Author Topic: Tugs and Tractor Beams  (Read 2073 times)

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Offline AtomikKrab (OP)

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Tugs and Tractor Beams
« on: February 20, 2010, 09:08:03 PM »
I am creating a jump point defense base, it will have no engines of it's own so it is immobile, so to move them once constructed I am developing a tug ship

I then realize I have no idea how tractor beams work,

please help.

does the tugs speed become reduced by the more massive base once it's tractoring it? I think this might be how it works, thus like in the real world it would have an extremely overmuscled amount of engines. I hope that's how it works, otherwise again please help.
 

Offline sloanjh

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Re: Tugs and Tractor Beams
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2010, 09:28:42 PM »
Quote from: "AtomikKrab"
I am creating a jump point defense base, it will have no engines of it's own so it is immobile, so to move them once constructed I am developing a tug ship

I then realize I have no idea how tractor beams work,

please help.

does the tugs speed become reduced by the more massive base once it's tractoring it? I think this might be how it works, thus like in the real world it would have an extremely overmuscled amount of engines. I hope that's how it works, otherwise again please help.

Yes.  You only need 1 tractor on a tug.  It can only attach to 1 ship (through the miscellaneous tab on th F6 screen).  Putting more tractors on does NOT let you tow more ships.  The speed is calculated as (SumOfEnginePowers)/(SumOfMasses) of the two ships, where EnginePower/Mass is the speed of a normal ship.  Note that after you've connected the two ships, you need to hit the "max speed" button on the F12 screen twice (tiny bug there) - the first hit recalculates the max speed, the second sets the actual speed to the max speed.

I tend to put about twice as many engines on a tug as I would on a normal ship of the tug's size.  I also have been pretty much making only commercial-engined tugs since commercial ships got huge - most of the "speed 1" stuff I make is commercial, and a commercial tug can still tow a military ship, albeit (possibly) a bit slower than a military tug would.

EDIT: What are you planning to arm it with?  Missiles?  That could be bad if they jumped in right on top of you....

John
 

Offline AtomikKrab (OP)

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Re: Tugs and Tractor Beams
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2010, 09:42:05 PM »
about 500 size 1 missile tubes armed with fast short range missiles  :)

yeah the jumping right on top of me part would be bad, but I can put them at exactly say 2 million miles from a jumpgate since those are at the point transfers, and otherwise I just make a little gamble and hope the nprs have 50k km jump drives on the ships they have.

I expect to lose them anyway if someone jumps in, since I can't keep out of their firing range, but at least they will be inside mine
 

Offline ShadoCat

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Re: Tugs and Tractor Beams
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2010, 11:19:31 AM »
If you are doing that, try putting some meson armed OWPs closer in.  That way you have a chance of smoking the jump engine before the tender has a chance to jump out.