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Boarding hook lines - vessel capture

Deon Beauchamp shared this feedback ago

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Boarding hook lines.

Either magnetic or harpoon lines that can be locked onto a target.

Once 'hooked' the target vessel will have to fight the mass and thrust of the attacking vessel.

An optional winch could be operated to reduce distance.

An optional hack tool to gain control, disable or disrupt the targets system.

The hack tool would be a consumable added to the hook lines head.

Multiple lines could be attached to the target from one or more attacking vessels.

I like this feedback

Replies (3)

Deon Beauchamp ●

Arrg me hearties, there be a bounty on the port side.

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Wilhelm ●

There was a grapple hook mod for SE1 I used a few times. Being able to stop a drifting ship to board it would be great. I'd assume that it would need to have to have some sort of break limit, as in the line had 'x' amount of tensile strength vs. the kinetic energy of the object you're trying to grab.

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Semtex ●

The simplest solution in SE1 is a magnet on a telescopic pole.

Otherwise, it’s just a makeshift version of a tractor beam.

Since there is a speed limit, the attacking ship should not be able to fire any "object" at the escaping ship that would create a physical connection between the ships, because such an "object" is part of the attacking ship and must exceed the speed limit.

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Deon Beauchamp ●

Projectiles exceed the 300m/s limit.

A telescopic pole would end up being unwieldy, and difficult to aim.

As for range, 300 to 400m would be my first guestimate.

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Tael ●

On the one hand this idea is cool, on the other IRL grapple-hooks and the like tend to just snap when you try this because anything smaller than an I-beam wont have the strength to handle the forces involved in even small vehicles if said vehicle has any kind of momentum built up before it hits the end of the line...

...This would be nice as a "suit-weapon" kind of thing, as there are several uses to engineers being able to grapple/tether themselves to a grid and people tend to snap before steel-cables do, but a grid-sized one would need a lot of careful tuning to avoid breaking immersion for some of the more hard-core players...

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Wilhelm ●

I do like the idea of a suit grapple, since I've also experienced the numerous times of my space buddy trying to land on a drifting enemy vessel and trying to get the magnetic boots to attach repeatedly.

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Deon Beauchamp ●

Hmm...I thought that modern systems used a continuous reel run out that had an auto tension adjust. Once a connection has been made, heavier cables can be guided in quickly, stronger connections could be established.

Tension could be maintained up to a point where the relative acceleration is too high and would break either the connection or the cable, this would be a good thing giving the target the possibility of escape.

I-beams lack the flexibility required.

Multiple low mass vessels attacking a larger ship, would be less likely to loose connection. The smaller vessels would not have to resist the target thrust so much, they could wind themselves in and infiltrate the vessel from multiple points, if they do not get blasted away first.

Larger attacking vessels would use multiple grapples, adding pull force with each line.

The defending vessel could use counter measures to remove lines, removing the grid block with the connection being one of the simplest.

Cable material strength could be much higher than the steel cables we have now. We know of materials that can do this, manufacturing such cables is a matter of production method, volume, environmental stability and efficiency.

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DrHexagon ●

yes, space pirates we are......

if they don't want to implement a "rope / chain" because its a soft body then make it be a tractor beam. tractor beams should have a weight limit and you have to build more tractor beam blocks to capture heavier ships.

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Tael ●

@DrHexagon I think they're trying to stick to near-future for everything, with jump-drives and grav-gens just being game-convenience inclusions.

@Deon Beauchamp I don't think modern systems are meant as an offensive grapple, as a vehicle's mass slamming in to the end of any kind of tether with even just a small wind-up tends to not only drastically exceed the tensile strength of the tether, but the structural strength of whatever the tether is attached to. Shock-loading is not kind to anything, its why personal fall-arrest system instructional videos tell you to "only tie your harness off to things you'd trust to hold the weight of a car".

That said its a cool idea, and I want it, but it will need a good bit of tuning if they opt to add it lest it break immersion for the more hard-sci players.

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