[Pax]

Originally posted by Skulky:
Component idea: quick launch bays, they can launch 3 fighters combat per turn and 3 fighters per game turn, so they are more in short term, but less in long term. WP attack?

I've actually been thinking of something similar for my mod-in-progress, Exodus; one of the traits is "Doctrine: Advanced Carriers", and it will greatly enhance fightercraft, carriers, and related components.

My notes regarding unit-launch components include this:

code:

---

UNIT LAUNCH



||Tech  ||         Cargo Capacity                        ||  Launch  ||

||      ||-----------------------------------------------||          ||

||Level || Satellite | Mine | Fighter |Adv Fighter| Drone|| Capacity ||

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

||  1   ||    10     |   5  |    5    |    10     |  10  ||    1     ||

||  2   ||    20     |  10  |   10    |    20     |  20  ||    2     ||

||  3   ||    30     |  15  |   20    |    40     |  40  ||    3     ||

||  4   ||    50     |  20  |   40    |    80     |  80  ||    4     ||

||  5   ||    80     |  30  |   80    |   160     | 160  ||    6     ||

||  6   ||   120     |  40  |  160    |   320     | 320  ||    8     ||

||  7   ||   200     |  50  |  320    |   640     | 640  ||   10     ||

-----------------------------------------------------------------------



SPECIAL: Advanced Launch Bay



Level   Cargo (kT)  Launch Rate

1         5           2

2        10           4

3        20           6

4        40           8

5        80          12

6       160          16

7       320          20





SPECIAL: External Fighter Link

  -- launch rate of 1/combat-turn and game-turn, cargo for one of required type of fighter



1 (requires small fighters); 

2 (requires medium fighters);

3 (requires large fighters);

4 (requires advanced / huge fighters);

5 (requires PF's);





Special Bay racial-trait requirements:

 External Fighter Link -- "Doctrine: Advanced Carrier" -and- "Microscalar Engineering"

 Advanced Fighter Bay --- "Doctrine: Advanced Carrier"

 Advanced Launch Bay ---- "Doctrine: Advanced Carrier"

---

So, yes, an Advanced Fighter Bay VII will be able to spew 20 fighters per turn per component. Mind, they won't be cheap, and won't innately store diddly ... but the advanced fighter-launch-and-recovery systems will make for faster speeds in getting the fighters into space, fighting on behalf of the carrier.

Making fighters become and remain a viable combat option throughout the game is one of the things I want to do with Exodus ... without making them the combat choice. I want a balance between missile use, fighter use, torpedo use, and direct-beam/projectile use.

And no, I haven't picked specific sizes for each component yet.

I'm also considering an "external fighter link" ... launch/recover one fighter, with cargo space FOR one fighter, with the component itself remarkably small ... the concept being fighters that don't land INSIDE the carrier, but instead, dock TO the carrier (the External Links will, obviously, have the damaged-first trait of armor, and not a lot of HP themselves ...). Such a component would be perfect for adding a small bit of increased firepower to a ship (picture one of those destroyers carrying only 6 fighters instead of 12 ... but, it can drop all six at once ... in roughly the same "space" in terms of hull kT).

[ January 04, 2003, 13:25: Message edited by: Pax ]