Boarding Info

[Adam]

From official website:

Boarding Information

As promised, we’d like to share the internal concept for ship-to-ship docking and boarding concept. Please note that this is the very early pitch–some details may change as we balance the game and build out/expand the mechanic!

Boarding Mechanics

The goal is to develop a system where player-to-player boarding is an occasional reward rather than something that becomes the focus of the game; we’re not building Grand Theft Starship. As such, we need a high cost of entry: players must dedicate both significant resources and skill to be able to put themselves in a position to board in the first place.

There are two major limitations on docking: 1) the target ship must be COMPLETELY disabled before it can be boarder and 2) docking requires the attacking player to dedicate credits and slots to several gate technologies, including a docking collar and a tractor beam.

Disabling a target ship is a much more difficult task than it was in Wing Commander, where leech weapons would simply wear down the target. In Star Citizen, the player needs to knock down the enemy ships’ shields and then (without causing a hull breach) pick off the individual thrusters. This is the skill barrier: if you can’t shoot well enough to take apart a ship piece by piece then you can’t board an enemy ship.

Tractor Beams are a dangerous technology. They take up a standard gun slot and are designed for collecting material significantly less massive than their host ship (escaped pilots, cargo pallets, bobbleheads, etc.) As such, there’s a constant danger of overloading when using them to dock, especially with cheaper models. Additionally, they require that the target ship be ABSOLUTELY DISABLED – firing a tractor beam at a ship that still has functional thrusters will overload it and severely damage the attacker.

A docking collar is needed to attach ships together. As with tractor beams, different levels are available which will allow connections to different sizes of ships; boarding something large like a carrier is much easier than something your own size, like a Constellation (disabling another Constellation’s thrusters will require a crack shot, to say the least, and a much more accurate collar.) If the game hits the $4 million mark, collarless external ship combat will be added with pilots in pressure suits wearing EMUs able to battle it out in space; explosive charges would be used to open the targeted ship’s airlock.

The standard VDU will not identify whether or not a ship is completely disabled; it will have a gut feel/skill element to it. Higher software upgrades will provide more in-depth scans of a target that will give you a better assurance that no maneuvering remains in place… for a price.

Also note that docking mechanics do NOT apply to ships with a single crewman or certain smaller bombers; the general rule is that if there’s not room to walk around then only the salvage mechanic can apply to it. You need a crewed ship to board in the first place and you can only board crewed ships which are larger than your own (in crew size.)

Combat

Once a ship has successfully tractored in a target vessel, it will dock at a pre-determined location on the hull (ie, you will always dock at one of the same doors on the Constellation.) There will be a 30-second period where the attacking player cuts open the target’s door. The defender can use that time to set up to fire back. Think an interactive recreation of the opening scene of Star Wars, with the Rebels nervously waiting to defend the corvette from Stormtroopers.

Players will have access to a variety of upgrades to help/hinder boarding operations. Armored space suits, hand scanners, explosives, more powerful (or functionally different) weapons and so on will be available to players on both sides of the equations.

Defending players will have upgrade options that can help put the battle in their favor: a self destruct process, a dead man’s switch, automated miniguns they can position in the cockpit and so on. It’s going to be a challenge to get onboard a targeted ship successfully, one that you’ll need to work with your friends to accomplish.

Finally, the cost to recover a boarded ship will ultimately be high. Since you’ve disabled and otherwise crippled it in battle (and cut into the hull to board) you must conduct repairs in deep space if you wish to keep the hull rather than simply looting it… during which the ship is in danger of being boarded by a third party. Boarding parties should plan to carry an advance repair bot with them or to suffer the difficulty of flying in a depressurized cockpit (limited life support time, less responsive controls.) Finally, only one ship can be flown at once: you will need to work with a partner if you wish to keep a boarded ship and your own craft.

[Jaxon Corvid]

I'm glad the ship-jacking isn't going to easy -- nor should it be.

However, I'm very disappointed about not being able to capture single-person ships. How am I going to capture a Vanduul Scythe Fighter? There has to be some way of doing it.

Considering that some of the information in the document was written before the $4 million Stretch Goal was achieved wherein extra-vehicular space combat was unlocked, I wonder if the restriction against capturing single-person ships is now removed. I understand that starfighters won't have airlocks so a boarding collar can't be attached, but what about going EVA in a thruster pack. You could shoot and kill the pilot, then capture the ship.

The thing that I find strange is, tractor beams cannot be used until the target ship is completely disabled, otherwise they'll backfire and damage your ship. So what exactly do tractor beams do? It seems like you have to carefully disable a ship's engines and thrusters, and then board it using a docking collar. How are tractor beams used for capturing ships? The Cutlass comes with tracor beams and a docking dollar so it can capture other ships, so tractor beams must be used for some purpose.

The only thing I can think of is that tractor beams will allow the player to tow the captured ship to a spaceport or the player's base, where they can complete repairs -- instead of repairing the ship in space where they can be attacked by other players and pirates.

The problem with my tractor beam towing theory is that the Boarding Info clearly states that capturing a ship will require two or more people (unless the player tries stealing a ship and abandoning their own ship?). If the captured ship can be towed using a tractor beam, why would a second person be required?

As much as the tractor beam theory makes sense, I don't think it will be used to tow the ship.

I appreciate the detail of the Boarding Info, but I think CI needs to elaborate on it even more.

[RealTimeShepherd]

Regarding the tractor beam, if you've ever tried to dock with another ship in Kerbal Space Program for example... (excellent game I thoroughly recommend it...) then you'll know that lining up and exactly matching velocity with another ship is a complete nightmare. Yes, I know NASA do it but they have had a lot of practise, I think that a tractor beam is just going to be used to complete the difficult docking procedure, and if the potential target can thrust against the attempt, that will break the tractor beam Just my 2c...

[Gallitin]

How many ships come with a tractor beam?

[Arterich]

How many ships come with a tractor beam?

So far it looks like two. The Caterpillar and the the Cutlass which are both from Drake.

[eNeRGy]

So far it looks like two. The Caterpillar and the the Cutlass which are both from Drake.

No doubt you'll be able to add it to many others though.

[Maverick]

No doubt you'll be able to add it to many others though.

Just ships with 2 crewman or more. A fighter with a tractorbeam does not make sense.

[Timbrewolf]

Personally myself anything less than a five man crew is suicidal to try and board. A larger ship with a larger crew can designate boarders while still maintaining critical ship functions. A two man crew means that unless you can lock the ship controls to only the two crewman on board you would be limited to one boarder while the other maintains the ship. I agree than Tractor Beams are a delicate system that can be damaged but not so damaged that it would be a waste of equipment. Yes you do need to knock out an enemy ship's shields, engines, and weapon arrays before boarding but attitude thrusters should not have the power to damage a tractor beam. Smaller ships could use docking ports on the ship but if the enemy ship was drawn into a capital ship entrance could be made in any number of ways. I agree that the risk should be equivalent to the reward. Example, a small freighter with a crew of ten captures a larger ship then the reward should be slightly higher and a lesser ship would be less than the attacking ship. To date in film and some games boarding is a risky proposition to say the least, but the opportunity to try would be a good option especially when it comes to team operations.

[Azure]

One of the assumptions i think we are making is that the goal is to capture an enemy ship, and somehow take it over and fly both it and the pirate ship back to base. I dont think this will be quite how things will turn out, going by the above information on boarding. Why would a lone pirate care about getting his own craft back to base/hq, if he has just captured a ship worth many times his reletively cheap cutlass ?. Lone pirates need only get onboard the enemy craft, and from that point on their only focus should be on killing the crew, repairing it's basic systems, and getting it back to a station/planet where it and its cargo can be sold off. Lone pirates would gladly sacrifice their own craft, if it ment taking over a ship worth many times the value of their now abandoned cutlass. Theres also no mention of not being able to dock with a ship that has its systems intact (thrusters), if the player on that ship is AFK, from the description above it seems possible that docking is only possible if the enemy ship remains totally stationary.......well an AFK player out in hostile space might make a choice opportunity for a pirate with a keen eye. From what i gather you only need more than 1 player "IF" you want to recover both ships, theres no reason why a pirate wouldnt abandon his own ship, in favour of taking over a far more expensive craft.....i know i would.

[Wetworker]

Why would a lone pirate care about getting his own craft back to base/hq, if he has just captured a ship worth many times his reletively cheap cutlass ?. Lone pirates need only get onboard the enemy craft, and from that point on their only focus should be on killing the crew, repairing it's basic systems, and getting it back to a station/planet where it and its cargo can be sold off.

From what I understand about insurance and policing you would have to find a station or black market of some kind to sell a captured ship as any reputable dealer/trader won't buy a stolen ship... so the idea of stealing a ship so you can sell it would only work if you have a buyer already lined up. It sound to me like most people are going to realize that boarding a ship is a waste of time or more trouble than it's worth.

[Azure]

From what I understand about insurance and policing you would have to find a station or black market of some kind to sell a captured ship as any reputable dealer/trader won't buy a stolen ship... so the idea of stealing a ship so you can sell it would only work if you have a buyer already lined up. It sound to me like most people are going to realize that boarding a ship is a waste of time or more trouble than it's worth.

If im not mistaken, im sure i read somewere that a player can change a ships ID code, the star citizen equivilent of changing the identity number on a stolen car. That an im thinking there will be a space equivilent of Tortuga, a place that pirates can trade stolen goods, interact, purchase items/weapons, and repair their ships.....

If its worth the trouble to capture a ship is down to how many credits can be gained from doing so, they have to get the risk verus reward balancing just right, if its really easy to rack up huge amounts of credits by just running patrol/escort missions, or transporting goods....then yeah its not going to be worth the trouble.

[buzby x]

buy or sell a captured ship? I'd just give it to the fleet....seems like there are going to be far easier ways to make money. plus, things get to be a bit...indelicate...in solo pvp...hard to switch your kill face to your surgeon face....

[Tolje Mimar]

I know they said that the Vanduul fighters can be captured but I am curious how they plan on doing that?

[Talinko Montaro]

attacking a flagship, getting on board and capturing one of 'em? only way I see to grab one

[LightMonk]

Get a JetPack and be like that Light Soldier Guy in the Planetside 2 Trailer by jumping on the cockpitwindow and shoot some rounds in?

[Nameless]

Or shoot that thing until the pilot is scared enough and leaves

[LightMonk]

From the News Update on RSI:

Our benevolent sponsor, ASD, unveiled a number of new products including the PCR-880 Grappler. Another member of ASD’s growing arsenal of nonlethal weaponry, the Grappler fires a concentrated charge of electrical energy, which won’t significantly damage the ship but is powerful enough to incapacitate any unprotected occupants inside. Unfortunately, the weapon is only effective against ships whose shields have been disabled but it’s still early in the project’s development. If they work out the kinks, it would be a great tool for all those capture contracts.

[LightMonk]

Bump Intresting that no hot discussion came up here after the Bounty Hunter Update

[buzby x]

Bump

Intresting that no hot discussion came up here after the Bounty Hunter Update

the update DID imply the possibility of boarding and capturing NPCs, which is certainly awesome, although that doesn't confirm the holy grail of capturing an actual player, which would kill me with joy

[Tangalur]

If you are bad in first-person mode thats the way to avoid it and still be able to capture enemy ships.

[buzby x]

I'm confident we will get more ambiguous storytelling which might translate into something which will probably take place in space.

[Reavern]

From the News Update on RSI:

Our benevolent sponsor, ASD, unveiled a number of new products including the PCR-880 Grappler. Another member of ASD’s growing arsenal of nonlethal weaponry, the Grappler fires a concentrated charge of electrical energy, which won’t significantly damage the ship but is powerful enough to incapacitate any unprotected occupants inside. Unfortunately, the weapon is only effective against ships whose shields have been disabled but it’s still early in the project’s development. If they work out the kinks, it would be a great tool for all those capture contracts.

I hope the Grappler is an expensive weapon, or the "protection" counter-measure is easily obtained. Otherwise this "ship tazer" weapon will take all the challenge out of capturing other players' ships.

The impression I got when the first details about ship boarding and capturing were released two months ago was that capturing ships would be very difficult and rare. The skill required to disable a ship without destroying it would be high. The limitations and fragility of tractor beams meant that all of a ship's engines and thrusters had to be disabled before it could be tractored and boarded. A ship could even be equipped with anti-intruder defense systems, making capturing the ship even more challenging. And then there was the difficulty in either keeping or selling a stolen ship, because its ship ID would be flagged as stolen, so the player that captured it would have to buy a new ship ID.

All of that made piracy and ship hijacking seem challenging and daunting.

But this "ship tazer" weapon seems like the exact opposite. It makes capturing ships seem EASY, because after the player has battered down a ship's shields, they can zap it with this grappler weapon and incapacitate the crew. Then they can board the ship, kill or capture the crew, and take the ship and its cargo.

Like I said, if there's a cheap and easy counter-measure to this weapon, like an insulated uniform/space suit or electrically-shielded ship systems, then it'll be okay. But if there's no defence against this weapon, it will becomes pirates' bread and butter, and spoil any challenge in boarding ships, and ruin the chances of players in repelling boarders.

[Pnuts]

On the flip side, the ship tazer could require large amount of upgrade slots and be a circumstantial weapon. So any ship using it would be gimped.

[Reavern]

Is that how weapons work in SC? Because RSI's ship design document shows that weapon hardpoints and upgrades are two different things. I assumed that meant that if the player filled all of the weapon hardpoints, that didn't affect the ship's upgrade slots. Is that why the Constellation has so many upgrade slots? Because nearly half of its weapon hardpoints are un-used? If true, that's disappointing, because I was planning on loading my Stella for bear, and then using the upgrade slots for shields and possibly extra armour. Pnuts, do you have an official source about about how weapons and upgrades work?

[LightMonk]

Read the "could" between the lines Reavern Ships/Weapons/Upgrades: http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/ships-plan/