@terr-vel, on 16 October 2012 - 12:26 AM, said in Broadside Batteries:

Something aside from accidental AI collisions when they try to dock/land? Or was that the issue?

I don't think you can equip planets with PD weapons, for one. Though, I suppose you could make all planets hostile and give them regular weapons.

AI behavior was probably another issue.

@meaker-vi, on 16 October 2012 - 10:09 AM, said in Broadside Batteries:

I don't think you can equip planets with PD weapons, for one. Though, I suppose you could make all planets hostile and give them regular weapons.

AI behavior was probably another issue.

I'm afraid you lost me there. I might have confused you a bit too though. What I was referring to earlier, is that when AI tries to "land" on a planet, they would hit each other trying to get onto the planet.

I then realized that if ships aren't hostile towards each other, the PD weapons wouldn't fire on other ships when they try to land on a planet anyway.

How would planets cause an issue?

Basically, planets caused issues because they weren't planets. They were supposed to be islands or other landmasses. Despite this, AI ships (and players for that matter) would simply fly over them. It would seem as if water-bound vessels suddenly had wheels and rolled ashore.

Then could you give the planets short-range repelling lasers? Let the ships get close enough to "Land" but not close enough to run around like they sprouted legs.

-K

That wouldn't work long term for a number of reasons:

1. AI ships won't land on a hostile 'planet'
2. The player could land on a hostile 'planet' if he bribed them, but then said 'planet' would stop firing its weapon and then ships would magically become intangible
3. Even if the whole thing worked it would look really gimped

A top-down sea game would be really cool, but there is absolutely no way in hell it can be done on the EV Nova engine.

Can you reverse the gravity function so that it repels ships that get too close to the island?

@terr-vel, on 17 October 2012 - 02:33 AM, said in Broadside Batteries:

Can you reverse the gravity function so that it repels ships that get too close to the island?

I believe reverse gravity works, but it doesn't work with AI. And I don't think gravity in Nova works on that fine of a scale, if you put gravity on a planet, it'll effect most of the system.

@meaker-vi, on 17 October 2012 - 10:12 AM, said in Broadside Batteries:

I believe reverse gravity works, but it doesn't work with AI. And I don't think gravity in Nova works on that fine of a scale, if you put gravity on a planet, it'll effect most of the system.

That's too bad.

Now that I think of it, you're right. I don't know why I didn't remember it earlier, but I was wondering about that when I first finished ARPIA.

If you're in the Recompense system, you escorts will not be affected by the gravity pull unless you tell them to hold position, after which it will affect them. If you tell them to reform on your ship, it stops pulling them again, even if the are sitting stationary. I suppose this has something to do with the fact that escort ships manage to simply "slide" into place when they need to though.

Reverse gravity does affect AI ships. In Starfleet Adventures, there is a planet named Skagara in a system by the same name. That planet has reverse gravity. Now, most ships in SFA are immune to gravity as they are inertialess. However, Starfleet shuttlecraft are not inertialess. If you go to the Skagara system, launch your shuttle, and have it hold position, it will get pushed away from the planet. If you want to see this yourself, the planet is in the galactic north, between Blue (mining settlement) and Tantalus (penal colony). One jump from the former, two from the latter.