Easily distinguish ship class type

posted on October 27th, 2009, 3:23 am

I wish there was a way to easily and accurately distinguish a ship's class/type (i.e. destroyer, etc). (ship size is sometimes confusing or misleading) As it is, the only way I know how is to memorize all of them... and that ain't easy or accurate

posted on October 27th, 2009, 3:51 am

I confess I'd like to have chassis types clarified for "In-Btween's" like the Kvort, the Norway, Intrepid, and such.  There are just a few ships that seem stats-wise to straddle the line between what a cruiser and what a destroyer might be.  Maybe an ingame tooltip could be added so that we can all be sure as of what the ship is going to respond to in terms of damage reduction.

  For the Longest time I thought that the Vor'cha was considered a battleship 

posted on October 27th, 2009, 4:22 am

I wish there was a way to easily and accurately distinguish a ship's class/type (i.e. destroyer, etc). (ship size is sometimes confusing or misleading) As it is, the only way I know how is to memorize all of them... and that ain't easy or accurate

Well you can kind of just guess how big they are based on where they are in the build tree.

posted on October 27th, 2009, 5:35 am

A tactical overlay, like that of Homeworld, that would be toggled, would be spectacular. Different polygon shapes for destroyers, cruisers, and battleships. That way, you'd know instantly. This is probably possible.

posted on October 27th, 2009, 7:42 am

Well although this may never be reflected in-game, when the wiki comes out, I highly assume that ship details (including type) will be published. Heavy reading is going to be required 

posted on October 27th, 2009, 4:32 pm

Forget wikis, there's the online guide

posted on October 27th, 2009, 5:10 pm

   For the Longest time I thought that the Vor'cha was considered a battleship 

it WAS, until it got nerutered  >:(

at least it preformed that way

posted on October 27th, 2009, 8:25 pm

A tactical overlay, like that of Homeworld, that would be toggled, would be spectacular. Different polygon shapes for destroyers, cruisers, and battleships. That way, you'd know instantly. This is probably possible.

Is that different shape tooltips?

posted on October 27th, 2009, 8:45 pm

It's only four different classifications essentially, and most are based on in game apparent size... not so bad I think

posted on October 31st, 2009, 11:18 am

Not always, remember, the Defiant is considered a battleship.

posted on November 1st, 2009, 2:40 pm

Ah, but it's a medium sized vessel: thus it takes 80% from pulses and torpedoes miss 20% of the time

posted on November 1st, 2009, 2:44 pm

Medium? Isn't that a little big for a Defiant?

posted on November 1st, 2009, 2:47 pm

Well, medium probably incorporates the fact that it is a bit less damageable than a B'rel, but also the fact that it is quite maneuverable. With only four options, making it a medium sized vessel makes sense to me when you consider how many times it was hit by torpedoes and other weaponry in the show.

posted on November 1st, 2009, 3:12 pm

I always saw the reason the Defiant class was considered to be of 'medium' size was because of the power output (IIRC they had to shut down all power on their first cloaked expedition into the Gamma Quadrant or they'd be detected) Kinda like EVE Onlines 'Signature Radius' the larger it is, the easier a ship is to hit.

Perhaps FO should take on a mixture of the size and power generation?

posted on November 1st, 2009, 3:39 pm

It probably is a combination of all those reasons: I just simplified it most likely

Best guess would be that the size ratio is determined by how easy it is to be damaged, maneuverability, actual size, unit role, and possibly even weapon output. For instance, the Defiant was often seen destroying smaller units with its pulse weapons, it is a relatively small vessel (though size changes over the course of the shows... in comparison), it has a high weapon output, but is damaged fairly readily (not too often, but when it gets hit, it takes some damage), and is rather maneuverable (but still manages to get hit a lot by torpedoes/beam weaponry in the shows).