UPDATE: The Tactical Lab
Greetings Captains!
This post is a re-explanation and clarification of the proposed Tactical Lab and its associated Modules and Hull. I sat down with Battle Pirates Creator Paul Preece to answer your questions in regards to this feature.
Born of the ongoing research project studying Zynthium, this new technology projects very powerful Zynthium powered Electro Magnetic fields that when targeted correctly, can significantly reduce the capability of enemy ships.
Tactical Lab
The Tactical Lab is a new research building. The Lab is sea based, and like all research buildings, it can perform its own research independent of other Labs. The Tactical Lab contains a new technology tree for the Forsaken called Tactical Modules.
Tactical Modules
Tactical Modules are researched in the new Tactical Lab building. There are different levels and types of Tactical Modules with more powerful versions further up the tech tree. While the Tactical Lab does share similar aspects Advanced Lab special components, these new Modules incorporate technology that enables them to project and target a powerful Electro Magnetic Field in a radius around the Hull in which they are equipped. This 'Field of Effect', or FoE for short, enables the modules to interact with the systems of nearby ships. In the case of enemy ships, negatively affecting them, while friendly ships gain boosts. This varies depending on the specific Module. Some of the Modules have no maximum range and can even effect entire fleets on the World Map. The Modules are so large that they are unable to be equipped on normal Hulls and a new Hull has been designed specifically to carry them.
Tactical Hull
The new Hull, code named Tactical Hull, has been designed for a singular purpose, to equip and carry Tactical Modules. The Hull itself has been fashioned from a medium sized cargo carrier and has been updated to carry Tactical Modules instead of cargo. It has also been given additional light armament. To use the Tactical Hull in a fleet requires a ship slot, so each Captain will need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of exchanging an offensive ship for this one. Note that the Tactical Modules are designed to be effective even after accounting for the loss of an offensive ship.
Tactical Modules, Further Detail
Tactical Modules are significant pieces of hardware. They not only contain the power source and electronics to project focused and unfocused EM Fields but are also designed to enhance the Tactical Hull. Modules designed to interfere with enemy ships require that they be brought into close proximity with the enemy fleet. This can place the Tactical Hull in danger, as it will likely be the target of enemy fire. Offensive Modules are therefore especially hardened against incoming fire and enhance the Tactical Hull's engines to provide greater closing speed. Defensive Tactical Modules provide less protection for the Hull for the same reasons; they can rely on their fleet to protect them.
The Modules are highly automated and their location above the superstructure of the Tactical Hull provides 360-degree coverage. This places less of a burden on the Captain, making them more effective in combat.
Modules currently under Development
A Module that forces nearby enemy subs to the surface
A Module that slows nearby enemy ships
A Module that reduces incoming damage to nearby friendly ships
A Module that increases the map speed of an entire fleet
Q & A with Paul
Q: Will players use Tac Modules to make Omni-fleets able to handle any other fleet?
A: No. The trade off in firepower to take multiple Tac Hulls would be too great.
Q: Will players be able to 100% negate subs by adding the anti-sub Module?
A: No. Skilled Sub captains can take out the Tac Hull.
Q: Will players always have to take a Tac Hull in a fleet from now on?
A: No. The Modules are designed for specific scenarios; there are many scenarios that are not covered.
Q: Are Tac Hulls allowed in base defense fleets?
A: Yes.
Q: Are you working on bug fixes too?
A: We concurrently fix bugs every week with new releases. Releasing new features does not slow our bug fixing as there are separate dedicated resources.
Q: Are you still working on other features like Alliances?
A: Absolutely. Alliances is a huge feature and therefore takes more time to develop. We should be able to post more information on the Future Features & Feedback Forum shortly.
Q: When will this feature arrive?
A: We deliberately provide no release dates in the F3 Forum (see rules for posting in F3). This allows us to remain flexible if a feature needs to be adjusted after player feedback.
Remember Captains, anything posted in the F3 Forum is subject to change, so remember to read the Rules for Posting. We look forward to hearing your feedback.
UPDATE on 8.2: Thanks for all of the constructive feedback. I have shared your concerns with the developers and they will be making some changes. As this is a feature that will noticeably affect gameplay, it will need significant testing before it is released. I will keep you informed of when this feature is closer to release.
This post is a re-explanation and clarification of the proposed Tactical Lab and its associated Modules and Hull. I sat down with Battle Pirates Creator Paul Preece to answer your questions in regards to this feature.
Born of the ongoing research project studying Zynthium, this new technology projects very powerful Zynthium powered Electro Magnetic fields that when targeted correctly, can significantly reduce the capability of enemy ships.
Tactical Lab
The Tactical Lab is a new research building. The Lab is sea based, and like all research buildings, it can perform its own research independent of other Labs. The Tactical Lab contains a new technology tree for the Forsaken called Tactical Modules.
Tactical Modules
Tactical Modules are researched in the new Tactical Lab building. There are different levels and types of Tactical Modules with more powerful versions further up the tech tree. While the Tactical Lab does share similar aspects Advanced Lab special components, these new Modules incorporate technology that enables them to project and target a powerful Electro Magnetic Field in a radius around the Hull in which they are equipped. This 'Field of Effect', or FoE for short, enables the modules to interact with the systems of nearby ships. In the case of enemy ships, negatively affecting them, while friendly ships gain boosts. This varies depending on the specific Module. Some of the Modules have no maximum range and can even effect entire fleets on the World Map. The Modules are so large that they are unable to be equipped on normal Hulls and a new Hull has been designed specifically to carry them.
Tactical Hull
The new Hull, code named Tactical Hull, has been designed for a singular purpose, to equip and carry Tactical Modules. The Hull itself has been fashioned from a medium sized cargo carrier and has been updated to carry Tactical Modules instead of cargo. It has also been given additional light armament. To use the Tactical Hull in a fleet requires a ship slot, so each Captain will need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of exchanging an offensive ship for this one. Note that the Tactical Modules are designed to be effective even after accounting for the loss of an offensive ship.
Tactical Modules, Further Detail
Tactical Modules are significant pieces of hardware. They not only contain the power source and electronics to project focused and unfocused EM Fields but are also designed to enhance the Tactical Hull. Modules designed to interfere with enemy ships require that they be brought into close proximity with the enemy fleet. This can place the Tactical Hull in danger, as it will likely be the target of enemy fire. Offensive Modules are therefore especially hardened against incoming fire and enhance the Tactical Hull's engines to provide greater closing speed. Defensive Tactical Modules provide less protection for the Hull for the same reasons; they can rely on their fleet to protect them.
The Modules are highly automated and their location above the superstructure of the Tactical Hull provides 360-degree coverage. This places less of a burden on the Captain, making them more effective in combat.
Modules currently under Development
A Module that forces nearby enemy subs to the surface
A Module that slows nearby enemy ships
A Module that reduces incoming damage to nearby friendly ships
A Module that increases the map speed of an entire fleet
Q & A with Paul
Q: Will players use Tac Modules to make Omni-fleets able to handle any other fleet?
A: No. The trade off in firepower to take multiple Tac Hulls would be too great.
Q: Will players be able to 100% negate subs by adding the anti-sub Module?
A: No. Skilled Sub captains can take out the Tac Hull.
Q: Will players always have to take a Tac Hull in a fleet from now on?
A: No. The Modules are designed for specific scenarios; there are many scenarios that are not covered.
Q: Are Tac Hulls allowed in base defense fleets?
A: Yes.
Q: Are you working on bug fixes too?
A: We concurrently fix bugs every week with new releases. Releasing new features does not slow our bug fixing as there are separate dedicated resources.
Q: Are you still working on other features like Alliances?
A: Absolutely. Alliances is a huge feature and therefore takes more time to develop. We should be able to post more information on the Future Features & Feedback Forum shortly.
Q: When will this feature arrive?
A: We deliberately provide no release dates in the F3 Forum (see rules for posting in F3). This allows us to remain flexible if a feature needs to be adjusted after player feedback.
Remember Captains, anything posted in the F3 Forum is subject to change, so remember to read the Rules for Posting. We look forward to hearing your feedback.
UPDATE on 8.2: Thanks for all of the constructive feedback. I have shared your concerns with the developers and they will be making some changes. As this is a feature that will noticeably affect gameplay, it will need significant testing before it is released. I will keep you informed of when this feature is closer to release.
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It is obvious, by this new attempt to explain the change and Paul Preece's very defensive attempts in the original thread, that the tech lab, hull, etc are going to be introduced no matter how many of your customers do not want it. So, I am going to request that you please do something about build/refit/repair times BEFORE you introduce the tech lab and it's magical technology.
Those who use crappy testing protocols make a crappy product.
1.Module that reduces incoming damage to nearby friendly ships .....will this effect turret damage on the incoming fire??
2.A Module that slows nearby enemy ships.... will this work within the base all so??
This post explains it a lot better then the first one, IMO, and I'm much more open to it now - even though I still have no idea when I'll get around to building yet another hull
If I understand correctly now, you can build and use as many of these new hulls as you think is smart; the only limitation being they can't be used as the flagship of your fleet?
(Sorry - English is not my first language.)
To me, it's a bit of a let-down that there's going to be a whole new lab instead of integrating it with an underused lab.
There's 2 "land eating" labs that don't do much, so it would have made a lot more sense to me if this was added to one of those buildings.
On the bright side, at least the new building is water based.
It's a shame the first post about this update was so poorly written and didn't take in consideration how frustrated a lot of players are with their huge backlog on building and refitting.
If that is not going to change -- even now with the monthly events -- and we simply have to deal with not being able to build all our ships and refit older ones, the least you could have done (IMO) is let us know you understand that frustration and explain why you decided that's something that we just have to deal with.
After reading this update I would actually be a little exited about things to come, if only it wasn't something that would make me fall even more behind on the building & refitting of my fleets.
Kixeye is setting a clear course and that's something to be exited about.
But it's also changing things; BP these days is completely different from the BP that you started with.
Paul said that a drydock, or whatever solution for the backlog in ship building, would upset the long time players.
That may be so, everything Kixeye does will upset a certain number of players, but the game has changed so much that some 'in game systems' really do need an update to work well with the game as it is today - and further development.
As a general rule, people don't like change and it seems BP players are even more sensitive to change
But as I said, the game is evolving, and the 'in game systems' should evolve with the game so both the game & players can keep up with all the events and other new features.
So in short, I'm not at all unhappy about this upcoming release, but I am disappointed it's yet another hull.
More backlog and more trying to keep up with a game and events that move at a speed the building times simply no longer allow for.
I know, I need to suck it up, and I will, but still ... Snif.
I would like to suggest this though, instead of making it 1 ship that's able to hold these 'modules' incorporate them into the dock. Like with the Great Hall you can select officers to affect map speed by 10% or speed up research etc. Do the same with the tech lab or have that option there in the dock itself.
Once you have a module in particular researched when your in dock you can select a fleet and make that particular module affect that fleet. Use a different color for each type of module when your looking through the fleets you can select which ability you want that fleet to have. Instead of having an actual ship in the fleet that does it.
Just an idea.
the idea of this is awesome,except the idea of a new hull.
i myself would prefer to see this as specials,place the new lab,something else we can chew on and check out and play with,but i myself do not like the idea of a new hull for 2 reasons.
1.it takes away fire power from the fleet,yes im well aware its being replaced with this new special
2.i have 3 new hulls,i still to date do not have a full sc fleet,im still building it,so the idea of another hull to put me farther behind,honestly,just irritates me,and there is really no need for a special hull that carries nothing more than another special.
my 2 cents,thanxs for listening
Level 58
Winner of the HH-A,HH-B,Cuda,Spectre,Battle Cruiser,Battleship,Strike Cruiser,Dread X,Super Fortress,Dict,MC,MCX,Mercury
Sect-to many to know or count
Alliances,Bramm
Dam you kixeye for being so greedy with a awesome game that i cant seem to leave
Let's keep it on point here people.
FvF is not dead, never was. Now FvF is where it should have been from day one. Taking away the attack button simply meant that FvF was not thrust down the throats of Base hitters.
This is offered as a new twist to the game, not as any sort of compensation.
As far as the merits of the new, re-worded and phrased concept go.. looks good. A whole lot better than it's Alpha version. A much better explanation of how things will function.
Lvl 34
Sector 361
ID 1122925
Browser: Firefox
OS: WIndows 7
"Kicking the crap out of RRs wherever they Frubble"
IGN: Algarve
Level: 44
Current Sector: 74
Sectors Visited: 15, 133, 274, 263, 192, 74
Home Sector: 15
Alliance: Rubber Fist
This is not the wishlist. Please keep conversations focused on the details already presented.
Does the tactical bonus end if the tactical ship is sunk?
exile L59 sector: 44
User ID: 1059095 w7//chrome/firefox last flash.
If the Tactical Ship is sunk on the battlefield, it will no longer be around to provide the Field of Effect, so yes, the battlefield bonus will disappear.
this also is another reason im not big on the hull idea,thats the first ship that will be targeted
now take sonar,your looking at 5 ships,you know one has sonar cause he is shooting at your subs,but what one,makes things a bit interesting
so why should i spend the time to build a hull ,which will put me farther behind,just to have it always sunk from get go and it is now useless.
not trying to be argumentative guys,i like the idea,i just see this more useful as a special
Level 58
Winner of the HH-A,HH-B,Cuda,Spectre,Battle Cruiser,Battleship,Strike Cruiser,Dread X,Super Fortress,Dict,MC,MCX,Mercury
Sect-to many to know or count
Alliances,Bramm
Dam you kixeye for being so greedy with a awesome game that i cant seem to leave
If they are going to introduce these big changes, why not do it in stages, a little bit at a time instead of a wholesale change to "see how it is received and plays out", that way, Kix can reverse the poorest changes, Kixeye need to learn from the disastrous graphic change introduction which has lost them a lot of customers.
All in all some of these changes could be positive looking at the more precise post we see from SWAG here, the best change is getting rid of that awful "Aura" word which scared all pirates half to death lol
Most importantly Kix need to fix the shipyard issue and long build times but this is not going to happen because they want us all to coin fleets people.
kixeye you do understand that noobs WILL troll the slows enemy and the less damage to friendly ships making it easier for them to level the score. i didn't wait near 5 months and 7 days (from the moment i started this game i wanted that ship thats why 5 months) for sw's for some noob to level the score.
i can see why you would do this but would you be making this game too complicated? it would be too much thought going into every ship build, i have only just got to the level where i need to think what fleets im going to build next, where my base is going to be should i change so my defense fleet is unsnipable.
will this make noobs to powerful right now? they cause a lot of trouble with preds and tbh i like it, i like fighting subs its different you have to think where are they going to come up can i catch them before they down, but if they use the module to slow my ships and go back down they could come back around and kill my fleet before i start to move at normal speed.
there is already too many variables in fvf i don't want to have to mess around and get a huge bill.
i like the fact your trying to bring back fvf but couldn't you just make a weekly tournament for fvf agents the sector or the neighbouring sector don't even need to be a prize i think bragging rights would be enough.
im gonna finish off with this if this was just a for raids i.e: if we had to have one fleet for a raid and we need special modules to beat majorly over powered dracs then that could be cool but not for normal game play this is just my opinion.
BI 5: winner of strike cruiser...BI 6: winner of HH-A
http://support.kixeye.com/mail/
make the thing a special,later in a raid,release hulls that are designed around it,like the "dic" and sub hunting
Level 58
Winner of the HH-A,HH-B,Cuda,Spectre,Battle Cruiser,Battleship,Strike Cruiser,Dread X,Super Fortress,Dict,MC,MCX,Mercury
Sect-to many to know or count
Alliances,Bramm
Dam you kixeye for being so greedy with a awesome game that i cant seem to leave
A: No. Skilled Sub captains can take out the Tac Hull.
Most likely with considerably more damage to said skilled sub captain's subs and still incurring the increased repair times.
That aside, now that your not using the four letter word "aura" anymore it's perfectly fine, please install this feature tomorrow and i will be happy to coin the crap out of the lab, research, 6 or 7 months of back logged hulls and then these as well, and many of them too depending of the range of the au... sorry FoE. So that they can keep up with the different fleets I may want to put them in or not keep up as the situation may warrant. This is gonna take some res so I guess i could scrap some to those relatively useless ships I built for past raids and what not or oh yeah my soon to be incontinent subs that will lose their ballast when they encounter the zynth electromagnetic pulse wave thing.
See boys a little rewording and Wooo Hoooo, I'm stoked, Go Team Kixeye!
Mel Brooks
Sectors: Too many to remember off the top of my head.
lvl: 33, I think.
Lvl 34
Sector 361
ID 1122925
Browser: Firefox
OS: WIndows 7
"Kicking the crap out of RRs wherever they Frubble"
Ships Won: who cares you will see them
BP-ID: 1824740....lvl 72
and what troubles me about this the most is that they are allowing these ships to be part of base guard fleets, this will kill base hitting.
Who gives a crap about the word aura? It was funny to joke about for a while as you were expressing your dislike of the concept it represented but if that is the only issue you had with this feature then it shouldn't have been an issue at all. Other than the Q&A it pretty much says the same frick'n thing, they just changed a couple of phrases. Whoever wrote the alpha version of the release was just unlucky enough that a commonly used gaming term combined with a massive (and in my opinion crappy) change to the game caused a huge uproar. There was no way whoever it was could have foreseen that the word aura would have been an issue. Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy for us to criticize, even easier to make fun of as I myself and many others did. It was the easiest target at the time when faced with the vague wall-o-text that often comes with any Kixeye announcement. That's not a dig, there are just to many details for them to lay them all out at once, but just enough to freak people out. If you're going to hate this hate it for what it is not some commonly used term that just didn't quite fit some peoples idea of proper BP terminology. Tell them why you, along with many others, hate it and be specific. Then when they do it anyway politely say thank you as you limp away pulling your pants back up.
Mel Brooks
Sectors: Too many to remember off the top of my head.
lvl: 33, I think.
An idea for the "aura" ships.Great hall remake.
I don't shoot down the idea of having support abilities, in fact I like it. The real navy's of the world have support ships or crew. However, I am not for adding another ship to an already tight lineup.
What I have is an idea for compromise on what seems to be a feature that will come to BP.
Instead of adding a new building, and a new hull, let's look at what we DO already have in the game.
The GREAT HALL. This building is seriously underused for its size. It does not upgrade, and it takes 4 tiles to place it. Let's re purpose this building. Right now it serves as a place to view our officers, great. How about this tactical lab be integrated into this building. Instead of a new Hull, we improve on the existing fleet captains. Have a buff that we could assign to a captain. Lets say that as we upgrade the level of the great hall to unlock more tech. like any other lab. Then we research new skills that can be assigned. For example, lets say we upgrade the great hall to level 2, now we can research a skill called weapons expert lvl 1 (5% firing bonus). Now I can choose to "refit" that skill onto a fleet captain. This of course would be similar to refitting a ship. With the captain having this skill, he would be assigned to the flagship, maybe a red star instead of gold. Now in combat this fleet will have the buff as long as the flagship is present. This would aid with tactical decisions in combat, to destroy the captain ship, thus removing the buff.
We could add captain skills such as defense( evade or armor bonus), sonar expert( for sub detection), engine effectiveness( ship speed buff), Communications expert ( turn speed) etc.
While I support other major concerns on the forums, I see the tactical lab ideas might take priority. Maybe this idea can make use of what we have already, as well as remove the magical aspect that it portrays.
Have you every played an arena-style MMORPG? The healer is (almost) always the first target. Support classes are targeted first, that's just good strategy.
Please stop asking about another shipyard in this thread. Any announcement regarding this would be made in a different thread.