Grappler Ships

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Ship mounted tractor beams are on the way, and their implementation may, or may not, bring a change to combat.

I watched a show in my youth called "Outlaw Star" which had the concept of Grappler Ships. Craft with robotic arms which could seize and attack a target with little the target could do to prevent such tactics.

Tractor beams are not arms but can potentially serve a similar function:

Take the 315p as an example which has a big nose mounted tractor beam or the cutlass which is supposed to have some somewhere.

One of the biggest challenges in a dogfight is getting into a position where you can hurt them but they can't hurt you. Potentially with a tractor beam you may be able to catch on at a certain distance and save position and remain relative, letting you maintain that spot no matter what the target attempts to do giving you the advantage. This could allow you to then use what limited arms you have to chip away at the target giving you a better shot on target ratio than you may have had with a more heavily armed non-tractor equipped ship.

What's our thoughts on this? I think I read somewhere tractoring a ship would need that craft to cooperate however even with a weak manipulation effect it could mix up the old Joust/death spiral DPS contests we saw in the past.

 

[Talonsbane]

Based on its layout for entry, I suspect that the tractor beam for the Cutlass Black will mainly target behind & to the sides as a means of drawing in cargo that has been scattered into space or on the ground around it to save the time & effort of the crew from having to do so manually. I have no idea if it'll be able to function in any other directions, but it seems most likely to me based on the means of access into the ship that those would be most effective for that. Especially since just inside those doors are were the cargo grids are located.

As for other ships, we know that the controls for the Cat's tractor beam will be operated in the small room on the opposite side of the hull from the cockpit to maneuver cargo into the various bays.

 

[maynard]

ahh, magical physics

we need it for travel or else the game would be confined to too small a volume of space for the variety we crave

mining and salvaging would not be viable gameplay options without it, and the game needs its crafting mechanics

but for combat it is counter to everything CIG is doing to keep it realistic

 

[FZD]

As I recall, CIG has talked about this topic. It was a good while ago and I can't remember exactly where it was, but think the gist of it was along the lines of, yes, you can use tractor beams to target ships but if the target is larger there's some negative effect... I can't remember what it was exactly, something like, damage to your ship when the larger target just forcibly tears away?

Think in most cases your retro thrusters wouldn't be quite enough to overcome the targets engines anyhow, so at least you wouldn't be able to keep them still. Maybe you can rodeo other ships a bit, but I doubt tractor beams would become the ultimate weapon.

 

[Sky Captain]

Craft with robotic arms which could seize and attack a target with little the target could do to prevent such tactics.

This would be a great feature to add to the Reclaimer.

 

[Talonsbane]

I'm thinking, that depending on what ship I'm using, I might just have a handful of full beer kegs near a door, so that if I get interdicted & some jerk space pirate tries to steal my goods with a tractor beam to hold my ship in place, I'll have a partner open the back & toss out the beer. Hopefully the additional metal canisters will disrupt the hold on my ship enough to get away & everybody wins ... unless the advocacy shows up while the pirates are drunk on my discarded space booze. If nothing else, those pirates will be more willing to handle my ship more gently in order to get drunk for free in the future.

 

[Sky Captain]

I'll have a partner open the back & toss out the beer.

Sounds like a great idea for A2 bombing runs too!

 

[Raven_King]

Or mines disguised as jettisoned cargo.

 

[Vavrik]

Sounds like a great idea for A2 bombing runs too!

Reminds me of Major Kong again.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snTaSJk0n_Y

 

[Cugino83]

Based on its layout for entry, I suspect that the tractor beam for the Cutlass Black will mainly target behind & to the sides as a means of drawing in cargo that has been scattered into space or on the ground around it to save the time & effort of the crew from having to do so manually. I have no idea if it'll be able to function in any other directions, but it seems most likely to me based on the means of access into the ship that those would be most effective for that. Especially since just inside those doors are were the cargo grids are located.

As for other ships, we know that the controls for the Cat's tractor beam will be operated in the small room on the opposite side of the hull from the cockpit to maneuver cargo into the various bays.

Well actually no, for the Cuttlass, unless CIG revise the initial idea during the "gold standard pass", the tractor beam will be mounted on the support on the front vertical wing:

so it whould be very hinted into hooking into other ship while firing on them...
The idea of grappling into target, toggle decouple and rodeo it while unleshing firepower in theyr ass sound interenting, but we should see the actuall caracteristics of the ship mounted tractors beam: size, range actual power will all have an effect on how easy and practical this tactics will be.
Having it binden into a specific operator mode for example will very likely nullify this tactics for solo player/ships, and so it will probably do if the tractors beam are either not powerfull enough or very short ranged.

For sure it will be usefull for unstucking vehicles over rocks without needing to bumb them

 

[Ayeteeone]

Ship mounted tractor beams are on the way, and their implementation may, or may not, bring a change to combat.

I watched a show in my youth called "Outlaw Star" which had the concept of Grappler Ships. Craft with robotic arms which could seize and attack a target with little the target could do to prevent such tactics.

Tractor beams are not arms but can potentially serve a similar function:

Take the 315p as an example which has a big nose mounted tractor beam or the cutlass which is supposed to have some somewhere.

One of the biggest challenges in a dogfight is getting into a position where you can hurt them but they can't hurt you. Potentially with a tractor beam you may be able to catch on at a certain distance and save position and remain relative, letting you maintain that spot no matter what the target attempts to do giving you the advantage. This could allow you to then use what limited arms you have to chip away at the target giving you a better shot on target ratio than you may have had with a more heavily armed non-tractor equipped ship.

What's our thoughts on this? I think I read somewhere tractoring a ship would need that craft to cooperate however even with a weak manipulation effect it could mix up the old Joust/death spiral DPS contests we saw in the past.

There was quite a bit of discussion when tractor beams came into the game for the multitool. The idea CIG expressed at the time was that if the ships shields are up, a tractor beam would have a very difficult time holding on to a ship. If you go back and look at the Q&A for the SRV you should find some of their thoughts on the topic. Noobifier did a video on it at the time too.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

My guess is, the only exception to the rule about smaller ships unable to grapple larger ones is the Vanduul Cleaver, since it does not grab with a tractor, but rather tears into the hull of its target in order to load boarders.

 

[Jolly_Green_Giant]

ARGO SRV: The most dangerous ship in the 'verse.

 

[GrumpyCat]

 

[Lorddarthvik]

Does tractor ing coming in means that vehicles will finally have actual mass calculated in their flightmodel? Would be a nice change and a step up for sure.

Anyways, does this also mean that I get to remount the tractor beam to the now nonexistent front nose mount of my 300i that I bought with real UEC in the voyager Direct store 10 years ago?

 

[Talonsbane]

My guess is, the only exception to the rule about smaller ships unable to grapple larger ones is the Vanduul Cleaver, since it does not grab with a tractor, but rather tears into the hull of its target in order to load boarders.

View attachment 22024

If I saw 1 of these coming towards a large ship, I'd do my best to catch it with a tractor beam & maneuver the entrance to right behind the main thruster of a big ship, then have that ship go full throttle. I wonder how salty Vanduul get when thoroughly roasted. Will they go well with beer like peanuts?

 

[Thalstan]

Ship mounted tractor beams are on the way, and their implementation may, or may not, bring a change to combat.

I watched a show in my youth called "Outlaw Star" which had the concept of Grappler Ships. Craft with robotic arms which could seize and attack a target with little the target could do to prevent such tactics.

Tractor beams are not arms but can potentially serve a similar function:

Take the 315p as an example which has a big nose mounted tractor beam or the cutlass which is supposed to have some somewhere.

One of the biggest challenges in a dogfight is getting into a position where you can hurt them but they can't hurt you. Potentially with a tractor beam you may be able to catch on at a certain distance and save position and remain relative, letting you maintain that spot no matter what the target attempts to do giving you the advantage. This could allow you to then use what limited arms you have to chip away at the target giving you a better shot on target ratio than you may have had with a more heavily armed non-tractor equipped ship.

What's our thoughts on this? I think I read somewhere tractoring a ship would need that craft to cooperate however even with a weak manipulation effect it could mix up the old Joust/death spiral DPS contests we saw in the past.

I thought I remembered them saying that ships like the SRV will be able to tow ships, but that it could not prove to a ship from moving under its own power. So you grab a ship with the SRV and you can tow it when thrusters are turned off, but if the crew turns the thrusters on, the SRV will not be able to preven it from breaking loose. So I would not expect ships like the Cutlass to be in any danger from a tractor beam on the 315 or Taurus.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Cheers for all inputs, by the sounds of it game design does not intend for tractor beams to work while shields are up and the craft under its own power - that does logically lead to a modified tactic though - a one-two of EMP then tractor beam. Would shields coming back online break the beams grip though?

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

View attachment 22033

That's the one, the concept sounds dopey but it's very well explained in the show and leads to some very unconventional space combat action scenes.

Spoiler: Don't click if you intend to watch the show

Is that the yellow one the El Dorado or the Shangri La?