Your own ideas for weapons/equipment for WC?

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...

I know there are problems, even if I'm not quite adept enough to pick them out and fix them. what do you guys think?

(I do believe this is my first post EVER that has contributed something worthwhile and meaningful)

Edit/addition-
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...?

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...?

Edit AGAIN:
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?

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...)

Last EDIT, I swear:
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...?

well, here's to hoping I don't turn into the next Joshua!
 
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...

sounds interesting but maybe overly complicated, how would it fly in an atmosphere without wings?

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...?

That is the principle that decoys work on. As for dones, I don't know, usually when you can pick something up, you can identify it. If I don't know what it is and is not hostile to me (shooting me) I would ignore it.

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...?

That IIRC is how the mines in WC1 and WC2 work.

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?

Sounds like a waste of energy to me, just use that energy to shoot things.

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...)

Sounds like you have read Star Wars "The Last Command" by Timothy Zahn

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...?

Hey sounds like a good idea to me.
 
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.
 
slightly off topic, but I keep forgetting ask anywhere else- What does IIRC? I guess it refers to the sense of reality in the game, as evidenced by erkle's post above, but past that, I'm not sure. I checked the FAQ, but either I'm stupid or it's not there.

Anyway...
despite the fact that it would be a waste of energy (that is actually debatable, but I'm not going to argue the point here) I think it'd be fun sending multi-ton massed asteroids at Bug Capships.
Truth be told, Erkle, I haven't read any starwars novels...*shrug*
The spherical crap isn't designed or intended for atmospheric flight...
Anyway, we've already established several problems with my ideas...who else wants to give this a shot???
 
Here's an idea for a planetary bombardment weapon. Actually, this weapon starred in the Bullfrog game 'Syndicate Wars' and it was my favorite weapon to use against the lone tank in mission 13 (never did beat that mission). The Plasma Storm (I think that was what it was called). Basically, it fires a series of extremely long tungsten rods at a certain location. But the rods get launched in orbit and they have to penetrate the atmosphere. So, tungten rods going through the atmosphere in a non-aerodynamic fashion will make the rods melt into a super heated (no, not polymer) liquid state metal. When it comes in contact with its target area...time to duck and cover. Basically, it's a more modern version of firebombing an area...except on a much larger scale.
 
I'd like to see a paintgun be placed on fighters. It would be used to blind fighter canopies. This way the fighter pilots wouldn't be able to see out. They'd have to call for someone to pick them up or run the risk of flying blindly through asteroids back to their capship to get their paint rubbed off.
 
Not again with the bloody paintguns...

As for weapons:
Extended Range Imrecs or FF missiles. WIth high-yield antimatter or nuclear warheads.
Better capacitors for fighters.
Some of those cool Kilrathi fragmenting anti-torpedo rounds.
And,
Fire!

For armor:
Improved shield batteries.
More effective armor.
Break-away cockpits (the entire cockpit ejects, not just a chair)
Longer-ranged sensors.
ECM
 
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.

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.
 
Expendable said:
As for weapons:
Extended Range Imrecs or FF missiles.
We get Imrecs and Anti-Radiation missles with extended range at the end of Prophecy, and use them throughout SO.

WIth high-yield antimatter or nuclear warheads.
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.

Break-away cockpits (the entire cockpit ejects, not just a chair)
Happens in the later games already.[/QUOTE]

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.

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.
See: Stormfire

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 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.
 
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.
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:
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.
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 :( ).

C-ya
 
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.

There shouldn't be a heat problem with a decently designed power plant. Radar cross section would be big, but its not like stealth is the biggest thing in the wing commander universe of prophecy. Sensors don't really appear to be sticking of a lot of fighters either. A design like the steltek drone would be kind of neat I think.
 
Also a chunk of the heat modern aircraft radiate off is from friction caused by atmospheric flight, something our sphere wouldn't really endure.
 
I personally think that a laser whose beam actually travels at the speed of light would be a nice touch for wing commander :) It would make it a lot easier to hit my targets for sure.
 
Ein-7919 said:
Here's an idea for a planetary bombardment weapon...

Wouldn't work. Dependent on the mass and size of the projectile, it would either be vaporized, or still solid on impact(minus the stuff that burnt away on re-entry).
 
Hmm . . . instantaneous weapons . . . kinda like Mechwarrior3 in space . . . with shields! . . . Given how long it took to kill an enemy in MW3, it'd ruin WC's fun.
 
Yes even though there is a high melting point atmospheric friction would strip off the liquid portions of the shell as it begins to melt...
 
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