Hey everyone! Cole here, to talk to you about one of SotP’s next big additions: the Covenant Patrol Station. You may have heard us mention it on occasion as an upcoming feature, but now we are ready to give you a full briefing on the mechanic.
So, what is the Patrol Station? What does it do?
The Patrol Station is our answer to the problem of how to defend Covenant systems - Ever since the release of 0.75.1 we have heard complaints that the Covenant have a real hard time protecting their colonies, and this station is going to be the solution to that issue. The station functions as the Covenant’s analogue to the UNSC SMAC, but works on a different premise. Rather than act as a static defense, the Patrol Station will call in what we call Patrol Ships to defend your world.
A ‘Patrol Ship-class’? Never heard of it.
That’s because patrol ships are not one class in particular, but rather multiple ship-classes, picked from the Covenant ship roster (with a unique addition, or two). These ships will function similar to the regular versions you could see built at any frigate factory, the only major difference is they are unable to perform slipspace jumps, and will despawn after a few minutes. This means that Patrol Ships can only stay at, and defend, the world they have spawned at.
What classes of ships make up patrol fleets?
ADP-class - These ships are at the heart of patrol fleets, and are an exclusive to them. Stat wise, these small ships are currently synonymous to the UNSC Paris-class.
Lich - Another patrol fleet exclusive, these small ships are comparable in design to Vanilla SoaSE:R corvette ships.
SDV-class - The starting frigate of the Covenant also makes an appearance in Patrol fleets, and functions like the version you can build.
CAR-class - The Covenant’s standard AA frigate will also appear, again it functions exactly like the normal version.
RCS-class - The exact details of this ship are still in the works, but we can say that it will be an important part of the patrol fleet.
Commander CPV-class - Do you see that commander prefix? That is because this CPV is different from the constructible CPV classes, and acts as a lead ship in patrol fleets. It will come with a TBD special function, that will set it apart from the normal CPV, and will make it a very useful ship to patrol fleets.
Commander CCS-class - These are the flagships of patrol fleets, and are synonymous to conventional CCS-class cruisers, with one huge difference: it can call in more ships the longer it is alive. Each Commander CCS-class will be able to spawn another small patrol fleet to support it. Enemy commanders be warned - if you see this ship, eliminate it quickly!
Do I get all of these ships in my patrol fleets from the start of the game?
No, different ships are unlocked for the Patrol Station at different “Tiers”, which are represented as different techs in the research tree. The Tier system on the patrol station allows patrol fleets to advance in firepower, and size, as you get further into the game. Four Patrol Fleet Tiers will exist, each one stronger than the last, and granting you a new ship class to add to the fleet. The current tier system works like so:
Tier I - Unlocked with station; has the ability to repel small early game raids. Ships unlocked with this tier:
Lich
ADP-class
SDV-class
Tier II - Unlocked with Tier II tech, which requires CAR and RCS tech; has the ability to combat mid-game incursions, or early game invasions. Ships unlocked with this tier:
CAR-class
RCS-class
Tier III - Unlocked with Tier III tech, which requires CPV, and all prior Tier techs; has the ability to combat mid-game battle groups. Ships unlocked with this tier:
Commander CPV-class
Tier IV - Final Tier, Unlocked with Tier IV tech, which requires CCS tech, and all prior Tier techs; can hold it's own in late game, against all but gigantic fleets. Ships unlocked with this tier:
Commander CCS-class
How many ships are called in per Tier?
This isn’t something we are quite ready to discuss yet, as the number will likely bounce around a lot from now to release - but it is safe to say that you will get all the ships you will need.
That’s all the details we have for now folks, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please ask below!
Unikraken's Note:
There's been a concern raised about the defense fleet's origin and where proper credit is due and I want to try to address that. I proposed the idea of Covenant defense fleets to the team around late April of last year, but it was shot down by the coders because they felt it would have too many issues. A few months later Lord Set, from Dawn of the Reapers and sometimes SotP dev, showed us work he and Psychoak had done on a similar idea. Seeing it working in a mod created a lot of discussion in our group about it's viability. When the Canon Fodder post revealing the ADP-class Escort came out in September of last year, I finally had enough lore clout behind me to press the concept into an official part of the plan. So, while the idea was concepted long ago, Set and his Mass Effect mod had a large hand in proving the concept wasn't too error-ridden to try and I want to ensure he get's a very public thanks for that. The public build of his mod Dawn of the Reapers has a working defense fleet mechanic so encourage you all to go take a peak!
Moddb.com
will the station itself have defenses?
No, it will not have anti-ship weaponry. It will be up to you to use your Patrol Ships to defend the station.
If the station is destroyed does the patrol fleet despawn?
No.
Will there be a limit to the number of Patrol stations per planet like how the UNSC could have placed a limited number of mines in the past? Or will it be more like the SMACs where individually each station can be a threat but they are much better when deployed in groups?
Stations will be limited in the same manner SMACs are, through the tactical slot system. More stati defense fleet.
What will happen if the timer runs out, but battle ensues? Like both sides keeps bringing up reinforcements. Will they just despawn or leave the gravity well after the conclusion of battle?
Probably after their last combat command
Carefull not to make this too OP guys :s
We're trying our best to keep everything balanced.
I love this unique feature, Keep up the good work!
What if you have reached the maximum ship population? Will these still spawn? Also will they despawn while in combat after some minutes or just when they are not used?
No, these ships are limited only by the amount of patrol stations in the gravity well. And sadly, yes they will have to disappear during combat, and there is nothing we can do about it due to sins hard coding. However we are making sure the timer is long enough to combat any enemy fleet who comes to your world.
-12 hour timer- Lol just kidding but thanks for the update.
For those asking about the ships and their despawn times. Considering the massive thanks given to Lord Set for the fact that he successfully coded and implemented the mechanic into his own mod. I'm going to hazard a guess it works exactly like or incredibly similar to Lord Set's design.
Taken straight from the Dawn of the Reapers Page: - Council Extranet Hub has passive fleet defense ability that will call in a small picket fleet if the gravity well in question comes under attack. Once the well is cleared of enemies, the fleet leaves until its need again.
Moddb.com
It would be pretty silly if the ships spawned in, battled for 5 minutes or whatever then all the surviving ones just jumped out of existence during the middle of heavy combat.
////////////MINOR SPOILERS FOR HALO 5 AHEAD\\\\\\\\\\\\
Honestly I'll be interested to see if the Forerunners get updated or get a new titan to reflect the massive Arch Angel Harbinger things in halo 5. Those seem like they would be a terrifying beast to have to fight. EMP and all that.
We can't use Dawn of the Reapers picket system for several highly technical reasons; but suffice it to say, it WOULD NOT work for Sins of the Prophets. We have our own system coded by design lead Lavo and yours truly. And the ships will not simply explode when there time is up, this is something we placed a lot of importance in. The ships will still have a jumping animation upon expiry when they hit the x minute counter.
I wasn't suggesting it was the same system. But since he showed you that it could work, the coding would need to be somewhat similar. Not necessarily the same, but somewhat similar. Otherwise his showing you that it works would be a moot point since you'd be completely creating something completely and utterly different.
I was more suggesting the logic behind it would function similar to the DotR setup, with ships not just despawning or jumping out in the middle of heavy combat.
Would the jumping animation for entry and/or exit be similar to the Galaxy-Class capital ship in Star Trek: Armada 3?
With the Galaxy-Class you can separate it into two pieces, the saucer and engineering halves. Upon that ability expiring the two pieces will warp away. Just thought you might want to look into that.
The only question i have is how much will it cost to spawn the fleet/s??
Nothing.
then i assume the "abilities" reload timer will be twice as long as the duration of the fleets timer
We aren't really in a position to say how long the fleets will stay around and how long it takes for the ability to call them in to cool down, as the number I would say in this comment has a 90% chance of changing before release.
The intent is to create a system that functions as well as the UNSC's SMACs for planetary defense.
Will the ships in the defense fleet be counted in the population of ships? I have played the DotR mod and the fleet that arrives takes a bit of the sapce in the population. Based on what you are saying this ship may take a alot of space in the population...
It will take 0.
Defense fleets have no supply cost. They are effectively orbital turrets that can move.
Hey, just wanted to say great mod, the only issue I have seen is when playing as the UNSC, once I build up mac defenses the enemy AI won't even attempt to attack anymore. Hope this can be fixed easily. again great mod I'm absolutely loving it!
Whooooooooooooo nice news hope release date soon !
Just wondering what will the ships heath,shields,speed,damage,etc be,will they be based of upgrade thought research or will they be standard base models
In all honesty I don't really think the Covenant should get defenses like the portal station, its just making them even more over powered then they are now. Now I know that the Covenant are meant to be far superior to the UNSC in every way but in my opinion this makes them stupidly over powered. Before taking a Covenant held planet was difficult but now I find it nearly impossible, the ships that are spawned in to defend take out most if not all of my fleet on their own and the rest are so badly damaged that I either have to recall them or just let them die to the Covenant fleet that jumps in.
I love playing this mod because of how close you follow the Lore but in my opinion I think you've gone a little to far with this update so for the time being I'll be sticking with version 0.75.1 for the time being.
Game keeps crashing once real action starts taking place in game i am also seeing glowing blocks around planets and research buttons turn white and have no icon. Please fix!