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- Nov 25, 2013
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So i was thinking... And got pretty excited about my idea. Regrettably I know there is a really small chance for this to be part of the game as this idea has a lot of holes, but still i want to share it. I'm going to use different dimensions in my examples, but it's nothing firm.
The idea is that we could build a role model of missiles/mines which would be used by our ships as ordinary missiles/mines.
This would mean that our missiles/mines would be a little ships, so we would be able to target them and shoot them down. Not to mention about customization of our projectiles.
But how'd it work?
Missiles as an example
We know we're going to have 5 different types of missiles (news page with weapon system shown http://star-made.org/content/new-years-news):
The plan is that each of this types (probably without swarm missiles) would have a different dimension room for missiles. Here are examples to clarify:
tracking long missile could shoot missiles which are 3x3x10 (90 total blocks)
heavy hulk missile could shoot missiles which are 5x5x7 (175 total blocks)
This space we could occupy with whatever systems we want. thrusters, so the missile would be faster; shields, so it won't be easy to take down; disintegrators, so it'll have more punch. The variables here are the main (and only?) advantage of this system.
The missiles would be made with core as a basis but without any more necessary blocks (like faction block, or bobby AI). They would either be dumb or tracking, depending how the weapon system would work.
How to use it?
Let's suppose we already have a ship with tracking long missile weapon system installed.
First we start with building our new missile. We press "x", get into our core and we start building. We must remember to stick to the dimensions, because otherwise we won't be able to use this ship as a missile. So we place some xm 3.4 power blocks, few thrusters, some shield generators, and the last part we place as many disintegrators as we can. We fly around with it to check if it's fast enough. It is and it's power efficient, so we save it in our catalog with fancy name "BEST MISSILE EVER". Then we can also check it for the damage it delivers, but we're in hurry, so we won't do this and we fly towards our ship. We use weapon computer and there we expand the list of the ships blueprints, we click on the name of our missile, and it's done.
The server checks if this ship is of the right dimensions and if it is - it saves it and will use it next time we use our missile system.
When we shoot the missile it spawns in front of the weapon system and starts flying straight or is tracking enemy ships.
The swarm missiles in my opinion shouldn't work this way, because i think they are supposed to be small and work in groups, so there is no need for them to be able of being shoot down
Then what about recharge rate and damage and range as it is now?
Speed and damage of the missile would depend on the build of the missile. more thrusters = more speed/acceleration more disintegrators = more damage
So we are left with recharge rate and range of the missiles. This stats should depend on number of blocks in weapon system (more blocks = faster reload + further flying) and the price of the missile. More expensive missiles would be shot slower and closer. Missiles after flying their max range would explode.
I'm aware that there are a lot of problems with this type of weapon system, so I don't think we're going to see this implemented. And here are all the problems I could think of:
Possible fixes:
Working missile launcher would need to consist of at least double times the number of blocks of the missile it is shooting (missile of 90 blocks - launcher min 180 blocks). this way there won't be thousands of launchers on the ship. And destroying blocks of the launcher would cause it to stop shooting.
Buffing HP of missiles (after HP is implemented)? Or maybe buffing the shield of the missiles, i'm not sure.
New types of more efficient and more expensive explosives, maybe even nukes?
The idea is that we could build a role model of missiles/mines which would be used by our ships as ordinary missiles/mines.
This would mean that our missiles/mines would be a little ships, so we would be able to target them and shoot them down. Not to mention about customization of our projectiles.
But how'd it work?
Missiles as an example
We know we're going to have 5 different types of missiles (news page with weapon system shown http://star-made.org/content/new-years-news):
- rapid dumb fire missiles
- swarm missiles
- tracking long missiles
- heavy hulk missiles
- sleeper missiles
The plan is that each of this types (probably without swarm missiles) would have a different dimension room for missiles. Here are examples to clarify:
tracking long missile could shoot missiles which are 3x3x10 (90 total blocks)
heavy hulk missile could shoot missiles which are 5x5x7 (175 total blocks)
This space we could occupy with whatever systems we want. thrusters, so the missile would be faster; shields, so it won't be easy to take down; disintegrators, so it'll have more punch. The variables here are the main (and only?) advantage of this system.
The missiles would be made with core as a basis but without any more necessary blocks (like faction block, or bobby AI). They would either be dumb or tracking, depending how the weapon system would work.
How to use it?
Let's suppose we already have a ship with tracking long missile weapon system installed.
First we start with building our new missile. We press "x", get into our core and we start building. We must remember to stick to the dimensions, because otherwise we won't be able to use this ship as a missile. So we place some xm 3.4 power blocks, few thrusters, some shield generators, and the last part we place as many disintegrators as we can. We fly around with it to check if it's fast enough. It is and it's power efficient, so we save it in our catalog with fancy name "BEST MISSILE EVER". Then we can also check it for the damage it delivers, but we're in hurry, so we won't do this and we fly towards our ship. We use weapon computer and there we expand the list of the ships blueprints, we click on the name of our missile, and it's done.
The server checks if this ship is of the right dimensions and if it is - it saves it and will use it next time we use our missile system.
When we shoot the missile it spawns in front of the weapon system and starts flying straight or is tracking enemy ships.
The swarm missiles in my opinion shouldn't work this way, because i think they are supposed to be small and work in groups, so there is no need for them to be able of being shoot down
Then what about recharge rate and damage and range as it is now?
Speed and damage of the missile would depend on the build of the missile. more thrusters = more speed/acceleration more disintegrators = more damage
So we are left with recharge rate and range of the missiles. This stats should depend on number of blocks in weapon system (more blocks = faster reload + further flying) and the price of the missile. More expensive missiles would be shot slower and closer. Missiles after flying their max range would explode.
I'm aware that there are a lot of problems with this type of weapon system, so I don't think we're going to see this implemented. And here are all the problems I could think of:
- Ships having thousands of 1-block missile systems - would take A LOT OF time to reload, but when launched, spawning thousands of missiles practically in the same spot could cause a "little" lag
- missiles too easily destroyed, because disintegrators, when damaged, explode causing chain reaction
- missiles too easily destroyed, because of enemy PD-like turrets
- damage of such missile would be pretty small (i'm not sure if disintegrators damage through the shields)
Possible fixes:
Working missile launcher would need to consist of at least double times the number of blocks of the missile it is shooting (missile of 90 blocks - launcher min 180 blocks). this way there won't be thousands of launchers on the ship. And destroying blocks of the launcher would cause it to stop shooting.
Buffing HP of missiles (after HP is implemented)? Or maybe buffing the shield of the missiles, i'm not sure.
New types of more efficient and more expensive explosives, maybe even nukes?
