It has been awhile since I released the Anomaly and helped create the the Automaton and never could let got of the idea of auto-ships. The problem are overcoming the downsides that come with them. Namely no crew for ('quick') repairs or to fix breaches and Lanius/ghost boarders. The Anomaly overcame this problem trough the use of Slug gel, a repair drone and an AP-drone. And that seemed to be the only way... Since I didn't want a blatant repeat of that, the idea of a second AI-cruiser went to the back of my head and stayed there for a while. Not being worked on, but still thought about on occasion. It wasn't untill I saw a weapon idea on a different ship mod that I thought :"Okay, this I can use." So with one of the problems being solved and an interesting weapon idea, the stage was set for a new AI-Cruiser. All that remained was a hull image, with time even that got solved. And now, I can present to you
The Triumvirate
A ternary of AI ships. Each ship with its own function but working together as one. Destroying one disables the others.
Downloads
Dropbox : Link
Mediafire : Link
Strategy
Being an AI-ship it has the same benefits and downsides of them. Much like the Anomaly, it auto-repairs systems and has an automatic manning bonus on all possible systems. Which are pretty persistent. An example would be sensors which keep lvl 1 even in a nebula and a possible lvl 3 on the flagship.
However, unlike the Anomaly, it doesn't come with a repair drone. But that is where the Auto Repair burst steps in. A weapon capable of targeting both the enemy and your self. It will repair a system for two bars whilst also ionizing them for two. So be careful what you target !
Movement through different ships is possible through the "inner airlocks".
The ship also comes equipped with the Chaos Cluster Bomb known from the Nebula Drifter since it ties in nicely with the entire "3" theme.
Other useful info
The ship replaces Federation C
All systems are available for purchase with Oxygen being priced at 50. (rather than the default 0)
CE compatible but not required.
Compatible with the Automaton mod.
Semi-compatible with the Anomaly. The only issue being the difference in artillery charge time will mess up the description and length of the charge bar.
If you don't mind that (and the fact you shouldn't buy artillery for the Automaton outside of CE which is something the Anomaly makes possible), you can get all three together for the complete AI-cruiser trifecta.
Issues :
[*]The standard shenanigans from playing an AI-ship :
Loosing crew through events if you don't have actual crew crashes the game. You're fine if you "win the roll" (a.k.a don't loose crew). Fix
Crew can't be bought in stores but can be acquired through events.
[*]Don't jump when there are crewmembers or interior drones "in transit" between two ships as it crashes the game. Also, don't power down interior drones when they are in there.
Showcase video's
Mayden Voyage.
Stylerj's... I mean Katatonik's run.
Anistuffs run.
Credit
Kartoflane : Creator of the Superluminal program
Sleeper Service : For the weapon art and animations
Gencool : Picked up the idea for the repair burst from the Tardis mod.
Federation Scum : Bouncing ideas back and forth
You : For reading and potentially trying out the Triumvirate.
