strange shipdesign SEV1.25 + BM1.03

Hi Prankowski,

In the Balance Mod, more than just cargo components contribute to satisfying the "x% of weight must be cargo bays" requirement. Such components include Supply and Ordnance Storage, Repair Bays and Construction Bays. This means freighters can be used to produce repair ships, construction ships, storage ships etc. I like this change a lot over stock SEV; it allows for some interesting and useful freighter designs.

Well, cargo bays aren´t the only component that can count towards the 40% percentage... Mine sweepers/layers, space yards etc count too. Not sure about repair bays through.. I never researched that branch.

PS: Got a question too... do repair bays refit ships too? If so then i will reserch them from now on

It is intentional. Components that are labeled "Count towards cargo space requirements" in their ability description can be used to fill up freighter space.

You need a SY to retrofit, but having Repair Bays really helps to increase that repair rate - especially when retrofitting multiple designs.

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Space Empires Depot | SE:V Balance Mod

For what its worth, I always thought letting the freighter hull be used as a "utility"ship was a good idea - it gives the player flexibility.
The all-puropose"tugs" of SFB & Fed&Empire come to mind.

i did that in stock (because of the cargo exploit not b/cas of the REQ)before i ever heard of the baalnce mod.
it would certainly benefit the AI - which not only doesn't do specialist all that well, but has this habit of making warship hulls that are more expensive AND less capacity than a freighter version would be. (and making several of each type, rather than a few all-purpose 'utility'-ships really eats into its ship production, it will have a very high % of its ships tied up as various tender/utility types).

...its also not reasonable, non-combat ships just won't GENERALLY be designed to the same specifications that combat ships are, so using freighter hulls just makes more SENSE in that they don't have the combat performance combat ship classes do.
If you're really bored, you could google the various real "wet navies" and how they do that - you won't find that "utility" ships- minesweeps, refuelers, etc - are anything like their combat counterparts.

perhaps art of the problem is the NAME freighter b/c it sounds civilian and really civilian freighters are abstracted in this game, so newer players tend to overlook using freighter hulls for utility?
kwok just expanded that idea:

"Freighters...
They're not Just for freight anymore."

...to its logical extension.

repair bays can count and do so in the BM I think and definatly the IRM repair freighters are common fleet suport ships. Good that the AI is building and using them though

good that those two are putting so much work into the A.I.

now if they would just work on Cat I.

BUT ANYWAY
freighters are large enough you can usually them for repair ships even in stock, you just throw it on there. if you are using the design for any kind of "tender" work - satellites, what have you (1 fighter bay, just 1, makes these ships VERY scary) - the repair bay is a necessity anyway.

and by the way-
part of why real-life carriers (our WW2 carrier fleet that avoided destruction at midway? ...refitted ww1 battleships)-
part of why they are so expensive is difficulty of making such a large vessel that can KEEP UP with combat ships (not slow the whole fleet)

In IRM 0.8a, freighter can be used for remote ressource collection, mobile space yard, repair ship and supply ship (the are a lot more possibilities). The autobuild will make them with no problem. It's been possible in my mod for a while, ever since i seen that kwok allowed his AI to build specialised freighter (but the player could not at the time).

Edit : My ai can use it's freighters as everything i named save the ressource collection, there are no script for them yet).

Once again, well done.

The Ai trying to overspecialize its utility ships - which never really had the cargo to DO much successfully - was always one of my head-shakers.

You might consider throwing in tenders (satellites) and mine layers, too,
(my sweepers are different, i admit, b/cas i need them with the fleet)
general utility: someone at some point musta seen that possibilty, in that cargo is cargo- mines, sat's, wpn platform, troops, population.

as long as it has the required 1 bay (satellite, drone, what not), you're straight in. freighter capacity is just so much better than that of combat ships you can build at any given level.
b]Do you REALLY think you will subvert System Vampyre before it subverts YOU?[/b]

Never thought about turning freighters into mine layer, satellite layer or mine sweeper. They would do alright i guess, i could add that functionnality into IRM. Frigate make such poor mine/satellite layer... Good idea.

I prefare pure mine sweepers (becose i should not know how many mines there are, so i should not know whether ships send to clear mines will survive).

Attacking with fleet should look like (if mines were not visible):
send one scout first, if he get through, there are no mines, if he dies, send mine sweepers, if they survive and get into battle, they run, maybe survive battle, if they die on mines i lost only sweepers. After mines are cleared go in with fleet.

But other utility ships can be mixed into one.