Is there a listing of successful ship designs?

Elowan · #1 July 10th, 2002, 04:36 PM

Showing components, etc? It might help some of us newbies put together better ships.

Baron Munchausen · #2 July 10th, 2002, 04:51 PM

The problem is that there are so many different situations. I suppose an experienced player with TDM for example, could give you some outlines for types of ships that work well for specific races in that mod. But that advice might be worthless in a standard game or a Proportions game. And even within the same mod different games can be very different. That's the fun of it. It's not like chess where you have to figure out how to use the same fixed set of pieces and their moves to do things. The level of detail is too great for there to be any clear, fixed methods to anything.

[ July 11, 2002, 15:59: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

geoschmo · #3 July 10th, 2002, 04:53 PM

Now wait a minute. We all had to learn the hard way, so should you.

The thing to do is play a bunch of games against other people and when their ships tear yours up, then you get the ships designs and can use them in your next game.

Geoschmo

Gandalph · #4 July 10th, 2002, 07:05 PM

Ship designs, like the game itself, are dynamic. As the game changes, your enemy builds different ships, or you meet a new enemy, you must be able to adapt to what you are up against so the best design is determined by the situation. This is one of the reasons AI's do not do well, they cannot adjust.

Hank · #5 July 10th, 2002, 10:21 PM

In the SE4 Dubious Strategy Guide there are listings of favorite ship designs.

DirectorTsaarx · #6 July 11th, 2002, 04:39 PM

I only have two suggestions about ship design:

1) In the standard game, make your ships as fast as possible. (For SJ's Pirates & Nomads, or other mods that use proportional movement, you'll need to find the right balance between speed & weapons/armor/etc.).

2) Don't forget to use combat sensors and ECM on your attack ships; and don't forget to use ECM on ANY ship that will be in battle on a regular basis (like the supply and repair ships you should be including with fleets).

There are, of course, exceptions to the first rule; for instance, to fit a space yard on a cruiser hull you generally have to give up an engine (unless you have master computers). That's perfectly acceptable, and better than using a battle cruiser hull for the space yard ship and either wasting space or adding unnecessary components (and, therefore, unnecessary expense).

There are very few exceptions to the second rule (ships armed only with seekers don't need combat sensors, for instance).