Using ships as modular turrets.

[Gamma92]

I am thinking about using a couple of frigates to form mega-turrets on a central ship. These frigates will be over a hundred meters long and attach to a similar size frigate, one on each side. I want to know if this could work and if it would bog down the server if it happened. Thnx!

 

[Dr. Whammy]

It can be done but you may run into thrust issues if you're not careful. Also, make sure to use plenty of rail mass enhancers on your turret bases or your ship/guns will rotate at a very slow rate.

 

[-Moose-]

I would say this isn't an optimal idea. Every block you add to these turrets takes away potential from the main ship. Additionally these weapons are only active if the turret detached. Wasted space in the mean time.

It would be much more beneficial to have dedicated fighters aboard the ship that you can launch.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I would say this isn't an optimal idea. Every block you add to these turrets takes away potential from the main ship. Additionally these weapons are only active if the turret detached. Wasted space in the mean time.

It would be much more beneficial to have dedicated fighters aboard the ship that you can launch.

Nope. Trust me; it can be done and it can be done in such a way where the turrets will fire. You just have to do it right.


These are small scale examples. These little "Close Formation Defensive Fighters" were built to serve only as turrets but with a little more thrust and an independent main body, I can make them function as separate ships. The larger you make something like this, the easier it is to adapt it to both roles.



This big fellow has sacrificed thrust for firepower. It is actually a two part turret built around a sphere-shaped ship. The entire assembly is mobile but I typically dock it to space stations and planets as a orbital defense unit.

To make something like this, you'll need 3 parts, the main ship part which will control movement of the assembly, a turret base and the weapon system. Make sure your main component has enough thrust and power regen then build from there.

 

[-Moose-]

Nope. Trust me; it can be done and it can be done in such a way where the turrets will fire. You just have to do it right.
.

Ah yes, can being the appropriate word. Furthermore -as you have demonstrated- they can be done quite well and look very pretty.

However, my concern is that they are not optimal. The more mass a turret has, the more mass enchanters the main ship needs. Since these "turrets" need things like engines, full power, power storage, adequate shields and armor, they will be much heavier than a regular turret. Or, you must have a significantly smaller turret caliber. In the former case your main ship is weaker because you need more mass enchancers. In the later case your turret has a significantly smaller damage output.

Either way the cannons on the turret's base will not fire until it is undocked from the ship. Once it is undocked -iirc- the turret arm cannot "aim" and is useless deadweight on the drone. Meaning you have to choose between having an Unoptimized turret or an Unoptimized drone.

If you want drones (and why wouldn't you) make dedicated drones. If you want turrets make dedicated turrets. Having a hybrid sounds a lot like having a submersible attack helicopter.


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On a completely unrelated note have you released the blueprints for that last battle turret?

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Ah yes, can being the appropriate word. Furthermore -as you have demonstrated- they can be done quite well and look very pretty.

However, my concern is that they are not optimal. The more mass a turret has, the more mass enchanters the main ship needs. Since these "turrets" need things like engines, full power, power storage, adequate shields and armor, they will be much heavier than a regular turret. Or, you must have a significantly smaller turret caliber. In the former case your main ship is weaker because you need more mass enchancers. In the later case your turret has a significantly smaller damage output.

Either way the cannons on the turret's base will not fire until it is undocked from the ship. Once it is undocked -iirc- the turret arm cannot "aim" and is useless deadweight on the drone. Meaning you have to choose between having an Unoptimized turret or an Unoptimized drone.

If you want drones (and why wouldn't you) make dedicated drones. If you want turrets make dedicated turrets. Having a hybrid sounds a lot like having a submersible attack helicopter.

In most cases, I can agree with a lot of what you say but you can offset these problems by making sure that your "turret" is actually a 3 part assembly. The trick is; getting enough power and thrust built into the main 'parent' unit, while building the gun body in such a way that it protects the (probably unshielded) main part and turret base)

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On a completely unrelated note have you released the blueprints for that last battle turret?

I haven't released it yet for 2 reasons:
1) This gun acts as a docked reactor to provide thrust to the main ship. Most servers may now have docked power turned off and without it, the weapon is immobile.

2) The turret is designed as an orbital defense battery. It does not have enough shields to last against a player controlled attack unless docked to a heavily shielded base. The game has a nasty habit of undocking the gun assembly from the turret base and causing massive lag issues.

I think a redesign is needed before I make something like this publicly available; lest it end up being more trouble than it's worth to use these.

 

[-Moose-]

In most cases, I can agree with a lot of what you say but you can offset these problems by making sure that your "turret" is actually a 3 part assembly. The trick is; getting enough power and thrust built into the main 'parent' unit, while building the gun body in such a way that it protects the (probably unshielded) main part and turret base...

Well, agree to disagree I suppose. I will have to try this out though. Optimal or not it seems like an interesting idea. thanks for the polite discourse

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Well, agree to disagree I suppose. I will have to try this out though. Optimal or not it seems like an interesting idea. thanks for the polite discourse

My pleasure.

Now, you've sparked my curiosity. With everything I've learned about power efficiency over my last half-dozen builds, it is inevitable that I create a more effective version of my orbital defense gun; something truly flawless. This thing deserves a rebuild!

 

[Crimson-Artist]

actually I've been able to develop an orbital cannon that works extremely well as a 1 entity system. The Uriel forgoes any and all thrusters and instead moves around using the push and pull effects. The Games AI cant use effects so without thrusters the Uriel will just stay put and angle itself toward its target. The thrusterless design frees more space for weapons, shields, effects and all energy is being directed to these systems without having to section a part of it off to power mass enhancers. The down side to this that its still subject to ship turn rates so larger designs will have a harder time locking on to fast targets.

Although I did recently completely redesign the Uriel to bring it inline with the rail update. just havent released it yet.