korvan-
that''s pretty much exactly what I was thinking. You release hundreds of dummy pods along with some wild weasel escort shuttles. Having the enemy vessel''s sensors pick out which one''s were real and bogus would be immensely diffucult, and optically tracking the mechs would be very diffucult. And the longer the distance the greater the error in leading the target. just small meter changes in target vector will means the ship''s AA will miss. Today''s phalanx guns can blow virtually anything out of the sky, but only when it gets very close. That''s what the enemy interceptor mechs will have to do...get very close THEN they will be vulnerable because by that time changes in vector won''t be as diffucult. But if they get REALLY close, i.e on the ship, they can avoid the firing arc of the guns (i.e. find the blind spots). This doesn''t mention the possibility of taking out the AA guns either through precision fire weapons or keeping the AA guns busy by launching missles against the ship.

The mech''s could very easily attach themselves to the spaceships as well. Think about it. In space, large vessels can''t turn on a dime nor can they accelerate or decelerate on a dime. Basically the mechs would just plot a parrallel trajectory course and inch themselves over. They don''t have to have to make a perpendicular intercept course and "ram" into the ship. Grappling guns and the like would also significantly help.

As for shooting them down, combine the decoys and wild weasels along with a small vessel that CAN turn on a dime, and you have the very good possibility that some of the mecha will land on the ship. Granted, it WILL be very diffucult. But if it works....game over. It''s a lot like torpedo dive runs in WWII. It took balls of steel for the torpedo bomber pilots, and the odds of a squadron making it through were slim, but when the torpedo scored...game over for the ship.

berserk-
As for gameplay, the mechs are essentially the haymaker knock out punch, but ships will still need the long range "jabs". This can be delivered by various other weaponry. And besides, I think it''d look cool to see swarms of mecha launched against other capital ships.

Gravity weapons. Focus the field of a graviational singilarity and rip a target to peaces.

Fusion bombs or projectiles
Fission bombs or projectiles
Laser and any other beam weapon.
Mass drivers
Rale guns
HV cannons
shrapnel cannon

chemical or biological projectiles. Kills crew and leave ship mostly intact.

emp pulse weapons.

have a round that attaches to the hull and emits a harmonic that nocks out the crew

mines proximity contact IFF
various types, explosive, emp, nuke.


missles heat seeking, Identify freind or foe, wire guided, point and fire, visual targeting. Computer viral system or disrupter.

Just remember you don''t always have to destroy a ship.
you can
destroy a ship
capture / disable it
kill the crew
or even render weapons harmless

Just had a wild thought..

Is there any way some form of depth-chrge would be useful in space? Say if the enemy ship was hiding in a large cloud of debris or gas, and you wanted to flush them out without diving in after them...

Or a space form of smoke grenade. An ejected canister that spews forth an all engulfing cloud of particles, giving some cover.

And good old fashioned proximity mines, of course. Not enough space games seem to bother with them these days.

And perhaps a tracking device. Something you can fire out that attaches itself to the enemy and allows you to locate them later if they''re an important target.

Just a few thoughts. Let me know if you wanna use them.

"If you go into enough detail, everything becomes circular reasoning." - Captain Insanity

ingear, I really like the idea about keeping the ship intact and disposing of the crew.

Volunteers for a boarding party?

"If you go into enough detail, everything becomes circular reasoning." - Captain Insanity

quote: Original post by Dauntless
As for shooting them down, combine the decoys and wild weasels along with a small vessel that CAN turn on a dime, and you have the very good possibility that some of the mecha will land on the ship. Granted, it WILL be very diffucult. But if it works....game over.

Not necessarily. What if a ship carried mecha (or mecha were part of fleet defense)? Couldn''t the defensive mecha go into the same hole that the offensive mecha created and either grapple with or restrain the intruder? Presumably, at such close range the intruder would have trouble using its weapons against its equal.

And depending on the size, wouldn''t the going for the invading mecha be slow, as it would not only have to peel away the hull, but stalk through corridors far too small for it? Kind of like a dog trying to get into a gofer hole.

Also, I wouldn''t exactly write off marines. If they''re small and armored, they could act like ticks or spiders on that invading dog (especially with jetpacks). Let''s say the marines are in armored pressure suits with magnetic grips or some sort of sticky contact gel: they could climb all over the mech and stick charges or weild cutting tools on sensitive joints, weapon sites, and sensors. (This reminds me of one of those bizarre Evil Dead movies where the hero had evil miniatures of himself crawling all over him... )

I guess everything depends on the level of offensive and defensive technology you imagine for each side. You could just as easily make mecha electrified or something; and you could just as easily give the marines insulated suits...



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Just waiting for the mothership...

Im designing a combat game that is going to run online... it has no special genre whatsoever (only that it is an online game) It is a mix between strategy, first person shooter, rpg and adventure game.

The main idea of the game is to make you way up to a good soldier and be part of a "base" that battles against another one... dividing them bases into races and some other made up of resistances.

I think its pretty cool but the main concern why im posting here is that it also will have the ability to be in space, so I wanted ur feedback of what u think.

We are adding suits instead of mechas because we have:
Mecha Suit
Orga Suit
Angel Suit

Each one made of technology, organics and energy...

What do you think we could add to the gameplay here

RolandofGilead, how high tech are you looking for?

I''d break technology into functions and then apply whatever means you like in accordance to the tech level. For my game I have:

RESTRAINT (Grapples, tractors, thruster pods that magnetically attach to a hull)

CONFUSION / CONTROL LOSS (EMP, targeted thruster strikes, thruster pods attach & fire randomly; spatial distorters)

DECELERATION / ACCELERATION (Afterburners that do damage, Planck Brakes that rip up the fabric of space behind them)

BLINK / TELEPORTATION (Battlejump Pods, special case use of the warp drive)

PHASING / PASS THROUGH MATTER (Collision avoidance program attached to jump drive; Independence War''s "Agressor Shields")

etc. etc. etc. (stealth, observation, encumberance...)






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Just waiting for the mothership...

alright, I am a heavy anime freak so most of my ideas are anime based.

*A 5 pronged lazer that shoots 5 lazers at a time in different paths all at the same objective.
*A similar weapon using 9 missiles a shot
*Decoy, Ghost holograph that will intercept all incoming weaponry
*A cluster bomb that is cloaked (entirely shiny reflecting everything including the craft from the right view point. Detonates into many bombs 100 meters away from craft
*Grappler arms
IF YOU DECIDE TO INCORPERATE MECHS INTO THIS GAME
*charged blades attatched to the mechs arms
*all weapons previously stated
*A high powered energy ball done somewhat like a kameha meha wave
*Booster jets that do heavy damage if used when someone is right behind them

Wavinator-
The biggest danger for the defending ship trying to repel invading mechs is that any weapons they use that could breach the armor of the mech is also capable of breaching the ship''s hull. The invader will have no care if a stray shot further damages the ship, or if during grappling with another mech there is collateral damage.

As for going through tiny hallways, the mech just has to rend it''s way through. I suppose the ship could essentially treat the invaders like a cancer, essentially shutting down bulkheads and sacrificing that portion of the ship whether collateral damage happens or not.

Also, once the Mechs are onboard, they too can land smaller powered armor based marines to do more delicate "surgery" on the target ship. Indeed, I envision a mech that can carry at least one marine into battle with him, and I also imagine that mechs will be transported to the ship via tender ships....basically mechanized rides that are faster and have sufficient reaction mass to get them to the ship. Say 4-6 mechs and a platoon of marines. The disadvantage is putting more eggs in one basket.

I think like in the day of sail, engines are going to be the most sought after target. Take out the engines, and the ship is dead in the "water" so to speak. Taking out attitude thrusters will also cripple its ability to fight. In the days of wooden ships and iron men, captains often had to chose between firing at the hull of a ship, or firing grape to take out masts and sails. I think the principle will be much the same. Modern warships are of course somewhat immune to this strategy, as only torpedoes can take out the propeller shafts and rudders. Space ships will have no such advantage, and in fact will be the most vulnerable part of the ship as there can be no armor plating to cover the engine exhaust (and even with reactionless drives like space differential or laser sails, there is still an external object to damage).

quote: Original post by Captain Insanity
Just had a wild thought..

Is there any way some form of depth-chrge would be useful in space? ....

Or a space form of smoke grenade. An ejected canister that spews forth an all engulfing cloud of particles, giving some cover.

And good old fashioned proximity mines, of course. Not enough space games seem to bother with them these days.

And perhaps a tracking device. Something you can fire out that attaches itself to the enemy and allows you to locate them later if they''re an important target.

Just a few thoughts. Let me know if you wanna use them.

"If you go into enough detail, everything becomes circular reasoning." - Captain Insanity

depth charge included
smoke grenade added, thanks for the idea
proximity miines included
tracking device added, thanks for the idea, I combined it with the smoke grenade idea so that when in the smoke, you can only track something using the tracker