I've thought of a way of increasing the number of missile weapons in this game by a factor of five while adding very few new block types. Have a few missile types (the way we do already), and pair them with a whole lot of different guidance computer blocks.
Lets say you have three missile types. Call them rockets, missiles and torpedoes. Each has a different balance of range, damage, blast radius, reload and projectile speed; rockets are fast and low damage, torpedoes are slow firing heavy hitters and missiles are somewhere in between.
Instead of three computer blocks you have five; dumbfire, heatseeking, IFF, radar guided and laser guided. Any guidance compute can be linked to any kind of projectile, which gives 15 possible combinations. Dumbfire computers give the projectile a speed bonus, the rest lock onto targets using different methods. Heatseekers work like the do already, IFF lock onto ships with hostile faction blocks, radar guided work like the existing homing missiles and laser guided home in on whatever you've got your cursor aimed at.
There are drawbacks to each guidance computer; radar locks take time, heatseekers are indiscriminate, laser guidance requires precision, IFF is only useful against red targets and of course dumbfire has the obvious flaw of being easy to dodge. There isn't a "best" option, though certain combinations are obvious and useful.
If countermeasures and point defense get implemented at a later date, the different projectiles and guidance systems can have different counters. Flares for heatseekers, ECM for IFF, chaff for radar, evasive action for dumbfire and laser guided. Point defense can be the effective counter to torpedoes launched from range, but won't work as well for missiles and rockets.
Lets say you have three missile types. Call them rockets, missiles and torpedoes. Each has a different balance of range, damage, blast radius, reload and projectile speed; rockets are fast and low damage, torpedoes are slow firing heavy hitters and missiles are somewhere in between.
Instead of three computer blocks you have five; dumbfire, heatseeking, IFF, radar guided and laser guided. Any guidance compute can be linked to any kind of projectile, which gives 15 possible combinations. Dumbfire computers give the projectile a speed bonus, the rest lock onto targets using different methods. Heatseekers work like the do already, IFF lock onto ships with hostile faction blocks, radar guided work like the existing homing missiles and laser guided home in on whatever you've got your cursor aimed at.
There are drawbacks to each guidance computer; radar locks take time, heatseekers are indiscriminate, laser guidance requires precision, IFF is only useful against red targets and of course dumbfire has the obvious flaw of being easy to dodge. There isn't a "best" option, though certain combinations are obvious and useful.
If countermeasures and point defense get implemented at a later date, the different projectiles and guidance systems can have different counters. Flares for heatseekers, ECM for IFF, chaff for radar, evasive action for dumbfire and laser guided. Point defense can be the effective counter to torpedoes launched from range, but won't work as well for missiles and rockets.