Beam weapons

[Delance]

Allright, forget Freespace.

But on other space combat sims like, say, Elite, there were "beam" weapons, which means a continuous beam, and "burst" weapons, that would fire a "ball" like we see on WC games.

Now here's the question. Does WC have any "beam" weapon except the Behemoth?

 

[Bandit LOAF]

The tractor beam?

Some of the artwork in the CCG shows ships with 'beam' weapons... as did some of the artwork on WCA. I think it's simply a stylistic deal, rather than whatever crazy religion the Freespace idiots (both of them) have formed around beam weapons.

 

[Ijuin]

I think that the reason that Wing Commander ships do not use beam weapons is due to the nature of the shields in use. In order to damage or penetrate shields, the attacking weapon must exceed a minimum threshold of power or else the shield will just absorb the hit with no damage unless you are using a LOT of them (see Action Stations where it is said that the combined firepower of a full wing of fighters would be needed to take down a battleship). Now, fighter craft lack the reactor power necessary to maintain a continuous beam strong enough to pierce shields, so instead they fire in short, high-enregy bursts. Additionally, cooling is a problem--you would either need to design guns capable of tolerating temperatures that would melt any material (and there is a finite limit to how much anything made of molecules can take regardless of how advanced your technology), or else you would need a cooling system extensive enough to greatly increase the size and energy consumption of your gun.

 

[Delance]

Laser balls are fun on WC1.

 

[Edfilho]

ljuin, these points are great, but they do not necessarely (sp?) to cap ships...

 

[Delance]

I think that the reason that Wing Commander ships do not use beam weapons is due to the nature of the shields in use.

Not, it's due to the fact that they used sprites on WC1 and balls looked better then beams.

 

[Colonel Sanders]

I much prefer Beam weapons, especially Babylon 5 type beam weapons...the kind that will decimate all your sheilds in a matter of seconds and then carve your ship apart like a christmas ham. yummy.

 

[Chernikov]

well... I think that has as much to do with a general lack of shielding in B5 as well as anything else... and wasnt there a way to "stretch" the laser + weapon sprites through WCPEdit at one point?