Self-Destruct is Irrational Component

dmm · #1 May 31st, 2001, 06:23 PM

If someone Boards a ship with self-destruct (SD), then the SD destroys both ships. Even if the boardee is an escort and the boarder is a mother ship!

So, if SDs are so powerful, why can't a ship that is clearly doomed move up next to an enemy ship and initiate the SD, thereby taking out the hated enemy? (Or at least doing a heck of a lot of damage.) After all, you can commit noble suicide by ramming, and you can even plan for it with explosive warheads.

A rational SD should only be powerful enough to destroy the ship that carries it. Collateral damage should occur to ALL other ships next to it, and should be rated according to the size of the ship with the SD.

Oggy ben Doggy · #2 May 31st, 2001, 06:34 PM

If you have escorts bording your SDs, put Defence stations on your SDs.

Deathstalker · #3 May 31st, 2001, 06:34 PM

In this I definitly agree. Damage should affect the spaces (perhaps3, with 1 being most, 2some and 3 least amount of damage) around the ship. Similar to the way it was handled in Moo2. Bigger the ship, bigger the 'boom'. Maybe even different levels of SSD for more damage/resistance to virus weapons(see below paragraph).

Also it would be nice if there was a way to destoroy the SSD without destroying the rest of the ship so capture is possible. Maybe increasing the tech tree in computers? A virus that disables the SSD command sub-routine or something like that.

------------------
"The Empress took your name away," said Chance.
Owen smiled coldly. "It wasn't hers to take. I'm a Deathstalker until I die. And we never forget a slight or an enemy." -Owen Deathstalker.

Suicide Junkie · #4 May 31st, 2001, 06:38 PM

quote:
If someone Boards a ship with self-destruct (SD), then the SD destroys both ships. Even if the boardee is an escort and the boarder is a mother ship!
So, if SDs are so powerful, why can't a ship that is clearly doomed move up next to an enemy ship and initiate the SD, thereby taking out the hated enemy? (Or at least doing a heck of a lot of damage.) After all, you can commit noble suicide by ramming, and you can even plan for it with explosive warheads.
A rational SD should only be powerful enough to destroy the ship that carries it. Collateral damage should occur to ALL other ships next to it, and should be rated according to the size of the ship with the SD.

Consider that the boarding ship has lowered its defenses and has moved close enough to dock with the SDD ship. Also, the SDD is designed with the boarding problem im mind, so it would be way overpowered.
Consider a typical ship. Supply storage is enough for at least 100 nukes. Tons of Antimatter torpedoes. Let loose the antimatter or detonate all 100 nukes when the unshielded enemy ship sits 1meter from your hull, and ask yourself how well it would take that kind of a beating.
Blammo.

But ships at range have their shields up, and are mobile, so you can't reach them from where you are

I would suggest giving your SDDs a warhead ability, so they can do 1500 or so damage during a ramming. Your ship will be destroyed, but you get to do extra damage by delf-destructing.

Baron Munchausen · #5 May 31st, 2001, 09:42 PM

Yep, there ought to be Collateral Damage in SE IV combat. Not just when ships self-destruct but when they blow up from any cause. Just check all the adjacent squares and distribute damage as if they were hit with a weapon. This would make it more dangerous to cram your ships as close together as possible for PDC massing and to gang up on an out-numbered enemy. If there were a percentage setting in SETTINGS.TXT for this you could control it or just turn it off if you didn't want it.

Nitram Draw · #6 May 31st, 2001, 09:52 PM

Wouldn't that have be a rather large explosion to give collateral damage? Since the ships only occupy one space and a planet takes up 4 spaces how close can they be?