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+--- Thread: Spacecraft weapons revamp (/showthread.php?tid=2875)
Spacecraft weapons revamp - Neils Iyssada - 02-17-2023
Right now in ship-to-ship combat there's no reason to use another weapon than energy beam : it is hitscan and has no ammo. Also 360° coverage is kinda weird.
I propose to revamp weapons characteristics to make space fights more interesting. I know all those ideas are not feasible or wanted by everyone, but I wanted to see what everyone could say about it, especially Haxus.
Hull vs shield damage
Separating damage between hull and shield would add more tactical depth.
Projectile -> Hull // Shields
Energy -> Hull // Shields
Missile -> Hull // Shields bypassed OR Hull // Shields
OR Hull type
Instead of hull vs shield, another way could be that each hull material have strenght and weaknesses.
Hull material wouldn't change HP and armor, but instead (for example) :
Metal -> Projectile / Energy / Missile
Magmium -> Projectile / Energy / Missile
Vulcium -> Projectile / Energy / Missile
Adamantium -> Projectile / Energy / Missile
This solution would be redundant with shield types tho, but could be interesting.
Cone of fire
All weapons should have a cone of fire, simulating barrels, launch tubes angle etc. Would add incentive to put more than one weapon for area coverage (especially for defense). Would also add possible blind spots for smaller crafts and vehicles to sneak by.
Projectiles weapons would get a narrow cone (30-45°)
Missiles would get a large cone (90-150°)
Energy weapons would get a large cone (120-180°)
Building weapons could keep their 360° coverage, or at least get a 180° angle.
Point Defense Turrets
All turrets could be flagged as Point Defense in the design. Their sole objective would be to destroy incoming missiles (like Guardian system in Mass Effect lore).
Energy -> short range but hitscan
Projectile -> long range, moderate precision, high speed
Missile -> long range, good precision, slowest speed
Projectile weapons
These should be the main hull-damaging weapon. Shields make them explode, which damage shields with a value dropoff.
Work has to be done on projectile speed and deviation for making it fun, without making it too hitscan.
Energy weapons
Energy beams are good against shields and missiles.
When hitting hull, it would damage it with value dropoff.
Missile weapons
Missiles bypass shields but have to be balanced by missile agility, missile speed and Point Defense systems.
There should be heavy emphasis on avoiding missiles spam if they bypass shields.
Another safer balance idea would be to make missiles the "default" weapon, moderately damaging both hull and shields.
Manual weapon fire (idea)
There should be a way to manually fire weapons as pilot and captain. This could be done with HUD elements showing the aim and pressing a key.
Could be limited to some dedicated weapons (flagged in designer) or by entering a manual fire mode.
Manual fire aiming (idea)
Aiming could be made like in Elite Dangerous : fixed and gimbal aiming.
Fixed aiming would shoot straight to where you aim.
Gimbal aiming would require a target selected, and would try to shoot at target if it is in the cone of fire.
RE: Spacecraft weapons revamp - Deantwo - 02-17-2023
I think it would be bad to base it all on weapon type. Forcing people to use a specific weapon type seem weird.
You seem to have totally disregarded damage types of the weapons and the different ammunitions. Having all weapons able to do every damage type would maybe not be as interesting, but at least if you have a few different damage types you can get with each weapon type there can be alternatives.
RE: Spacecraft weapons revamp - Deantwo - 02-17-2023
Still one thing I really really want to see is changing Ballistics Weapons Bay back to being non-projectile. Simply because it saves a lot of trouble with weapon physics.
I would suggest maybe making a separate "Cannon/Artillery Weapon Bay" use the current Ballistics Weapons Bay's projectile physics. It would probably be better as a space-to-surface weapon, or indirect artillery weapon with a focus on area of effect damage for planet side combat.
Basically slow moving unguided projectiles just seem like a waste in space-to-space combat.