Ship design sticky

[Kitsune]

Can there be one? Like a "post your ship designs here" thread? I'd love to be able to look at other people's designs. I was looking somewhere in a thread of a few, but I can't seem to find it now.

[Lord Knightmarez]

This is my PURE EVIL design. http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/275111928020193757/B0548AD8579DF190E206126E3B84B71937D39276/
It only works in human hands, but this is how it RAPES EVERYTHING.

FRONT DUAL SNIPER = lots of HP to RAM the enemy when their sheilds are down.

Sniper cannons = best anti strike craft cannons. Front and side = ~180 degree 3 cannon front facing pwnage. pew pew pew.....pew pew pew..... strike craft die even small or at extreme range or close range.


Next up, is the (also) right hand side SHOTGUNS, Best dps/energy at point blank range, and good at blasting chunks and modules off any ships.
on the LEFT hand side is full bank of sheild killing missiles. Since they are on the LEFT WING, facing away from the enemy, as pilot the RIGHT WING with the cannons, i get ALL WEAPONS firing at full efficency at all times.

Missiles DESTROY enemy shields, Cannons DESTROY ship. ONE TWO PUNCH KNOCKOUT.
Brutal, Efficent , capable of extreme range, and point blank brawling.

I also added two banks of drones. One laser (for shields) , one cannon (for armour). This is to make sure that INCOMMING MISSILES are destroyed, and for long-range engagements against those who forget to buy point defence.
The Rear of the vessel has THREE engines, which make a slight c0<k-and-balls shape to theship.
This also allows for two rear and two sidewards facing POINT DEFENCE, allowing for even more anti missile and anti-drone protection.

The entire game i invested in SHIELDS for defence, ignoring armour.

its VERY FAST
It DESTROYS shields
It DESTROYS everything else
It DOMINATES LONG RANGE
it DOMINATES POINT BLANK
when it dodges missiles they are SHOT DOWN BY POINT DEF because the PD is at the REAR , ''arse shooting'' all incomming drones/missiles/etc
it has 100% of all weapons firing at ALL TIMES when piloted correctly ( right wing facing enemy)

An AI would fail at flying this, but it's for skilled human piloting.

The ONLY challenge i had on MAX DIFFICULTY was MY OWN SHIP. which i PWNED just by moving to the LEFT WING, and careful piloting, including a ramming attempt.

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/397834442104304446/7AB765170BBC3FC4C6FA5B9077341EC8536ADD96/

Threat level : REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Bozobub]

That link is just to an image of the Starmap ^^' .

[𝒜𝒾𝓉𝓀𝑒𝓃]

http://puu.sh/sfB35.jpg

well my ship is..... not legit so probs wont be that "valid" but i wanted to see my design for a ship come togeather and here it is.....

tis a realy fast ship slightly slower than every other ai ship trying to afterburn after me, was built around the idea of a huge kite ship where uses drones for the main offencive and sticks at range n keeps kiting till the enemys sheild is down and just snipe them with a rail gun

the front of the ship is the railgun while the wings right behind it are missiles, the wings behind them are miniguns acting as defence and since im always kiting im keeping missile damage to near minimum due to defence taking them out, behind them is two large wings that hold lazer fighters these are used for taking the opposing ships shield down and just keeping sustained dps on them even tho its weak, the wings behind them are short range lazers these i have honnesly no clue why i keep them other than their purdy purple i like and would rather have them be missiles mixing in with the fighters when their attacking possibly confusing the enermys point defence, n finaly the engine has attack fighters for attacking armor n hull coz lazers honestly aint that great at it n they probs aint either but there u have it mu dodgy un-legit ship so ye. like it hate it idk ?? any tips? i guess?

[Fluffless]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=806230903

Hey guys! This is my carrier. Any tips on how to improve it? Still playing aroung with what weapons I'd like to use. Currently there are 4 sniper guns (nose and engine), 2 flaks and 2 miniguns. I don't know what to think about the flak cannons yet. And I was wondering: Do I even need miniguns with that much fighters?

[Sire]

Here are some designs that I have been using for my playthroughs.

Brick   Boomerang M               Grinder M

 333	 333333333		     1
2XXX2	2XXXXMXXXX2		    3X3
2XMX2	2X2233322X2		    3X3
3XXX3	2X       X2		    3X3
3XXX3	2X       X2		    3X3
3XXX3	 1       1		    3M3
 333				    3X3
			            1X1
     			          221X122
			         1XXXXXXX1
			          2233322

The Brick==========

My first design. I cleared Story Mode with this ship before Synergies was even a thing. Here's a picture I took of the original after I beat Story Mode.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=687233422
While my story clear design was a mixture of random parts that I got over the course of the playthrough, one of my planned builds will use...

Cores - Militia (Shields)
1 Large Front - Pulsar
1 Large Engine - Miniguns

1 Medium Left - Chainsaw Beam
1 Large Left - Zapper Hanger
1 Medium Right - Chainsaw Beam
1 Large Right - Missiles

Also, the manueverability of this ship is is amazing. Ramming is one of this ship's strong points, as well as engaging and disengagign to recharge shields and the reactor. It plays more strategically instead of warping in all guns blazing.

As for my current design (Sandbox Zombies, Threat 85, Missing Parts)...
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=808575221
Cores - Militia
1 Large Front - Omi Laser
1 Large Engine - Zapper Hanger

1 Small Left - Minigun
1 Small Left - Missiles
1 Large Left - Pulsar

1 Small Right - Minigun
1 Small Right - (Missiles)
1 Large Right - Pulsar

Boomerang M==========

Standing for "Boomerang Mothership" in honor of the original design from SPAZ 1, this ship was intended to be a "Shotgun Miner Ship" or a "Cannon Mining Ship", but later transitioned into using Particle Cannons and support weapons.

However, as I was using Mining Cores, the manueverability sucks with this ship. Sure, it may pack a punch, but attempting to move the ship around to face the target is a big pain. I hear using the Bounty Hunter Cores may help, so I may try that out in a different playthrough.

My current design (Sandbox Clear, Threat 105, Missing Parts)...
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=808575458
Cores - Mining (Armor)

1 Small Front - Shotgun (Will likely replace)
4 Medium Front - Particle Cannon

1 Small Left - (Ion SRM)
1 Large Left - Zapper Hanger

1 Small Right - Ion SRM
1 Large Right - Zapper Hanger

2 Small Engine - (Minigun)
2 Medium Engine - Missiles
1 Large Enginer - Ion SRM

I am probably going to revise the ship's front and engines for more Large parts, so I may end up with...

3 Large Front - Particle Cannons

1 Small Engine - Missiles
2 Large Engines - Ion SRM

Grinder M==========

Also a homage to SPAZ 1 for the original Grinder, this mothership design is perhaps my favorite thus far. The speed is good, manueverability is good, and has plenty of different spots for weapons.

My current design (story postgame, replaced my original Brick, Threat 171)...
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=808575576
Cores - Militia (Shields)
1 Small Front - Minigun
2 Small Front - Ion SRM
2 Medium Front - Omni Laser

1 Small Left - Missiles
1 Small Left - Laser
1 Large Left - Chainsaw Beam
1 Large Left - Zapper Hanger

1 Small Right- Missiles
1 Small Right - Laser
1 Large Right - Chainsaw Beam
1 Large Right - Zapper Hanger

1 Large Engine - Miniguns
2 Medium Engine - Missiles

[Bozobub]

My current endgame Synergy build:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=810071060
3x Plasma Dispenser, 2x Zapper Pod, and a Zapper Hangar (in the engine)
(Pardon all the litter, this shot is in the middle of a largish war ^^')

Yes, really, that's it =) . And so far, enemy motherships AND strike craft die quickly, either under direct attack or via my own SCs (2x L6 Hammerhead with 2x Plasma, 2x Pulser and an L6 Shatter with two Pulsers and the rest Zapper fighters). No mothership lasts more than 3 salvos of the Plasma Dispensers, and usually only 2 is sufficient.

Missiles, Warheads, and fighters/bombers simply can't touch me unless I let them, and my ship is faster than SCs, even, much less enemy motherships. I also almost never have to reload, and if I DO have to, it's generally once per battle.

Note: My results are also affected STRONGLY by my perks! My Zapper Fighter engine, for example, shows 15.6 DPS, so YMMV, depending on your perk choices.

[Blorf]

Wow, um health much. lol

[Bozobub]

That was incidental; I actually prefer shields far more than health or armor (and agility over either of those, hence so many Watch Spires). I think it's largely due to the central vertical axis being all L6 subcores with 100% synergy bonus, but I also have a four non-Spire cores (I don't turn down 6-star subcores).

[Blorf]

So now the question is, is that ship superior to your non synergied vertical or horizontal stick. Or is it right on the edge, like it could go either way. That is what we want.

[Bozobub]

In terms of raw power, it's roughly the same; from just "feel", slightly weaker but not much so, if at all. In terms of maneuverability? No contest. The small size also causes the enemy (and my own SCs =p) to miss me more.

I *think* I can make a "U" variant that can compete — straight "stick" builds aren't pleasing to me, so far — but... I dunno. It's the agility that does it, more than anything else. For example, I can send all of my fighters out on offense, then simply outrun incoming threats in a big circle, hammering away with the Plasmas.

And it's not the Plasmas, themselves; the same build works fine with Pulsers, instead. The only real change is that'd take a bit longer. In fact, less shields (even 25-30% less) and 2/3 less life would also be quite sufficient, since I'm rarely hit. I'm sure people who like tankier, slower builds, however, would disagree - lol.

Frankly, I feel synergy shouldn't be made any stronger, but I'm also a bit skeptical of making it much weaker (making synergy weaker would also weaken agility, which is why I don't need as high stats in the 1st place =s). So you're at least very close to the "sweet spot", imo, if not right on it. That's also only one viewpoint *shrug* ...

Currently, I've seen some people on the forums sporting "hybrid" builds ("bricks" of w/e sort + single-thickness extensions), which is another indication that you're close to the ideal point, I'd guess.

On my next runthrough (or later on this one) I'll try a "U" build and see how it compares with the new weapon systems, and then some sort of hybrid.

Non sequitur
That brings to mind another possible "home" core change: Instead of some kind of weapons or somesuch, as we've talked about before, or some overall somewhat flavorless stat change, why not have the player pick a home core "faction" (including one "pirate" faction) specialty, just like starbases, which affects both stats AND synergy bonuses in varying ways?

I'd actually have each home core do one or the other (affect overall stats OR change synergy bonuses) and have 2 per faction. For example, for the Hunters faction, you could choose either a stronger-than-base synergy bonus for any engine/maneuverability stats or a (somewhat lower) direct bonus. And the "Pirate" faction would have significantly lower bonuses, but to ALL stats/synergy (again, to either synergy bonuses or directly).

I think this would add a lot of flavor to the (currently) somewhat "blah" home cores. It also would take zero new art/animation/CPU/RAM assets =) .

[Blorf]

Thanks very much for your reporting on this. The added information helps. It is hard to tune in a vacuum.

[Bozobub]

OK, back with a "U" variant using the new weapons, and... It's not definite but "sticks" seem to carry the day.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=811510283
4x Pulser
3x Plasma Dispenser
2x Zapper Hangar
Attack Hangar
Zapper Pod
4x Zapper Pair

Important note: While my weapons aren't particularly high-tier (0-5 stars), ALL of my cores are now L6 Watch Spires, unlike my previous synergy build, so there's some apples in my mothership's oranges =) . The stats don't directly compare, as this is in the middle of an active game, so you can not haz hard numbers, apologies.

Verdict: Almost as much agility, much more flexibility (the Pulsers really help vs. SCs), saner HP/shields ratio. Packs the equivalent of 4 Hangars, yet sacrifices little direct-fire potential. It's definitely significantly stronger than my last synergy build. I'm NOT sure, however, I would feel the same way, without my many L6 Watch Spires =o .

Is it more effective? One on one, no, but large 3 vs 1 fights are much easier, frankly. And my voluminous fighter cap (just about twice my synergy build) also doesn't hurt. I think either type of build is already viable in multiplayer, but synergy builds will tend to severely punish both flight and design errors.

I'm now back to thinking synergy needs some sort of *small* additional boost. Perhaps better carryover into attached weapon modules?

Side note: For consistency, Fighter Pairs probably ought to have somewhat reduced range from Pods, just as Pods are from Hangars. Maybe 500m?

[Sire]

I've been theorycrafting about another Mothership design and ended up creating what I call the "Manta Ray M." It is a twist on the "big i" design, focusing cores up from front instead of at the rear. Here's a concept screenshot of it, but it is missing the front parts and 2 small engines.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=812378158
When I tried it for a test run using a mixture of Militia Parts from my postgame file, it seems to have good firepower but still suffers from turning issues similar to the Boomerang M (Inverse U). I'll have to try again using Watch Spires and Sun Hunter parts, which is convenient considering the origin of the Manta Ray.

I wanted to recreate the Fusion Emitter of Doom (8 Large Fusion Emitters & 2 Leech Emitters) from Spaz 1 to Spaz 2 (3 Large Front Chainsaw Beams, 1 Large Left Leech Beem, 1 Large Right Ion Beam). Although Chainsaw Beams do not seem as effective as the original Fusion Emitters compared to alternative weapons (Plasma Dispensers or Pulsars), I still wanted to recreate the ship anyway.

* * * * *

Out of curosity, I started comparing part sizes for my ship designs. Please note that sometimes it is possible to cram parts together or parts are larger than originally planned, so actual slots may vary. I use mainly Militia parts to determine these values.

The Brick   Boomerang M    Grinder M           Manta Ray M

   333       333333333           1             333333333
  2XXX2     2XXXXMXXXX2         3X3           1XXXXMXXXX1
  2XMX2     2X2233322X2         3X3            1223X3221
  3XXX3     2X       X2         3X3               3X3
  3XXX3     2X       X2         3X3               3X3
  3XXX3     1        1          3M3              1XXX1
   333                          3X3               333
                                1X1
                              221X122
                             1XXXXXXX1
                              2233322

         Brick    Boomerang M    Manta Ray M  Grinder M
Large    4 3      4 3|5 3|7 3    6 3          5 3|1 3 |6 3
Medium   2 2      6 2|4 2|0 2    2 2          4 2|16 2|2 2
Small    0 1      2 1|3 1|5 1    6 1          7 1|7 1 |8 1

Based off this...
1. Boomerang M is best for maxing out Large Parts, at 7.
2. However, the Manta Ray M may be better than the Boomerang (26) because it has 2 (28) extra slots in its favor, mainly for side parts. Both the Boomerang and Manta Ray are "forward focused" ships.
3. Better still, the Grinder has more slots than the Manta Ray, by 2 (30). However, the Grinder attacks mainly using side parts and manueverability.
4. Want to go crazy with Medium parts and varied weapons? Use the Grinder, with a whopping 16 Medium Parts on one of the build variants!
5. Then there is the Brick. It has the least number of parts, but has synergy working in its favor.

I am highly looking forward to testing out the Manta Ray design as it seems to be a straight upgrade (for me) from the Boomerang one. Of course, the Grinder will probably remain my favorite, but we will see what happens.

[Bozobub]

@Sire: Some thoughts, in no particular order:

• Using a large front massif of w/e sort, like your "Manta", can and will cause LoS (Line of Sight) issues for your flank weapons, if they are direct-fire types.
  
  
• You can fit EIGHT 3-slot modules on a "Boomerang" (or any 9-slot-wide "U" variant). See my post immediately above; it has 4 large wings, 2 small wings, 3 large noses, a large engine, a medium engine, and 2 small engines ^^' .
  
  
• Remember, all of your designs can be rotated 90° (either way) or 180°.
  
  
• Don't ignore "L"-type designs. Any time you "bend" a stick or add a "stub" to the side of a brick, you lose at least one slot (because 2 overlap). An "L" design will have one more slot than the otherwise equivalent "T" (inverse designs are the same).
  
  
• The viability of smaller vs. larger parts completely changes, depending on the stars/bonuses of the items in question. Most of the time, however, at the same star level, large parts win out. You also can only get several weapons at either the 2-slot (Pulsers, Sniper Cannons, etc.) or 3-slot (Mass Drivers, Plasma Dispensers) tier and/or the effectiveness jumps at the next tier (Pulsers and Sniper cannons get 2x the turrets at 50% extra slot cost, for example, and Fighter Hangars have more range than Pairs/Pods).

[Sire]

@ Bozobub

Thanks for the reply!

1. I understand about the LoS issues about the flank weapons, which is why I normally make them Missiles or Drones. However, I want to see if I can fit in the Leech Beam and Ion Beam in there, if doesn't work, I'll figure out something else.

2. Aye, I know of your design on the U "Boomerang" ship. That's why I added slots may vary! (Heretic! Blaspemy! It is witchcraft that those parts all fit together! I want those extra four slots!)

3. Design rotation is a thing, but I like naming the different rotations. I tried an actual "T" design once and was not impressed on how fast it moved and found the inverse "T" (Grinder) to be much better for my playstyle.

4. I know "L" designs are probably the most efficient ones, perhaps aside from making a pure stick. However, as I like my symmetry, I shy away from them. (Now I'll end up making a "Right Hook M." Oh boy...)

5. I know larger parts are typically better all round as well as unlocking new weapons. However, as I like a mixture of different weapons and never leave home without some Point Defense, I may have to use smaller parts to accomodate all of the variety. Also, it may just boil down to what looks cool instead of being purely effective.