BUILD CHALLENGE: Torpedoes, launchers, magazines!

[Dr. Whammy]

So the first 1-2 torpedoes of a burst should be larger to potentially get through advanced armor, and the rest don't need the extra damage to kill system blocks. Hmm I want to build something like this now.

That shouldn't be a problem if you are familiar with the rail and logic systems. The warheads have a very low damage output now because of the new explosion mechanic and the massive buff of advanced armor so anything you build will be weak-sauce. Here's how to modify their damage in sandbox/single player mode.

To tweak the explosive blocks in windows:
- Find "blockBehaviorConfig.xml" in StarMade\data\config\
- Make a copy of the file as a backup with a slightly different name, (just in case...)
- Using a text editor (I use word pad), open "blockBehaviorConfig.xml"
- On your keyboard, hold your control key and hit "F"; a "find" dialogue box will open.
- Type the word "explosive". The first entry listed will be the warheads
- Modify the damage and blast radius as you see fit.
- Save the file
- Open StarMade and blow crap up...

You also might want to read my posts on this thread; there's a lot of good info in the first page and we break down what warheads can and cannot do. I've also posted how to build torpedoes as well as examples of the modified warhead damage there. Here's a link to my first stable magazine-fed launcher and my 25x Launcher. Both are repeat fire and have an anti-jam function that keeps you from blowing yourself up. It's best to remain stationary when firing as it maximizes your accuracy and minimizes the chance of you knocking a newly launched torpedo against the warhead of another docked torpedo.

Spoiler

 

[Master_Artificer]

Yeah, but while I build on single player and build servers, I plan to play on multiplayer servers, so I wont be able to edit configs.

But what I do plan on doing is to make a stealth bomber like yours, and then patrol shops or player bases, then attack huge ships and blow out systems or turrets and cause a ruckus in general, and make ii a pain in the ass to repair. Probably will have to launch many in a salvo, as well as some decoys, to make sure the warheads hit and not shot down. Or I could add light shielding, but rammet....

 

[Kimiyosis]

Jeez, everybody is enjoying logic launched torpedoes.
Do I have to be the one person calling out "Four ze Muthalandz!" or something similar?
Where's the fun old method of getting a friend to pilot what's basically a space version of a Kaiten?
"Let's have a moment of silence for the sacrifice of one brav-Crap, they're still firing at us! Sacrifice anther!"

I don't know about you guys, but I don't even trust logic systems to operate warhead-based weaponry onboard my ship, or AI either.
But damn, those are some nice designs you guys have. especially that safety system with the 25x torp system.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Jeez, everybody is enjoying logic launched torpedoes.
Do I have to be the one person calling out "Four ze Muthalandz!" or something similar?
Where's the fun old method of getting a friend to pilot what's basically a space version of a Kaiten?
"Let's have a moment of silence for the sacrifice of one brav-Crap, they're still firing at us! Sacrifice anther!"

I don't know about you guys, but I don't even trust logic systems to operate warhead-based weaponry onboard my ship, or AI either.
But damn, those are some nice designs you guys have. especially that safety system with the 25x torp system.

I'll be honest; at this stage of the game's development, adding AI to anything with warheads on/in it is a bad idea.

On the other hand, there are some pretty clever (not to mention fun) logic controlled weapons out there. If you're not yet comfortable using logic in this way, I'd be happy to show you how my launchers work and how to adapt these circuits to fire conventional weapons or even support units like salvagers/repair beams. I'm sure others would be willing to help you as well.

 

[Fellow Starmadian]

I agree that it's more fun to use kamikaze pilots, you got to admit that to make it effective against a ship with turrets, you would have to have A LOT of idle players without any ships of their own. It'll get better though when undeathinators can be used on ships. And I agree the AI is terrible, I like to think of it as building a weapon for the future, lol.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I agree that it's more fun to use kamikaze pilots, you got to admit that to make it effective against a ship with turrets, you would have to have A LOT of idle players without any ships of their own. It'll get better though when undeathinators can be used on ships. And I agree the AI is terrible, I like to think of it as building a weapon for the future, lol.

Even better; a remote guidance system. Like a TOW missile or predator drone. You could fly in with your torpedo boat, activate the remote and then launch and pilot your guided missile, torpedo, drone fighter, etc. until you go boom. Respawn, launch the next one and repeat until the mags run dry.

 

[Fellow Starmadian]

Even better; a remote guidance system

ooh, hadn't thought of that one before! Nothing but good ideas from you, lol.

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

Even better; a remote guidance system.

Hmm, that shouldn't be too hard for Schema, or the other Devs, to program in.

It's allready possible if you're using the admin/singleplayer TAB+F8 command to teleport into a ship's core.

Simply don't exit the previous ship, and you'll be controlling the both of them.
Untill I found this thread, I hadn't seen any use for it.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Yeah. I tried that, It seemed cool at first but the novelty wore off when I was trying to control a fighter and my launching ship and they moved at entirely different speeds. In lieu of AI guidance, another promising idea would be to momentarily shift control from the ship to the torpedo like a TOW missile. This could open a new dynamic of game play; temporarily impair your mobility to launch torpedoes or get a second player to control your warhead weapons.

 

[Lord_Greyscale]

That I can fully agree with. I've long been of the belief that more games need a controllable missile, without leaving the comfort of the firing vehicle.

EDIT: removed an extra l from missile.

 

[Master_Artificer]

OKAY LAUNCHER RAILS ARE GO!
:p

 

[Endal]

(The config for warheads was not touched, the only changes were sector size (10km) and "max" speed (450m/s)
While I was messing around with Warheads and their Terminal Ballistics (What happens when they hit) I came across an old bug,

Spoiler: Example

Docked Warheads do not self-destruct but still explode if you manage to clip (not just ram) into the target entity, but will self-destruct once the whole warhead group clips out and collides (with the surface of) the target entity. (However, there MUST be a non-warhead block on the tip to prevent the warheads from exploding on contact). So this happens,

Spoiler: Impact

the torpedo actually hit the flat hull side, but the warhead did a 90 degree turn upward inside the target, causing the cavity to appear to expand upward. Now for the damage on the surface,

Spoiler: Surface damage

Uhuh, no damage.
You see, this type of torpedo relies on shear ludicrous speed to pierce and wreck the interior of ships, mostly ignoring the skins and external armour (Unless it is spaced or ERA armour). As such, this type of torpedo is extremely lethal against most ships, and can even Core ships with their cores near the surface. (Although if its not anywhere close people can just lengthen the projectile and bobs your uncle, more penetration depth) Whether this bug will be fixed... well you could report it on the bug tracker, since its brother ( T389 docked warheads don't explode on contact) is "Closed, Finished", and my comment has not got through.
So, place your bets, will this type of torpedo be the major powerhouse of torpedoes? Or will its core mechanic be fixed and be let to rot away?

 

[Lecic]

and can even Core ships with their cores near the surface.

Uh... you do realize hitting the core with warheads does absolutely nothing, right?

Anyway, nice torpedo, but it
1) Relies on lag, which is inherently flawed for a weapon system
2) Won't work well on people who use thick armor (ie; anyone with a brain)
3) Won't work on servers that have sane max speeds

 

[Endal]

1) It is indeed underhanded to rely on lag, but there is no other practical way to pierce to such depth without; realistically speaking, a projectile of that speed would pierce anyway.
2) It would still heavily damage the interior unless said person has 30 m of armour (I said that penetration is essentially the length of the projectile at this speed) and,
3) initial testings at 75 m/s default max speed still allowed +/-20 m of penetration, not all that great but still a lot more than just a ram and scratch torpedo.

You have to take note that this still ignores shields, meaning even highly-shielded titans are at risk of suffering considerable damage. Worse, generators and other docked gizmos might get hit and impede combat-function.

 

[Lecic]

(The config for warheads was not touched, the only changes were sector size (10km) and "max" speed (450m/s)
While I was messing around with Warheads and their Terminal Ballistics (What happens when they hit) I came across an old bug,

Spoiler: Example

Docked Warheads do not self-destruct but still explode if you manage to clip (not just ram) into the target entity, but will self-destruct once the whole warhead group clips out and collides (with the surface of) the target entity. So this happens,

Spoiler: Impact

the torpedo actually hit the flat hull side, but the warhead did a 90 degree turn upward inside the target, causing the cavity to appear to expand upward. Now for the damage on the surface,

Spoiler: Surface damage

Uhuh, no damage.
You see, this type of torpedo relies on shear ludicrous speed to pierce and wreck the interior of ships, mostly ignoring the skins and external armour (Unless it is spaced or ERA armour). As such, this type of torpedo is extremely lethal against most ships, and can even Core ships with their cores near the surface. (Although if its not anywhere close people can just lengthen the projectile and bobs your uncle, more penetration depth) Whether this bug will be fixed... well you could report it on the bug tracker, since its brother ( T389 docked warheads don't explode on contact) is "Closed, Finished", and my comment has not got through.
So, place your bets, will this type of torpedo be the major powerhouse of torpedoes? Or will its core mechanic be fixed and be let to rot away?

I've attempted to replicate this design, and it's not working. Docked warheads are DEFINITELY still detonating immediately, even at high speeds.

 

[Endal]

I've attempted to replicate this design, and it's not working. Docked warheads are DEFINITELY still detonating immediately, even at high speeds.

Oh dear, I forgot to put in an extremely important detail, there MUST be a non-warhead block on the tip, this ensures that the warheads do not explode on contact.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

I told you I'd go all D.A.R.P.A. on you guys... Now the fun begins.

This is my first guided warhead-based weapon. It automatically picks a target, homes in on it, then fires 4 logic torpedoes in a spread pattern. The warheads can be deployed and detonated remotely from the launch station as the weapon get close to the target (more precise) or they can be rigged to detonate on impact (fire and forget but detonation isn't a guarantee) .

 

[Endal]

automatically picks a target, homes in on it, then fires 4 logic torpedoes in a spread pattern.
View attachment 24268

How does your torpedo know when to release the submunitions? Does it release them instantly, on a timer, on remote input, or best, upon proximity?

 

[Dr. Whammy]

How does your torpedo know when to release the submunitions? Does it release them instantly, on a timer, on remote input, or best, upon proximity?

This weapon is a 6 part system.

Part 1: The main body

Part 2: A central "primer" which uses an area trigger to activate a wireless logic, which then sends a signal to the main body to release the sub-munitions. This system is buggy due to the game's weird collision checks so it doesn't fully deploy the "subs". However it does seem to reliably detonate them in a tight cluster at the point of impact (though it may bump it several times first). You can use a timer but that's not always practical in combat. I've found that the most reliable way to get a wide spread and enure the weapon goes off is to deploy the sub-munitions remotely with a wireless block; like an air burst grenade. These alternate methods need to be set up on the main body.

Parts 3-6: 4 internally carried logic clock, push effect torpedoes. The same kind used in my launchers.

I've also set it so that the engine "flares up" and 4 "stabilizing fins deploy when the weapon is undocked. This is basically for aesthetics...

 

[Endal]

Time to reveal my D.A.R.P.A project too :D

This is the result of testing and designing more than 5 distinct types of torpedoes, and each type having tens of versions. But this one, oh this one is the best yet. I present to you, the "Tomahawk"

(I won't reveal the warhead for secrecy purposes :p)
This torpedo has a total of 4 entities, Each with its very important function(s)
The main body: the push engine, a lot of thrusters, power, and shields to resist pistole fire. Of course, the warhead too which is well protected by a plex door safety cap.
A turret (docked to the main body): That's right, a turret on a torpedo. But why?! you might ask. Well, the AI on the turret uses beams of pull to yaw the torpedo to its target, making accuracy almost (AI is stupid) 100%.
The first stage: But isn't the main body the "first" stage? Nope, the main body is the second stage. This first stage is a really simple bunch o blocks that the main body is docked on. Why? The first stage is actually going to be in a Fleet, the fleet is given move to sector orders before launch, therefore, the first stage aligns toward the target sector when launched (and after a few seconds the main body undocks from the first stage and does the speedy run to target thing), this means that this torpedo can be launched from any orientation, even backwards, and still have 360*360 degree coverage. My current configuration of launchers is a vertical launcher, but sideways, even backwards launchers are theoretically feasible as well.
Feedback is very much appreciated.
-Endal