1 Do NPC's pick up cargo pods - I *think* I've seen 'em do it but it maybe just the heat of battle that made me think they were stealing my 'spoils'!
2 Do NPC ships lose 'capabilities' as they get damaged? They often seem to just drift in a straight line when they're spitting fireworks out the back so I guess the answer is yes.
2. I don't know about behavioural changes – I think they just go from fight to flight – but if you blow off a subentity with, say, a gun on it, for example, then that gun is gone. If you get into a fight with a Cat or an Iguana you can use this to pick them to bits.
They can become unmanned, they can also have an AI event, such as running away when they become damaged. I dont think there are things like degraded performance.
How about damaging their equipment? IE. Injectors, ECM etc? And do their lasers heat like normal? I always seem to be coming across ships that appear to be firing almost constantly.
Sorry, let me clarify. Players can suffer from equipment damage as the result of taking direct fire when shields are depleted. This does not occur for NPCs.
It is possible to script other things happening, so there may be missiles or tools like L said.
