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Mechanics of Space Combat: Disengagement


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There are a few directions for space combat that NQ can choose to go. Ships in space could have weapons that have severe limitations to range and/or tracking resulting in combat up close and personal at velocities that are relatively mild. Sort of a fighter pilot scenario or with less maneuverable ships like 18th century sea battles.

 

Conversely, weaponry could be longer ranged and deadly resulting in ships flying under very high velocity and following trajectories that provide for quick passes at the enemy ship/fleet. Anything slower would only insure the destruction of most combatants under overpowering firepower over too long a time of exposure. This sort of combat would be much like knights charging at one another for a pass, weapons fire in the limited 'window' of opportunity, then each side assesses damage and decides on another pass or whether to retreat. Maybe not as visceral as the former example but one taking more consideration into firepower placement and keen examination of approach vectors, not to mention overall fleet formations.

 

There are other models to choose from, of course, but one aspect of space combat I'm most curious about has to do with leaving the combat engagement. In other games there have been a mix of methods addressing this. In some games it's been possible to target a ship's specific systems and thereby knock it out. The odds of success are usually not high, and overall damage is usually light, but the impact it can have on a ship can be huge. For example, a ship targets an enemy ship's warp capability. The odds aren't very good but if the system is damaged, that ship's going nowhere and may easily be boarded.

 

Other games incorporate technology that jams or suppresses another ship's systems especially propulsion systems. Such games end up using this technology to a great deal to insure battles come to a fiery conclusion. Instances are tractor beams and warp disruptors and web scramblers.

 

I'm curious to see what degree Dual Universe 'pins' players in space combat. It can be an outright jam as noted above or left as a choice to leave that requires a large amount of energy to do and puts the ship in jeopardy(low shields, no active weapons, etc). Lots of ways to do this and looking forward to seeing what NQ have in store.

 

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Perhaps make FTL drives much more easily traceable and compromise (damage resistance and scrambling resistance much lower) when in combat WHILE the enemies FTL drives get a boost when following the target.

(Yes I know this is easily abuse-able.)

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Players and the meta of DU will decide what weapon/ship combo will be the best. Depending on game mechanics and cvc.

 

But it's actually a good question: will there be some sort of "warp scram" we know from eve or will it be more like a random lucky game?

Tbh, I would rather see the latter with dedicated ships/elements to pull ships out of ftl or shutting down their sublight engines. More specialization, more diverse ship combos, more gameplay for newbros. Plus I don't really like the mechanic of a small, fast ship holding down a huge vessel and just hero-scramming while waiting for friends. I think DU has the opportunity not to make eve 2.0 but instead something better. Like scanning for traces of certain engines, warping faster to the possible destination and shutting down the engines with a highly trained and skilled crew

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I see disengagement as simple as being able to outrun the other player.

 

Is your ship built to be faster than the other guys?

 

Have you disabled their systems via damage, jammimg or hacking?

 

If you're slower than them, you're toast. No additional functionality is needed.

 

I see no reason to have FTL interdiction.

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From what I've read on NQ's propulsion schemes for Dual Universe, it looks like they'll have similar propulsion types as EVE Online. There will be a basic maneuver drive/s, a warp drive to more quickly traverse a star system and then an interstellar drive either depending on an external gate or installed internally in a ship. 

 

The interstellar drive types are not going to be available at first, and it won't be an issue with initial game play being focused on exploring Alioth then its system. What will have more significance are the forms of propulsion within a system. Combat may be possible while warping from one system location to another but I'm betting it probably won't be. That leaves basic maneuver speeds for combat with warp being the means of absolutely disengaging from combat. Of course, with a higher basic velocity(in EVE this is modified with the use of an 'afterburner' or 'microwarpdrive') a ship can eventually disengage from combat as well.

 

Personally, when it comes to disengagement I'd be more inclined to handling this area with devices or methods that are specialized rather than the norm. For example, any device that can tractor another ship should be specialized with some requirements that require compromise. Maybe allow tractor beams but make it only as effective as the ship's mass the tractor beam is mounted on. Or allow weapons to target specific systems on a ship in order to either bring them offline or damage them outright. This would be cool because it would require a response in terms of repair from the affected ship's crew, adding more elements to game play. The same thing for devices that might dampen a target ship's propulsion drives.

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From what I've read on NQ's propulsion schemes for Dual Universe, it looks like they'll have similar propulsion types as EVE Online. There will be a basic maneuver drive/s, a warp drive to more quickly traverse a star system and then an interstellar drive either depending on an external gate or installed internally in a ship. 

 

The interstellar drive types are not going to be available at first, and it won't be an issue with initial game play being focused on exploring Alioth then its system. What will have more significance are the forms of propulsion within a system. Combat may be possible while warping from one system location to another but I'm betting it probably won't be. That leaves basic maneuver speeds for combat with warp being the means of absolutely disengaging from combat. Of course, with a higher basic velocity(in EVE this is modified with the use of an 'afterburner' or 'microwarpdrive') a ship can eventually disengage from combat as well.

 

Personally, when it comes to disengagement I'd be more inclined to handling this area with devices or methods that are specialized rather than the norm. For example, any device that can tractor another ship should be specialized with some requirements that require compromise. Maybe allow tractor beams but make it only as effective as the ship's mass the tractor beam is mounted on. Or allow weapons to target specific systems on a ship in order to either bring them offline or damage them outright. This would be cool because it would require a response in terms of repair from the affected ship's crew, adding more elements to game play. The same thing for devices that might dampen a target ship's propulsion drives.

When you say "Specialised" you mean Warp Scram and point cheese? "Oh sure, I am twice your size, but sure, keep me in place brave battle Venture"? Can we leave the cancer of a mechanism in EVE? Good.

 

I'd say keep the spool-up for the warp-drive, so that "Scram" actually happes by taking out the propulsion of a ship. If they can't reach x% of maximum speed to enter warp, then they CAN'T enter warp fast enough from being blown to bits.

 

Warp disrupt bubbles are acceptable, but need to have fuel to keep them up, and they should enforce a "Warp Speed Decceeleration", which means if a ship is rigged for SPEED in all fashions, it can't be stopped (i.e. an interceptor).

 

I'd also ask for dymanic tractor beams. Instead of having a contrived webifier shitshow, the Devs can add tractor beams that behave SORTA like Webs. 

 

Case in point. Small Tractor. Excerts a pull of 250 meters per second.

 

BUT, the larger mass wins on the "pull" with the rate being proportional to the differential up to 100%. I.e, a 1 tonne starfighter tractoring a 10 tonne shuttle, won't work, as the shuttle will "drag" the fighter behind it. But what happens if 11 fighters Tractor the shuttle? Their collective mass reduces the Shuttle's speed accordingly, as the shuttle's propulsion can compensate for. If the propulsion can't take on twice the shuttle's weight, then the shuttle's speed drops to speeds that won't actually allow it to warp in time to avoid its propulsion getting picked off, as its acceleration will be miniscule due to the ten fighters "dragging" it.

 

And this is the important part. People need to stop thinking of spaceships only for the sole purpose of blowing shit up. The above tractor beam example? That tractor beam is a tool that a miner ship can use to "pull in" a container with ore from an asteroid operation, while a salvager can use to drag in a module its crew severed off of a derelict.

 

And yes, the above could work for "grappling" and "rappeling" on planets for players. Batmaning our way to victory. 

 

I see disengagement as simple as being able to outrun the other player.

 

Is your ship built to be faster than the other guys?

 

Have you disabled their systems via damage, jammimg or hacking?

 

If you're slower than them, you're toast. No additional functionality is needed.

 

I see no reason to have FTL interdiction.

Really? No reason? Like no reason to have a way of preventing an invading force from advancing in a B-line from a point of entry to your planet? Or for the space in between planets to have a meaning? Or for people to have to use their grey matter for piloting through a dangerous territory, due to known pirate ambushes in between warp points?

 

What I'm asking is, do you want the game to be an endless Stargate camping fest? See, warp interdiction is needed. It's a "tar pit" of a device, that has a vast range of a tactical usage beyond offense. Warp Interdiction is the only wall you can put up in space.

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Really? No reason? Like no reason to have a way of preventing an invading force from advancing in a B-line from a point of entry to your planet? Or for the space in between planets to have a meaning? Or for people to have to use their grey matter for piloting through a dangerous territory, due to known pirate ambushes in between warp points?

 

What I'm asking is, do you want the game to be an endless Stargate camping fest? See, warp interdiction is needed. It's a "tar pit" of a device, that has a vast range of a tactical usage beyond offense. Warp Interdiction is the only wall you can put up in space.

 

I agree, without a mechanic to pull ships out of ftl, the trip to another planet will be like: push the button for ftl, logoff for 2 weeks, come back to enter the atmosphere of the new planet (or wherever you can warp). Meanwhile play a second account or on an alt.

 

Space / traveling should mean something, pirates should have something to do in open space (if they can figure out popular routes), mercs should have something to do while escorting a trader, nations should provide some fast help for their citizens who get ambushed in open space and so on.

 

Without ftl interdiction, a lot of gameplay will be lost while only adding one stupid and boring mechanic: an afk timer to wait to get to the new planet. 

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It would be easy to argue here.

 

But since nobody knows how long range sensors work, or FTL will be implemented, this is all speculation.

 

I can say in order for FTL to be worth it the expected speeds will be multiples of C. That, coupled with what JC has indicated regarding player coordinate updates, I can deduce that its not likely to happen.

 

At least not anytime soon.

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It would be easy to argue here.

 

But since nobody knows how long range sensors work, or FTL will be implemented, this is all speculation.

 

I can say in order for FTL to be worth it the expected speeds will be multiples of C. That, coupled with what JC has indicated regarding player coordinate updates, I can deduce that its not likely to happen.

 

At least not anytime soon.

There are two truths in this but one leap in logic.

 

Truth is that, yeah, not all star systems are big enough to warrantee a warp bubble in them.

 

Truth is also that depending on the sensor range and means of stealth, a Warp Bubble could be used. If two ships are set up in a path between two points of interest (two stargates for example), Stealth pilot one cna detect a freighter warping along its path and send a message to Stealth pilot two to deploy warp bubble and catch the freighter off its guard, even if the freighter had the scaning prowess to deduce that there's no warp bubble in its path. This takes into account that there's no actual way of detecting a a cloaked small craft.

 

But please do explain where the updates come into the discussion of warp bubbles. In EVE, warp bubbles have 3 layers of effects code wise, 1) is that they are "collidable" during warp (as warp in EVE follows the subspace model of passing through planets), 2) they negate propulsion systems aas a Stasis Field would and 3) negating warping capabilities within their sphere of influence.

 

I can't see why  it can't be coded by NQ or how you mean it produces an arguement in the sense of updates.

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A lightsecond is 300,000km.

 

Traveling at multiples of C increases that distance by said multiple.

 

If you're subluminal, and IF you were able to detect the an FTL ship, by the time you could react, they would already be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of kilometers away.

 

Now take into account what JC said about player coordinates updating less frequently the farther away you are, and you can see that any updated coordinate would be WAY too old to be of any use.

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A lightsecond is 300,000km.

 

Traveling at multiples of C increases that distance by said multiple.

 

If you're subluminal, and IF you were able to detect the an FTL ship, by the time you could react, they would already be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of kilometers away.

 

Now take into account what JC said about player coordinates updating less frequently the farther away you are, and you can see that any updated coordinate would be WAY too old to be of any use.

I see, but still, Warp Bubbles are just a coordinate update on the whole system-server. The moment they deploy, they server compares your coordinates and if you are passing through the warp negation zone you are pulled out of it. There's no updating involved. The moment the server detects the edit it will update your client as of it. The update delay comes in play over vast distances aos of what happens there, it doesn't mean people operate in different times. As I said, it's just collision calculatiuons for when warping onto a warp bubble.

 

The dynamic update system won't really matter in this regard, cause it just comes down to math  And it's safe to assume one thing, that warp won't exceed the volume to server clock rate of updates. You may go at 8 AUs a second, but if the server updates radantly from a point at 30 AUs a second ( depending on the priority of the edit), your speed in warp won't really matter. And if warp bubbles take 10 seconds to be fully deployed as an example, then it means that if you are going at 8 AUs a second, you have a certain window of opportunity of passing through the ambush before the bubble is set up. 

 

Even if there's no way of detecting people in warp, alignment and spool-up times will be there. A person can be at the gate, idling there and watching towards where a freighter is aligning and alerting the second group to deploy the warp bubble when the freighter enters warp. That's how people hunt down other people in EVE, by observing where they align towards before warping.

 

Sure, it sounds complicated and it requires a lot of educated guesses to pull a freighter off of warp with an interdiction bubble, but then again, NQ add a magnetic detector for minerals on the ground, so I'd say requiring actual knowledge of warp mechanics and deployment times for a warp bubble are not outlandish at all.

 

P.S. : The Devs have also said they will implement a Warp Interdiction bubble in one of the old Ask Us Anything threads. Thing is, Warp Interdiction is not the only way to stop a person from entering warp. If they can't reach a certain speed, they can't warp. Just saying.

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Scale is an issue.

 

If it takes less than a second to move 300,000km then imagine the size a warp bubble would need to be to be effective.

 

We're talking about billions of cubic meters.

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NOTE: When I say 'Warp Bubble', I refer to the bubble generated around the ship when at warp, not the warp bubble method of interdiction.

 

If you were in an engagement and the other party warps away, you could follow the wake of their warp bubble to give you a boost, enough to get you into interdiction range.

 

Also, the question is how would you make a warp bubble unstable? This could be done by creating a wave of high/low contraction that can travel faster (relative to real space) than the target warp bubble for the same energy cost. These waves would cause the target warp bubble to become unstable, either tearing the target apart or forcing them to exit warp (with the user not far behind).

 

Since larger warp bubbles (for larger ships) are harder to destabilise (of the same 'density'), it would require a more powerful interdictor (or a very good warp engineer) to successfully knock the target out of warp. Basically, to knock a dreadnought out of warp, you cant just use a ship that is meant to knock frigates out of warp.

 

For defence against interdiction, a higher warp 'density' or good warp engineer can reduce the effectiveness of each wave. Alternatively, you can drop out of warp by surprise and let the enemy fly right past you, change direction and enter warp again, giving you more distance from your pursuer.

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Scale is an issue.

 

If it takes less than a second to move 300,000km then imagine the size a warp bubble would need to be to be effective.

 

We're talking about billions of cubic meters.

When close to a gravity well, which would be caused by celestial bodies (and maybe stargates, as they are wormholes), the speed at which you can move in warp is drastically slower than when you are in deep space. Think Elite: Dangerous.

 

My take on an area of effect interdictor would be that instead of generating a massive warp bubble, generate a constant wave or pulse that destabilises other warp fields. Creating a pulse is much more cost effective. Once the targets have been interdicted, a group of raiders are sent from the generating ship to do whatever. The strength of the waves would decrease over distance, so for a larger field a larger generator would be required. The target would not be able to leave until their warp drive has stabilised, and with the interdictor ship online, that is hard to do (but maybe not impossible). The alternative would be to destroy the interdictor ship.

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I don't see such a thing implement for release but I definitely hope it will be a thing later on. It would be utterly boring to travel and could be abused.

I'm very well aware of the real life issues ftl imposes but this is a game, not rocket science. It could impose a problem on the update process as you mentioned but I don't know anything about that - I just think they should consider it to make the game not an afk transportation simulator

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We could have devices that are deployed that induce a large mass signature. It would be like a manufactured mini black hole in effect. Any ship traveling near enough to it--especially via wormhole or warped space--would be severely impacted by it, resulting in the ship dropping out of its 'FTL' travel. Any ships around it in normal space would react to it the same way a car reacts to going down a hill. It will be a gravity well basically. A powered ship can work its way out of it, but should power be lost and such a ship goes adrift, it'll explode or be 'totalled' prior to it reaching the device at center. I prefer exploded as it cleans up the 'what happens if a ship actually hits the device' scenario.

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Once again. SCALE!

 

So you think you can place a warp interdiction bubble / mini black hole in a space lane?

 

Ok.... Go for it.

 

I'll FTL travel at a 90 degree angle for THREE SECONDS and miss your bubble by ONE MILLION KILOMETERS. (Simple dog leg maneuver hardly an inconvenience at 3 seconds)

 

 

I would be extremely unlucky to hit your bubble. Unless you think you can extend the radius of your bubble by a MILLION KILOMETRES in all directions.

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Once again. SCALE!

 

So you think you can place a warp interdiction bubble / mini black hole in a space lane?

 

Ok.... Go for it.

 

I'll FTL travel at a 90 degree angle for THREE SECONDS and miss your bubble by ONE MILLION KILOMETERS. (Simple dogleg maneuver)

 

 

I would be extremely unlucky to hit your bubble. Unless you think you can extend the radius of your bubble by a MILLION KILOMETRES in all directions.

Then.....just increase that radius by 5million km....to generate content and to actually have that emergent gameplay (security forces, convoys, defending a traderoute,...)

 

If you can't do that in DU, you really have nothing to do while on that trip. And you're completely safe. Going on vacation - just fly to some random planet for 2 weeks. Want your expensive cruiser to be safe while you build another one or do some stuff? Train an alt, send him with that cruiser away. No need for a parking lot.

 

I understand your arguments and I can see this system (interdiction bubbles) not working very well because of several reasons:

- your points (all of them)

- when a planet is a one week travel away, wtf are people supposed to do? Flying there by hand, running shifts 24/7 to reach that planet? That needs to be done by every ship in the convoy, which means you would need hundreds of dedicated players, playing for hours just to reach that planet and pick up some ore. And then going back....

- an org/nation/whatever can't control those routes by any means, so pirates would have a huge advantage. They only need to commit one dedicated, small group for one evening to get the same as that defending org with weeks of preparation and investment.

 

So both systems aren't that great, but I really think that there should be some kind of mechanism to disrupt ftl travel. Or, if this isn't possible for some server side/technical reason, let that convoy only use ftl x km away from planets/systems. Or make entry points to a system (random - fixed ones would be bottlenecks) where people can scan or use some mathematics to figure out where that convoy will land.

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I'll FTL travel at a 90 degree angle for THREE SECONDS and miss your bubble by ONE MILLION KILOMETERS. (Simple dog leg maneuver hardly an inconvenience at 3 seconds)

 

 

I would be extremely unlucky to hit your bubble. Unless you think you can extend the radius of your bubble by a MILLION KILOMETRES in all directions.

Thing is, you wouldn't know it would be there

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Thing is.. Why would I be stupid enough to EVER go directly from point A to point B?

 

And 5 million kilometers?

 

Volume of a sphere = 4/3(Pi * R^3)

 

Volume = 4/3 (Pi * 5,000,000^3)

 

VOLUME = 5.23 * 10^20 cubic KILOMETERS!!!

 

Thats a heck of a lot of space to cover with some energy field of some sort. Imagine the size ot the Reactor that would be need to power the thing. You're essentially creating a gravity well equivalent to that of a planet.

 

And I would think that technology will eventually exist to make the trek from the center of the star system to its Kuiper belt in an hour.

 

But yeah, there will probably be some down time.

 

My point is the Destination is the bottle neck. A pirate should hang out on the outskirts of a planet's gravity well, and gank people before they get close to any help.

 

And the opposite is true, they shouldnt be able to FTL until outside of the planets gravity well. Let them make it far enough into the gravity well, that they shouldnt be able to escape, then gank them.

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Thing is.. Why would I be stupid enough to EVER go directly from point A to point B?

 

And 5 million kilometers?

 

Volume of a sphere = 4/3(Pi * R^3)

 

Volume = 4/3 (Pi * 5,000,000^3)

 

VOLUME = 5.23 * 10^20 cubic KILOMETERS!!!

 

Thats a heck of a lot of space to cover with some energy field of some sort. Imagine the size ot the Reactor that would be need to power the thing. You're essentially creating a gravity well equivalent to that of a planet.

 

And I would think that technology will eventually exist to make the trek from the center of the star system to its Kuiper belt in an hour.

 

But yeah, there will probably be some down time.

 

My point is the Destination is the bottle neck. A pirate should hang out on the outskirts of a planet's gravity well, and gank people before they get close to any help.

 

And the opposite is true, they shouldnt be able to FTL until outside of the planets gravity well. Let them make it far enough into the gravity well, that they shouldnt be able to escape, then gank them.

 

It doesn't matter how big/how much energy/whatever that sphere is....it's a game and should be fun. If such a mechanic is within the lore - why not.

 

I completly agree with the bottleneck being somewhere on the outskirts, far enough away for people to be able to raid a convoy before police can get there in time from the other side of the system. This ensures players either live with the risk of getting raided or they pay for people to wait for them at the entry point.

And, as I said, those points should be random (and possibly figured out by smart people) to prevent 24/7 hellcamps and rapecages.

 

I would be happy to see a possibility to pull someone out of warp in the middle of nowhere but such a mechanic has to be balanced very very well (as described)

Regardless of the interdiction bubble itself and its mechanic, you'd have to make sure that this ship could only be raided in a certain time.

For example:

scan for ships in ftl

due to the fast speed you get two pings in a line and can guess the route. measure speed with such pings and the resulting position

calculate travel time to that planet you guessed

maybe have some kind of "overload" mechanic that makes the ships ftl drive vulnerable after 80% of the distance to 90% (because you slow down again-lore wise-and the reactor can cool)

This opens up a timeframe where defenders have to watch carefully and pirates would have a chance to raid it.

 

I'm fully aware that this means you'd possibly end up being raidable in your weakest timezone but then again you could just start your journey with this in mind so you end up being raidable in your primetime. Working together and such....

 

And again:

I'm no programmer

I just give ideas for balanced mechanics

All numbers are subject to change

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Thing is.. Why would I be stupid enough to EVER go directly from point A to point B?

Because you really don't care. Some people are aware of the perils of warp travel, but don't care for the consequences. Also, whilst you may choose not to go A to B, others will.

 

 

VOLUME = 5.23 * 10^20 cubic KILOMETERS!!!

 

Thats a heck of a lot of space to cover with some energy field of some sort. Imagine the size ot the Reactor that would be need to power the thing. You're essentially creating a gravity well equivalent to that of a planet.

Depends on the technique used. You can either activate the safety protocols via a gravity well or disrupt the warp bubble by throwing interference at it. Also, an area of effect interdictor is not going to be some small frigate, it will either be a station or a battle-cruiser specifically outfitted to make people drop from warp. This won't be available to the common pirate, only the most equipped will have it (so the military or some VERY lucky pirates). A regular pirate would have access to a ship to ship interdictor though, as it fires like a weapon rather than emitting a field. It would also have a greater range, thanks to the ability to focus it to one target.

 

 

maybe have some kind of "overload" mechanic that makes the ships ftl drive vulnerable after 80% of the distance to 90% (because you slow down again-lore wise-and the reactor can cool)

Have the interdictor or the engineer overload the warp drive. Interdiction devices would make the warp drive unstable, increasing it's power consumption, and the engineer can boost power to the warp drive to increase its speed or its durability against interdictors (think durability vs speed). An interdictor could lead to the target reducing it's speed but not dropping from warp, still having an effect but not totally screwing over the target. Imagine targeted interdiction against a military's capital ships that, whilst not stopping them, will slow them down, allowing your main fleet to kick the living daylights out of their escorts before they arrive.

 

 

And again:

I'm no programmer

I just give ideas for balanced mechanics

All numbers are subject to change

Doesn't require a programmer to have an eye for game design

Thing is.. Why would I be stupid enough to EVER go directly from point A to point B?

Because you really don't care. Some people are aware of the perils of warp travel, but don't care for the consequences. Also, whilst you may choose not to go A to B, others will.

 

 

VOLUME = 5.23 * 10^20 cubic KILOMETERS!!!

 

Thats a heck of a lot of space to cover with some energy field of some sort. Imagine the size ot the Reactor that would be need to power the thing. You're essentially creating a gravity well equivalent to that of a planet.

Depends on the technique used. You can either activate the safety protocols via a gravity well or disrupt the warp bubble by throwing interference at it. Also, an area of effect interdictor is not going to be some small frigate, it will either be a station or a battle-cruiser specifically outfitted to make people drop from warp. This won't be available to the common pirate, only the most equipped will have it (so the military or some VERY lucky pirates). A regular pirate would have access to a ship to ship interdictor though, as it fires like a weapon rather than emitting a field. It would also have a greater range, thanks to the ability to focus it to one target.

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Have the interdictor or the engineer overload the warp drive. Interdiction devices would make the warp drive unstable, increasing it's power consumption, and the engineer can boost power to the warp drive to increase its speed or its durability against interdictors (think durability vs speed). An interdictor could lead to the target reducing it's speed but not dropping from warp, still having an effect but not totally screwing over the target. Imagine targeted interdiction against a military's capital ships that, whilst not stopping them, will slow them down, allowing your main fleet to kick the living daylights out of their escorts before they arrive.

 

Doesn't require a programmer to have an eye for game design

 

I focused more on the aspect of how and when to be able to pull someone out of warp. Because as said, if you can do it at any point then it would be a huge disadvantage for convoys and would only benefit pirates. Whatever technique (actually pulling them out of warp because the drive just naturally overloads at a certain point to give pirates the chance of raiding OR slowing them down to get your fleet in position as you suggested) is fine, as long as no one has a huge advantage/disadvantage.

 

I know I don't need that experience in programming, just wanted to highlight that I don't know if such ideas are possible to implement at all

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The context of all this is to provide content. Definitely. In EVE I can choose to take the long route on a haul that keeps me in very safe space. Still requires some situational awareness for suicide gankers at gates, but mostly safe so long as I stay on my toes. But what if I want, or need, to shave some time going from point A to B? Or what if safe space is not a good place for my character at the moment? Then it means taking the dubious route. Faster, but far from safe. If I pull it off it's a rush beating the odds. If I get nailed by pirates or otherwise hostile forces, well, I'll wake up in a clone and start putting the pieces together again. Either way it was an event that far surpassed a mindless journey. 

 

On the other hand, there are days I don't want to have to worry about all this and so I'll do whatever it takes to keep it safe, including blowing it off for the moment in hopes the situation improves. It all depends, but knowing I have those kinds of choices is all the difference in the world called EVE. Wouldn't want it any other way in Dual Universe.

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The Devs could make the Interdiction bubbles to have two spheres of influence. One is the "No Warping Zone" and the other, at a much larger scale, the Warp Sinkhole radius. One simply "tar pits" the ships going through, the other simply drags people to it.

But that means the warp bubble is a tactical asset. It friendly fires and can grid-lock a system if it's a small one. But the again, Cyno Jammers are a thing in EVE as well and they are the same pain in the ass to deal with.

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