Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs.

Matrix Games Forums

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs.

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> Distant Worlds 1 Series >> Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs.

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/8/2013 10:43:22 PM

Bebop Cola

Posts: 250
Joined: 5/9/2012
Status: offline

I wanted to throw this idea out for everyone's consideration.

I've had some off and on issues with supply ships breaking deployment to defend themselves, and generally find them cumbersome to work with. That said, it's often not feasible to build a gas mine in the territories one may otherwise want to deploy a supply ship.

After thinking about this a bit, I wondered if the supply ship could simply be replaced with a base pre-assembled by a construction ship or spaceport that gets towed into position by a new ship class of a Tug. The supply base itself could be a unique base type to reflect that it can be picked up and moved again later, or all bases can be flagged as movable with a tug.

The tug vessel could be handy to tow not only supply bases, but to bring crippled ships and debris field wreckage to a safe harbor for repairs.

What does everyone think?

Post #: 1

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 5:22:37 AM

Shark7

Posts: 7937
Joined: 7/24/2007
From: The Big Nowhere
Status: offline

Why not just have a tanker that tops off its cargo holds with fuel and the fleet can meet it, or it can meet the fleet? Just like a naval fleet oiler.

_____________________________

Distant Worlds Fan

'When in doubt...attack!'

(in reply to Bebop Cola)

Post #: 2

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 6:42:03 AM

CyclopsSlayer

Posts: 583
Joined: 2/11/2012
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Shark7

Why not just have a tanker that tops off its cargo holds with fuel and the fleet can meet it, or it can meet the fleet? Just like a naval fleet oiler.

Exactly! A Fleet Collier/Oiler would solve so many problems.

(in reply to Shark7)

Post #: 3

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 7:23:20 AM

Canute0

Posts: 616
Joined: 4/30/2010
From: Germany
Status: offline

Why you don't use a Resupply ship as Attack ship ?
It is so big and hvy it can carry alot of weapons,shields and armor to destroy entry enemy fleets and bases.
And it got the unique ability to refuel itself while at apace so long it got fuel gas at cargo.

Just deploy the ship on a cloud/gas giant while you don't need it to harvest gas.

(in reply to CyclopsSlayer)

Post #: 4

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 1:51:01 PM

Jeeves

Posts: 940
Joined: 9/28/2010
From: Arlington TN U.S.A
Status: offline

The only resupply ship I ever build is when I get advanced super weapons, and colossal construction, I build one size 4500 with 30k shield, a super laser, and 3 death rays, just in case I need to blow up a Shakturi world destroyer. But in all the games I've played the Shakturi never arrived, and I only built the resupply ship above twice...

Lonnie Courtney Clay

_____________________________

Live long and prosper!

Lonnie Courtney Clay

(in reply to Canute0)

Post #: 5

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 3:17:58 PM

Icemania

Posts: 1847
Joined: 6/5/2013
From: Australia
Status: offline

LOL Jeeves, you must have scared that Shakturi world destroyer away to invade another galaxy ...

(in reply to Jeeves)

Post #: 6

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 4:50:10 PM

CyclopsSlayer

Posts: 583
Joined: 2/11/2012
Status: offline

Wow Jeeves, that ship Resupplies by eating worlds right?

I have seen Pirates using Resupply Monsters as Capital ships in a few games. I have just used them as Fleet Tenders to date.

(in reply to Icemania)

Post #: 7

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 5:29:34 PM

Fenrisfil

Posts: 216
Joined: 6/2/2013
Status: offline

Resupply ships are handy for their size and multiple uses and yeah it is fun to turn them into the death star. It would be nice if you had more policy control over them to improve and vary the AI's use of them (i.e. how many to build and if they are just for resupply or to actively attack too), but I've no complaint about them for use by the player.

Having said that, I actually really like the tug idea. Not so much for moving gas mining stations but for all the other tactical uses. It would make sense to have a hauler component that improves with tech and allows it to carry larger sized objects. It would work in a similar way to stealth in that the closer to the weight limit the slower the tugging ship can move in normal space and the larger the energy drain to maintain the tug. The gravity line makes most sense for the tech.

The uses for such a technology would huge. You could tow away derelicts from a debris field so that you can repair them near a well protected homebase (chances are you won't have the tech to tow a World Destroyer until late in the game when they have already been repaired). With enough levels of the tech you could tow in defensive bases to hostile systems to protect a recently invaded world immediately (or just to really annoy the enemy in that system). You could relocated your own smaller bases, so for example as your borders expand you may want to relocate your monitoring stations or if you see an incoming fleet you could move your research station out of harms way and move it back when they have been dealt with. You could also drag your own stranded ships out of harms way and of course quickly drop down a custom mining station on a super-rare resource (especially handy when in the presence of one of those damn sand worms).

Really I can see loads of uses for it, the only one I probably wouldn't use is the refuelling one.

(in reply to CyclopsSlayer)

Post #: 8

RE: Supply Ships to Mobile Supply Bases and Tugs. - 10/9/2013 9:20:16 PM

Aeson

Posts: 784
Joined: 8/30/2013
Status: offline

I must say that I rather like the Tanker/Fleet Tender/Oiler/whatever you want to call it; more so, at any rate, than the "tugs pulling space stations into position" idea. After all, the tugs pulling mining stations around thing is essentially what a Resupply Ship should do, if they'd make it stay put when deployed. Thus I don't really see the need to separate it out into separate ships, at least not for use in the fleet support role. The part I like about tugs is their potential use the tugs have in moving infrastructure to better locations, moving damaged or disabled ships to more convenient locations, evacuating high-value vulnerable facilities from the area of a major fleet action or impending raid, that sort of thing. Using tugs to bring a mining station up to where you're fighting is less useful, though, since mining stations of a size which it would be reasonable to tow are unlikely to be well-protected, unlike Resupply Ships, and also aren't easily evacuated from an area if the enemy finds it and sends a fleet to hit it. I wouldn't want to lose Resupply Ships in exchange for any of this, but I would certainly not mind getting bits and pieces of it either.

As for the Resupply Ship with Death Rays? That's kind of funny. Did you ever accidentally give it an 'attack planet' order when you meant for it to move to or deploy somewhere? I once made a fleet of Death Ray Cruisers, but then I kind of realized that there were slight issues when trying to take over, rather than destroy, a planet using this Death Ray fleet, plus the things seem terribly inaccurate against anything smaller than a large spaceport despite their potential for one-shot kills.

(in reply to Fenrisfil)

Post #: 9