Jump drive scramblers

[DAG368]

Just a thought that we could keep Jump drives, but in certain core sectors with high end stations and defense systems it would be impossible to jump straight in there due to the fact that the sector would shielded. Tactically you would then have to send an attacking fleet to an adjacent sector then use the jump gate or jump to a part of the core sector which is`nt shielded miles away from any potential targets. This would allow time to prepare a defensive countermeasures.

What do you think?

[Karvat]

I would allow to use the jump drive only to capital ships and with very long charging times to ensure that it is used only for emergency jumps

[Alan Phipps]

@ OP: That sounds a bit like the way that the Terran sectors in X3 with only TOAs rather than jump gates couldn't be jumped into directly unless there was a jump beacon there. Some players appreciated the difference, others didn't like it and felt it made many Terran sectors slow-going and unwelcoming to traders and mission takers, etc.

[Fleabum]

I have already posted some ideas about JD's.

Anti-jump technology including blockers and redirectors.

Jump Blocker Beacon:-
-blocks JD's from being used. Basically an anti-jump beacon with a range you can set that negates all JD usage within the set range. This can also be purchased for capital ships and stations so stop surprise jump attacks.

Jump Sink:-
-redirects all JD in a set area to be redirected to the beacon. Can be set for range and class of ship. Great when used with mines to set a trap or just for random acts of piracy.

Regards
Flea

I guess if this was to be written in a mod then the pseudo code would be along the lines of :-

Code:
location of ship = a
location of beacon = b
cost of jump = distance from a to b
if resources > cost of jump then
start jump countdown
play fancy graphics and sound
change current ships location to b
resources = resources - cost of jump
else
tell player they can’t jump due to lack of resources
end if


It could then be built upon by adding random events like mis-jumps, drive malfunctions causing ship damage, loss of cargo, upgrades, etc. That’s the joy of code, you can start small and build upon it.

I would then build upon jump drives and add an anti-jump technology that can either negate jumps with a set distance, or ones that even redirect jumps to a location. Image a pirate base redirecting unsuspecting cargo ships into a trap, or capital ships into a minefield...

This alone would add a whole level of strategy to placement of jump beacons and anti-jump measures.

The above is game design that could have taken jump drives and built upon them, both adding limiting factors so they were not overly powerful and anti-jump technology to remove jump drive usage where you did not want it to be used... not removing them completely.

[Killjaeden]

@ OP: That sounds a bit like the way that the Terran sectors in X3 with only TOAs rather than jump gates couldn't be jumped into directly unless there was a jump beacon there. Some players appreciated the difference, others didn't like it and felt it made many Terran sectors slow-going and unwelcoming to traders and mission takers, etc.

Yes, slow going because those sectors where not only without method for fast travel, they where also ginormous in size each and everything was much further apart.
In X4 this problem of "too slow" in sectors without jump access is solved by highways and possibly "travel speed" mode

[thrangar]

Yes I am excited to see what the game (but probably MOds) will do for game play with regards to Jump beacons and the new fast travel