburner reserves.
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The tutorial says that, but I've seen it rearm my entire wing with bombs, meaning it must have several times the capacity of even a heavy bomber at the very least. Just slap a launch mechanism, and you have a missile boat.
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Hell with a launch mechanism. Remote control a fully loaded old Scarab from a distance and you have a very effective suicide bomb.
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The reason support ships have such a large cargo capacity is because they don't have weapons and afterburners, thus more space.
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Still, you can only fit so many huge torpedos in a ship that size.
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Well, I think this is the same argument as the "problem" with all the wingmen dying in the first sixty seconds. It is not because they are so bad, its that their commander, who is supposed to be smarter, lets them comit near suicide.
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Its difficult to issue orders when there are 5 Shivans on your a$$ though. Actually that would be a cool (but potentially very difficult to implement) feature for SCP - voice activated COMMs.
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Actually that would be a cool (but potentially very difficult to implement) feature for SCP - voice activated COMMs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_SideWinder#Game_Voice
You'll excuse the reference to the evil empire, but their product was the first that popped to mind, in no small part because it debuted not too long after retail FS2.
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Meh fighters might get the glory, but support ships get the adrenaline rush.
It takes balls to enter a combat zone with no chance of fighting, and knowing that you'll have to spend at least some of your time there relatively still . . . . like the dorky kid running to supply the human defense robots in Matrix Revolutions.
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All power to shields? And who would be stupid enough to resuply IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLEFIELD WITH A BATTLE GOING ON?
Though I imagine how'd it look: battle going on and a stupid pilot resuplying in the middle, with the "elephent walk" music going on while he slowly resuplys and his wingmen die. Then, once it's done resuplying, just as the support ship undocks, he gets blasted by 10 shivans.
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I love this thread. :lol:
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All power to shields? And who would be stupid enough to resuply IN THE MIDDLE OF A BATTLEFIELD WITH A BATTLE GOING ON?
Though I imagine how'd it look: battle going on and a stupid pilot resuplying in the middle, with the "elephent walk" music going on while he slowly resuplys and his wingmen die. Then, once it's done resuplying, just as the support ship undocks, he gets blasted by 10 shivans.
*Zoltan searches for a camera*
How do you know what I do? :p
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Its difficult to issue orders when there are 5 Shivans on your a$$ though. Actually that would be a cool (but potentially very difficult to implement) feature for SCP - voice activated COMMs.
A feature which is already there. Or atleast, it was in some builds and the 3.6.9 official one. To get it to work, check this thread (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,37643.0.html) and this post (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,37643.msg768452.html#msg768452). I greatly enjoyed that feature.
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Make support ships be flown by ai :yes: And when the situation necessitates, then remote controlled from wherever your wing is stationed. It'd be like a uav. Then you wont be wasting lives. If you're going to be flying with tons of firepower, then you'd be in a fighter or bomber, not flying something that holds munitions and can't fire them. These support ships should be moved towards more automation and remote control.
Already in game do support ships controlled by ai reload you and your wingmates :lol:
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Bah i reckon that we should install FS medium AI in the worlds air forces combat jets, That would make displays a whole lot funnier.....
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I guess. Can you imagine how'd it look? Too bad there won't be any Orions for them to collide with though.
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A feature which is already there. Or atleast, it was in some builds and the 3.6.9 official one. To get it to work, check this thread (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,37643.0.html) and this post (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,37643.msg768452.html#msg768452). I greatly enjoyed that feature.
Its Windows only, so it won't work for me :(
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I imagine the same guys flying the resupply ships now are the same ones flying the Air Force fuelers, they just did not do as well in training so they get to fly the big target.
One time my jump drive got shot out along with almost every thing else besides 1 engine and weapons were below 10% and my hull was red, somehow the support ship saw me waving out my window, and patched up my bomber up enough so I could I could jump out.
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What a hero. That support ship pilot is probably dead now. Somewhere there is a mother missing a son. But she can take comfort knowing that her son willingly gave his life to supply a fresh load of rockets.
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That last speech made me wanna volunteer :(.........................
*sniff....so brave................ :o
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Maybe the suicidal anti-social emo pilots fly those things.
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They'd never leave the hangar though, they'd just listen to Marylin Manson and cry over their joysticks....
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They'd never leave the hangar though, they'd just listen to Marylin Manson and cry over their joysticks....
If that'd be true, then my destroyer wouldn't have support ships due to no support-ship-pilots-allowed policy.
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emo's in fighters? They'd electricute themselves by spilling blood on the electronics!!
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Maybe the suicidal anti-social emo pilots fly those things.
Hmmm...makes me wonder...
What an hero. That support ship pilot is probably dead now. Somewhere there is a mother missing a son. But she can take comfort knowing that her son willingly gave his life to supply a fresh load of rockets.
Fixed :)
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emo's in fighters? They'd electricute themselves by spilling blood on the electronics!!
They'd electricute themselves by spilling blood on the electronics of a SUPPORT SHIP!
Emo's in fighters are worse. And make sure not to have more than 1 emo in a support ship at any time! They'll distract each other in ways that you may not want to see :ick:
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Point of fact, my friends.
Fighter pilots can only risk a rearm- which entails sitting perfectly still for thirty seconds or more- if there is relatively no hostile threats nearby. Otherwise, it is suicide. Thus, if you're flying a resupply ship, then you're likely only going to be deployed when the coast is clear.
Of course, there are exceptions, like the support pilot who had to race in and load some more Helios bombs onto Alpha 1's Bakha while the Sanathas was cranking out the long-range flack. But, situations like that are part of the job- I think of Huey pilots in Vietnam who would often risk heavy fire to resupply beleaguered troops with much-needed ammunition.
Considering that rearming friendly ships with secondaries could easily make a huge difference in a fight, I think it's reasonable to assume that both the fighter pilot and the supply ship pilot would both take the risk of re-arming with hostiles in uncomfortable proximity, if the situation demanded it (bombers coming in and the interceptors need Trebs, or bomber pilots short on bombs.) Being a supply ship pilot is not as dangerous a job as a fighter pilot, but it's not a cakewalk, either.
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Think of all the help they do.
Imagine a bomber without bombs.
A dogfighter without tempests or harpoons.
A long range interceptor without trebs.
A Strike bomber without an engine.
Escort Interceptors without communications.
The support ship can help in all of these situations. Though i wonder what would happen if support ships kamikazeed?
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The support ship can help in all of these situations. Though i wonder what would happen if support ships kamikazeed?
The enemy would probably start targeting them after the initial shock. To be honest, the support ship would need an overhauled engine to give it the ramming speed necessary make a successful attack.
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Shivans don't even have support ships. So how should they feel, huh ? HOW SHOULD THEY FEEL ?! It's not fair ! Some little pink and yellow bastards have support ships, while an advanced super-race doesn't !
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Support ships don't fit with Shivans IMO. Fighters and bombers seem to be disposable assets to them.
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I still think they should give the things a turret or two, that way they wouldn't be completely sitting ducks, and when you're sitting there rearming there would be something to deter the wing of fighters that suddenly decided you look rather tasty.
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if you add turrets you make it a threat, without weapons a fighter size ship like that has little value as a target. If bombers/fighters have time to re-arm then the enemy is most likely in no condition to go after a target that is not attacking them
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if you add turrets you make it a threat, without weapons a fighter size ship like that has little value as a target.
In the "Old days of Squadwar TM" I used to nearly always target them while the other team were mid-supply. I'm thinking from an agressors point of view here. (Especially Sobek / Aeolus duel)
:p ?I blatantly disagree, If you prevent the enemyt from re-arming, you prevent them from fighting effectively......
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"The enemy cannot push a button if you disable his hand."
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WOOT!! One of Michael Ironsides best quotes EVAH !>...............
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if you are in so bad shape that you need to re-arm you might eat it anyways, but command seems to have a infinite number of support ships
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Make support ships be flown by ai :yes: And when the situation necessitates, then remote controlled from wherever your wing is stationed. It'd be like a uav. Then you wont be wasting lives. If you're going to be flying with tons of firepower, then you'd be in a fighter or bomber, not flying something that holds munitions and can't fire them. These support ships should be moved towards more automation and remote control.
Already in game do support ships controlled by ai reload you and your wingmates :lol:
This is a great idea! Especially since support ships are already flown by AI :yes:
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Only the ZOD ones,
SOmeone's gonna have to change the support profile and replace the Ani's with a HAL 9000 instead.
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What are you talking about? Every single support ship in the game is flown by ai, so are your wingmates :yes:
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What are you talking about? Every single support ship in the game is flown by ai, so are your wingmates :yes:
lol. :lol:
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It stands to reason that the capabilities of AI 300 years from now will be better than AI today. I'm surprised that they couldn't just get computers to pilot all of their fighters (possibly with some remote control by a real person though).
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What are you talking about? Every single support ship in the game is flown by ai, so are your wingmates :yes:
Don't ruin the magic.............. :headz: