Ship Building

[Nighthawk0712]

I can't wait to see how we are going to build and modify our ships. I hope we can acquire and modify them as we go and acquire new technologies. This game has potential. I hope to get in the beta.

[IanD967]

welcome! :D

i doubt we will be able to build our own ships but yeah it will be interesting to see how you can customize them

[Hodo]

Beeing a Trekki I am not a big fan of player crafted ships.... If you asigned at the ship yards as a charcter then your skills can help "churn" out ships faster... but it should be left up to the developers for what classes and how many are built.


As for modifing ships... Not alot of modifications are alowed in Starfleet.

I think that should be left to the Engineering players. If their skills are high enough then they maybe able to increase the efficiancy of the engines, wepons, shields or sensors... But not add Pulse Phasor type IX on a Von Luckner class cruiser from Kirks era. Or Quantum Torpedos to a Orion raider.

[Nighthawk0712]

I have to agree. We need to be able modify the ships at least. We will have to wait and see.

[Raven0238]

Beeing a Trekki I am not a big fan of player crafted ships.... If you asigned at the ship yards as a charcter then your skills can help "churn" out ships faster... but it should be left up to the developers for what classes and how many are built.


As for modifing ships... Not alot of modifications are alowed in Starfleet.

I think that should be left to the Engineering players. If their skills are high enough then they maybe able to increase the efficiancy of the engines, wepons, shields or sensors... But not add Pulse Phasor type IX on a Von Luckner class cruiser from Kirks era. Or Quantum Torpedos to a Orion raider.


I dunno, while I can see where it may be an issue, I also don't see a problem with people who reach a certain level in engineering working on a dry dock facility, planning the construction of a vessel.

[Nonderyon]

I hope have some limits about modification,upgrading (alien artifacts or other items can't be built in ,only klingons maybe...)
Because, federation ships is "not our" ships,and we cant do anything when we want it...
Actualy Federation ships are "federation standard" and every ship is the same (Voyager is different,because they needed to be modified, when they want to survive) maybe have submodels,like in RL aircrafts (like F-18 A,D...etc.)
Klingons are different,Ships are in clans ownership,and they want to be strong,so maybe they accept modifications...

(sorry my bad english) :P

[Reinkaos]

I bet Starfleet willl have taken tips from Voyager's successful return, and will have more modifications available to their ships in general in the century the game is set :)

[ngille]

Beeing a Trekki I am not a big fan of player crafted ships.... If you asigned at the ship yards as a charcter then your skills can help "churn" out ships faster... but it should be left up to the developers for what classes and how many are built.


As for modifing ships... Not alot of modifications are alowed in Starfleet.

I think that should be left to the Engineering players. If their skills are high enough then they maybe able to increase the efficiancy of the engines, wepons, shields or sensors... But not add Pulse Phasor type IX on a Von Luckner class cruiser from Kirks era. Or Quantum Torpedos to a Orion raider.

I think that would be a situation where gameplay should win over cannon. I think we should have a robust crafting system and that would almost have to include ships. Its an important facet of any modern mmo (imho). I agree the larger ships (defiant and above) should require guild support to be able to make them but yeah, don't destroy the game for the sake of canon.

[Species8472]

if i can build my own ship i wanna put 40's and spinners on it with an underglow kit, and fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror

[Awarkle]

i dont think external appearances could be altered but i cant see why you cant retro fit your ship to be more combat oriented or more scientiific or even a requirment for certain missions to have certain modules.

remember defiant was built and designed as an anti borg ship that would be smaller faster to build and pack as much punch as a ship much larger without obviously the crew expenditure.

i think if you could design the internals then it would be acceptable to me but i very much doubt they will put in much past a choice on registry numbers and posisbly names with obvious requirments on said names.

everything else would be too hard to code into the end game, and even names / registrys will probbly be closely watched posisbly no NCC-leet USS PWNZORS or the sort.

[Nonderyon]

if i can build my own ship i wanna put 40's and spinners on it with an underglow kit, and fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror

lol,and make a monochrome painting,and masking,and a Ninja grafity in the front xD

[Jdncc1701]

if i can build my own ship i wanna put 40's and spinners on it with an underglow kit, and fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror

Only if I can put in a sound system with speakers so big that it can be heard no less than a quadrant away. Were talking speakers that take the place of the warp engines. Sure ill be stuck to sub-light travel but sacrifices must be made.

[ngille]

The way I see it is they will probably allow you to craft the basic ship (whatever class) and then you (the purchaser) would be able to purchase/make/loot modules to outfit your ship with. This would allow a great deal of customization and if done right would make it where you don't necessarily know the capabilities of a specific ship based soley on what class it is.

[Ktarzus]

Engineers should be able to do/make something to help boost a ships stats. A give and take sort of thing, ie +dam phasers that also take away some from your shields or speed, etc.

[ngille]

Only if I can put in a sound system with speakers so big that it can be heard no less than a quadrant away. Were talking speakers that take the place of the warp engines. Sure ill be stuck to sub-light travel but sacrifices must be made.


Never mind the fact that sound doesn't travel in space? lol

[Reinkaos]

Never mind the fact that sound doesn't travel in space? lol

They're just that loud :p

[Hodo]

I think that would be a situation where gameplay should win over cannon. I think we should have a robust crafting system and that would almost have to include ships. Its an important facet of any modern mmo (imho). I agree the larger ships (defiant and above) should require guild support to be able to make them but yeah, don't destroy the game for the sake of canon.

You can do quite a bit of crafting and stay well within cannon.

Lets look at Star Trek TNG and the Original serries.

Laforge, often used his skills as a engineer to modify the 1701Ds capabilities past those of factory spec. He at one point bragged about getting the Anti-matter injectors up to 98.9% efficiancy. Or Scotty joking about having the 1701A rigged like a christmas tree just to get it to work with such a small crew.

There is alot of crafting...

I suggest a ship fresh from the ship yards comes working at 80% efficiancy. A engineer can work on the systems to improve them... if he works with science or medical he can improve sensors and medical, if he works with navigation he can improve the ships handling. If he works with security he can improve the wepons and defences. But if he works by himself, he can just improve the power levels of the ship.

Perhaps he can beat Captain Scotts power management levels of 99.8% on the NCC-1701.

Then from there the crew persons skills will improve these systems while using them.... basicly like a person shooting a rifle... if he is REALLY good with a rifle, but uses a substandard rifle he will only be considered good. But if he gets a REALLY good rifle with his skill he will be near perfect.

[ngille]

I hope like hell we have a decent crafting system and that includes crafting ships. Especially if they are capable of being completely destroyed as some hard core type gamers seem to want.

Good points btw, but it stops short (unless I missed something ) of being able to craft ships.

[USS_Parallax]

Modify and upgrade, yes.

Build, no.

[ngille]

Modify and upgrade, yes.

Build, no.

OUt of respect I'll just agree to dissagree. It just opens up so much for the game...build up to a certain size you can do in a station....after that could require guild facilities. It helps the economy, makes the game fun. Give the guild a purpose other than a glorified chat channel (world of warcraft)

[USS_Parallax]

I want to stick to the feeling of Trek. I want to see most of the canon ships. I want to see some original ships. I want to see non-canon book/comics/etc ships.

However making ships customizable to the point of everyone having a unique ship with a unique look (mine would have like 9 nacels). That just goes too far.

[marshalleck]

Wouldn't it be more canon to identify your opponent's strengths and weaknesses by scanning their ship and analyzing their weapons systems and defenses, rather than just "eyeballing" it? Customization would be cool, but it should be done on the fly by a player Engineer modifying power levels and such.

Edit: ugh, I said canon. My apologies.

[USS_Parallax]

Eyeballing should give you a general idea of the ship's abilities. Customization of the systems (which would barely if at all change the look of the ship) would be things like making the phasers more effective against hull and less against shields or customizing your torpedoes to act as heat seekers at the cost of power or just upgrading systems and making them better.

I'm all for HEAVY customization of systems. Then in the midst of battle you can do more changes based on those systems like diverting energy and stuff but most of it would be through customizing at a space station or something. Basically customization would almost be like items but I doubt you could equip or de-equip the stuff on the fly. On the fly stuff can be done but to less of an effect.

[marshalleck]

Eyeballing should give you a general idea of the ship's abilities. Customization of the systems (which would barely if at all change the look of the ship) would be things like making the phasers more effective against hull and less against shields or customizing your torpedoes to act as heat seekers at the cost of power or just upgrading systems and making them better.

I'm all for HEAVY customization of systems. Then in the midst of battle you can do more changes based on those systems like diverting energy and stuff but most of it would be through customizing at a space station or something. Basically customization would almost be like items but I doubt you could equip or de-equip the stuff on the fly. On the fly stuff can be done but to less of an effect.

Yes of course, that's what I meant. :D Of course you should be able to ballpark figures based on visual identification of the class of your opponent's ship. But like you said, the 9 nacelles would be over the top. So identify your opponent, have a general idea of his or her capabilities but if you fail to scan you may be in for a hell of a surprise when you discover they tuned their phasers to bypass your shields.

[USS_Parallax]

Is that how you spell "Nacelles"? WHY IS IT SPELLED SO WEIRD!

:mad:

[ngille]

That is pretty much how I envision customization of ships, little to no change on the exterior. About the scanning I would say depending on mod configuration and /or skill of your science officer (npc or group member) should dictate how much data you could get on the ship you have targeted.

Maybe even some mods that would give other ships a false reading, now that could open some doors :)

[Lord_Xomic]

I can't see it working. Maybe players would be able to submit designs, but in game building would explode the database.

[ngille]

How would it explode the database???
From a technical point of view its just a piece of data like your shirt or your pants, a little more than that granted but not enough to tax the database.

Worse case scenerio, while not all that realistic, could work....the crafter makes the plans and can do one of two things with it, take it to the nearest shipbuilding facility to create the ship (resources consumed in the creation of the plan) or they can sell the plan to another player.

Or just have the crafter have a ship object in their inventory and right click to generate the ship and load ammo and install mods.

It can be done, that shouldn' be the question, will they do it, god I hope so.

[USS_Parallax]

Every system would be customizable basically. You couldn't get all the customizations available on one ship otherwise it wouldn't be customizing but just working your way to a cookie cutter but instead have to choose.

First off you can divert energy any time you want on the fly and make basic changes but nothing too big (can't turn your phaser into a torpedo launcher on the fly).

Phasers: You can change the effectiveness against certain types of shields and hulls. You can make them able to be fired more rapidly or slower (for varying effects). You can up the damage, drain shields, make them cut into the hull more precisely meaning more damaged systems but less blowing up (good for capture). etc etc.

Torpedoes: In my mind these would be more customizable then Phasers. The torpedo bays can be changed to fire quicker and handle bigger and different types. You can make you fire more then one at once (like on a few episodes, probably couldn't fire them as rapidly though). Not all torpedo bays can fire tri-cobalt torpedoes from the get-go. Torpedoes themselves are customizable too. You can make them go really slow but do lots of damage. Go really fast but weak. "Heat-seek", damage the hull through shields more then usual, explode on proximity if they're about to miss, etc.

Sensors (non-targeting which I hope will be mostly manual): You can make your ship unusually good at spotting cloaked ships, maybe make your ship scan vessels more accurately and farther away. Blablabla there's a million things you can do here too.

Shields: Here you can change from Hull or Bubble Shields (maybe on the fly). You can make your shields effective against Breen weapons, Borg Weapons, phasers or torpedoes, etc. You can make ships trying to ram you just bounce off if you customize right. You can make your shields own at bubbling over 2nd ships you want to protect, etc etc.

Life Support, Engines and a lot more would be available to customize too. The hard part would be trying to balance the options so we don't end up with too many cookie cutter "rigs" that people will say is the best way to customize.



The few ships I'd support more heavy LOOK changes for are if you got an earlier Miranda and wanted to refit it to a DS9 Miranda or something.

[ngille]

Very nicely put. Parallex I agree with you 100% on your customization ideas.

[marshalleck]

Is that how you spell "Nacelles"? WHY IS IT SPELLED SO WEIRD!

:mad:

Actually, I don't know. I was guessing. ;)

[boydyma]

OH CMON GUYS! i can just see Xzibit coming out with a MTVs new pimp my starship! :D ROFL


look, customizable yes. definately yes. the danube is mission specific, starfleet has found out the folly of a general purpose starship, mission specific is the new *IN*
For a stock standard starship, you need to be able to cusomize your mission payload, wetther it is more power, that extra shield emitter, a marine landing party, strap on Quantum launchers...

BUUUUT

there needs to be a counter-balance here, the strap on Quantum launchers need to have limited ammo.... 20 rounds. and once out you need to dock somewhere to reload em. like a MLRS once you've shot your wad you better hightail it out of dodge and get some more ammo.
or the extra shiled generator.... holds out for X amount of time and then the power drain is too much, or you have to disable 1/4 of your weapons power.

things like that. apply it however you want.


ALSO i think BUILDING starships would be a cool thing. make an engy high enough to play in the shipyards to help build his ship. it would have to be stock standard, or *JUST* out of spec, but not by too much, because we'll have USS FrankenShips boning around the place....

but what shouldnt be ruled out either is derelicts. an old derelict found by a ship so he salvages it and mods it to *acceptable* specs so the now captin of the new (old) ship has a much better ship than the dodgy 4$$ tincan he had before.....

man i could go forever going on this subject but ill leave it for some of you guys to nut out

[marshalleck]

USS FrankenShip

Haha. I've just found a new aspiration in life.

[boydyma]

its original form comes from Latin "navicella" which means *ship* the french used the word "nacele" which means *small boat*

[ngille]

OH CMON GUYS! i can just see Xzibit coming out with a MTVs new pimp my starship! :D ROFL


look, customizable yes. definately yes. the danube is mission specific, starfleet has found out the folly of a general purpose starship, mission specific is the new *IN*
For a stock standard starship, you need to be able to cusomize your mission payload, wetther it is more power, that extra shield emitter, a marine landing party, strap on Quantum launchers...

BUUUUT

there needs to be a counter-balance here, the strap on Quantum launchers need to have limited ammo.... 20 rounds. and once out you need to dock somewhere to reload em. like a MLRS once you've shot your wad you better hightail it out of dodge and get some more ammo.
or the extra shiled generator.... holds out for X amount of time and then the power drain is too much, or you have to disable 1/4 of your weapons power.

things like that. apply it however you want.


ALSO i think BUILDING starships would be a cool thing. make an engy high enough to play in the shipyards to help build his ship. it would have to be stock standard, or *JUST* out of spec, but not by too much, because we'll have USS FrankenShips boning around the place....

but what shouldnt be ruled out either is derelicts. an old derelict found by a ship so he salvages it and mods it to *acceptable* specs so the now captin of the new (old) ship has a much better ship than the dodgy 4$$ tincan he had before.....

man i could go forever going on this subject but ill leave it for some of you guys to nut out

Pretty good ideas there as far as specifics I'd say leave that to the devs (balancing issues) but for player crafted ships, maybe give them more hardpoints or space (depending on how they limit our mods). Sorry but I'm of the opinion that player crafted should always be better than "fresh off the line" but don't give them stat bonuses per se

[boydyma]

id have to say i prefer to see X amount of hardpoints per starship. the stock standard ones come out with the best balance all round..

BUT i guess... i would be accepting of a shield tanked ship... of course that means less weapons so who cares. or a mobile anti planitary canon with warp nacelles stapled to it is ok too, cus it'll have crap shields so i can nuke it pretty good before it can vapourise me...
as i stated before we need to find the *balance* cus if we dont then this game is as stacked as a lot of MMOs out there and all the 1337 players who have waaaay too much time on their hands get to own the galaxy. and meanwhile my sub goes cold and i put my hard earnt cash elsewhere.

im not against customisation per SE,

but i'd LOVE to be able to do customisable paintjobs... or even a decal or a emblem on the ships somewhere at the very minimum

[ngille]

id have to say i prefer to see X amount of hardpoints per starship. the stock standard ones come out with the best balance all round..

BUT i guess... i would be accepting of a shield tanked ship... of course that means less weapons so who cares. or a mobile anti planitary canon with warp nacelles stapled to it is ok too, cus it'll have crap shields so i can nuke it pretty good before it can vapourise me...
as i stated before we need to find the *balance* cus if we dont then this game is as stacked as a lot of MMOs out there and all the 1337 players who have waaaay too much time on their hands get to own the galaxy. and meanwhile my sub goes cold and i put my hard earnt cash elsewhere.

im not against customisation per SE,

but i'd LOVE to be able to do customisable paintjobs... or even a decal or a emblem on the ships somewhere at the very minimum

I could go either way depending on how they implement ship mods. I agree with you in a big way about balance. It had better be balanced. I don't know about the paint jobs, but I do like the decal or emblem idea. About the folks that have too much time on their hands, I hear ya, bud. I am against so called "leet" gamers to be honest. I think games should be accessable to the masses, hard core and casual alike. While it SHOULD take a casual gamer longer to accomplish what the hard core can do, they should still be able to do it.

[Ion]

As far as the topic of designing your own ships goes, the producers of the TV shows have been doing it for years in a simple, cheap and easy way.

'Kitbashing' is a modeling term referring to making a model out of parts from a variety of kits. We've seen ships in TNG that were a combination of an Excelsior saucer, a Miranda 'rollbar' and generic warp nacelles.

A 'paperdoll' system might not be too hard to engineer, and though it has the potential to make for some really ooglay ships, it also has the potential for some really cool ones as well.

- Hoping to be able to drop the nacelle struts on a movie era Enterprise and turn it into a Belknap !

[TheMasterpiece]

I can't wait to see how we are going to build and modify our ships. I hope we can acquire and modify them as we go and acquire new technologies. This game has potential. I hope to get in the beta.



I can see having engine modifications/increasing hull and shield efficiency etc


But im not opened to TOO many modifications much less player built ships