Formula for carriers that would hopefully minimize large-scale changes to game design:

1) Have a special "hangar module" that allows a ship to "carry" one or more other ships. The basic one would be a 18-space module permitting the carriage of one (1) tiny-hulled ship (module size must NOT scale with carrier hull-size). Later ones could allow "small" hulls ,"mini" hull, or more than one hull at a time for a slight space savings:
* "carried" ships cost -1 logistic point (e.g., 1 for a tiny hull, 0 for a mini);
* "carried" ships are "assigned" to a carrier... THAT may take some extra programming
* "carried" ships are otherwise just part of the fleet, up to the capacity of all hangar modules in the fleet;
* you'd probably also have starbase hangar modules;
* non short-ranged ships (see below) can also be carried;

2) Add a new option for "tiny" (and maybe "small" hulls called "short range." These hulls have no innate speed, nor sensor rating, nor range. Modules cannot be added, and neither can engines ["It followed us!" "No, it's a short-range fighter..."];
* short range ships can not move on the map, but can be transferred between ships or from a ship with hangers to a starbase hangar or planetary stardock;
* if abandoned without a suitable carrier, these ships are lost;
* short-range ships can be built 2-to-1... that is, you can build two at the same time, if they are the same class;

3) Add a high-tech 8-space "mini" hull type that is half the size of a tiny hull, and can only be "short-range";

4) Allow missile defense ratings to be used against ANY weapon fired from a ship with a "short range" hull (only once for missiles, or course) [short-range ships lack the tactical advantages of supralight engines, so ECM, chaff, and point defense will foul their attacks];

5) Add extra techs:
* "fighter-control" techs that allow additional reduction in the logisitics cost of carried units (can't go below 0, of course);
* "fighter production" techs that allow more short-range hulls to be produced at once;
* "self-defense" techs that allow multiple short-range hulls to be engaged;
* "fighter defense" techs that provide a bonus for attacks on short-range hulls;

UPSHOT: you get:
* fighters you can design with the current design system;
* capital ships with some built-in resistance to fighters (assuming they have missile defense);
* clear differentiation of which ships can be "multi-targeted" and which can't, without changing established game dynamics;
* carrier-based fighters won't tip the strategic balance, because they cannot operate without a carrier;
* players get modest numbers of fighters (a 80-space hull is probably only going to carry 4-5 mini fighters) without overloading the graphics engine with "swarms" of ships;
* you CAN use X-Wing style long range fighters (with hyperdrive), but they won't pack the punch of short-range fighter, which can put everything into weapons and defenses;
* carrier-based fighters can be a powerful force-multiplier in battlers
* but capital ships are still useful... investment in carriers will pay off but it will cost money.

What do you think?

Jon