Semi-Official 7.x Suggestion Thread

[bean]

It would be nice to see a reduced size/reduced efficacy cloaking device tech.  There are times when a 50-75% reduction in signature would be nice (survey ships, for instance), but 95%+ isn't needed, and having a smaller cloaking device would be very helpful.  Say that in exchange for a 3-4x improvement in efficiency, you end up with 5x the signature of the current cloaking device.  So a system which could normally cloak a 5000 ton ship at 95% now cloaks a 15,000 ton ship at 75%. 
(This may not be ideal.  Cloaking reduction gets so high at the upper end that it's hard to figure out how to deal with it.  This shouldn't be a slightly worse but much more efficient replacement for a regular cloak so much as a way of getting low-observable ships as opposed to full-on stealth.)

[Pixel1191]

What about some sort of "target drone"? it occured to me, after designing a laser-headed missile, that it would be nice to have the ability to test weapon systems BEFORE actual enemy contact. Kinda sucks to find out about the ineptitude of a new ship/weapon when the enemy gives you the finger and blows you to pieces.

And maybe the ability to strip crew out of an old ship, tow it into place and use it for target practice.

Real life naval and air forces use this. With the air force using remote controlled planes (either specially built drones or old planes refitted) and the navy is known to ocassionaly smash an old destroyer or something to pieces with ASMs. Would be nice to have a similar possibility. I only found out that laser heads don't quite work as I'd hoped...after they failed to produce the desired results against an invading enemy.

[TheDeadlyShoe]

you can make a 'target drone' by adding an enemy faction, and then giving it ships for you to shoot.

[bean]

you can make a 'target drone' by adding an enemy faction, and then giving it ships for you to shoot.

I've done that several times.  I've been playing long enough that I rarely have serious questions about the effectiveness of my weapons, but there are days when you need to answer a weird mechanical question and the easiest way to do so is to shoot at things.  My most recent use of this was an attempt to use the 5 second missile timing exploit with multi-stage missiles, but it didn't work.
Also, it's sometimes worth building (or SMing) a version of your missiles with no warhead, and giving them to the target fleet.  That way, you can evaluate your missile defenses without worrying about damaging your ships.

[Iranon]

Unless I'm just ignorant and there's a way to do this already: generic orders for ground units transport.
Just getting a few dozen construction brigades from A to B shouldn't involve this much clicking if we don't care about the niceties.

[db48x]

Some way to pause a task group so that it hold position without having to clear the orders would be nice. Also, when a task group can't be fully refueled from a tanker I get an interrupt, but when a task group can't be fully refueled from a colony I don't. Is that a bug or a reasoned design decision?

[iceball3]

Some way to pause a task group so that it hold position without having to clear the orders would be nice.

A current, relatively reliable way to instigate this is by setting the task group speed to 1. Moving three orders of magnitude slower than normal is good for stalling movement to a relative complete standstill, though for very specific positioning might be more reliable to just wipe the task list. Though, worth noting that your ship will fail just about all maneuverability speed checks made against it, leaving it vulnerable to attack of all sorts. That said, your thermals will be about zero, essentially making your ship go invisible to thermal readings, though not to active sensor or EM readings.

[db48x]

A current, relatively reliable way to instigate this is by setting the task group speed to 1. Moving three orders of magnitude slower than normal is good for stalling movement to a relative complete standstill, though for very specific positioning might be more reliable to just wipe the task list. Though, worth noting that your ship will fail just about all maneuverability speed checks made against it, leaving it vulnerable to attack of all sorts. That said, your thermals will be about zero, essentially making your ship go invisible to thermal readings, though not to active sensor or EM readings.

In this case they were out of fuel, having gotten about 100 yards away from Europa, where they were supposed to refuel. (Europa had run out.) It might have worked anyway; I've noticed that they sometimes have 0.0% fuel, but still have a few dozen liters in the tanks.

Perhaps a conditional order instead: if fuel tanks are empty, squawk and await rescue.

[DIT_grue]

Unless I'm just ignorant and there's a way to do this already: generic orders for ground units transport.
Just getting a few dozen construction brigades from A to B shouldn't involve this much clicking if we don't care about the niceties.

It sounds like using HQs should alleviate the problem by a factor of sixteen - which for 'a few dozen' would make it bearable. Does require building and assigning the HQ units, of course; and it only defers the underlying issue.

[ExChairman]

Fighters: They are nice to bombard your enemies or attacking other fighters, but now when "all" can have them, they seem to lose a bit. What I mean is that they will not try and avoid enemies or their fire. In my last game I have 50 assault fighters, mainly built to attack enemy ships, they have one large missile with a 32 point warhead and 4 gauss cannons, these are small and low hit(17%).
I sent them to attack my opponents fighter, unfortunately they arrived after they launched at my main fleet, but now they are flying back to their carriers in a straight line and I am butchering them.
No finesse at all.

Of course they only had missiles, but something would be needed to give them a chance, more armour, own Gaus Cannons, a small CIWS to defend against fighters/missiles fighters, etc.

Fixes, if even possible: Some kind of dogfighting or jinxes were they try to evade fire. Big/slow heavy fighter-bombers are easier to hit and the other is true with small faster/nimbler fighters being harder to hit and kill.
If you played/read Star Fleet Battles, they have the rule that a dog fight makes it impossible to attack another target, some fighters have an advantage in a dog fight  called "dog fighting" rating.

[drayath]

Jumpoints: Allow assigning a jump capable Taskforce to a jumpoint that will then ferry across other taskforces that try to move through the jumpoint.

An alternative to using jump-gates.
Allows civilian trade without a jumpgate.
Costs having to station jump tender at the jump point, with a throughput limit (and fuel cost for jumps?) as the jump-drive takes time to recharge.
This can be done manually at present (except civilian use) but requires lots of micro-management to add/remove jump tender to the taskkforce before/after the jump.

[bean]

Jumpoints: Allow assigning a jump capable Taskforce to a jumpoint that will then ferry across other taskforces that try to move through the jumpoint.

This already works.  If you have a ship with a jump drive on the JP, any and all craft that it can pass through will be passed through.  It doesn't allow civilian trade, but that's probably realistic.  Shipping lines aren't going to be wild about going into the great unknown with only your word that the tender will be around when they want to come back.

[83athom]

Allow assigning a jump capable Taskforce to a jumpoint that will then ferry across other taskforces that try to move through the jumpoint.

That's already a thing.

An alternative to using jump-gates.

Like a jump drive that already exists? Or something else that wouldn't fit with the mechanics?

Allows civilian trade without a jumpgate.

If you put a commercial ship with a large jump drive on the point, works the  same.

Costs having to station jump tender at the jump point, with a throughput limit (and fuel cost for jumps?) as the jump-drive takes time to recharge.

Partially already a thing. Jumping gives a sickness where you cant see or jump for a short period.

This can be done manually at present (except civilian use) but requires lots of micro-management to add/remove jump tender to the taskkforce before/after the jump.

You can just sit a large ship with a large drive at the point and it can jump anything, and you don't need to add it to the task force that is jumping. And you don't need one at both sides, it work at both when one is at just one of the connected points.

[bean]

If you put a commercial ship with a large jump drive on the point, works the  same.

He was talking about shipping lines, which don't use jump tenders.

[Paul M]

A current, relatively reliable way to instigate this is by setting the task group speed to 1. Moving three orders of magnitude slower than normal is good for stalling movement to a relative complete standstill, though for very specific positioning might be more reliable to just wipe the task list. Though, worth noting that your ship will fail just about all maneuverability speed checks made against it, leaving it vulnerable to attack of all sorts. That said, your thermals will be about zero, essentially making your ship go invisible to thermal readings, though not to active sensor or EM readings.

Your ships at speed 1 are not easier to hit.  The maximum speed of the ship compared to the missile is what is used not the current speed.  I've seen this in engagements of wolvers who have slowed down, so long as their full engine power was available the missile to hit chance was calculated with their max possible speed.  Beam fire controls I have no experience with but I would assume use the same value.