Make damage beam fx scale in size

[Planr]

Title explains it all. You know how even giant damage beam arrays have really tiny beams emitted from them? Yeah, not fun. Make them scale and be bigger, like AMC bullets!

 

[therimmer96]

I believe the damage beam effect is only temporary until a new one gets implemented.

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Massive deathrays!

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Oh, and please don't ever, ever, ever use the name AMC again, they just are called cannons now.

 

[Zeno9141]

Oh, and please don't ever, ever, ever use the name AMC again, they just are called cannons now.

They have been called Amc's for a very long time... No wonder it still lingers in our minds.

Btw, you can edit your post if you forgot something. :/
Double posts are usually frowned upon.

Now for something actually on-topic, I would love to see the size of a projectile depend on the size of the output.

 

[Keynesian]

And if the output was massive the beam would be massive and the damage would be spread out over multiple blocks. THEN WE CAN FINALLY HAVE MASSIVE DEATHRAYS OF DOOM! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[FunnyBunny14]

Maybe the beam could have a maximum size of 'box' the x and y area fits in, and with the amount of weapon modules used determining actual size, but being limit to that box?

 

[Keptick]

And if the output was massive the beam would be massive and the damage would be spread out over multiple blocks. THEN WE CAN FINALLY HAVE MASSIVE DEATHRAYS OF DOOM! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Having the damage spread out over multiple blocks would be cool but it would be troublesome for the Devs. I personally wouldn't mind having mega beams only hit a single block if it made it less complicated to code (at least it would look awesome)

 

[PizzaPress]

There was an interesting suggestion on this topic I found a while back.
http://starmadedock.net/threads/bigger-bullets-the-quest-for-a-more-epic-starmade.1105/
It might take a performance hit though.

 

[Orphaniel]

I see no issues with the current system. The beam is small because if you have ahuge beam comming out of a single block then it can only hit a single block, if you want bigger, you need a latticed array.

Imma just leave this here.

 

[Cybertooth]

Wow Orphaniel that reallly does look amazing, not just the giant beam effect, but that's one amazing looking ship. Or at least, that part of it

 

[ltmauve]

The beams appear 10cm across, even though they exist as actual 0-width lines in the game engine. There is no reason that the beam width couldn't be increased to a full block across.

 

[Planr]

I see no issues with the current system. The beam is small because if you have ahuge beam comming out of a single block then it can only hit a single block, if you want bigger, you need a latticed array.

Imma just leave this here.

While that picture is cool and your design is definitely creative, it doesn't solve the problem here. The problem is that the damage beam's beam effect does not scale in size to its weapon array. We should not be forced to make these "lattice arrays" just to have a logical-sized damage beam for a large weapon. Again, we don't want unofficial halfway-there shortcuts, we want official and authentic solutions to this issue.

I dare say you have missed the point of this thread.

The beam is small because if you have ahuge beam comming out of a single block then it can only hit a single block

Then how do you explain why cannon shells scale in size to their weapon array? Should they have to be spammed out of multiple small outlets to make sense to you?
Secondly you have huge missiles coming out of a single block but they don't damage a single block now do they?
FYI beams can do wider damage too with explosive effect.
Regardless of whether or not the beam is small, I doubt the majority of people think the idea of massive yet tiny laser pointer deathrays is an appealing appearance for their capital ship weaponry. It is senseless for a large weapon to emit a tiny little beam, not to mention boringly redundant. Large weapons should not only be powerful but their strength and size should warrant a grand display of beam fx.

 

[Zeno9141]

While that picture is cool and your design is definitely creative, it doesn't solve the problem here. The problem is that the damage beam's beam effect does not scale in size to its weapon array. We should not be forced to make these "lattice arrays" just to have a logical-sized damage beam for a large weapon. Again, we don't want halfway-there shortcuts, we want solutions.

I dare say you have missed the point of this thread.


Then how do you explain why cannon shells scale in size to their weapon array? Should they have to be spammed out of multiple small outlets to make sense to you?
FYI beams can do wider damage too with explosive effect.

I must say, that disagreeing with Orphaniel, and then stating you can get a wider damage effect in another way, is quite controversial. After all, you seek for the beams to become larger, and have their damage spread out. But this is exactly what a lattice array would do. I myself, would prefer larger FX, but the system Orphaniel mentioned works as substitute in the current state of the game.

(Also, I am not sure if cannons do that. I thought it depended on the kind of slave. e.g. Rapidfire bullets are supertiny, while artillery bullets are much bigger.)

 

[Planr]

I must say, that disagreeing with Orphaniel, and then stating you can get a wider damage effect in another way, is quite controversial. After all, you seek for the beams to become larger, and have their damage spread out.

Oh no, you mistake my means. When I say "effect" in my post there in reply to him, I used it two different ways that both warranted such appropriate uses based on their contexts.

I'm not specifically interested in changing the damage functionality of damage beams (though I did mention it as more of an "on the side, if you want to" kind of thing). I want the appearance of the beam when its fired to be wider, based on how powerful its array is. Orphaniel apparently does not want that, and seems to think we should all just build makeshift shotgun arrays whenever we want our beams to appear stronger. Just like AMCs. Also I was using the argument that you can get actual wider damage from the beam by using explosive tertiaries to explain why I felt his "solution" was not the answer to the problem.