Obviously small cannons got nerfed hard by that UFO armor, but it's like everyone wanted the air combat to be challenging... So don't blame me, Judases.
Meridian's experiences cannot be used as a measuring tape since he completely neglected air combat (nothing wrong with that, his choice, just let's be objective). The question is, can a Kraken with HK & Pachyderm support defeat a Heavy Gunship, using 105mm missiles, Naval Cannons and any missiles of choice (better than Seagull)? If the answer is "yes, quite easily" then all is well. As far as Cruisers, Destroyers and Battleships go, I expect player to having to engage them with 4 ships, including Kraken, Crab or Dragon as the lead craft, and possibly another Kraken/Hydra to provide heavy pounding, supported by Avalanche/Lancer/Hammermite-totting fighters. Another option are 4 Nightmares or Sabres with maxed out Dodge (approaching effective 90% dodge).
I cannot simply double the refire rate and halve damage since:
a) fastest UFO refire rate is 19 sec; halving that to 10 would result in a refire of 2 sec on Jack Sparrow.
b) player's ships employ shielding as well.
About the pilots having a chance to survive... yeah I was saying it since long time ago. Eject button is quite fine - should be active until you have 1 or more HP. If you go below 0 HP, ejecting is automatic but consequences are more grave, depending on how far below 0 did you go.
What I meant about base transfer being "boring" is that there should be some random elements;
- random return transfer time (weighed so more people involved = faster return);
- chance to suffer injuries, during battle AND crash landing (for each soldier), including fatal injuries. Injuries calculated upon each hit?.
- possibility of spawning a custom mission if modder wants to; the mission involves downed crew, is activated with a delay not to break the air combat, and winning it starts aforementioned transfer (this doesn't need to be implemented quickly).
Example equations:
Return time (in hrs): rnd (50...300) / square root(x). X is number of soldiers on the craft. HWPs and equipment is lost.
Injuries: rnd (0...100)*y
Y = (0.33 - a)*cube root(x)*b, where A is % of hull HP remaining (can be negative), and b is situational modifier (default = 0.75 if survives/ejects, 1.5 if gets destroyed?)
Eject time (when you push it, your ship stops firing, but battle goes on until ejection is complete): (1+x)*2 game seconds. Ejection cannot be stopped.
