What good are drones? [EOM]

[Spuzzum]

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
I heard that special damage types for drone warheads don't work, at least not in the current Version of SE4. Sorry!

Ah! I was wondering why they did so little damage to that enemy planet*, when I tested them out with the Starting Tech Level set to High. I simply assumed that the planet had shot most of them down with weapons platforms; I guess I should've taken into account the fact that some features haven't been enabled yet.

...Now I'm wondering why they did any damage at all, though. I bombarded that planet with Plague, Neutron, and Radiation warheads. (Or is the damage simply assumed to be "Normal" type damage?)


(* You'd declare someone your enemy too if they used cheat codes to support several hundred drones on planets near your homeworlds. =) )

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Spuzzum:
I really should stop with these plugs (especially considering it isn't even publically available), but...

...In my mod, I made Ion, Tachyon, Null-Space, EMP, Plague, Neutron, Radiation, etc., Versions of drone warheads for my mod -- they're researched as part of their respective weapons categories (i.e. you get Anti-Planet Neutron Warheads if you have Drones and Planetary Weapons). Doubled all of their damage, too.

Drones are definitely useful once you make them useful. =)

Have you tested these yet? In my past experience specialized-damage warhead components do not work. I'll be testing again soon as I have a new game with new data file mods in progress.

And you don't need to set the warheads' damage all that high if you set the ramming damage realistically high. Think about it. What do we hear from the astronomers, every time an asteroid near-miss is noticed, about the power of a little bit of rock hitting the earth at 20 miles per second or more? So, spacships travelling at high speeds will also do massive damage to each other. There are two lines in SETTINGS.TXT:
Ram Ship Source Modifier Percent := 300
Ram Ship Target Modifier Percent := 300

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Spuzzum:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Ed Kolis:
I heard that special damage types for drone warheads don't work, at least not in the current Version of SE4. Sorry!

Ah! I was wondering why they did so little damage to that enemy planet*, when I tested them out with the Starting Tech Level set to High. I simply assumed that the planet had shot most of them down with weapons platforms; I guess I should've taken into account the fact that some features haven't been enabled yet.

...Now I'm wondering why they did any damage at all, though. I bombarded that planet with Plague, Neutron, and Radiation warheads. (Or is the damage simply assumed to be "Normal" type damage?)

---

This is the flip-side of my previous post. Drones ram, and ramming does more damage than you expect. Have you ever totalled the kt of the components in even a drone? That's the basic value used for damage inflicted when they ram.

[PvK]

I have an opponent in a competitive game who is using drones almost exclusively. It's been an interesting game. The strategy can actually work pretty well, but requires learning some things rather than trying to use them naively. They are especially good as something to stockpile during peacetime, since they have no maintenance cost and they are much more powerful when usen en masse.

In games and techniques where resources are important, the zero maintenance advantage can be very important.

PvK

[steveh11]

PvK: In your Proportions Mod are Drones altered in any way? I ask as that's what I'm playing at the moment...

In any case, how do you group Drones together for strike purposes? The high shields available to homeworlds would seem to make anything short of a massed strike rather futile!

Steve.

[Deathstalker]

I don't know if you can group drones into a fleet (havn't tried), I just launch a whole bunch from a planet and then hold down the shift key and click on them with the mouse, then at a target.

[Baron Munchausen]

No, you cannot fleet them. This is part of the problem with drones. A large number of them together get in each other's way and actually impede the attack. This gives the target(s) more time to shoot them down and reduces their effectiveness.

We should at least be able to fleet drones 'by themselves' and give them some sort of order.

[ July 07, 2002, 20:32: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[PvK]

Originally posted by steveh11:
PvK: In your Proportions Mod are Drones altered in any way? I ask as that's what I'm playing at the moment...

In any case, how do you group Drones together for strike purposes? The high shields available to homeworlds would seem to make anything short of a massed strike rather futile!

Steve.

I just noticed this question. Yes drones are a bit different in Proportions, though not a whole lot. Drone armor is different - they can't use Proportions' high-capacity not-hit-first armor types, because drones don't take component-level damage (like all units, they don't degrade in performance until they are completely destroyed).

The combat modifiers in Proportions are all changed from the standard set (q.v.).

Drones in Proportions use quasi-Newtonian movement, and do not get an "advanced materials" speed bonus.

Supply components are less expensive in Proportions.

If your Proportions game is earlier than Version 2.2, then medium and large drones have a lower maximum speed than small drones. In 2.2 the engine limit on larger drones was increased to allow them to keep up.

As for massing them for attack, I think you just need to launch them all at the same time/place with the same speed. Trying to conquer or just cripple or destroy a homeworld in Proportions is (intentionally, since success is a major event) a difficult task requiring massed forces. Drones can be useful for this because of their massive warheads and zero maintenance cost. If you can establish a base on a breathable world that is in drone range of a target homeworld, the huge planetary capacity can be used to amass a very large drone force. You may want to send in large numbers of fighters with similar combat speed at the same time to draw planetary PD, and some ships as well, and then you will have a potent combination.

PvK

[Trajan]

Gentlemen,

I am using drones in my DevNull Mod game vs the CPU. My current tactic is to use them to glass the computer's unprotected rear planets, rather than launch a ship to do it. The zero maintenance is a big bonus.

I especially enjoy launching them from a system where I sent a cloaked troop ship to capture the planet. I had some drones in the cargo bays to begin with, and have been building them ever since. Occasionally, I deliver a new load via transport.

This keeps the damnable CPU players off balance while I grind through their systems one at a time.

Cheers!
Trajan

[Skulky]

<start> A long time ago, actually an original scenario with GOld was the drone wars option. I am thinking of expanding this. </end>

comments?