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Orbital Defense Platforms

#1
Some sort of guns that can not leave a system without being towed out would be cool. If you are attacking some massive factions capital planet, trying to avoid or take these out or piloting your fighter around it to bomb the core systems would be very interesting and add a lot to combat. They can easily rip anything that gets into their sights to pieces but they tend to be rather static and unable to turn quickly enough to keep their aim on one ship long enough to take them out.

Something like the MAC platform from Halo:
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#3
You could also have things like the mobile beam cannons from Freespace 2. Those were small (ship-sized). However, I guess when it comes to the coding, it would make more sense for them just to be tiny stations with a large/single gun.
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#5
I like the idea, and it is very simple to implement. Really just an immobile ship that can be packed up/stored in your cargo hold and deployed as necessary. Could make great point defense for larger stations.
The Hedge Knight wrote:You can't move stations around and they aren't built around guns. Not to mention there should be multiple platforms in certain systems, you can only have one station.
Hey now...says who? I plan on having many... :ugeek:
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#6
The amount of platforms should depend on the value of the system, who owns it etc.

You could have missile batteries which can lock onto ships and sand a hail of missiles. Could be interesting to pilot a ship whilst having 30 missiles following you.. :)
You can't move stations around and they aren't built around guns. Not to mention there should be multiple platforms in certain systems, you can only have one station.
Earth has several stations surrounding it at the moment. Really there is no rule for having just one station. But I get what you are saying. ;)
Limit Theory - The most beast looking Space Sim.
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#10
Josh is correct, space stations do not need to be orbiting a planet or moon, though those are usually sought after because they help protect the station from asteroid impacts, solar wind and cosmic rays, thanks to the much larger planetary body's magnetic field (though this might not always be the case).

Lagrange points can also be used to park space stations; basically they are points in space where the gravitational forces exerted by two or more planetary bodies (or stars) allow for an orbit to be established. One of the reasons why L Points (for space stations, specifically L4 and L5, where an object below a certain mass can maintain a stationary orbit without expending fuel) are sought after is also because of a planetary body's natural magnetic field, which interferes with sensitive instrumentation. Also, if you want to power a station, solar power is usually the cheapest method, so finding a place where no planetary bodies can shade the panels would be cost effective.
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#11
love the idea, i touched on this previously in one of my other posts, but it was probably buried XD.

I'm thinking the only thing that limits how many platforms/turrets is resources, plain and simple, no arbitrary limitations. those resources being the raw materials to build the platforms, fuel to power their systems (like their targeting thrusters), and ammunition. energy weapon platforms would not need ammo, but they may need more fuel.

also, theoretically because any platform has targeting thrusters, to move about on a stationary 360 degree axis of rotation, they could, in a tight spot use these really tiny thrusters to move themselves, with serious limitations of course.

lets say i can't afford to pick and move these platforms, or tow them, or maybe i want to just deploy them near a station and have them move themselves to the positions i want them in. i could put them in a sort of travel mode, they are VERY slow, can't aim, can't shoot, but they can move if the situation demands it.

Example: I'm in an uncharted system, it has lots of rare ore's, so i assume any other npc's are going to be very hostile. to set up shop in an asteroid field behind a random planetary body, so there is little, to zero sunlight. however, the ore is good, and can be refined into fuel, so i set up a station inside the asteroid field, in an open space inside it or above the field, somewhere where my gun platforms have clear shots.

because i don't now what enemies i may face, so i buy/build some missile turret platforms. they need ammo, but don't eat alot fuel, and are decent at multiple ranges, but don't hit as hard as platforms that specialize at certain ranges. Basically generally purpose platforms. while I'm busy doing multiple tasks, like bringing other ships into the field, when i deploy my station, I command my platforms to emplace themselves around my station. they enter the slow travel mode, set themselves up, and automatically ask for fuel and ammo from the station they are commanded to, so need for manual management, just make sure the station either has the fuel and ammo, or has the ability to refine its own fuel and can manufacture its own ammo.

in a bug out emergency, like solar weather, or a random meteorite storm, i can order my platforms to dock with the station. they will go slow, but at least i won't have to manually move every single one. or maybe i have the patience to do so, so i get a hauler and pickup the platforms myself, and then dock with the station to weather the storm.

so yea, i just suggested space weather as well, should definitely be a thing XD.
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#13
The Hedge Knight wrote:A problem with spamming death railguns should be they orbit around the planet, so if you have fifty they will start smashing into each other or other things in attempts to avoid collision.
shit doesent really orbit in LT as far as i know. deploying railguns would be like driving a pickup filled with autoturrets and throwing them out back as you go.

also, the way eve has gunplatforms asigned to protect a certan base or object seems like the way to go with the generatyed side of these platforms.
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#14
I too love the idea of an immobile defense platform.

It'll keep my own miners happy and secure :thumbup:
(If someone wants to attack, he has got to come big. And then the fun starts)

But for balancing i would keep it expensive (and with running charges). Perhaps addtional research required.
:D
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Re: Orbital Defense Platforms

#15
Liking this Idea that I somehow missed.

To be honest though, I am not too keen on the gamey Slow and strong vs fast and weak. why cant you have both in even a single platform?

I think a better way to balance if to make it a mix and match kit, just like Josh said, an immobile ship. You can give it a huge ammo magazine for gatling guns; you can arm it with missiles; you can put an energy weapon on it, but that will require a power source or a battery; you can throw on a shield generator, some stealth technology, or even sensors to get remote alerts...

And of course, they should be any size you want, and any level of complexity you want, so you can spam thousands of small, cheap, and weak platforms to create a sort of tactical minefield, or you can load up a few gigantic sentinels that act as stationary battleships around a planet that shred to bits all challengers, or you can go for a middle ground and place a few medium strength platforms at interval to secure your warp lanes with.
(or if you cheat, spam a cloud of tiny doomsday weapons, because :twisted: it's fun to bring down the pain)

Point is, an immobile ship should scale up from dinky decoy to dear god what is that, just like mobile ships, and be just as customizable.
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