[UI] Pirate's upgrades (Improved pirates + new map)

Attention Pilot!

A few weeks ago, one of our largest automated transport ships was assaulted, hijacked and then stolen by pirates. This transport ship was supposed to deliver a massive haul of high-tech equipment to our armory, but now our upgrades went missing.

To make things even worse, that allowed the pirates to gain a boost in technological advancements, making them deadlier than ever. Many technologies were altered to be even more lethal. In the attempts to assault the pirates, many of our elite squadrons have failed and succumbed to the brutal strikes of the pirates.

We can't waste any more time, and until we successfully secured the pirates in their sectors, we cannot send any more transport ships, and without the transport ships, our armory will eventually go empty and we cannot supply pilots with sufficient amounts of ammunition and weaponry.

We wish you luck, pilot. [Company name] out.

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Table of contents

1. General information
2. The new map 5-4
3. The new and improved pirates
4. Loot, resources and new equipment
5. Final words

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General Information
As our equipment got stronger, the pirates got weaker in comparison. Which in itself isn't a bad thing, but considering the pirates are - well, pirates, duh - it has always been weird to me that they don't steal technology, despite being in their best interest to steal something.

So with this as my primary mindset, I introduce to you my idea for a small, but probably effective pirate expansion idea, using some of the old enemies as base concepts, improve them and put them on a singular, higher difficulty map.

Previously, I wanted to simply upgrade the pirates to make the maps generally stronger. But after a bit of thinking, I came to the conclusion that this would break more than it would help. With this being said, this is how map 5-4 came to be.

Obviously, I tried to use already existent mechanics to make it as simple as possible, but didn't refrain from adding two new things regardless.

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The new map: 5-4
Original home of the pirates, the 5-4 sector stood hidden for the whole time we knew about the pirate's existence. And yet, this sector slipped past our scans. But the pirates slipped, and deactivated their portal cloaking technology, revealing this portal to us.

This new map can be accessed from the 5-2 map when level 18 has been reached. The portal is located in the top center part of the map, basically above the pirate station beyond the circle of walls. Unlike the previous maps, this one can be entered, but also exited again through the same portal.

The core build of this map could be like this:

Spoiler: Map build-up

Grey areas are walls, blue areas are palladium fields, and the green area is the Varium area, which is both a new resource area, as well as providing a somewhat new mechanic. The Varium field drains health when shields aren't present, so entering this field without shields is heavily advised against, as this field will deal 30.000 damage per second against hull when entered without even just 1 tiny fraction of shield.

Considering the strong enemies on this map, that will also be present in the palladium fields, I do think it would be appropriate. But also considering you can abuse the system to quickly teleport yourself from the palladium field on 5-3 to 5-2, there would be little to no change regardless.

This is what the map could look like from the base (Note: This is made by me somehow. No idea how I managed it, I just did, don't ask for instructions please)

Spoiler: Image

Overall, this map isn't special in any way, except that it actually won't be viewable on the map window, and obviously can't be jumped to.

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The new and improved pirates
Due to their successful assault, the pirates were able to install new upgrades on their ships. Pretty much all ships of the pirates have been upgraded both stat wise, as well as ability wise, making a fight against them much more difficult, whilst not overdoing it with the stats. *cough* Mindfire *cough*

I wasn't able to put down any sprites myself. Though, I decided the pirates would go well even without the sprites changed. There is only one pirate which I don't have any sprite suggestion for. More to it later.

Spoiler: Enemy list

(Improved Interceptor)

Hitpoints	220.000
Shields	180.000
Damage	5.000
Speed	600
Evasion	50%
Credits	275.000
Uridium	65
Experience	45.000
Honor	130
Aurus	50% chance

Abilities: None

(Improved Barracuda)

Hitpoints	650.000
Shields	550.000
Damage	12.000
Speed	540
Evasion	35%
Credits	750.000
Uridium	160
Experience	75.000
Honor	320
Aurus	75% chance

Abilities:
Smartbomb - Explodes a smartbomb at the beginning of the fight, dealing 20% of the player's hitpoints as damage.
Kamikaze - Explodes when almost dead, dealing 400.000 damage in a wide area.

(Improved Saboteur)

Hitpoints	900.000
Shields	800.000
Damage	10.000
Speed	500
Evasion	20%
Credits	1.250.000
Uridium	275
Experience	105.000
Honor	550
Aurus	90% chance

Abilities:
Slowdown - Slows down the target player occasionally by 80% for 5 seconds.
Mainframe Hack - Player cannot use skills, weapons and techs for 3 seconds. Can be used all 25 seconds. After a hack, player cannot be hacked for another 5 seconds to prevent stunlock.

(Improved Annihilator)

Hitpoints	1.450.000
Shields	1.200.000
Damage	25.000
Speed	450
Evasion	10%
Credits	2.750.000
Uridium	500
Experience	165.000
Honor	1.000
Aurus	100% chance

Abilities:
Rocket Launcher II - Fires a barrage of 5 missiles, dealing 20.000 damage
Protection - Lays a protective shield around nearby allies, absorbing 50% of the incoming damage to itself.
EMP - Can use EMP, preventing lock for 3 seconds.

(Pirate Medic)

Hitpoints	750.000
Shields	250.000
Damage	0
Speed	540
Evasion	20%
Credits	650.000
Uridium	150
Experience	65.000
Honor	300
Aurus	70% chance

Abilities:
Passive healing beacon - Heals all pirates around itself by 50.000 Hitpoints every second.
Pirate PET - Sends out a pirate PET, using sacrificial flame on the most damaged pirate, healing it by 500.000 shield points.

(Improved Battleray) or (Pirate Dreadnought)

Hitpoints	5.000.000
Shields	3.500.000
Damage	30.000
Speed	400
Evasion	0%
Credits	4.500.000
Uridium	1.250
Experience	250.000
Honor	2.500
Aurus	500% chance
Varium	50 per player

Abilities:
Reinforcements - Sends out reinforcements every once in a while, spawning 2 improved interceptors, 1 improved barracuda, 1 improved saboteur and 1 improved annihilator. Activates insta shield.
Decloaking field - Uncloaks all players within a 2.000 PET unit range.

All aliens are aggressive!

With this put out, all pirates retain their chance of dropping Bifenon.

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Loot, resources and new equipment
Don't worry, no new lasers or shields will be added. We will however get 3 new equipables, as well as 1 new tech. Well, all 4 of them are rather minor, but I thought why not? They kinda would make things a lil' better/different.

Varium Ore
An exceptional Resource, Varium can be used for new technologies, as well as traded with the pirates. Unfortunately, Varium can deplete when outside of it's natural corrosive environment. Dying outside of the Varium fields will remove all Varium reserves from your ship. It can also not be transferred via ship warp.

Can be traded for:
1 Bifenon every 5 Varium
1 Tetrathrin every 10 Varium
1 Kyhalon every 10 Varium

New rocket launcher: Heavy Duty launcher
Passive bonus: 20% damage for all missiles.
Active: Can load up to 6 missiles in the chambers till full.

Crafted via:
- 1 Hellstorm Launcher 2
- 250 Aurus
- 1.000 Varium Ore
- 2 Hybrid Processor

New module: SPC-CD01
Reduces the cooldown by 5%. Equipable on all ships with an active ability.

Crafted via:
- 250 Aurus
- 1.000 Varium Ore
- 2 Prismatic sockets
- 5 High-Frequency cable
- 5 Nano-Case

New Tech: Repair Robot 5 (Rep-Robo 5)
A must-have for every pilot, the repair robot 5 has exceptional repairing capabilities. Repairs your ship within 60 seconds, and twice the speed when located in the headquarters. Your time is too valuable to wait for repairs.

Crafted via:
- 500 Aurus
- 2.000 Varium Ore
- 3 Hybrid Processor
- 5 Nano-case
- 1 Repair Robot 4

New Tech: Alien Distraction Wave (ADW)
When used, all aliens around you lose their focus on you for 6 seconds, allowing you to retreat uninhibitedly. Cooldown of 4 minutes.

Crafted via:
- 75 Aurus
- 300 Varium Ore

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Final Words
While not the most perfect idea, I thought that this could be an easy expansion for the game connected to little work. My main goal was to expand the pirates, as well as providing some quality of life adjustments such as a better repair robot, or better ways to get the 3 improved LF-4 resources. I still hope you enjoy the idea behind it.

Kind regards - Zecora

 

This is awesome.

 

+1
I totally support any idea that brings new permanent content.
It feels like Darkorbit's Universe has become smaller through the years. (not referring to the playerbase )
We had so many equipment upgrades (lasers etc.) but very few new maps/NPCs.
I think the Blacklight expantion is one decent example of how new content should be implemented from now on.

 

Hey, thank you both for your support.

Yeah, we truly need more permanent content in terms of new NPC and maps, to expand the game a bit more. We have been sitting on the same maps for such a long time, that some fresh wind would really make the game feel more alive.

Kind regards - Zecora