Fighters are broken. Can we fix them?

[Hunpecked]

Two questions for Strategia_In_Ultima:

1. With regard to Interceptors, Space Superiority Fighters, and Bombers, are these actual fixed hull classes, or can the same hull be configured to any fighter type by incorporating the appropriate components?

2. Doesn't the "bomber" designation seem a bit...primitive? I mean, doesn't it just invite visions of unguided gravity-propelled iron-wrapped TNT firecrackers? Wouldn't the category "attack" or "strike" fighter be a tad more sophisticated?

[Suicide Junkie]

Iron Giant said:
Would it be breaking the NDA to get someone on the Beta test for SEV to comment on the viability of fighters in SEV?

I'm scared by how useless they were in Starfury.....

Have you tried the P&Nism mod for Starfury?
If you start a new game in P&N Episode 2, you can start with a prototype TCN fighter which features a warp drive and leaky armor!

Quite fun, especially when you are outgunned by destroyers and have to use your manoueverability and speed to avoid getting wasted.
Its also quite nifty due to the fact that missiles and torpedoes can't target you, but PDC can and PDC hurts!

Defending a cargo ship against a battleship and its cruiser escort in the mercenary jobs is quite a unique experience too.
You can't scratch a BB's shields alone, and there is a lot of firepower in a capship fleet.
Distracting the enemy capships and luring them away from the cargo ship is my primary plan, and if you can lure them close to a TCN patrol, the fireworks are great
Flying behind and between the enemy capships also makes them take friendly fire. Just don't stay there long, or you'll get walloped in the crossfire. And never EVER sit in the line of fire of a TCN battleship


As for AI piloted fighters, they're pretty decent in P&Nism too. None of the stock insta-fraggings, and they can be used to soften up an enemy, provide support fire during your battle, and most importantly, can be used to draw fire and distract the enemy ships while you limp away if you take serious damage and need to retreat.

[TurinTurambar]

*stands just outside the door and revels in the fine banter*

[Fyron]

Suicide Junkie said:
...can be used to draw fire and distract the enemy ships while you limp away if you take serious damage and need to retreat.

That's pretty much all I use them for. They can kill fighters and small ships or finish off crippled ships, but that's about it (maybe different with a carrier brimming with fighters).

[narf poit chez BOOM]

TurinTurambar said:


*stands just outside the door and revels in the fine banter*

No, no, not like that. Like this.

* /Me walks in with a lawn chair, a bag of pop-corn and a bottle of A&W root beer and lounges whilst the fireworks display is on.

[Suicide Junkie]

Imperator Fyron said:

That's pretty much all I use them for. They can kill fighters and small ships or finish off crippled ships, but that's about it (maybe different with a carrier brimming with fighters).

With a handful of them, properly managed, and with some patience, you could take down ships. Just make sure to recall them for repairs before they take too much internal damage.

The extra firepower is quite handy for a destroyer class ship, too. Every point counts in P&Nism.

[Fyron]

Well, I usually set out with a dozen or more in my cargo bays and use them as cannon fodder. They are dirt cheap compared to the money made off of just a few looted weapons.

[Suicide Junkie]

It is so easy to keep them alive with a little hands-on management, though. Poor schmucks.

Note to self: never work for Fyron.

[Fyron]

All applicants must sign a waiver dissavowing me of all responsiblity in the event of their timely demise.

[Strategia_In_Ultima]

Hunpecked said:
Two questions for Strategia_In_Ultima:

1. With regard to Interceptors, Space Superiority Fighters, and Bombers, are these actual fixed hull classes, or can the same hull be configured to any fighter type by incorporating the appropriate components?

2. Doesn't the "bomber" designation seem a bit...primitive? I mean, doesn't it just invite visions of unguided gravity-propelled iron-wrapped TNT firecrackers? Wouldn't the category "attack" or "strike" fighter be a tad more sophisticated?

1. Int's, SSFs and Bombers are fixed hulls, however you can customize them to a certain extent. For example, you can make an SSF loaded out with several long-ranged missiles to take out enemy Bombers at long range, or build one with multiple short-range rapidfiring cannons to tear up enemies which come near.

Int's are not large, somewhere in the order of ~15kT or so I guess, SSFs are larger (think 40-60kT) and Bombers are almost starship-sized (think (just) over 100kT).

2. That's exactly the point I'm trying to make; Bombers are huge superheavy hitters with the maneuverability and attack power of a rampaging rhino and the speed of a tricycle. (so to speak) Bombers are slower than some of the smaller ships, and almost all non-capital starships can outrun them if they have full engine loadout.

The Bomber philosophy is this; stick a few hideously overpowered capital-ship-killing weapons on a comparatively massive platform, slap a cockpit and a rudimentary engine onto it and send it off to take down its own tonnage in enemy ships several dozen (hundred) times over. "Strike fighter" implies "a fast fighter designed for swift attacks", while "Bomber" implies - and means - "a rather oversized mobile weapons platform with more firepower than a warship thrice its tonnage".

Of course, Bombers will have their drawbacks - researching them is expensive and takes a long time, and while they pack more firepower than a warship more than three times as large, they are also about twice as expensive as said warship, especially if you load them out with the most powerful weapons available for Bombers. Go for Bombers and you must focus on Bombers (and other fighters) alone; be prepared for the fact that you cannot muster capital ship power like most other players.

(A slight clarification; I make a distinction between "capital" ships and "normal" ships. Capital (war)ships are massive ships weighing in at several thousand kT, and are built to withstand extreme punishment. Normal ships are smaller, more nimble and more versatile. Capships are mostly specalized, with most being warships and the rest mainly carriers)