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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: FuzzyDarkMatter on January 11, 2014, 02:35:26 am

Title: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: FuzzyDarkMatter on January 11, 2014, 02:35:26 am
So, I played FS and FS2 many, many years ago (and by that I mean played the ever-loving crap out of them). So, recently returning to the scene, I have forgotten quite a bit about how things work. All that being said, before I take my bomber wing out to be utterly annihilated due to my lack of leadership skills, I wanted to ask for some clarification.

Now, I remember distinctly that I absolutely LOVE the Artemis bomber in FS2, but I'm completely blank on some of the particulars and don't really feel like being utterly obliterated by doing the wrong thing. So, the questions are: Do Stiletto II's knock out turrets, and if I order my wingmen to disarm and/or disable a capital ship, will they use Stiletto II's before launching Cyclops? I would hope that they'd use the dedicated subsystem destroyers first, but AI logic can tend to be a little fuzzy about using the proper tool for the job.

Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: The E on January 11, 2014, 02:57:11 am
The AI will definitely be intelligent in its choice of weapons. If ordered to disable subsystems, they will default to using anti-subsys weapons if available, this goes for both primaries and secondaries.

Do note though that the Stiletto has a fatal flaw: Although it is fairly long-ranged and does not require lockon, it can be intercepted like any other bomb.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: FuzzyDarkMatter on January 11, 2014, 03:15:52 am
The AI will definitely be intelligent in its choice of weapons. If ordered to disable subsystems, they will default to using anti-subsys weapons if available, this goes for both primaries and secondaries.

Do note though that the Stiletto has a fatal flaw: Although it is fairly long-ranged and does not require lockon, it can be intercepted like any other bomb.

Yeah, which is why I was hoping to work out a way to get my wing to spam Stilettos at around 3km distance. In the 10 seconds it would take to empty the rack, the first salvo would just be hitting AA range and the turrets would (I hope) be overloaded with targets, meaning at least a few would get through. It wouldn't take that many to strip the turrets off the side of a cap ship, which would then leave it wide open for Cyclops barrages. It may completely blow up in my face, but I think I'm gonna try it out.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: The E on January 11, 2014, 03:18:08 am
With Stilettos, your best bet is to fire them from close range. Sad, but true.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: FuzzyDarkMatter on January 11, 2014, 03:37:49 am
Well, that's disappointing  :hopping: . Might have to do some alterations to turn them into legitimate stand-off weapons. I was considering making a balance pass through the weapons anyway (fighter primaries have far too much range IMO), so that's just more incentive to stop playing and actually get some work done.

Thanks for the replies E, you've been incredibly helpful.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: BritishShivans on January 11, 2014, 07:06:16 am
I don't know, E. Stilettos are pretty fast. In my experience, while some of them often get shot down on the way to their target, it's rare for there to be a pressing need to get up close. I've only had that when there was a lot of PD or flak.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: Colonol Dekker on January 11, 2014, 07:51:11 am
Trebs for life!
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: BritishShivans on January 11, 2014, 08:05:42 am
Trebs are stupidly OP vs subsystems. There is no reason to use the Stiletto II when they are available, which is why I'm giving them the bomb flag.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: Torchwood on January 13, 2014, 07:12:13 am
Could fighters targetted by trebs flagged as bombs shoot them down?
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: niffiwan on January 13, 2014, 07:17:15 am
Yes, the player certainly could.  I don't know if the AI will try / be able to do it though.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: The E on January 13, 2014, 07:22:04 am
If Trebuchets were flagged as bombs, yes, they could be shot down. They aren't, and that's why they're the antibomber/anti-subsystem weapon of choice.

niffiwan: I am not sure about general AI behaviour, but AI doing escort would definitely try to engage them (although I am not so certain if that is true for all escort behaviours, there may be some assumptions somewhere that only big ships would ever be targeted by bombs)
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: General Battuta on January 13, 2014, 08:44:36 am
If you're a Stiletto fan I recall beating Procyon Insurgency on hard/insane was pretty much Stilettos: The Campaign. Also don't take the bomb flag off the Stiletto D:
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: Mito [PL] on January 13, 2014, 11:07:49 am
Which reminds me of breaking a mission in FOW (Ravana kills Delacroix) with a bank of Trebs. Disbeamed Ravana before it could shoot :rolleyes: Trebuchets are cool.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: Kolgena on January 13, 2014, 03:26:55 pm
I kinda wish AI could use trebs. But then I remember that Basilisk and Mara carry trebs as default loadout.
Title: Re: Questions of the day for a not-quite-noob who simply forgot EVERYTHING
Post by: X3N0-Life-Form on January 13, 2014, 04:07:20 pm
Yeah, everybody that upgraded the retail campaign to use improved AI found that out the hard way ...