are there benefits of multiple components of a single type? |
is there a benefit to say, having 2 bridges, or 2 fighter cockpits, etc? granted if you have 2, and one gets destroyed, you still have a backup, but it seems the space spent on a second bridge would be better spent on shields and armour to prevent the first from being destroyed, or weapons to take out your enemy before he can destroy it. and in the case of a fighter cockpit, damage sufficient to destroy the first would likely destroy the whole fighter anyway
lacking the demo anymore(and it wasn't exactly informative anyway) or the full version i'm unsure if there is a purpose to these components. extra life support, extra crew quarters, extra bridges, cockpits, drone cores, etc.
in real life, you have a second fighter cockpit to have a RIO(radar intercept operater) giving you a defensive and offensive benefit, or a turret mounted weapon like a tail gunner(all my fighters seemed to fire only forward, but i wasn't paying close attention).
would it be possible to mod such a thing into the game?
Certainly can...
Some of these items already exist such as the Auxiliary Control. You could mod more of these in, including backup support for fighters. However, they are kind of wasted on units because they usually only take a few hits to blow up anyway.
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Maybe the balance mod should
Maybe the balance mod should make these cheap,and worth actually considering to put on ships.
Aux control
Aux controls are not a bad idea on larger ships where it is more likely that you're bridge might be destroyed some time before the entire ship is.
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most of my important
most of my important components go into lower hull, inner section, they tend to get popped later than others. Also It's preferable to pump everything you CAN afford to lose during combat to the Outer section. Always keep your biggest, baddest guns in the inner section. Once I lost all guns before my engines :s, and my Battleship was mopped up by a destroyer, after taken out 7 others. Vowed never to make that mistake again 
. Generally I don't see any reason to have extra crew, life support and bridge/auxilary. Extra armour and shield can absorb a lot more damage to keep you fighting.
I've noticed...
The order in which components are displayed on the finished ship is the order that they are placed.
If I place three engines on the Outer hull, and THEN place a combat sensor on the outer hull, the ship display will list the engines first, then the sensor. If I pick up a piece and then set it down, it becomes the last piece in that hull section (outer/inner).
I don't know if this has any impact on combat. Are the components damaged from left to right, top to bottom? Or are they randomly chosen from Outer, then Inner?
Master Computer
I haven't tried to put more than one computer in SEV yet, but in SEIV I was able to add more than one Master Computer
Internal damage
Componets in the hull are damaged directionally. If the hit comes from behind, the components in back get fried first. However all the Outer Hull components have to be destroyed before the Inner Hull starts getting hit.
Behind?
There's a behind?
Are some ship slots 'behind' and others 'in front'?
Behind
Yes, There is definitely a front and a back. As Phoenix-D says if the hit comes from the front the components in the front part of the ship are damaged first and vice a versa.
Behind or Inner?
So then what is the priority of taking damage here? If the rear gets hit repeatedly, and all outer hull components are destroyed, then you take another hit to the rear.... does the nearest inner hull component to the rear get hit? Or is the rule then broken and the next-nearest outer hull component (which may be in the front?) get destroyed?
Order of damage
Behind is..just that, the back of the ship. "Down" on the ship design screen.
The priority goes like so:
Shields
Armor
Outer Hull
Inner Hull
The last two are directional. All hit points in a level have to be exausted before the next level gets hit; if you still have Outer Hull components left, the hit bypasses any Inner Hull components and hits the Outer Hull components beyond them. (there wouldn't be much point in the Inner Hull if it didn't).
Order of Damage
Outer/Inner are subject to directional damage so your first guess was accurate.
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Hmm?
You sure about that Kwok? I was messing with it and I thought it worked the way my post above showed.
EDIT: I tested it.
Three components:
PDCin the Outer Hull
APB in the Inner Hull
Ion Engine in the Outer Hull
all in a row, top to bottom. A hit from the front destroyed the PDC, then the Ion Engine, then hit components behind that in the Outer Hull. The APB was unscathed.
Once more for clarity!
Here's how it goes:
Shields take damage first
Armor takes damage when the shields are dead
Outer Hull components take damage directionally
Finally, when all outer hull components are dead, the inner hull components take damage directionally.
What Kwok said wasn't wrong. So maybe I'm just confused about your reply...
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With all these people, you would expect one of them to carry an iguana around...
Not a chance
I take it you haven't actually tried making a design with 2 bridges/cockpits/computer cores, because there is a warning that will say "must have 1 bridge" if you try to put more than 1 on. Granted, there is the component auxillary control that you can use, but just putting the bridge in the inner hull section negates it's benefits.
Anyway, if the bridge/lifesupport/crew quarters does get destroyed, it will result in a heavy movement loss, and you may not be able to fire weapons anymore. In my opinion, extra space is best used adding armor or sheilds, rather than crew and command: not only is the ship more protected, but it costs less to make.