How to make beams/ projectiles thicker

[psteiner]

Is this even possible?

 

[Crimson-Artist]

as far as im aware. No

 

[Megacrafter127]

In theory, yes; in practice, hardly. (For modders at least)

 

[psteiner]

Well, I got an opinion from an excellent modder and a great ship builder, I guess that you can't...

 

[hzzzln]

Would be cool if projectile/beam size was proportional to the block count of the weapon that fires it.

 

[AtraUnam]

Projectiles really should get larger with damage. It sucks firing the spinal mounted super-laser-thing on your titan only for a needle thin beam to come out the barrel.

 

[Orphaniel]

This conversation crops up occasionally - probably much more often than I chance to see it.

Projectiles DO get bigger, well, cannon projectiles, anyway, missiles remain the same size, to my knowledge, though I've honestly never looked too closely.

Beams remain the same size, indeed, but that is okay, I think, initially, I felt the same disappointment as I tried them for the first time but with a little bit of imagination you can do many more interesting things.

Cannons:

With cannons you can arrange the barrels of a weapon into a shape to provide the feel of a larger projectile, you can even have one solid-looking mass of powerful shots and put a string of single block Cannons behind it in order to give it a little trail, and give it a bit more of a pretty effect to it, like a plasma bolt.

Here is a rather basic example of many barrels arranged into a 'shape'

Beams:

Enormously powerful spinal mounted beam cannons are super sexy awesome. this is a FACT.

But, as you say, it looks unimpressive! or does it? by arranging the cannons into a shape you can make it look way manly, the other barrels don't even have to be effective, just one block for looks.

Proof of spinally mounted beam cannons being the sex:

By using a little ingenuity...

In the above cases, none of the beams are 'fake' they're both several hundred thousand blocks worth of planet-destroying awesome.

Now get out there and make some ultimate badass weapons!

 

[Megacrafter127]

With cannons you can arrange the barrels of a weapon into a shape to provide the feel of a larger projectile, you can even have one solid-looking mass of powerful shots and put a string of single block Cannons behind it in order to give it a little trail, and give it a bit more of a pretty effect to it, like a plasma bolt.

That doesn't look like a single projectile from certain angles, and depending on the desired size ramp up power consumption extremely.

 

[Keptick]

Visually? yes. Just look at my signature. That's a big beam double chekerboard with bearishmushroom's pewier pews mod (it makes beams as thick as a block). Without the mod it still looks like a big beam but isn't nearly as cool.

In effect it also functions like one huge beam since every block it touches gets damaged. The problem with this is that it takes a greater amount of power due to the group nerf.

 

[Panpiper]

The problem with this is that it takes a greater amount of power due to the group nerf.

Digressing a bit from the thread topic, what was the point of nerfing groups? And is it really a 10% increase in power per extra group controlled by the computer?

 

[Ithirahad]

Digressing a bit from the thread topic, what was the point of nerfing groups? And is it really a 10% increase in power per extra group controlled by the computer?

Before the group nerf, people would make checkerboard-pattern weapons out of giant cannons and it would render effects like Explosive, and missiles of any kind for that matter, redundant because the wall of rounds would just rip through everything. Plus, the giant checkerboards looked stupid.

 

[Megacrafter127]

Visually? yes. Just look at my signature. That's a big beam double chekerboard with bearishmushroom's pewier pews mod (it makes beams as thick as a block)

Uninstall the mod and tell me if that checkerboard of beams still looks like a single beam from all angles at medium to close distance.

 

[Keptick]

Uninstall the mod and tell me if that checkerboard of beams still looks like a single beam from all angles at medium to close distance.

Without the mod it still looks like a big beam but isn't nearly as cool.

It does look wacky from certain angles. I refrained from writing it in my original post because I assumed that it was common knowledge.

I'm not saying that it's a good solution either, just answering the OP's question. What it looks like without the mod is completely irrelevant to my answer.

 

[Majorfatboy]

You know, I used to get all these junk emails about medication that'd give My beam extra girth and length. I never read those emails, but in hindsight they must have been about this. The only problem is getting a virtual spaceship to take medication...

 

[jayman38]

You know, I used to get all these junk emails about medication that'd give My beam extra girth and length. I never read those emails, but in hindsight they must have been about this. The only problem is getting a virtual spaceship to take medication...

Don't try it! Sugar pills don't work well in the reactor. If only I had known that before developing an Enzyte-powered ship.... The laughter from the salvage crew still echos in my nightmares.

 

[aceface]

Projectiles really should get larger with damage. It sucks firing the spinal mounted super-laser-thing on your titan only for a needle thin beam to come out the barrel.

they do, but they scale to a certain limit, and have only 3 different sizes.

 

[Smoke]

The Energy Multiplier only affects the Cannon and Missiles from what it looks like in the .xml

And, I don't know if you can do this but the "PewierPews" MOD, is good, IMO, as it makes beams thicker and all that.