Planned New A.I. Uses.

[Bladeriker]

I have been playing around with creating Torpedoes.

The standard self propelled Topr requires the use of logic, push computers/modules.

The standard self guided Torp requires a bobby A.I. a weapon system, logic, and push effect.

Adding an option to the Bobby A.I. for Torpedo might be nice. The ability to use thrusters instead of push logic for movement and not having to add a weapon system to get the A.I. to aim at the target would also be nice.

For this (Selected Target) or (None) would be the best options as (Any) might have the Torp come back and attack the firing ship. (Which would be so Hilarious) Possibly have the warhead's linked to the AI or such.

While I am on this topic. Warheads should get stronger based on group size. Thus one warhead is weaker than two, and two is much weaker than 10, and so forth.

Thought?

 

[Az14el]

I think some optimization on collisions will be required first, but torpedo specific AI should absolutely be a thing :D
And yeah Warhead strength has proven ridiculously hard to balance, purely due to the way they ignore shields, they go from a tedious pirating tool/RP weapon to a massively overpowered hard to counter cap ship buster in the right hands, all too quickly. They need some work on the way the block itself functions (but keep that shield penetration in some form!) :/

 

[Madman198237]

I'd say that a good compromise might be to massively up their firepower, add a shield debuff to anything carrying warheads, and allow PDT's to fire on warheads so the "Target Missiles" AI option will target warheads as well. The "Target Missile" option could possibly prioritize warheads, because then you can't use a decoy spray to conceal a far more damaging torpedo.


And when I say massively buff, I mean buff to the point of a single warhead being capable of dealing enough damage to destroy one advanced armor block (The one it contacts, and therefore detonates when effectively touching), and a group of, say, 5, being capable of piercing (With a decent-sized hole) several layers of advanced armor. Damage should be debuffed while the target still has shields.

To sum it up, I want a super-warhead capable of extreme destruction, but that is most effective if you've already shot the shields down and disabled the escort craft.


This is all in the interest of making fighter-bombers with limited, large munitions viable as weapon systems. Because right now, you need a lot of vessels to kill a large vessel, but this can reduce the number and add tactics to the game. In other words, now you'll need a screen of fighters to pick off torpedo-carrying bombers, or you're going down with the ship. Gives carriers force-amplification ability a boost. But, of course, you'll need a player to run this warhead torpedo.

 

[Malacodor]

The "Target Missile" option could possibly prioritize warheads, because then you can't use a decoy spray to conceal a far more damaging torpedo.

But then you can use a well armored decoy torpedo to conceal a far more damaging missile.

 

[Madman198237]

Strategies, my friend. It all comes down to putting in a balanced mechanic, and then finding ways to circumvent the balance.

The saying isn't entirely right: Everything's fair in war....up until someone figures out how to tip the balance.

 

[Wolverines527]

Lol i was working on a way to use warhead torpedos but wasnt able to start works on it

 

[Az14el]

Make em as small as you possibly can, load up as many as you safely can on a cloaker with only shoot out rail propulsion (without push)
Best way to just "make them work" imo, no bobby means AI turrets wont target them, no computers to increase the cost or logic to increase the size, just docker > core > warhead is the best combo. Neutral warheads being like "stealth strikes" in themselves, they're perfect for cloakers, there is no war declaration with that set up. This is probably their most useful point, as well as what makes them so OP so easily.

 

[PriZm]

i remember causing A LOT of chaos with a combination of a cloaker/jammer with some warheads docked to it and a (docked/logic controlled) shield drain beam (they didnt ignore shields back then) before the armor update and before scanners were implemented :D they were so OP, especially since both - the warhead and the "supply" tool - didnt declare war and so there was no aggro from turrets etc. Hopefully, warheads will become more powerful again, but pls not that imba as they used to be.

 

[Nickizzy]

Make em as small as you possibly can, load up as many as you safely can on a cloaker with only shoot out rail propulsion (without push)
Best way to just "make them work" imo, no bobby means AI turrets wont target them, no computers to increase the cost or logic to increase the size, just docker > core > warhead is the best combo. Neutral warheads being like "stealth strikes" in themselves, they're perfect for cloakers, there is no war declaration with that set up. This is probably their most useful point, as well as what makes them so OP so easily.

That gave me an idea- what if you used the carrier push rail things? They shoot at 30 mps or something so...