Radar mod? This makes me moist. How does it work with multiplayer? I assume it just runs outside corneroids and renders over (or inside) based on what it reads from RAM that Corneroids uses?
Also, I did push out an updated version of my mod (Travellerbro Modpack). I'm hoping to get another one out tomorrow or even tonight with a few extra requested features.
Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?w1xv9v699mgl7dd
Just downloaded and checked that out since the first version. Cloaking armor is in? Sweet. I made my own little cloaking blocks to test what you could do with them awhile back. What I found is that the best use is not external cloaking, but internal cloaking so you can have a camera behind infinity layers of armor and still see out of your ship like it isn't even there. You can even have a bridge with no real windows. Between the two uses, external and internal cloaking, if it remains very cheap as it is now (very low power draw) then no camera will ever be exposed again, and you can even forgo them with an internally cloaked bridge which kind of removes the need for cameras. However, if it is sufficiently expensive to manufacture and power, then it may only be reserved for critical cameras and the most intensive use would be invisible bridges. I think the latter is better, such that the cloaking generator (black projectile cannon) is the go-to for external cloaking and "real" cloaking remains considerably more limited and reserved for cameras and viewports.
I really didn't think the black projectile cloaking generator was a good idea at first in that it's obvious from the lack of stars where the ship is, however, then you have no idea what specifically you are aiming at, so it makes for a good smokescreen combined with evasive maneuvers.
so tl;dr make cloaking blocks ultra expensive so the cloak generator are actually used and we get mutli-tiers and multi-function cloaking.
Edit: Specifically <300 power draw for a 3x3x3 invisible bridge is way too cheap. Should take at least 500 or something, powerful nuclear reactor, or at least just short of the top tier generators anyway. I just realized how cool it will be when the holodeck bridge blanks out when the power is cut. Should design with backup cameras.
I like the idea of using cloaking armor to protect cameras, I'm going to have to mess around with that.
The problem with invisible blocks is that it's really no good at all for hulls (especially with large ships), as power requirements increase exponentially. Testing on a multiplayer server showed that the cloak was extremely effective at any range greater than half a kilometer - if you're not specifically looking for something and paying careful attention to distances, it's very easy to not see a cloaked ship. As a result, I'm probably going to leave stealth where it is now. Next time I know of a server that's hosting my pack, I'm going to mess around with the stealth armor for a while.
Ship damage is really cool in this game. It's very much like dwarf fortress in that it's not really about hitpoints and more about specific ship / body part damage. For example, just shooting out one engine could really ruin the ships' turning if it was designed poorly / cheaply.
Yeah but unlike DF its as if every ship is made out of vomit and everyone has Masterwork Candy Drills. I know im repeating myself, and other people, but AP cannons need a nerf, all guns but the heavy plasma launcher should do minimum damage to ship hull, etc. But everything else, except the caps on movement and such is fine. Drills should be able to melt hull, because if you get that close... you should be able to get in.
Give my modpack a try. Most of the ones out there right now either never tried to balance armor strengths (DN+) or started to, then got consumed by massive power creep (Chef Anon). My weapons are for the most part sidegrades (beyond categories, i.e. pistols pretty much always suck compared to rifles), and the only handheld weapon capable of punching through hulls (and only weak ones at that) uses 90 energy to fire and only deals 50 damage. I've got a lot of powerful shipboard weapons, but they all have their pros and cons. Plasma lances (a mainstay medium cannon) are accurate and fast-firing and melt through blocks, but require a fairly significant power source. Ion cannons have a range of many kilometers and will annihilate any block in the game, but need a lot of power and have a long reload time. Kinetic guns tend to be fast-firing, lighter, and have less power draw. Torpedo tubes use very little energy and hit very hard, but are slow-moving and as a result will be hard to aim. And there are minelayers and a few kinetic variations as well.
Depending on how painful work is tomorrow, I hope to be able to build some fighters and test some of the ship-mounted weaponry to see what's needed for balancing.
