I haven't had time to get anywhere on it but I have been tinkering on my own idea (which is like yours).

Stripping ships down to the nubs and making "SpeedSins" (like speed chess..which started with the idea of "MinSins" which is stripped down Sins).

My approach (the only part I have tinkered on so far) is to strip abilities and the like on capital ships and start from scratch.

Cap ships  to this point have a limited number of upgrades and you choose from ability categories that provide:

• Range
• Hull Damage
• Shield/Mitigation
• Ship Speed and Maneuver
• Strikecraft

There are certainly other things that can be added and dealt with but the above let players construct a "custom ship" with each one built.  Until you fight it, you won't know how it's geared.  You mix and match them and each ability provides a percent increase.

It might be stripped of all effect but run and jump like a bat out of heck... or it may be a lumbering fire base.

I knocked hull points down drastically and lowered ship costs.

That's as far as I got.  Was looking at it for the same reasons.  I decided recreating a low mem, fast playing version was worth stepping away from the base Sins model and instead just uses Sins as an engine.

It would be great if you would make something like this.  I had planned using simpler models that were shared by all sides and using simple image colors for textures so memory would be saved.

But to your original post, I simply started with modular ships which are generic but the abilities added define them.

 Also, another method is to pre-position fleets and have no production and for pirates, I was thinking more of a "big kahuna" pirate monster with two smaller "sidekicks".  The pirate base I created passive damage buffs on so that enemies flying in had strike craft and ships auto damaged the closer they come to the base.

It's actually a whole different flow to play with a fixed force that can't be replaced.  Very much more like chess in style.  makes yoiu think and suits Sins really well.

You can actually eliminate ship "classes" other than those needed for hardcoded things.  Ships are just generic platforms to customize.

 Sinperium,

                         Interesting ideas. Starting with a static force that is not replaceable sounds very interesting.

You mention you started with 'generic' caps and loaded abilities, so that you had different abilities, depending on which ones you chose? 

May i ask how you did this?

The static force i can see as putting all the available ships in the first tier and removing the rest, which as you say, makes it interesting if you have ships but can't replace them.  

But your removing and then adding 'abilities' to the cap ships... I am trying to see how to do it...

Are you using a Starbase as a template for the Capital Ship? 

Or generic Caps which are created through a series of sub-ships? That is the only way i can see this right now... of course there is something i am not seeing...

I just don't know what it is.  

Anyway, yes, i am still working on it.  A bit at a time, so as to not 'unbalance' the game in the effort to shorten it.  

Take care and thank you for the post Sinperium.

-Teal

I just modded existing abilities to things like, increase hull by 10%, increase the tec maneuver skill by 10%, etc.

Changed the research trees and deleted most of the standard abilities.

So when you research you can go for hull or armor or the other main categories you allow and then when you upgrade your cap ship skills, you use the limited choices there to boost armor etc.

So there is an Armor I, Armor II, Armor III, etc. and same for the other ship stats.  I didn't  actually mod caps to spawn with already filled abilities--way over my head there for that.

To clarify, what Goa said at the end above there.

I made a map some time back where the Vasari player was on an isolated dead asteroid with a fixed fleet and only mil and only maxed out labs.  I then created 9 AI/Player and planet centers with key stars set to be crossroads for trade fleets between them. 

I'd play solo with them all on the max settings and try to poach their trade/refinery fleets to build my combat tech up and eventually amass a fleet with "Returning Armada"  so i could move on to victory.  The stars would be packed with trade and refinery ships as well as ever growing enemy fleets and at start my lone Jarasul with 0 credits and 0 resources would hit and run.

It was like being in Battelstar Galactica when they were running for their lives.  Was actually a lot of fun.

I made a similar 'ability" concept in an online game concept  I aplha'd and moderated years ago.  I wanted everyone to have unique ships but they had to be simple for me to manage them  So I Gave everyone an equal amount of "build points" and they bought the specific categories/levels for their ship.  An example:

You get 20 points and the categories available are:

• Hull
• Damage
• Range
• Speed

There has to be at least one in each category, so a ship might end up with:

• Hull-3
• Damage- 12
• Range-1
• Speed-4

I thought for a fast version of sins, simplifying abilities and ship hit points would make the game run smoothly and play faster. 

Another way to go is to percent reduce  the hulls, damage and the like.  I'm not sure how that would work.  I like the idea of player designed ships better myself but that's just me.

I love the idea of a Speed version of Sins.

FYI--I just am finishing repairing a map with "fixed resources" for a single player versus up to 8 human and one AI.  I'm finishing it up now (stupid GF ate part of it).  It's just for fun and will be up today as Prey Alone.