Fighters are broken. Can we fix them?

[Atrocities]

Now that was a hefty read. A lot of interesting things to consider. To bad we cannot take full advantage of such concepts and ideas as those that have been expressed in this forum over the years.

I personally liked the subspace (Submarine) concept. But oh well.

[Suicide Junkie]

Starhawk:

The point is that we should make SE4 fighters viable. For FUN.

All of the stuff that is bothered to be added to the game should be viable. That requires that nothing be overpowering or otherwise ubered.

Things do not need to be equal in combat, but each thing does need an important role to play.

[Starhawk]

See that's why I play mods SJ especially Devnull where fighters pack a punch but not so much that it makes it crippling to get them

I also like good ol' fashioned gunships which I designed personally when I figured out that I didn't have enough "oomph" behind my "stock devnull" fighters.

I mean it's not a "problem" if you can fix the fighters on your own and mainly that just means adding enough size to pack shields/ecm/engines/weapons and the like.

I also have had a great deal of use out of fighters used in small tactical units not big honking 1,000 fighter swarm fests

I mean to me it's a matter of tactics fix it if you don't consider that viable I guess that's a problem

[Iron Giant]

Suicide Junkie said:
Starhawk:

The point is that we should make SE4 fighters viable. For FUN.

All of the stuff that is bothered to be added to the game should be viable. That requires that nothing be overpowering or otherwise ubered.

This is where I am coming from. Other players may not "like" the idea of fighters EVER playing a big role, I do.

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.....

[Mephisto]

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?

Yep, it would be.

[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.

[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).

[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.