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Ship Equipment/Upgrades : TEP Specs
Everyone loves to have a ship filled with the latest and greatest technology, whether it's for picket-running or some large-scale destruction.
Equipment can be damaged or destroyed whilst in combat.
The status of all combat equipment can be displayed on the HUD.
A variety of lasers will be available, in both beam and pulse varieties. In addition, we hope to include limited range plasma weaponry, high momentum rail guns and weaponry which disables vital systems onboard ship (although not the anti-matter containment!). Details are pending.
These rather beautiful fins attach to the outside of your ship and help to conduct excess laser heat into the hard vacuum. They are rather fragile and not recommended on unshielded ships.
TEP will feature a number of dumb mines, traditional missiles and specialized missiles. The more specialized missiles might include disabling warheads, paint warheads (!) and flash warheads which send all optical systems haywire for a few seconds. In addition, missiles which split into several smaller warheads on launch (and leave nice trails behind) and cluster weapons (rather like photon torps are occasionally used in ST) will be included.
In order to make large scale combat viable the energy bomb will not appear in TEP in anything but a much reduced form.
These devices project a forcefield around the hull of your ship and as such repel projectiles and energy blasts. This puts quite a drain on the shields' power however and they will eventually fail. Shields recharge slowly.
Shields are provided by shield generators. The more shield generators a ship has, the more powerful shields it will have. However, a larger ship with more surface area will require more shield power to achieve a similar level of shielding that a smaller ship.
Shield strength = k (No. of shield generators)
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(Surface area of ship)
Shields on small ships such as the player will be flying will be split into two hemispheres - fore and aft - and power can be distributed between these manually or automatically [there will be a small time delay before requesting power and getting it, otherwise automatic distribution would be the only reasonable choice. This way manually predictions would have worth]. Shields can be imagined to have an 'onion-skin' configuration where each shield generator adds another layer.
Capital ships, on the other hand, have massive surface areas and very many shield generators. The 'onion-skin' model isn't practical here; each shield generator shields a local area. Therefore it is possible to knock an area of shielding out temporarily by concentrating fire on a particular area. This will allow temporary access to the hull before the on-board computers can compensate and divert shielding power from other areas.
Electronic Counter Measure systems send out electrical signals and interference which will fool enemy missiles/mines into thinking they have made contact with their target, making them explode prematurely. Different types of missiles are affected to varying degrees by different ECM systems. Generally the cheaper ECM systems will destroy cheaper missiles fairly quickly but will take far longer or fail to work at all with more expensive missiles.
The counterpart to the ECM system is the ECM Jammer. It works by sending signals to launched missiles with updates on enemy
ship position, effectively nullifying low end ECM systems and allowing the use of cheaper missiles. High end ECM systems create so much interference the ECM Jammer signals cannot reach the missiles and the ECM system still operates.
Rumours exist of a top secret Imperial ECM system which reprogrammes an incoming missile and changes the target. Whether this is idle gossip is unknown; certainly there have been no reliable reports of the use of this system is combat. Read into that what you will.
These strengthened heat-proof panels protect your ships' hull when entering a planet with an atmosphere. They are fitted as standard on all ships since no self-respecting pilot flies without them for very long. However, if they're damaged in a firefight...
The autopilot allows automatic flight between heavenly bodies. It typically cuts out when another ship comes into your proximity, although there is a Federal combat autopilot that will fight your combats for you.
This piece of equipment fills your fuel tanks from fuel in your cargo bay when they run dry. You can set this upgrade to prompt you before refilling if your fuel is below a set level (for instance the amount needed to hyperspace to a local civilized system).
This is an environmental control unit that produces oxygen, food, drink and everything else you need to keep living creatures alive in your cargo bay. Great for throwing big parties.
Face it, the worst happens to all of us. Even the very elitest of the elite occasionally run a cropper of a discarded proximity mine while catching up on the latest bulletins.
Escape capsules detach the ship's cabin from the hull. Such capsules have a limited autopilot, intrasystem propulsion and a good communication system. However they have no weapon systems.
For larger ships a crew escape capsule might be a worthwhile purchase. These are rather similar to the pilot's escape capsule. More experienced and expensive crew members may require one of these as a criterion of employment.
When you want to run a taxi service, you'll have to install at least one of these. The cabins include everything to keep most passengers happy. Some passengers can be a little more choosy however, and might require a slightly more luxurious and expensive cabins. These passengers do tend to pay more for the service.
The most basic autorepair systems will slowly repair damage to your ship's hull. Even these systems tend to be bulky and expensive. More advanced and rarer systems can actually repair damaged equipment or speed the repair process.
Systems are repaired in a customizable order, which can be changed during the repair process.
This upgrade can tell you the destination of a ship by simply analyzing the residue left over after hyperspace entry. More advanced systems can make a reasonable approximation of the mass of the ship as well. See hyperspace.
This device scoops hydrogen isotopes from gas giants and stars and converts them into fuel for use by your ship. Of primary use in uninhabited systems where there is no ready fuel supply. Scooping is a tricky procedure and can be hazardous.
An expensive addition to a ship with numerous effects. Firstly, with the aid of the tractor beam a fuel scoop can be adapted for use to pick up debris resulting from mining or battles. Secondarily, the tractor beam is a great aid when docking with other ships. See the docking module.
This adaption to a ship's hull allows docking between two ships. This can be a dangerous procedure without a tractor beam module.
These devices mine for precious minerals on planet surfaces. Simply land, unload and return sometime later. For more details see Mining.
The exact form which power distribution will take is open to debate at present. However, it will be intelligent (if your shields are at maximum any recharging power will be automatically distributed to other systems).
A grand sounding name for a simple device. In space, unlike in the atmosphere, there is no air to push against and if you set your ship into a roll it will stay rolling almost indefinitely. Since this may seem counterintuitive to former atmosphere pilots the IRC slows the rotation as you would expect in an air atmosphere. IRC are sensitive devices and have an alarming habit of breaking when your ship comes under heavy fire.
Landing Gear comprises the wheels necessary for planetary landing. It comes as standard, but may be damaged in combat and necessitate repairs at a space station.
Improved landing gear for ice-based or water-based worlds would be optional extras.
The Flend
Last modified: Sat Oct 3 11:21:43 BST 1998