Questions about warheads

[Gasboy]

Try this...

I actually have another question. How do I "launch" the torpedo?

I've built one, without the warhead, to test. It fires the pulse, but just sits there. I gave it a power module as you suggested.

EDIT: Oop, nevermind, used a push pulse instead of pulse effect. Was able to get the warhead to move and hit a target. But, still curious as to how to get the main ship to release the rail docker of the torpedo.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I actually have another question. How do I "launch" the torpedo?

I've built one, without the warhead, to test. It fires the pulse, but just sits there. I gave it a power module as you suggested.

EDIT: Oop, nevermind, used a push pulse instead of pulse effect. Was able to get the warhead to move and hit a target. But, still curious as to how to get the main ship to release the rail docker of the torpedo.

You, my good sir need to become familiar with the inner ship remote. They are way too much fun for someone to not know about them. Here's how it works for torpedo launchers.

- Use 1 'basic rail' block as a weapon pylon.
- Link it to an 'inner ship remote' block.
- Give the remote a name by pressing "R" while facing it. This is important it you have multiple remotes (more than one torpedo, and automatic loader, etc) My pocket bomber uses 4 separate remotes; one to deploy hardpoints, one to retract them and 2 separate launcher blocks.
- Assign the remote to your hotbar like a weapon.

Just be sure that none of the blocks on your launch craft are blocking or adjacent to any part of the torpedo. The torpedo needs space between it and all other objects or it will start shaking violently due to the game's collision detection and blow up while you are trying to launch it. For best launch results, you want the rail docker on the back of the torpedo facing rearward, while docked to a forward facing 'basic rail' block.

 

[Gasboy]

You, my good sir need to become familiar with the inner ship remote. They are way too much fun for someone to not know about them. Here's how it works for torpedo launchers.

- Use 1 'basic rail' block as a weapon pylon.
- Link it to an 'inner ship remote' block.
- Give the remote a name by pressing "R" while facing it. This is important it you have multiple remotes (more than one torpedo, and automatic loader, etc) My pocket bomber uses 4 separate remotes; one to deploy hardpoints, one to retract them and 2 separate launcher blocks.
- Assign the remote to your hotbar like a weapon.

Just be sure that none of the blocks on your launch craft are blocking or adjacent to any part of the torpedo. The torpedo needs space between it and all other objects or it will start shaking violently due to the game's collision detection and blow up while you are trying to launch it. For best launch results, you want the rail docker on the back of the torpedo facing rearward, while docked to a forward facing 'basic rail' block.

I've been playing for 2 years and still have stuff I haven't looked at. Thanks once more for answering my questions. :D

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I've been playing for 2 years and still have stuff I haven't looked at. Thanks once more for answering my questions. :D

Not a problem. The rails and logic are still relatively new so it's only natural that there will be things we are unfamiliar with.

I almost forgot; before you try an armed launch, be sure to save a copy of your design in case it goes KA-BOOM... Ask me how I learned that...

 

[Drakkart]

make the rail undock.

 

[Gasboy]

Not a problem. The rails and logic are still relatively new so it's only natural that there will be things we are unfamiliar with.

I almost forgot; before you try an armed launch, be sure to save a copy of your design in case it goes KA-BOOM... Ask me how I learned that...

Actually, hah, one more thing. Will the inner remote dohicky allow you to start the logic ticktock? I assume you have to start the logic first, and then make it undock, yeah?

And I already have a few copies of the "missile" sitting around. As much as it would have taken me a while to puzzle it out on my own, the design is relatively simple enough (less than 20 blocks) that I can remember how it goes together without needing a blueprint. If I could only do that with my fighters, I'd be pleased with myself.

 

[StormWing0]

The Inner Ship remote is logic as well and can be connected to the same things any other logic can be.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Actually, hah, one more thing. Will the inner remote dohicky allow you to start the logic ticktock? I assume you have to start the logic first, and then make it undock, yeah?

And I already have a few copies of the "missile" sitting around. As much as it would have taken me a while to puzzle it out on my own, the design is relatively simple enough (less than 20 blocks) that I can remember how it goes together without needing a blueprint. If I could only do that with my fighters, I'd be pleased with myself.

Unless you want to make considerably larger torpedoes and make your setup unnecessarily complex, you'll have to start the logic sequence on each individual torpedo. The remote should be linked to the rail that the torpedo is docked to. Using the remote via hotbar makes it like any other standard weapon.

StormWing0 is right but the remote is meant to be used with the hot bar. Unless I'm mistaken, there's no way to activate directly unless other logic is used to trigger it.

Also, by "backing up your design", I mean back up the ship/object launching the torpedoes. I'm building a magazine fed launcher so when they blow up, I have to start from scratch or reload a copy.

 

[Sgtwisky]

well Gasboy, I would suggest the following to launch torpedo's.

1. Have your torpedo setup so that it has 1 activation area/trigger.

2. Have that trigger set off its clock.

3. *When you use the inner ship remote, it first moves the torpedo 1 block along the rail (allowing the trigger area to be triggered by a block that sticks out.)

4. Allow enough time via delay blocks for this to occur and then release the rail.

If all goes well this should allow you to A. Activate the logic on the torpedo. B. Launch the torpedo. C. Profit.


*I will note that based off of a thread I was reading, motherships may not be able to collide with activation areas of docked things which may mean a tiny 2 block docked ship that sits there just to hit the activation area to make the logic work.


OK SO, I have been testing my current torpedo design. I have also been altering the target a bit to see what effects the damage. My main setup has been Advanced armor between 1 and 3 thickness, followed by shield blocks and then 3 advanced armor. I noticed that when I added the extra armor at the end, it lowered the damage considerably. SO I came to the conclusion that Armor HP, drastically reduces the effectiveness of torpedos. This of course is only an issue when your trying to break through the hull. Once that is done, and you hit the squishy insides, you can do some serious damage. Another note is that my torpedo's kill around 19K Armor HP each time they manage to strike a hit. Its not much to brag about when attacking large targets, BUT it should still be effective enough when combined with multiple hits to the same general area.

Now, Seeing that most engagements between large ships are face to face, and my carrier that will be armed with these is pretty huge (over 550m long). I can likely hold a few hundred of my torpedos easy. And launch them all from the same tube or set of tubes. I will also note here that my carrier will have no weapons aside from drones, Torpedos and possibly a few support effects, such as jump inhibitors and Ion effects. Oh and of course PD turrets and some basic turrets to handle pirates. Considering that, the torpedos should add a good extra layer of shock damage before shields come down. I'm getting closer to revealing the torpedo and how exactly it works. Hoping to reveal the launcher at the same time but that may have to wait a bit longer.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Update:

I just tested a 10 round compact launcher and reliably made shots in excess of 1750m. I'm thinking these might be able to be used to attack stations and planetary installations from a safe distance. Holding the "V" key seems to stabilize the craft long enough to get the shot off. Once the torpedo is away, you are free to turn and burn.

I'm going to make these into replaceable/ejectable mags for a heavier torpedo bomber/cruiser. The ship can fly in, take aim, smack the target with 20+ torpedoes then leave.

SURPRISE!!! TORPEDO SPAM!!!

 

[Gasboy]

Well, I did some testing earlier today. Learned a few things, had some successes.

First, never touch the warhead with your ship. Leave at least one block of distance between the warhead and your ship. Accidentally moved JUST as I launched, pointy part of my fighter tapped the warhead, BOOM, missing that pointy bit. Drink more caffeine if you find yourself too jittery.

Secondly, always make sure the push effect computer is facing the direction you want the torpedo to go. They can, and will, go sideways if you put the computer in wrong. Pro-tip: Select the warhead with F, be sure to ctrl-c the phrase "/destroy_entity", fire torpedo... if it is going somewhere OHGODNO, hit enter, ctrl-c, hit enter. Bam, wayward torpedo is gone.

Thirdly, torpedo design. Your design is okay, Dr. Whammy, but I have made what I consider to be an improvement. Your mileage may vary. I found that the torpedo will often still be mostly intact. The ship cores are impervious to damage, and typically everything behind them survive. However, if the push effect module and computer survive, you will end up with that piece careening off into space. And they are next to impossible to corral and recover. So I suggest this design.

FRONT [warhead] [push effect computer] [push effect module] [ship core] [NOT signal] [power] [DELAY signal] [rail docker] REAR

What happens is that the warhead impacts and explodes. The push effect computer and module are destroyed (as opposed to the NOT signal biting the dust), and the remaining piece of torpedo slowly moves away from the point of impact, making it much easier to corral and recover.

Also, you can experiment with the warhead. Have a + of warheads (a central warhead plus one up, down, left and right), a couple of hull blocks, then a second + of warhead, and so on and so forth. Unless the object moves (and I found out that even a 10 x 10 x 10 cube of advanced armor will begin to move after the first impact), the torpedo will continue to bump into the target, exploding successive warheads.

Thanks for the help folks with my foray into torpedo design and experimentation. :D

EDIT: Also, just to note, the server I am playing on has default damage for warheads. I am sure I would not need to put multiple warheads on if the damage was bumped to the level you have it, Dr. Whammy. :P

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Well, I did some testing earlier today. Learned a few things, had some successes.

First, never touch the warhead with your ship. Leave at least one block of distance between the warhead and your ship. Accidentally moved JUST as I launched, pointy part of my fighter tapped the warhead, BOOM, missing that pointy bit. Drink more caffeine if you find yourself too jittery.

Secondly, always make sure the push effect computer is facing the direction you want the torpedo to go. They can, and will, go sideways if you put the computer in wrong. Pro-tip: Select the warhead with F, be sure to ctrl-c the phrase "/destroy_entity", fire torpedo... if it is going somewhere OHGODNO, hit enter, ctrl-c, hit enter. Bam, wayward torpedo is gone.

Thirdly, torpedo design. Your design is okay, Dr. Whammy, but I have made what I consider to be an improvement. Your mileage may vary. I found that the torpedo will often still be mostly intact. The ship cores are impervious to damage, and typically everything behind them survive. However, if the push effect module and computer survive, you will end up with that piece careening off into space. And they are next to impossible to corral and recover. So I suggest this design.

FRONT [warhead] [push effect computer] [push effect module] [ship core] [NOT signal] [power] [DELAY signal] [rail docker] REAR

What happens is that the warhead impacts and explodes. The push effect computer and module are destroyed (as opposed to the NOT signal biting the dust), and the remaining piece of torpedo slowly moves away from the point of impact, making it much easier to corral and recover.

Also, you can experiment with the warhead. Have a + of warheads (a central warhead plus one up, down, left and right), a couple of hull blocks, then a second + of warhead, and so on and so forth. Unless the object moves (and I found out that even a 10 x 10 x 10 cube of advanced armor will begin to move after the first impact), the torpedo will continue to bump into the target, exploding successive warheads.

Thanks for the help folks with my foray into torpedo design and experimentation. :D

Remember; you can always hold the "V" key to stabilize your aim. There will be no drift and you are less likely to bump the torpedo off course as you fire.

Also, since I don't put power reactors on my torpedoes, they eventually come to a stop. However, since I have the damaged tweaked, there is nothing for me to recover. 500,000 damage vaporizes everything withing 5-10 meters.

Happy Torpedoing...

 

[Gasboy]

Remember; you can always hold the "V" key to stabilize your aim. There will be no drift and you are less likely to bump the torpedo off course as you fire.

Also, since I don't put power reactors on my torpedoes, they eventually come to a stop. However, since I have the damaged tweaked, there is nothing for me to recover. 500,000 damage vaporizes everything withing 5-10 meters.

Happy Torpedoing...

Well, if you put some blocks of advanced armor, you might have something to recover.

But thanks again. My fighters are easily configured to take multiple warheads into battle. A good opening salvo followed up by missiles and cannon fire.

 

[Sgtwisky]

What you described with the + shaped "charges" and some space in between is exactly what I have on my torpedoes. With the exception, that instead of blocks I used empty space between. I did this because for some reason they kept no clipping into targets, exploding the gooey insides and then spasuming out from collisions. Although I DID invent a very effective torpedo which I now call a "Lag Spike" I figured it would be better for everyone involved to remove those blocks to avoid lag and or other annoyances that those might have caused.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Update:

I'm baby steps from fielding my torpedo cruiser...

It's covered with missile turrets and has two 10 round magazine fed torpedo bays. When the mags run dry, I can eject the empties or manually load more individual torpedoes onto them. I've also added an anti-jam function to avoid an explosion during launch by clearing any warhead that get bunched and putting them back into the storage part of the magazine.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Here's my new light cruiser (work in progress).

The launchers work well, the firing rate is decent and the accuracy is great as long as you remain stationary while firing. At 500,000 damage (as per the block behavior tweak) It can kill a ship it's own size with 4-6 torpedoes under the new explosions game mechanic. The ejection system works but I still have to link the mags to the wireless logic on the ship after reloading. Ship yards will no doubt, be instrumental in performing faster reloads. This will be a fun unit to bring along for a station/planetary assault.

 

[shadowulf]

Nicely done Dr. Whammy! Looks great as well. I'm interested in those mags you mentioned, any chance I could see them?

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Nicely done Dr. Whammy! Looks great as well. I'm interested in those mags you mentioned, any chance I could see them?

I'm sorry but that's classified information...

Just kidding . When I get home I'll post a picture and write up a summary of their function. There is a lot of logic involved but it's a relatively simple concept. It took quite a few explosions and destroyed prototypes to get this system to work properly ... but overall, I'm pleased with the result.

 

[shadowulf]

I currently have a shelved prototype that has 10 capacity and would like to compare. For reference mine has an auto reload system, so its a bit larger than most. I'm working on a project it would be good for

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I currently have a shelved prototype that has 10 capacity and would like to compare. For reference mine has an auto reload system, so its a bit larger than most. I'm working on a project it would be good for

Sound fun. I think you'll like my design; every precaution has been taken to reduce the probability of a catastrophic failure due to jams and collisions.

The only thing I don't like is the fact that the cruiser's remote has to be used twice in order to fire; it acts like a toggle switch instead of a trigger. This is an issue with the ship, not the mags. I'm thinking of using some NOT or OR logic blocks to fix it.