Colonel Sanders said:well...a lesson you learn in eighth grade physics class is that a sphere is one of the most structurally stable forms known to man (remember the VW bug commercials?)
Anyway, how about a light fighter in the shape of a sphere with thrusters on six points around the ship? with proper internal organization, it could have 50/50 weight balance, near-perfect Y/P/R rates...
Colonel Sanders said:Depending on how Kilrathi/Pirate/Nephilim sensors work, how feesable is the idea of putting out beacons to put out energy/heat signals? best case scenario is that a fighter pilot, lacking visual confirmation, would fire on these decoys, which would draw weapons fire away from real combat pilots.
Worst case scenario...(well, not quite) a few missiles get confused...?
Colonel Sanders said:perhaps mines tuned to lock in and home in on certain energy/power/magnetic frequencies? you could leave them somewhere you expect the bugs to show up, and then leave to fortify another place? biggest problem i can see is cost, there...?
Colonel Sanders said:perhaps a special cruiser equipped with massively powerful tractor beams...it's soul purpose is to grab hold of massive asteroids and send them hurtling at nearby bases/capships/colonies?
Colonel Sanders said:Biggest problem with that is the ease with which an asteroid would be destroyed in real life (cause they're freaking immortal in the game)
possible solution: small cloaking devices on the surface of the asteroid?
(Yes, I know that some bugs can see through cloaks...however, i don't feel this renders the cloak technology completely ineffective in some cases...)
Colonel Sanders said:how does a missile know when to detonate? when it detects that it's in a certain distance relative to it's target ship, or what? Because if it detonates when it encounters a certain amount of resistance (IE- starship hull/sheilds) than how bout equipping heavier ships with a type of shockwave generator...you press a button, and a spherical wave of energy spreads outwards from your ship...and once it hits the missile, the missile detects resistance...and BOOM! missile detonated prematurely...?
We get Imrecs and Anti-Radiation missles with extended range at the end of Prophecy, and use them throughout SO.Expendable said:As for weapons:
Extended Range Imrecs or FF missiles.
Let's blow away our wing and any friendly ships in the area, all to waste the enemy. The problem here is the range. If it's a longer ranged missle like Prophecy/SO, then you and you're flight are close enough to get vaped by the resulting explosion (Look no further than WC2's Mace, and Blair's reaction to discovering it's a nuke). If it's further away, then there's a need for increased fuel supply so the missle can make it to the target, follow the target through any evasive maneuvers, and hit home. If it needs that much fuel, odds are you're looking at a very large missle. Which means it can either be shot down by the enemy, or you're limiting the amount of missles you can carry on your ship.WIth high-yield antimatter or nuclear warheads.
Happens in the later games already.[/QUOTE]Break-away cockpits (the entire cockpit ejects, not just a chair)
Having an actual ECM system, rather than the decoys would be a nice touch. Everything else is basically just waiting for the next technology advance.
See: Stormfirei think a shotgun type flechette weapon would be sweet ! to hit maneourable targets at close range (canon) maybe a projectile weapon with fixed numebr of rounds as a close quarters type weapon.
The Tracker missle in WCP/SO is basically 4 FoF missles strapped to another booster. Launch them into the middle of a formation, and one it breaks apart, each missle picks a target. Certainly creates a little chaos for the baddies.also, u seem to always come up on a small squadron of enemies in the game... it would be sweet to fire a missle at the formation that went off like a concussion grenade in the middle of a few of them to stir things up.. if but for the visual candy... a proximity weapon, so it doesnt have to hit anything... like a mace, but homing.
The scatter gun in WC4 has become a favorite of mine. Fires a "shotgun" blast of ion cannon fire (6 or seven individual bolts, IIRC). Very useful in handling manueverable enemies.wankski said:i think a shotgun type flechette weapon would be sweet ! to hit maneourable targets at close range (canon) maybe a projectile weapon with fixed numebr of rounds as a close quarters type weapon.
I actually liked the coneburst and starburst missiles in WC4, which is along the lines that you are talking (not homing though), but the Tracker seems to have gained more favor than the prototype burst missiles (pity ).wankski said:also, u seem to always come up on a small squadron of enemies in the game... it would be sweet to fire a missle at the formation that went off like a concussion grenade in the middle of a few of them to stir things up.. if but for the visual candy... a proximity weapon, so it doesnt have to hit anything... like a mace, but homing.
Ijuin said:Regarding the idea of spherical craft, it brings the problem of having too large of a radar image. especially head-on. Furthermore, since a sphere has the MINIMUM amount of surface area for its volume, that means you have LESS space to mount sensors, engines, and ESPECIALLY radiators for dumping excess reactor heat (in airplane-shaped craft, the wings act as radiators). You would need to mount external radiators onto your craft, which could get shot off.
Ein-7919 said:Here's an idea for a planetary bombardment weapon...