Back in the day I loved Descent Freespace. One of my favourite aspects was that it emphasised missile combat so well next to it's contemporaries, which seemed to focus on WW2 style gun combat.
Personally, I feel the most fun can be had where both guns and missiles are valid and varied weapons.
Here are some proposals, inspired by some options from Freespace and other older games.
C1 Missiles:
- Dumbfire. "Hoplite" Saturation rocket, designed for low class launcher, rapidly fires high speed explosive rockets in a straight line. (basically what we have now)
- Passive heatseeker. "Fury" A missile with a basic seeker that follows whatever ship is closest to the centre of it's FoV. This means if anything crosses it's view of it's target, it'll switch to the crossing target. Slighly less explosive damage than dumbfires, but boasts best range of C1 missiles
- Active seeker. "Hound" Missile is fitted with a more advanced warhead, allowing sustained tracking of a single target. Reduced range and payload.(current seeker)
C2 Missiles:
- Dumbfire. "Hoplite" Launcher mechanism designed for ripple fire of clusters of missiles at once, low damage of class one weapon, but carried in greater number, and fired at greater rate.
- Active seeker "Wolf" Missile is advanced anti-fighter missile, armed with active seeker warhead and kinetic/explosive hybrid payload and extended range.
- Cluster seeker "Pack-hound" fires a cluster of "Hound" missiles
- Kinetic "Lightning" Designed to release from launcher at low velocities, line up on target in free space, then activate it's second stage booster, accelerating to incredible speed to penetrate point defences. Accurate, but carrying little explosive, it relies on impact force to deal damage. Good for hitting fleeing ships or for sniping subsystems. Requires lock to be maintained for duration of flight.
C1/2 Torpedoes C3/4 Missiles
- Dumbfire. "Spartan" Heavy rocket sacrifices all guidance or speed for payload.
- Fragmentation. "Hailstorm" Heavy missile designed for wide area effect, this missile detonates with proximity to target, releasing a powerful kinetic shock to batter it's target, as well as a cluster of explosive submunitions of comparable explosive force each equal to a single "hoplite" missile. It's tracking abilities are not as good as an intercept missile, however.
- Kinetic. "Thunder" Missile designed to hit accurately at long range, with powerful warhead. Does away with 2 stage engine for greater payload and a more typical flight profile. Can be outmaneuvered by smaller craft, is effective against medium to large craft. Requires lock to be maintained for duration of flight.
- Smart Seeker. "Direwolf" Lacking raw power compared to other heavy missiles, this missile can turn like no other, able to track a target, even if the target has gotten behind it, this missile also uses active throttle management to maximise it's flight characteristics.
- Cluster Seeker "Cerberus" First stage delivers a cluster of three "wolf" missiles near their targets, each can lock independant targets if ship carries advanced tracking hardware*
C2/3 Heavy Torpedoes
- Dumbfire. "Hercules" Torpedo designed to deliver maximum payload but is relatively slow and unguided.
- Fragmentation. "Hurricane" Torpedo designed to release a cluster of explosive charges and kinetic-kill munitions, that detonate into explosively-formed fragments a few moments after being scattered in initial blast. Delivers a combo of explosive and kinetic damage
- Cluster seeker. "Wolfpack" First stage delivers a half-dozen "wolf" missiles near their targets, each can lock independant targets if ship carries advanced tracking hardware*
- Smart Seeker "Fenris" Designed for hard-kills on medium targets, this missile balances speed, payload and smart guidance to ensure maximum lethality.
C4 Massive Torpedo
- Dumbfire "Titan" Torpedo with just enough engine for terminal flight stabilisation, basically an unguided bomb, designed for assaults on the largest, most armoured targets, this missile is almost all payload
- Active seeker "Harpoon" Named after an ancient anti-shipping missile, this weapon is designed for long range engagement of corvette to frigate sized ships
* Kinda just threw this in there, perhaps by adding a multi-tracker on a utility hardpoint, or as an added feature of better classes of sensors, that missile weapons con lock multiple hostiles at once.
Personally, I feel the most fun can be had where both guns and missiles are valid and varied weapons.
Here are some proposals, inspired by some options from Freespace and other older games.
C1 Missiles:
- Dumbfire. "Hoplite" Saturation rocket, designed for low class launcher, rapidly fires high speed explosive rockets in a straight line. (basically what we have now)
- Passive heatseeker. "Fury" A missile with a basic seeker that follows whatever ship is closest to the centre of it's FoV. This means if anything crosses it's view of it's target, it'll switch to the crossing target. Slighly less explosive damage than dumbfires, but boasts best range of C1 missiles
- Active seeker. "Hound" Missile is fitted with a more advanced warhead, allowing sustained tracking of a single target. Reduced range and payload.(current seeker)
C2 Missiles:
- Dumbfire. "Hoplite" Launcher mechanism designed for ripple fire of clusters of missiles at once, low damage of class one weapon, but carried in greater number, and fired at greater rate.
- Active seeker "Wolf" Missile is advanced anti-fighter missile, armed with active seeker warhead and kinetic/explosive hybrid payload and extended range.
- Cluster seeker "Pack-hound" fires a cluster of "Hound" missiles
- Kinetic "Lightning" Designed to release from launcher at low velocities, line up on target in free space, then activate it's second stage booster, accelerating to incredible speed to penetrate point defences. Accurate, but carrying little explosive, it relies on impact force to deal damage. Good for hitting fleeing ships or for sniping subsystems. Requires lock to be maintained for duration of flight.
C1/2 Torpedoes C3/4 Missiles
- Dumbfire. "Spartan" Heavy rocket sacrifices all guidance or speed for payload.
- Fragmentation. "Hailstorm" Heavy missile designed for wide area effect, this missile detonates with proximity to target, releasing a powerful kinetic shock to batter it's target, as well as a cluster of explosive submunitions of comparable explosive force each equal to a single "hoplite" missile. It's tracking abilities are not as good as an intercept missile, however.
- Kinetic. "Thunder" Missile designed to hit accurately at long range, with powerful warhead. Does away with 2 stage engine for greater payload and a more typical flight profile. Can be outmaneuvered by smaller craft, is effective against medium to large craft. Requires lock to be maintained for duration of flight.
- Smart Seeker. "Direwolf" Lacking raw power compared to other heavy missiles, this missile can turn like no other, able to track a target, even if the target has gotten behind it, this missile also uses active throttle management to maximise it's flight characteristics.
- Cluster Seeker "Cerberus" First stage delivers a cluster of three "wolf" missiles near their targets, each can lock independant targets if ship carries advanced tracking hardware*
C2/3 Heavy Torpedoes
- Dumbfire. "Hercules" Torpedo designed to deliver maximum payload but is relatively slow and unguided.
- Fragmentation. "Hurricane" Torpedo designed to release a cluster of explosive charges and kinetic-kill munitions, that detonate into explosively-formed fragments a few moments after being scattered in initial blast. Delivers a combo of explosive and kinetic damage
- Cluster seeker. "Wolfpack" First stage delivers a half-dozen "wolf" missiles near their targets, each can lock independant targets if ship carries advanced tracking hardware*
- Smart Seeker "Fenris" Designed for hard-kills on medium targets, this missile balances speed, payload and smart guidance to ensure maximum lethality.
C4 Massive Torpedo
- Dumbfire "Titan" Torpedo with just enough engine for terminal flight stabilisation, basically an unguided bomb, designed for assaults on the largest, most armoured targets, this missile is almost all payload
- Active seeker "Harpoon" Named after an ancient anti-shipping missile, this weapon is designed for long range engagement of corvette to frigate sized ships
* Kinda just threw this in there, perhaps by adding a multi-tracker on a utility hardpoint, or as an added feature of better classes of sensors, that missile weapons con lock multiple hostiles at once.