Custom ships - Can it be done?

[Zephyr]

The thread about gunboat class freighter made me think of this, so thanks Torvette.

We already have the 'Pimp-my-ship' options, and they are cool. Could this tech be used to change the actual ships tho?

Example:

Take a Liberty Gunboat -

Liberty Gunboat
Guns:1/7
Cargo:400
Hull:110,000
Bots/Bats: 350

Make Guns worth what they would take in a cargo bay if unmounted, and when unmounted ADD that to the cargo size. ( +20 Cargo for -1 Gun )

Make the Hull interchangable with Cargo as well at some exchange rate ( +10 Cargo for -1,000 Hull )

Thus making the following possible:

Liberty Gunboat
Guns: 1/5 (-2G = + 40C )
Cargo: 640 (+240C )
Hull: 90,000 ( -20,000H = +200C )
Bots/Bats: 350

Making a tough yet still decent cargo size blackade runner, no need for new ship skins or any of that, just internal changes.

Is that kind of thing possible?

edited....to lower exchange...

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[Toaster]

In that example you would have a Lib GB sized almost-5Ker with 5 gunboat turrets and a gunboat forward gun.

The idea as such sounds good, but the exchange rate would need to be much, much, much, much, much higher.

Edit: I somehow failed at understanding your stats. So, nevermind about the 5Ker.

Still, it would be a medium Lib GB sized transport with 5 GB turrets.

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Olivia Sable

[Zephyr]

I know that... don't get me wrong, these numbers are to get attention, not what I expect they will actually be. heh. I just know that most of the people here want to make the most money. I figure if its possible, make them want it, it gets better chance of getting attention. I'd make it expensive as hell to do as well, thats why I left out the money part as well. Most likely you could maybe get up to like 800-1000 maybe cargo size in the gunboat if you gutted it of guns and a bunch of armor. but there should be a limit as well as to how much can get changed, I also left alone so as to not to deter people from the idea sinking in. heh.

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[Tachyon]

Make the Hull interchangable with Cargo as well at some exchange rate ( +100 Cargo for -1,000 Hull )

That sounds like the navy would build a GB with less hull and more cargo space, for what reason again ? This is a RO server afterall.

Also, I got the feeling of powergame considering battleships or cruisers.

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[Zephyr]

Maybe limit it to only the Civilian/pirate lines or bases/Guard ID like certain ships are.

These ships would really only serve for RP purposes. Not to make a huge profit And be able to kill every pirate that tried to pirate you or such.

Editing the first post...

Lowering the exchange rate.
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Another thought is to make the transports be able to mount some kind of weapon box rather than cargo bos, this could give it a gun or two at the loss of cargo space available.

I'm not sure any of this can even be done....I'm just wondering, and so thus the post. Don't take this as some attempt to powergame, its not. Its more about trying to get a little more rounded and personalized play ability.

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[dodike]

That sounds like the navy would build a GB with less hull and more cargo space, for what reason again ? This is a RO server afterall.

Also, I got the feeling of powergame considering battleships or cruisers.

More space allows for bigger powercore /more guns.

Also there is no point discussing the exchange rates as that would be left on the dev team entirely.

[Maelstrom]

If this could be done, it would be awesome. Then we could rp repurposed ships that were either picked up used or were salvaged. I'd love to see junkers tooling around in a conference with several of the turrets and some armor ripped off. Yeah, we can take the guns off now but we don't get the cargo increase which takes away more than a bit from the feeling of being in the role. It'd be great if it could go the other way too, taking away cargo capacity and adding weapons and such.

I doubt it's going to happen, though. To much of the game is invested in keeping roles devoid of certain ships and tech. Look at the tech chart. This is a great idea I would love to see implemented, but I doubt it will be, even if it's possible to code it.

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[Omicron]

That will happen but in different manner. CAU and then ALSO gunboat turrets will take space when mounted and unmounted. At current armorless gunboat have as much of cargo space as low/medium grade freighter which are supposed to be blocade runners. Through why trade in a gunboat when you can have well armed dedicated freighter for that? They are going to have buffed cruise speed to leave behind most of ships.

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[Maelstrom]

@Omicron

Why trade with a gunship?

Freighter = 5k-18k hull. Gunboat = 55k-140k hull.
Freighter powerplant = 5k-36k. Gunboat = 400k-600k.
Freighter shields = 20k-24k. Gunboat = 140k

Just on passive equipment alone the gunboat is a smarter choice than the freighter blockade runner. Through in the weapons as well and you have a much better ship to smuggle and blockade run with. I would gladly sacrifice three guns and about 10-15k armor to get the medium hold back up to 500 or better. Using the weakest gunboat I could sacrifice three gunmounts and still end up with a tougher ship and more cargo space than a CSF mounting codes and a CAU8. The CSF will maneuver a little bit better, much like a bomber, but it doesn't have the offense of a bomber and it's larger to boot. In the end, the repurposed gunboat will beat it fairly handily.

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