Suggestions Thread for v2.0

[Snoman314]

Change so cargo modules don't have weight until there actually hauling cargo. Meaning empty cargo vessels are faster when empty. Also the inclusion of a dump cargo button.

With raiders now a common joy to encounter. I was thinking about other sci fi shows were the captain has to drop cargo to be able increase speed to attempt an escape. This would be a cool feature now when your cargo haulers detect a raider you can dump cargo and make a run for the nearest jump point.
maybe the cargo also become salvageable as to attract the raiders to it thus giving you a better chance to save the ship.

You know about tractor beams and cargo barges, right?

[Ush213]

Change so cargo modules don't have weight until there actually hauling cargo. Meaning empty cargo vessels are faster when empty. Also the inclusion of a dump cargo button.

With raiders now a common joy to encounter. I was thinking about other sci fi shows were the captain has to drop cargo to be able increase speed to attempt an escape. This would be a cool feature now when your cargo haulers detect a raider you can dump cargo and make a run for the nearest jump point.
maybe the cargo also become salvageable as to attract the raiders to it thus giving you a better chance to save the ship.

You know about tractor beams and cargo barges, right?

Ya i know i did a whole playthrough as a space trucker. It was great but there is higher element of micro with that playstyle. plus it got messy when i had to attach and detach for various empire operational reasons. This time around i went back to straight cargo ships and fuel haulers for a simpler life. well as simple as Aurora will allow. ha
I think this change to cargo would be good for QOL reasons to because an empty hauler going on a run will get there faster thus meaning faster moving of resources.

[Snoman314]

Ya i know i did a whole playthrough as a space trucker. It was great but there is higher element of micro with that playstyle. plus it got messy when i had to attach and detach for various empire operational reasons. This time around i went back to straight cargo ships and fuel haulers for a simpler life. well as simple as Aurora will allow. ha
I think this change to cargo would be good for QOL reasons to because an empty hauler going on a run will get there faster thus meaning faster moving of resources.

Sweet as, just checking you knew about that option.

I wonder where your suggestion would end though: Should tankers get faster with less fuel in the tanks? Other ships as well? Could carriers ditch their small craft to lighten up and go faster? Missiles in magazines? etc.

[Kiero]

It would be great to have some kind of DB cleaning tool (for player and NPR), like fleet history and so on.

[Garfunkel]

It would be great to have some kind of DB cleaning tool (for player and NPR), like fleet history and so on.

Agreed!

[Borealis4x]

Would it be possible to make it so characters are only eligible for promotion if they are located at a population center and don't have any mission assigned to them?

I hate how my dashing explorer captain suddenly gets promoted to admiral and he's teleported back to Earth to do a boring desk job.

[Steve Zax]

 In the VB version there was a switch you could flip that required ferry ships to move commanders from their former assignments to their new assignments, I THINK it got removed because many players said they never used it.

[nuclearslurpee]

You can work around this to an extent by manually promoting flag officers, if you're willing to forego use of auto-assignment for the naval admin commands. Low-rank guys will still promote and relocate magically, but your survey captain can return to Earth before moving into her cushy corner office in Survey Command that way.

I would note though that in support of this suggestion we now have DSPs, so that makes it more viable to have such a feature whereas before a fleet might be away almost indefinitely being supported by a deep space fleet base.

[Borealis4x]

Adding in medal award conditions for being assigned to different positions like XO/Commanding Officer/Commandant/Admin/Planetary Governor would be nice.

[nuclearslurpee]

This is relevant to the ongoing missile rebalance discussion, but I don't want to pull that thread too far off-topic so I'm putting this here as it is a shorter suggestion:

Suggestion for ECM/ECCM rework:

Currently, ECM/ECCM work as a +/- modifier to hit chance. That is,

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Hit% = base_hit% + 10 * (ECM - ECCM)This has a lot of problems, mostly when low base hit% is involved such as for reduced-size Gauss cannons or point defense scenarios, where even 1-2 levels of ECM have an outsize impact of completely negating fire.

I propose the simple rework of:

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Hit% = base_hit% / (1 + ECM - ECCM)(with appropriate bounding of ECM - ECCM). This means that ECM will never render a low-accuracy weapon useless, and makes electronic warfare investment most important for near-peer conflicts (i.e., pushing ECM research against an opponent when you already outmatch their ECCM capabilities handily will provide minimal benefits, rather than providing an unbeatable advantage as currently).

My physical basis for this is the idea of countermeasures as creating a decoy target. If we imagine, for the sake of gross oversimplicity, ECM 1 = one decoy, then incoming fire being split evenly between the decoy and real target gives a 50% effective accuracy reduction. The proposed rework is a reckless extrapolation of this concept.

As usual I am not married to any numbers here. For example, maybe something like

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Hit% = C * base_hit% / (C + ECM - ECCM)is preferable where C could be 2 or 3, etc. This means the effect of a single level of ECM is only a 33% or 25% (respectively) reduction in effective hit rate. We could also start throwing powers and roots around but I prefer to keep things simple if possible.

This is in addition to the current ECM effect against fire control ranges which I think is a good mechanic as it is and does not need to be changed.

[villaincomer]

Variable ship (or fleet speeds)  Perhaps 1% and then 10% increments to simplify. 
With a view to scaling thermal output to ship speed.
Adds an element of stealth.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Variable ship (or fleet speeds)  Perhaps 1% and then 10% increments to simplify. 
With a view to scaling thermal output to ship speed.
Adds an element of stealth.

You can already set specific fleet speeds.

[villaincomer]

My bad.  Thanks Steve
Does the thermal output scale to the speed?

[nuclearslurpee]

My bad.  Thanks Steve
Does the thermal output scale to the speed?

Yes, down to a minimum which is 5% of the ship size (in HS - or 1 per 1,000 tons which may be easier to figure mentally, in practice).

[Golem666]

With all the improvements coming to missiles in the next version, could we also get missile series? So that one doesn't have to destroy all ammo or tediously make partial reloads?