I seem to recall another comment to the effect that everything was hardness 1 'for now', but I have no idea how old it was. Can't find it.
<request> please remove delay from Rail Guns
- Thread starter vonvonbraun
- Start date
No, they're using 170-year-old technology, in the form of metal cartridges, and sometimes firing them from weapons designed over a century ago.
Firearms technology wasn't a good choice for the argument you're trying to make, but even if you'd chosen a better analogy, it's irrelevant. Gameplay concerns will *always* trump 'reality'.
I like the delay, there just needs to be better sound to let you know when it's going to fire.
vonvonbraun
Banned
More details on hardness would be appreciated
are you saying this excludes rng ?
are you saying this excludes rng ?
Railguns are meant to, by nearly all game lores, to require a pre-shot delay by the charge time of capacitors that drives the projectile along the rail
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All it needs is to work this way:
Hold fire to charge up.
Charge holds indefinitely but builds heat dramatically once fully charged. Heat should build up at a rate that hits 140%+ within around three to five seconds on an A class power plant - this is just a rough indication. Basically, holding a full charge should be very dangerous after 2-3 seconds.
Release fire to shoot.
This would still require skill to use but allows full control over when the shot is fired. Pilots could begin the charge ahead of acquiring the target but hold until ready, with the caveat that doing so for too long would risk ship damage. This could also increase the risk of malfunction.
The current system is counter-intuitive and doesn't make any sense. What weapons developer would create such a difficult firing mechanism like this and actually expect to sell their development? In terms of game play, it renders the weapon too much of a niche and the result is a weapon that isn't fun, nor is it practical, to use most of the time.
My suggestion is tried and tested; some may recognise it as the Gauss Gun in Half-Life. One of my favourite weapons that was very fun and required a lot of skill to get direct hits with.
Hold fire to charge up.
Charge holds indefinitely but builds heat dramatically once fully charged. Heat should build up at a rate that hits 140%+ within around three to five seconds on an A class power plant - this is just a rough indication. Basically, holding a full charge should be very dangerous after 2-3 seconds.
Release fire to shoot.
This would still require skill to use but allows full control over when the shot is fired. Pilots could begin the charge ahead of acquiring the target but hold until ready, with the caveat that doing so for too long would risk ship damage. This could also increase the risk of malfunction.
The current system is counter-intuitive and doesn't make any sense. What weapons developer would create such a difficult firing mechanism like this and actually expect to sell their development? In terms of game play, it renders the weapon too much of a niche and the result is a weapon that isn't fun, nor is it practical, to use most of the time.
My suggestion is tried and tested; some may recognise it as the Gauss Gun in Half-Life. One of my favourite weapons that was very fun and required a lot of skill to get direct hits with.
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This, a hundred times this. I hate game balance decisions that result in completely irrational weapon designs. Trying to sell a gun for dogfighting with a mechanic of "oh it'll fire sometime in the next half-second, just keep aiming" would get you laughed right out of the procurement office.
Hold-to-charge fire-on-release is still silly, but it's vastly less silly than what we currently have.
