Does Anyone Use Escorts?

[DirectorTsaarx]

quote:

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Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
Are you saying that no battles can occur in a storm system? Does that mean that my space station in the storm system is invulnerable?

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Possibly; I haven't tried to initiate combat in a storm sector, but I have tried (unsuccessfully) to initiate combat in nebula systems. It may be a bug; or it may be that _both_ sides need to have the appropriate sensor technology for combat to occur.

[Nitram Draw]

I've not had any problems with combat in nebulas. The only problem is spotting the enemy. Shields don't work in the nebulas though.

[PurpleRhino]

Personally, I've modded my Escorts and Frigates to have 8 and 7 engines. Works out really well too. With 8 engines escorts are perfect for scouting... just add 2 supply pods. Frigates work great with 7 movement as well. Makes sense in my mind... Smaller ships should be fast, but weak. That is the point of them.

[Weson102]

How did you get the computer players to recognize the changes to Escorts and Frigates?

Are the AI using these changes to their benefit?

[Lion of High Park]

I find that escorts are useful in the early and mid games as a cheap, disposable attrition unit. As someone else here as commented, the AI doesn't seem to view escorts and frigates as a threat during a mixed fleet engagement, so they are quite useful for throwing a little extra damage into the mix. In the early game, i just throw a CSM onto an escort hull. By mid-game, I usually have escorts fitted with one beam weapon and one PDC acting as primarily a missile/fighter defense support ship.

[DirectorTsaarx]

quote:

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Originally posted by DirectorTsaarx:
I have an idea that I haven't seen below; I'll try to test it today if I find time (unless someone else has already tried & failed):

Keep the idea of requiring more engines per move (or whatever it really means) for larger ships; then, create special engines for the larger ships. Require research in both propulsion and ship construction to unlock the "larger" engines. These larger engines would provide more movement points per engine (and possibly more supply storage), thus reducing the number of engines required on the larger vessels. Now, here's the part that needs testing: limit the larger engines for use on larger ships using the "Custom Groups" mentioned in the Components and VehicleSize files. I'm not certain if the Custom Groups work or not. I also know there may be a glitch with providing more supply storage in engines, as the AI will create ships with "extra" engines (as in illegal ship designs) because it's using the engines in place of supply storage. That could be "fixed" by increasing the capacity of the existing supply storage component, but that could change the balance of the game as well.

Obviously, this would also require modding the AI vehicle design files, but I'm sure the modding community is very good at that...

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Well, I tested the "Custom Group" stuff and couldn't get it to work.

I did notice that the Hyper-Density Cables and Gravity Plating have Custom Group numbers assigned. But I couldn't get the "Cannot Have" or "Can Have" abilities to work... so, I'm not certain how to restrict large engines to large hulls...

[Nitram Draw]

Maybe the custom group is to check for items present before something happens, like create ring world.
If this is the case maybe the custom group could be used to create something.

[rdouglass]

Interesting topic...

I think this may have been answered on a previous post (and I don't have the time to get into modding yet), but in reference to the engine / size / movement issue, has anyone looked into an engine "mount" - used like weapon mounts. Should / would / could increase supply storage and add movement bonus, but have size restrictions ie. weapon mounts.

Any ideas / thoughts?