Ramming Update
I’ve recently discovered that ramming doesn’t work in Aurora. Or rather, it does work but no damage was being registered:)
While I was fixing the bug, I did a general tidy up for ramming. The updated ramming rules are as follows:
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Currently, only AI races will ram. Even in this case, it is limited to certain spoilers, or AI ships that decide to take drastic action, with the chance based on determination, xenophobia and combat effectiveness.
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The chance of a successful ram is equal to (Ramming Ship Speed / Target Ship Speed) * 5. For example, a ship that is twice as fast as the target has a 10% chance to ram.
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The base damage for ramming is equal to the size of a ship in tons / 50. For example, a 5000-ton ship will inflict 100 points of damage.
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The ramming ship will take base damage based on the size of the target. For example, a ship ramming a 10,000 ton enemy ship will suffer 200 points of self-inflicted damage.
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The base damage is increased by 10% for every 1000 km/s speed advantage of the ramming ship. For example, a ramming ship with a 10,000 km speed advantage will inflict double damage on both the target and itself. There is no penalty to damage if the ramming ship is slower.
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Only one ramming attempt may be made per increment.
I may add player ramming in future, but it will have to be implemented carefully. Unlimited ramming would likely result in large ships with nothing but shields and boosted engines zipping around the system trying to ram everything. Currently I am thinking along the lines of implementing something similar to the AI, where player officers have some form of hidden ‘self-sacrifice’ attribute, modified by racial xenophobia. When heavily outnumbered and ‘in trouble’ (TBD), they may override player instructions and attempt to ram the nearest hostile ship. Another option is some form of overall Empire ‘self-sacrifice’ attribute, which makes ramming available more generally after the race has suffered significant military losses or high civilian casualties. The aim is to make ramming a tactical or strategic desperation measure, rather than a planned tactic for which ships are designed from the keel up (in which case they would probably have a large warhead as well).