Beam rework/alternate beams.

[PizzaPress]

The current beams seem underwhelming in the idea of replicating common sci-fi ships/tropes(always nice to have).
Why?
Quite a few of the beams in sci-fi I can think of are generally not close-up, light anti-fighter weapons, but ones meant for brawling with capitals at range.

Closest to the current beams I know of is Star Trek, and there it's a multi-purpose adjustable "do it all" weapon(it is ST after all).

The ones I think of are high-speed, but slow-refire and probably low accuracy against something small. Instead of something like lasers, I would prefer a large, slow-refire, long-range, multi-hit projectile, that goes slower and has lower refire than cannons and missiles(since it has multi-hit and extra range). It could take out the extra range and that would be alright(though not ideal), just not less range than cannons, as it's meant for slugging away in capship fights, rather than close-up anti-fighter.

Cannons, and missiles especially, need a speed buff anyway. That would also let this keep some speed but be slower so as to be balanced with those weapons. The pulse reload/alpha increase should be lower than other weapons, to keep its alpha in line(since this has slower reload).

Instead of trading range for hitscan and multi-hit, these beams would trade refire and projectile speed for some range and multi-hit. This weapon would not be used against drones and agile ships. All the different combinations should have the same multi-hit-per-second, unless one of them needs a significant nerf/buff in comparison to the others. The amount of multi-hit, range increase, and speed/refire decrease would be important balancing factors.

I'm afraid it won't happen though, thanks to the current beams already being in and people being calling it OP as it's got AOE without being interceptable/having expensive systems. (Which is why it goes the opposite of beams in the speed and range departments, making it the inverse of the current ones, which is exactly the intention. Hopefully this keeps the intended balance formula working). Could be an additonal weapon, but might be too similar.


Examples of why I want this:
Martian Successor Nadesico's: Gravity Blast
Freespace 2's:GVD Psamtik
Stargtate SG-1's: BC-304(SG-1 spoilers?)


(FS2 one is basically the same, although it will be slow for balance. Anti-fighter beams won't work with this, which is why both beams would be nice to have.
For the Nadesico, maybe I'd need a really big rotated-rail(pls?)-mounted, logic-wired newbeam/beam system for the wide-spread Gravity Blast. The no-spread version probably work fine as is, maybe some beam slave to increase the speed and range.
Stargate plasma beams would work just fine pretty much as is.)

TL;DR:
I've been wanting true "capital beams" for a while. These would swap the range and speed of current beams the other way(in relation to cannons).

I would like to see your feedback on this.
*prepares flame shields*

 

[Knack]

Stargtate SG-1's: BC-304(SG-1 spoilers?)

I have a Deadalus with Beam main-weapon.
Just slave beam-beam and you have a long range, slow firing weapon. Then use the effect of you choice and enjoy.
Mine is ION therefore it is a shield-eater, and if you're aiming right (or use AI ) then it is possible to oneshot a smaller ship.
If I would use punch-through instead of ion effect, it could possibly be much more deadly as soon as the enemy shields are down.

If shema just would fix the beam/pulse combination in the blockBehaviorConfig.xml it would be great, also I think a standard range of 0.75 instead of 0.5 would be more balanced.

I don't think beams need much rework. There are people saying beams are weak in comparison to cannons, but if you want to use missiles and other weapons simultaneous, your choice should be beams, cause with them you are not shooting down your own missiles.

 

[aceface]

I also think Beams should be a lot longer

 

[jayman38]

I can see this being a positive change to the beam-beam combo. (Super-extended range and slower reload rate)

I agree with Knack that the beam range should be buffed. 0.75 like Knack said would be good. 0.8 would be better.

 

[NeonSturm]

Maybe beams could be longer and have a target-impact-delay+inaccuracy depending on the ship-ship distance.

1 light-second distance => ship.positionDiffToExpected(now - delay = 1 second) inaccuracy.

• light second could be 5x max speed per default.
• ship.positionDiffToExpected would be position+velocityVector of <delay> seconds earlier compared to now.

 

[shadowulf]

i agree the beam-beam combo could use some work. my current build has two broadside beam+beam+ion arrays that can one-shot 3+ mill shields. the recharge is kind of too fast for a single weapon with THAT much potential, and i'd love an increase in range.

 

[NeonSturm]

Assume

<?php
$history = array
(#time => array
(xyz // position
,xyz // velocityVector
)
):

function positionDiffToExpected( $delay [, $now = getTickNumber()] )
{//past
list( $pos1, $vector1 )= history[$now -$delay];
$velocityVector_change = history[$now -$delay -$delay][1] - $vector1;

$expected_posA = $pos1 + $vector1 * $delay; // only respects idle objects floating in space
$expected_posB = $pos1 + ($vector1 +$velocityVector_change)*delay; // respects acceleration

//now
list( $pos2, $vector2 )= history[$now];
$diffA = $pos2 - $expected_posA
$diffB = $pos2 - $expected_posB
}?>

BTW: php-code-highlighting here really sucks with the background color.