SE5 Ordnance Supply?

[TNZ]

I would have thought the point of having ordnance supplies was so a ship’s ability to use a particular weapon type in combat could be precisely controlled. With the combat in SE5 being real-time, the need to controlled the ability to use a particular weapon in combat is more important, not less. For example, consider a fleet with an exhaustible supply of missiles and a restricted supply of torpedoes or a ship with point defense systems with an exhaustible supply of ammo. We could get the point defense systems to use the ship’s supplies, but then the ship using up all of its supplies, and this ruins the point of having an ordnance supply system in the first place. Also, some universes that people like to mod or make up don’t have replicators [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/ooo.gif[/img] or even energy weapons [img]/threads/images/Graemlins/ooo.gif[/img].

[Captain Kwok]

If something like this is implemented in SE:V, I'd rather see it like Baron M. suggested below. A generic "supply" value rather than specific types for different kinds of weapons like missiles, torpedoes, etc. It would be automatically stocked at any supply depot. :P

[Malfador Machinations]

Hi All,

You need to be aware of a change in SE5. Resupply Depots will no longer generate an infinite amount of supply. They now generate a fixed amount per turn. Same goes for ordinance. This way you cannot resupply an entire fleet with just one Resupply Depot.

This makes the idea of having different ammo types for each weapon a bit more tricky. And the Resupply Depot cannot just give all of your weapons a full ammo load. There had to be a specific amount taken from the Resupply Depot and given to the ship. If you actually have to generate each ammo type, that will be a micromanagement nightmare.

Now I know that a single ordinance pool is not realistic. But I'm trying to add realism without adding micromanagement. In SE3, you just had a timer that counted down. So you could see very quickly how long a ship had. In SE4, this became supplies which required more management per ship since you needed to figure out how much supply would get you through. In SE5, the current design is supplies and ordinance, just so that ordinance firing ships have a slight detraction.

Ordinance firing weapons (specifically seekers) are one of the most powerful weapons. If they now require ordinance, and a new facility type to generate it, that makes them slightly less useful than energy weapons which just use supplies. The introduction of ordinance is just to offset these weapons a bit, and add in the possibility of running out of ordinance during a battle without your ship completely shutting down.

I am open to suggestions on changes to this design. However, I do not want to add anything that will add to the already high micromanagement requirements.

Aaron

[Starhawk]

Hey got a question for you though?

Do you still have quantum reactors? Because if so then energy weapons would still have limitless supply right? Please say right .

And if by that point ordinance is still in use could you do us all a really big favor please, and add a kind of either torpedo or missile that is really usefull even when fired in small numbers, say two tubes on a ship would be enough to crinch the shields a bit?

Because as it stands I never use missiles past the point when I get shields PD and energy weapons, because the enemy tends to shoot down all my poor missiles.

[Baron Munchausen]

Ever since original SE IV came out I have continually requested that Quantum Reactors be given a clear limit per turn because an infinite rate of generation is much more difficult to justify than an (effectively) infinite duration of production. Sure, you can create a source of energy that continues to operate for many years. Nuclear reactors today get refueled once a decade or so. What's impossible to justify is that one such device can refill any number of ships in the same fleet like it's a tap attached to an extra-dimensional swimming pool. So it would still be possible to 'run out' of energy with a QR if you used it faster than it could be replenished.

I'm glad to hear that resupply depots will have finite limits. Now let's fix the QR as well...

[Fyron]

Same goes for ordinance. This way you cannot resupply an entire fleet with just one Resupply Depot.

You mean "ordnance", right? "Ordinance" has nothing to do with ammunition, but with official decrees...

[Kevin Arisa]

Whoah, never noticed that difference before. Checked it in the dictionary just now myself. Thanks for pointing that out Fyron. You may have just saved Aaron some tedious spelling corrections.

[Baron Munchausen]

Yeah, I pointed that out to him several times when he posted the sample from the Components file. I hope he's already fixed it by now.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Malfador Machinations said:
Hi All,

You need to be aware of a change in SE5. Resupply Depots will no longer generate an infinite amount of supply. They now generate a fixed amount per turn. Same goes for ordinance. This way you cannot resupply an entire fleet with just one Resupply Depot.

This makes the idea of having different ammo types for each weapon a bit more tricky. And the Resupply Depot cannot just give all of your weapons a full ammo load. There had to be a specific amount taken from the Resupply Depot and given to the ship. If you actually have to generate each ammo type, that will be a micromanagement nightmare.

Now I know that a single ordinance pool is not realistic. But I'm trying to add realism without adding micromanagement. In SE3, you just had a timer that counted down. So you could see very quickly how long a ship had. In SE4, this became supplies which required more management per ship since you needed to figure out how much supply would get you through. In SE5, the current design is supplies and ordinance, just so that ordinance firing ships have a slight detraction.

Ordinance firing weapons (specifically seekers) are one of the most powerful weapons. If they now require ordinance, and a new facility type to generate it, that makes them slightly less useful than energy weapons which just use supplies. The introduction of ordinance is just to offset these weapons a bit, and add in the possibility of running out of ordinance during a battle without your ship completely shutting down.

I am open to suggestions on changes to this design. However, I do not want to add anything that will add to the already high micromanagement requirements.

Aaron

Hmm, yeah, juggling even five types of ammunition could get hairy. And I can't think of an easy way to make it modable. Which doesn't mean you can't...

[Suicide Junkie]

I wonder if this could be modded into a Fuel/Energy system...

Where a reactor component would burn some of your ordnance each combat/game turn in order to recharge your supply storage, which in turn gets fed into shields/weapons/engines.