Nova6: I like the concept of your project a lot. However, if you're serious about it, you'll have to set up some restrictions as to ship stats. Right now, most proposed ships suck.
I mean, has anyone of you supership builders ever actually played EVO, without a cheat plug? Why do you think there's no ship that's both maneuverable AND heavily armed? Why is there no ship with a huge cargo space AND good fighting statistics? The keyword is balance.
EVO lets you choose your lifestyle: Do you want to be a trader, or a reckless fighter pilot, or a warship commander, or a jack-of-all-trades? EVO provides you with a selection of ships that specialize on a lifestyle. Most ships excel in one particular field and have drawbacks in other fields. In general, ships are either heavily armed but dead slow, or weasel-quick and limited in weapon capacity. Ships with large cargo bays have weak defenses while military-grade ships can't pack much cargo. For every advantage, there's a drawback.
Ambrosia made that so for a good reason. It forces you to make decisions, to buy the ship that best fits your needs. You have to weigh those features you want against those you're willing to sacrifice. It's what makes the EVO fleet interesting and challenging in the first place. It would be dead boring if there were a ship that excelled in all fields. Every player would end up with it, and the game wouldn't be fun anymore once you had it. Look at this board: We've filled uncountable pages debating which ship, which weapon, or which configuration is best. Opinions differ widely, and there's no absolute truth. That's the way it should be. It's what makes EVO fun.
So in order to make this plug enjoyable, people should respect the balance of EVO, and design ships that fit into the setting. Of course, there can be no absolute rules, and I guess our ships will have to be a tad better than the stock ones in order to satisfy our creative urges ;), but still, let's allow ourselves some common sense here. As a rule of thumb, just ask yourself: Does my ship render all comparable EVO ships obsolete? If so, it's most likely to be exaggerated.
I haven't studied all proposed ships in detail yet, but from those I've seen, three seem quite reasonable: The Phoenix, the Crescent Shark, and the Emalgha Carrier; although they still could use some adjusting here and there. For example, six guns seem a bit overkill for the Phoenix, neutron cannons seem misplaced in a Strandless ship, and it doesn't make much sense to put both Emalgha turrets and cannons on a carrier. Why not use just turrets? They're forward-firing anyway, and it's not as if the carrier could aim a cannon.
For those of you who still want to make kick-ass dreadnaughts... :rolleyes: Here are a few humble recommendations to keep your feet on the ground:
- Make it slow. There's no way a ship with a warship-grade weapons arsenal AND good maneuvering can be reasonable in EVO. The Lazira is a compromise between quick and powerful -- note that it's neither as powerful as a true capital ship nor as quick as a fighter.
- Keep down the number of turrets. In EVO, only the largest available capital ships have 5 or 6 turrets, which are usually balanced by very bad maneuverability. A ship with 9 or 12 turrets is just plain sick in EVO standards. (Remember, the Voinian Dreadnaught is not available to the player, and is intended to be unreasonably powerful.)
- Don't stick cannons on your dreadnaught if you already have turrets. The only exceptions are really powerful cannons such as the Phased Beam.
- Keep the number of warheads reasonable. Even a mighty Igazra doesn't carry more than 30 SAE's. Most battles don't last long enough to launch all of them anyway.
- If your ship turns out more powerful than an Igazra or a Voinian Cruiser, then for God's sake give it a price tag to go with it (20-30 million).
</rant>
OK, here's my ship proposal. I don't have the EVO data files at hand right now, so I might have to adjust the stats when I get home:
The Miranu Windrider
Shield: 55 (shipyard units)
Armor: 25
Recharge: 80 (ResEdit figure)
Speed: 300
Accel: 300
Turning: Good
Cargo: 40 tons
Space: 20 tons
Jumps: 12
Guns: 4
Turrets: 0
Crew: 5
Standard Equipment: 3 Sw. Phase Cannons, 1 Pursuit Launcher + 10 Missiles, 1 Afterburner, 1 standard ECM.
Price: 1 million
The recent contacts with members of other species increased the Miranu's awareness of the size and diversity of the galaxy, resulting in an ever growing interest in exploration and the establishing of new lucrative trade connections outside Miranu space. However, it was quickly discovered that their trusty old courier ships, while admirably long-ranged, often became sitting ducks in those dangerous territories due to their weak engines and light shields. On the other hand, they couldn't afford to send escorted convoys out everytime they wanted to cross their borders.
Upon the Miranu Trade Association's request for a long-ranged blockade runner that could survive a pirate attack, the Windrider was born -- a sleek, roughly Arada-sized vessel with generous fuel tanks. To ensure a good durability, special attention was paid to the hull armor, while a set of high-performance graviton drives and an ECM system were included for efficient evasive maneuvers. In order to keep pirate fighters away, a pursuit missile launcher was added.
As a result, the Windrider is a remarkably tough blockade runner. On the downside, its offensive capabilities are very limited: the sleek hull doesn't offer a turret slot, and its free weapon space is rather scant.
I'll render a quick set of sprites, provided that this project is really going to be pulled through and that I can free up enough of my time. I imagine it a bit like a laterally squashed and slightly lengthened Miranu Courier.
-- Cinga of ObrenaΔa
PS: Try a Windrider with a Zidagar Beam...
(This message has been edited by Cinga (edited 11-24-2000).)