Cruisers seem heavily undergunned for their size?

[Astraeus]

In the cap ship video the cruisers seem to lack firepower for their size. They seem to have a very low number of surface turrets and a rather odd choice of weapons.

 

[Bambi]

Allow me to quote a wall of text....

Deckplan Syndrome #3: "tacking on extra weapons anywhere that looks cool"

The biggest misunderstanding of all has to be the subject of weapons. Fans (and WEG) tend to just bolt-on as many weapons as they can - declare the ship to be "kool" and "awesome" and walk away satisfied.

"Hey dewd, I just designed the kewlest most awesome fighter in the galaxy! ... the [randomn letter]-wing, with way more weapons than ANYTHING else!"

*sheesh* ... if it was that easy, don't you think we'd see things like that flying around now?

NO - weapons systems are BIG. Think ice-berg. The gun turret is just the tip. Behind the scenes are layers and layers of infrastructure.

- Weapons needs MASSIVE power feeds (and "ammo" - whatever that consists of in the StarWars galaxy)
- they need solid and rigid bracing as their recoil and just the stress of their rapid movements place immense strain on the hull
- they need targetting systems, control systems, cooling systems

Consider this: a WW2 battleship displaced about 20,000 tonnes. It was the size of a football stadium and needed 1000 crew ... all just to get about 9~12 largish cannons from place to place. Every other system on the ship is subordinate to that. A battleship is a gun-platform first and foremost. If it was possible to move that kind of firepower around more cheaply and easily, don't you think they'd have done it? A battleship turret is a massive structure SIX STOREYS HIGH. We are *not* just talking about whipping out the model glue and sticking some more guns on every flat spot of hull!

Earlier i suggested starting with drive systems when you design. In a battleship however, they started with the guns, their structure, power systems, command and comms, ammunition etc. Then the figured how much mass that was, what sort of hull was needed to carry it - then power systems, armour etc etc etc A battleship is a balancing act between firepower, armour and speed (just like a battlefield tank!) and you cannot max-out any one of those without costing elsewhere.

Additionally, cruisers are a type of ship made to go fast, they must sacrifice armor and firepower for that.

Stylistically the whole video shows off a level of restraint in weaponry and explosives that ultimately I think will help the feel of the game immensely.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

In the cap ship video the cruisers seem to lack firepower for their size. They seem to have a very low number of surface turrets and a rather odd choice of weapons.

Cap ship video lets you see what FD wanted you to see. It's more of artistic scripted in-game engine piece than how actually things will happen.

 

[Warbrand]

I think all hardpoints in game should be used by the meaning of the ship. Even some capitals will have special considerations when they are constructet: close space support, heavy artillery, fightercarrier, infantrydrop, etc. so there is very specialized weaponry on each type.

Same with the smaller craft: a Fighter should allways be better armed than a freighter or a multi purpose vessel.

I would like to see all ships (capitals and playables) with a as much weapon arsenal as really needed for their purpose and so few as possible.