Class ships in GSF?! Let the speculation/suggestions begin!

[Nemarus]

Perhaps the most surprising news out of yesterday's GSF Devchat stream was the coy answer given to the "Can we fly class ships in GSF?" question: http://www.twitch.tv/swtor/b/514799910?t=58m37s

 

In short, it sounds like something is in the works, though is likely a ways off ... unless the new ship role in June isn't the Infiltrator and is instead the class ship But I doubt that.

 

The dev Chris specifically stated that class ships were too big to be used as alternate models for existing GSF roles. They'd have to be used for something different.

 

That could be as simple as meaning there will be a new "Corvette" role, or it could be something entirely different ... imagine being able to respawn as your class ship as some sort of limited/rare perk (Killstreak bonus? Some sort of power-up or consumable? Something available to only X pilots at a time per side? Something triggered by completing an in-map objective? Or perhaps one pilot on each team in a class ship is the objective?)

 

Personally, I'd just prefer class ships to be a new role. And I'm going to offer my thoughts assuming that is the plan...

 

What would a Corvette be like? Obviously it'll be big ... four or five times the size of the current fighters.

 

I'd also expect it to be much more durable, but with much slower top speed than fighters ... perhaps even lacking boosters.

 

I doubt it will have full 360 degree turrets, as the PvE space game ships don't, but I could see Corvettes having a new primary weapon type--the turbolaser. This weapon wouldn't necessarily have higher DPS than fighter cannons, but it would have much longer range (8-10k) and much wider and more accurate firing arcs than fighters.

 

I can also imagine the Corvette getting the multi-lock missile system from the PvE space game. Imagine a huge missile firing arc able to lock onto multiple ships/mines/drones at once. Of course, the missiles would have to do pretty minor damage (smaller than Cluster Missile), but it would give the Corvette a unique AOE theme.

 

I also suspect the Corvette could get lots of group support/utility components. Repair Drone, Repair Probe, Shield Projector, Hyperspace Beacon and Combat Command all make sense if you think of the Corvette as a starfighter support platform. And EMP Pulse and Remote Slicing are both similar to PvE space game abilities.

 

The real trick will be balancing the ship. It will always be a big/tempting target (though would it actually have a bigger hitbox than other fighters?). Make it too fragile and it'll die too fast to be worth playing. Make it too tough and it could quickly dominate the game. I think the happy medium will center on making the ship fold pretty quickly under sustained fire from 3-4 fighters, but also making it able to repair itself quickly if it escapes or gets fighter cover from its allies.

[Kuciwalker]

If it's much bigger than bombers are already the lack of ship-to-ship collision will be really glaring, as will the fixed hitbox.

 

I think class ships might be better suited to a new game mode, and kept out of Domination/TDM. That makes it easier to define a balanced role for them.

 

Alternately, they could be part of a true PvE GSF.

[Caernos]

Hmmm, I would say more likely it will appear in an Assault style gameplay. Denon would be perfect for this actually, as the battlefield is an actual battlefield. Picture this--while the two command ships duke it out in the center of the map, the fighters have to destroy numerous smaller ships to aid the command ship in victory. These target ships could be anything from Terminus Destroyers and Thranta Warships right down to the PC ships (in scaled versions). Once a team has eliminated enough of the enemies support ships, they then take the fight to the command ship and destroy it.

 

Its similar to the assault gameplay in Ace Combat: Steel Horizon where teams had to capture outposts (by destroying the defenses) before assaulting and destroying the enemy HQ. The difference here is that you don't actually capture anything, you just destroy the enemies support ships, and once those are gone you then attack the command ship, destroying it via Battlefronts 2 style. The beauty is that having more of those ships present for "assault gameplay" would make it feel like even more of a battlefield as fighter zoom between ships gunning for each other, just like the space battle in Episode VI.

 

Players would also have to be tactically minded. Interceptors would have to target the hard hitting ships to keep them from destroying your supports but also would have to protect the heavy hitters so they could do damage and take down the enemy defenses. Ships armed with torpedoes would see a lot of use as they target weakpoints with their heavy hitting long lock on weapons.

 

So, that is what I speculate we will see Class ships appear as; targets in a future gameplay mode.

[Ramalina]

First I'll state that my GSF main is a gunslinger, so this is a wildly smuggler p.o.v. biased post.

 

If they're big and tanky, then they'd be logical carriers in a capture the flag variant that's really more 'smuggle the cargo'.

 

The way I'd, propose the setup would be to have a finite resource in a source container(s). Cap ship hangar, space station hangar, hollowed out asteroid, whatever. Just an enclosed space you have to fly into and loiter in for a certain number of seconds to pick up the cargo. Then you fly through the battle and into another container to deposit the cargo. I wouldn't make the cargo transport capable of winning the match on it's own, but allow it to be maybe 20 to 40 percent of a victory condition.

 

Interesting variations might be defense turrets around the entries to containers, doors to the containers that need to be blown up before entering, forcefield barrier or other obstacles creating a small maze to fly through (possibly timed) just inside or outside the entrance to the container.

 

If the class ship is blown up the cargo is blown up and cannot be recovered by other ships. This could remove that portion of the resource from the match, or it could potentially respawn in the container after a delay.

 

Basically retrieve the object, a classic MMO quest type, but using your spaceship instead of walking or taking a speeder.

 

As far as the probability that lots of people would crash lots of class ships into obstacles, well yes. Futile attempts to not crash would be part of the fun. "You said not a scratch." - some smuggler type guy

Edited March 28, 2014 by Ramalina

[Davionix]

My prediction is that they may be related not directly to gsf but have something to do with guild capital ships maybe Edited March 29, 2014 by Davionix

[RipperTheMad]

I would call it Hero Class Fighters

and for the sake of balace they would all have same stats for every class...

i know same stats is boring but since you only get 1 of those ships it must be balanced

[Altheran]

Not really hyped for Class Ships in GSF.

[NathanielStarr]

I think class ships will be used in the PvE element of GSF.

[Zoom_VI]

Not really hyped for Class Ships in GSF.

 

Ikr, you could block B in kuat entirely with a class ship

[Verain]

I just don't know how to make this a thing. It would rule, but those ships are just too large. Right now the combat system sort of breaks down on even the bombers, where you can't shoot wings but instead have to fire at the pilot's nuts in order to score a hit. A cap ship would need physics we just don't have I'm thinking.

[MaybeEvil]

This sort of idea is not high on my personal wishlist for GSF.

 

More maps and different components, please.

[Itkovian]

Let's be clear: if that IS something they're actually planning, they will obviously try and balance it as much as possible. Things like size and power will be something that makes sense within the context of GSF. They won't be hulking capital ships that overpower everything else, for example.

 

But we really have no info, so there's nothing to really discuss. It could be just a cartel market reskin (make your fighter looks like you class ship), all the way to a new role. Who knows?

 

That said, I want to see new game modes added before personal starships (but, of course, we have no ways to know if personal starships would even be worked on before these new game modes).

[thomasbaxter]

All I would really like out of GSF personalisation at the moment would be:

 

A) A better dye system so can customise a lot more to your own

B) Some sort of windows showing your crew and yourself piloting the ships so u actually feel it's your character piloting the ship. (More star warsy seeing T7 on top of the ship if you're rep side.

C) Your own 'real' hanger in beside your normal ship or ON your normal ship to tie GSF with the rest of swtor better.

[Nethgilne]

Hmmm. In the single player space game we currently have, each mission is the player-ships doing high speed fly bys, tons of insta-lock missiles, and just wreaking havoc on swarming fighters left and right.

 

If we keep the same scale and functionality of the single player space game and apply that to GSF, then corvette sized player ships could fit in as large weapons platforms that does massive damage, but cannot stop, cannot score objectives and have turning radiuses so large the it would only make sense for them to fly to one end of the map to another, turn around, and make another run.

 

I'm not saying this would be fun. I'm just proposing an idea that would be consistent with what we know of our personal ships vs. star fighters.

[Nethgilne]

All I would really like out of GSF personalisation at the moment would be:

 

A) A better dye system so can customise a lot more to your own

B) Some sort of windows showing your crew and yourself piloting the ships so u actually feel it's your character piloting the ship. (More star warsy seeing T7 on top of the ship if you're rep side.

C) Your own 'real' hanger in beside your normal ship or ON your normal ship to tie GSF with the rest of swtor better.

 

I would love to see custom animations for the various missile locks. For example, unique flare plumes dispensed upon doing a barrel roll, or distortion field

 

http://i.imgur.com/CguITpF.gif

 

I'd also really like to see our own instanced hangar. someplace to walk around and climb all over my fighters. =)

[Nemarus]

Hmmm. In the single player space game we currently have, each mission is the player-ships doing high speed fly bys, tons of insta-lock missiles, and just wreaking havoc on swarming fighters left and right.

 

If we keep the same scale and functionality of the single player space game and apply that to GSF, then corvette sized player ships could fit in as large weapons platforms that does massive damage, but cannot stop, cannot score objectives and have turning radiuses so large the it would only make sense for them to fly to one end of the map to another, turn around, and make another run.

 

I'm not saying this would be fun. I'm just proposing an idea that would be consistent with what we know of our personal ships vs. star fighters.

 

Within the tube (which represented a strategic flight plan, not tactical maneuvering), the class ships are actually quite nimble. Dat aileron roll!

 

As for the ease with which they took out hundreds of fighters ... those were all the previous generation of fighter technology--likely old tech from the First War. In fact, I suspect that both Republic and Empire saw the effectiveness that a lone, Corvette-class ship could have against superior numbers of cheap, mass-produced fighters, and so as the war heated up, they devoted more resources into building high-quality starfighters that would not be so outmatched by Corvette-class ships. This became especially important as the number of talented pilots dwindled (due to Corvette-lead massacres).

 

Imperial fighters like the Legacy and Dominion fighters were replaced by the vastly superior (and more expensive to produce) Blackbolt and Sting; the Extinction Bomber was replaced by the Razorwire and Legion. Republic Talons were replaced by NovaDrives, and the Republic Bombers (can't remember if they were named) were replaced by Pike's, Ramparts and Warcarriers.

 

Space battle strategy shifted--by necessity--from a numbers game to something more intimate, with battles determined by the marriage of skill and bleeding edge technology. Instead of fielding wings of 50, 60 or even 70 fighters flown by every farmboy available, both sides now chose to strick with smaller squadrons of 8 to 12 fighters with the best pilots.

 

So far, the Corvette ships have not kept pace with fighter advances and so have been held back from combat zones. But Republic and Imperial engineers are working to refit those ships in order to change up the battlefield once more...

 

... and who knows what happened to all that cloaking technology based on Ilum crystals?

 

 

... at least that's my personal explanation

Edited April 2, 2014 by Nemarus