Player Features and Ideas Discussion

What is it?: A new logistics module that imparts speed to a targeted ship by mirroring inertia of other ships in a spherical zone that are moving with negative radial velocity (and little to no transversal velocity) relative to the mirror ship.

Purpose: Reward careful grid positioning and manual piloting to give tremendous speed boost spikes to fleet members (or foes).

How it works:
Module activation lasts for 30 seconds with a 120 second cooldown. To mirror inertia onto another ship, the logistics vessel must first obtain target lock. Activating the module forms both a sphere, 25km in range emanating from the center of ship that is using this inertia mirror module, and link to the targeted ship that is to receive inertial mirroring. Other ships moving in the sphere zone for this 30 second period now apply movement bonus to the targeted ship under certain conditions; the greatest mirrored movement bonus is calculated when a ship is moving directly toward mirror ship (negative radial velocity), at high speed, with no transversal velocity. Feedback loops can occur in this scenario, if the ship being target locked is moving directly at the mirror ship within the sphere zone.

To clarify, in this feedback loop, the targeted ship moving directly toward the inertia mirror ship would move faster and faster as the feedback from the mirror grows. This would continue until the targeted ship either bumped into the mirror ship, or slingshot past the mirror ship, at which point it may begin to receive little or no inertia mirroring because the target ship is now moving with positive radial velocity relative to the mirror ship.

Mass of ships can also play a factor in the inertia potential imparted to the targeted ship. A group of 5 battleship with microwarp drives moving with negative radial velocity toward an active mirror ship would impart a much greater amount of movement bonus to the target ship, than 5 frigates with microwarp drives moving toward a mirror ship. The effect is also relative between ship classes. These 5 battleships with microwarp drives would impart a greater movement spike if the ship being targeted was a frigate rather than a battle-cruiser being targeted by the mirror ship.

Both micro jump drives and jump field can impart the greatest spike in movement bonus to a target ship as long as the micro jump lands within the sphere zone and with negative radial velocity. If the micro jump overshoots the mirror ship, no movement spike is mirrored to target ship.

Ships going to regular warp in direction of mirror ship do not impart movement bonus.

A targeted ship can nullify the incoming movement spike by cutting engines to a dead stop. The mirror process only augments existing speeds. An object at rest will remain at rest.

Theory:
It may be possible that a large fleet of battleships landing in sphere zone of mirror ship could impart just a massive movement spike to a targeted interceptor frigate that sends it 10,000km in a single direction after the speed finally bleeds off. Hard caps on mirrored inertial potential may need to be explored.