Fed Tractor Beam ability

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Suggesting to set the Fed Tractor Beam ability to target only ships without
shields, or otherwise to give some ships the ability to generate an
inversion cycle with their shields to neutralize the tractor beam effects
after being hit by it.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by gianmari...@gmail.com on 14 Jan 2010 at 10:17

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agreed

Original comment by jtaylor...@gmail.com on 14 Jan 2010 at 1:33

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Three functional ways to do this.  One constraint of real use, limit it to 
targeting
ships with hull damage.  We could do shield damage too, but that's pretty 
pointless.
 We can also have it wear off when the caster takes damage, simulating the tractor
beams being hit.

A method of neutralizing tractor beams only via an ability is impossible, only
abilities and weapons have an ultimate disable, and immunity would be 
non-specific. 
You could have a timed counter that flipped the switch for it, but it would also
neuter everything else that disabled engines.

Adding a finish condition on damage taken is probably the best way to go about 
it,
it's already a self buffing entity setup, so nothing else would need changed.

Original comment by psych...@gmail.com on 14 Jan 2010 at 10:48

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option 1: would be my favourite pick if "without shields" is not possible;
option 2: doesn't look much good to me as it would counter other abilities' 
effects
as psychoak wrote;
option 3: in medium/large battles it is very likely ships get hit by random 
fire so
unless this can be set to a percentage of chance (like xx% chance of being 
disabled
when hit) I'd discard this option.

Original comment by gianmari...@gmail.com on 18 Jan 2010 at 5:09

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I'm just thinking out loud here...

Instead of a single ability and buff, why not use a string of buffs that scan 
for
shield failure and interrupt the tractor ability if they're still functional.  
For
example:

1)  Initial buff does 2 things: engages tractor beam and applies a second buff 
to the
target ship.

2) The second buff has an action ("removebuffoftype") that interrupts the 
tractor
buff with a finish condition of "shield failure".  So, when the target ship's 
shields
fail, so does it's ability to interrupt the tractor beam.  

In theory this should work like a charm (I think), and I'll be happy to test it 
once
I finish up with the tactical cube today, but there's the formula if anyone else
wants to have a go at it. 

Original comment by aaron...@hotmail.com on 18 Jan 2010 at 5:33

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The damage condition is based on an amount of damage, so random fire ending it
immediately isn't of great concern.  You can set the damage as high as you 
want.  You
can even set it to only count hull damage.  It's currently set to disengage 

Aaron, while it should be function, I doubt it would be useful.  The only way 
you'd
want to use such a device, is when the shields are already down.  Such a 
condition
also doesn't exist, although I do see a way to set it up.

Original comment by psych...@gmail.com on 18 Jan 2010 at 10:10

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Oh, I thought that's what you were looking for.  A way to target only after 
shields
are down that is.  

I'm not sure what condition you're referring to.  If it's shield failure, it's 
in the
Shield Projection Caster buff.  I came across it a couple of months ago when I 
was
looking through the reference files for lines that got left off that Modifier 
post in
the forum.

It's up to you guys, but I can set up this loop without a problem if you want 
to try
it out.  Theoretically, the tractor beam will only function if the target's 
shields
are down, otherwise the buff is canceled out.  

Original comment by aaron...@hotmail.com on 18 Jan 2010 at 10:46

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removebuffoftype, that's not in any of the lists I've seen.

The difference between that ability and one that targets ships with failed 
shields,
something impossible, is that it will target some random ship, and then just sit
there doing nothing waiting for them to drop.  It's a highly inefficient use of 
an
ability that's not particularly effective to autocast as it is.  You'd be 
better off
using the damage constraint, which would at least cast to effect, if not with 
perfect
accuracy regarding the condition of the shields.

Original comment by psych...@gmail.com on 19 Jan 2010 at 12:05

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fixs?

Original comment by jtaylor...@gmail.com on 22 Jan 2010 at 8:11

• Changed state: Started

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It's using this as a secondary condition:
finishCondition
    finishConditionType "DamageTaken"
    damageNeeded
        Level:0 200.000000
        Level:1 300.000000
        Level:2 400.000000

If everyone likes current functionality, it's fixed.  I figure it probably 
should be
set to hull damage, but I was waiting for commentary.  

Original comment by psych...@gmail.com on 22 Jan 2010 at 9:22

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sure
set it to hull damage

Original comment by jtaylor...@gmail.com on 24 Jan 2010 at 6:15

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Original comment by jtaylor...@gmail.com on 27 Jan 2010 at 3:03

• Changed state: Fixed