Re: Drones
MM may be intending to copy Starfire. In the latest Version of Starfire, they have added something called "drones" which are a special case of what they call "Automated Platforms" (AP). AP divide into "Buoy" and "Drones". Buoys work pretty much like Satellites in SE4, but because of the communication rules in Starfire there are a lot of reasons to build them other than as a non-mobile defense. "Drones" absorb the functions of several other things that were in early editions of Starfire, including "Courier Drones" and a type of missile pod used for warp point assaults. All AP are designed under the same set of rules, though.
The basic Starfire drone has an endurance of 20 tactical turns and is not reusable. There is an enhanced endurance module that lets it move on the strategic scale, but takes up 1/2 the space in the drone hull (still can't rufuel/reuse them). There are three levels of drone tech, each adding a bigger/better hull.
The bottom level can't carry weapons and is really for courier drones. The memory module takes the other half of the hull space left over after the endurance pack is installed. What courier drones are for does not translate very well into SE4. In Starfire, you have to write orders in advance for all your fleets, and they can't do anything different unless they get new orders or encounter unexpected enemy forces themselves. Orders come from a type of headquarters (called a CC, which stands for "Command Complex", as I recall) that is pretty expensive to build, and I think can only be on a planet. So, any time something happens you have to transmit the info to one of those CC's, wait for a certain delay while the staff there drafts new orders, then transmit the new orders to the units affected. "Radio" (or whatever) transmitters have a limited range, and the signal won't go through warp points, so you have to build this network of buoys & bases through your space to relay orders. Courier drones are used to get Messages between ships/fleets operating outside your comm network and the network.
The second level can carry weapons but take severe power (range & damage) and rate of fire hits compared to ship systems. The third level removes some but not all of those disadvantages.
All AP have to operate according to very specific "programs" the player has to designate, and which can only be changed via that order transmission system (ships in combat can do whatever you want, because unlike AP, Captains have brains).
A primary use for drones (aside from courier drones) is to pack them with missiles and send them through a warp point first when you expect the enemy to be defending it. In Starfire, there is a limit to how many ships can come through per tactical turn, which takes into account ship size as well. If you exceed this, you start losing them to "interpenetration", which live crews won't do under most circumstances. Warp point defenders can be set up at optimum range and bLast the ships coming through a few at a time, so the attacker has to have a much bigger fleet than the defender to prevail, and is still sure to take huge loses. You can shove lots of drones through, though (they are small), and they don't care about interpenetration loses. So, you pack them full of missiles and program them to target the types of ships you expect on the other side, and send your fleet through after this "preliminary bombardment" has "softened up" the defenders.
So, based on the Starfire example, my guess would be that "drones" in SE4 will be some sort of short endurance, warp capable, one-use-only, self-propelled satellite.
[This message has been edited by Barnacle Bill (edited 02 February 2001).]
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