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Old 2012-05-12, 08:06 PM   [Ignore Me] #1
Baneblade
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Outfit Air Cruisers Redux


Original OP Text can be found here: http://www.planetside-universe.com/s...&postcount=294

Originally Posted by Baneblade View Post
After experiencing the way PS2 feels and handles such things, I have revised my OAC idea. OACs can be spawned freely so long as the outfit resource pool is sufficient and the timer has been expended. Outfits will be given an outfit resource pool specific to them. Outfit Resources will not be based on performance or how many players you can zerg with, nor even how many BR 100s you can stack on a medic.

It takes 7 days to fill the pool to capacity from zero.

There are four base frames to work with: Frigate, Destroyer, Cruiser, and Battlecruiser. All of them have Outfit Spawns which feature no timers, are always available, and are accessible from any continent. OACs are altitude locked at 50% of flight ceiling. They have no ability to reduce or increase altitude. They are essentially water naval ships in the air in regards to navigation and combat.

OACs have their own ingame voice channels. OAC Commanders can also talk to each other over voice with either the general broadcast (enemies can talk to each other) or the faction broadcast. There are also chatbox analogs to those channels.

Once spawned, each OAC has a minimum activity timer that must be expired before it can be despawned with a 100% resource refund. That timer is 6 hours. If the timer is not expired, the OAC will not despawn and can be destroyed. Despawning an OAC is merely a mirror of the spawning process and requires the OAC to be at the spawning facility. Once the despawn is triggered, the OAC remains in the world for 15 minutes. It can be attacked and destroyed during those 15 minutes, but moving it or using its weapons or abilities cancels the despawn and restarts the 6 hour timer.

OAC Weapon systems are entirely designed to combat other OACs and thus eschew the ability to effectively combat smaller aircraft and have no ability to engage ground targets (OAC weapons are like AA turrets on ground vehicles and have no ability to aim lower than 0 degrees). OAC hardpoints are either fore or aft with 270 degree arcs centered on their orientation (broadsides will be common for all but the Frigate), they also only have 10 degrees of up vertical adjustment. OAC Weapons have limited ammo and must be resupplied, which can be done by parking over a friendly ammo tower and entering resupply mode. Resupply mode takes 300 seconds to completely rearm the ship from empty.

Frigates are the fastest OACs (50 kph straight line, 30 while turning) and can choose from two special abilities: Cloaking or Engine Overload. Cloaking works like all other cloaking systems in PS2, with one exception: The Frigate does double damage for 30 seconds after decloaking. EO is basically an afterburner and can add 20 kph to the Frigate's current speed for 5 seconds, reaching that +20 kph by the 5th second. Frigates have two fore hardpoints for weapons, are about the footprint of three Galaxies, and have two internal decks (Command and Crew). The Command Deck is small and cramped, with only space for the Commander and the two Gunners. The Crew deck is about the size of a Tower Spawn room featuring an equipment terminal and a dropship trooper hatch (essentially a down elevator to the ground). The Frigate has no outside deck access. The only way to board the Frigate is via spawning.

Destroyers are offensive specialists with solid speed (40/25 kph). The Destroyer special is Interdiction, a leeching effect that basically does to enemy OACs what a concussion grenade does to enemy infantry. It is an AOE ability that centers around the Destroyer. Being a short range ability (less than 500 m) it requires some effort and balls to pull off. Destroyers have three fore and one aft hardpoint and are about the footprint of five Galaxies. They have a larger command deck with windows. The crew deck is larger with windows. The Destroyer also has a small Flight Deck large enough to handle one Lib or a couple ESFs. The Flight Deck rearms/repairs aircraft.

The Cruiser is the backbone of an OAC Fleet, costing half what the Battlecruiser does, with respectable offense and defense. Speed however, is not on the agenda at only 30/20 kph). Weighing in at seven Galaxies worth of footprint, the Cruiser sports one of two specials: Ablative Armor or Retaliation. Ablative Armor enhances the Cruiser's natural armor to ignore most damage for a short amount of time and to repair some of it (think Fire Suppression mixed with Vanguard Shield). Retaliation quickens weapon rate of fire by 25% whenever the hull is below 75%. The Cruiser Command Deck is large and has access to an external flying bridge. The Crew Deck is spacious and has an observation lounge. The Flight Deck is large enough for a Galaxy and retains the rearm/repair feature.

The Battlecruiser is by far the pinnacle of OACs, footprinting at twelve Galaxies and being able to use both available specials at the same time, it is clearly the king of the skies. At 25/15 kph it is definitely the slowest king ever... except maybe Henry VIII. The BC features Shields and Aircraft Spawning. Shields are an always on ability that adds roughly 50% to the already impressive defense. Shields regenerate over time and protect the otherwise exposed Flight Deck while active. Shields must be fully drained of hp to be deactivated, and require 15 minutes to recharge before reactivating. Aircraft Spawning is done on the carrier-like Flight Deck, only ESFs and Liberators may be spawned. The Command Deck resembles a control tower and allows clear visibility of the skies around the BC. The Crew Deck adds a meeting room for outfits to gather together in. The BC has a Cargo Deck which allows it to load and unload ground vehicles with infantry style elevators. The Cargo Deck is protected by the hull of the OAC and is large enough to move five MBTs comfortably.

I'll edit a quote of this into the OP as an update.

Last edited by Baneblade; 2013-12-28 at 06:11 PM. Reason: 2013 EOY
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