Ideas for new weapons
 

Here are some of my iseas for new weapons & components to be added. Some you could develope early in the game. They start off small and weak but can be heavily modified.

1. Rail Guns-Heavy punch, limited ammo
2. Basic Laser Guns-cheap, small,multiple configurations.
3. Mass Drivers-planetary seige guns. Used as long range bombs. Very large and powerful.
4. Battle Pods- Adds extra space to ship.
5. MIRV Missiles-Multiple warheads
6. Improved Wave Motion Gun- Extremely large wide area effecting gun. Only used once per battle. Range 10 area effected 3 squares.

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

About the improved wave motion guns... I don't think it's possible to have "area effect" weapons in SE4

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Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

I dont think the MIRVs would be "re-entry vehicles" unless you wanted to have a planet shoot at its self like we do. The 'Multiple impact" bit would probably hold true, but im not sure how to mod it.

for the area of effect thing, you cant really have it impact 3 squares, but you can give it a to hit bonus that would reflect its wider area of effect and ability to hit everything in ONE square.

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by atomannj:

3. Mass Drivers-planetary seige guns. Used as long range bombs. Very large and powerful.
4. Battle Pods- Adds extra space to ship.
5. MIRV Missiles-Multiple warheads
6. Improved Wave Motion Gun- Extremely large wide area effecting gun. Only used once per battle. Range 10 area effected 3 squares. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Looks like some weapons from MOO2. Except for the WMG, which is from anime and mass drivers, which is from Babylon-5. ["...we have treaties!" "EENK on a PAGE!"]

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

Yep, alot of ideas from Scifi or animi. I think earlier low tech weapon would really make a difference in variety.

Rail Guns - Range 15, dam 30, reload 3 turns, make them large and bulky. Good for artillary type strikes.

MIRVs- Multiple warheads in one missile. Probably work best in a drone when available. Not sure how to implement. Maybe just make smaller ship missiles with lighter warheads. So you can now just launch swarm attacks.

Laser Batteries-range 3, dam 15 small ton, Lot of small beam weapons.

Mass Drivers- range 8, dam 200, bulky weapon for only large capital ships, like a combination radiation/napalm bomb. Your throwing astroids at planets.

I'll try experimenting with modification.

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

Any more weapon ideas?

[This message has been edited by atomannj (edited 30 July 2001).]

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

Some ideas (that would require engine modding...) --

* Sensor burn effects; for instance, a weapon designed specifically to overload EM-type sensors. Might be useful for a mine warhead or a nasty ambush satellite.

* Anti-ship cannons with the point-defense (IOW, automatic firing) ability.

* An improved solar sail that also functions as a low-power, no-supply-cost weapon.

* Small, fast one-shot (30 turn reload) missile racks for ships. Maybe even counting as armor, as well (external variant) -- have several for an opening salvo, say.


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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Taqwus:
Some ideas (that would require engine modding...) --

* Sensor burn effects; for instance, a weapon designed specifically to overload EM-type sensors. Might be useful for a mine warhead or a nasty ambush satellite.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That would require engine changes, correct.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>* Anti-ship cannons with the point-defense (IOW, automatic firing) ability.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>May or may not work without changes.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>* An improved solar sail that also functions as a low-power, no-supply-cost weapon.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Easy.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>* Small, fast one-shot (30 turn reload) missile racks for ships. Maybe even counting as armor, as well (external variant) -- have several for an opening salvo, say.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Already done, check the devnull mod I think.

Phoenix-D

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>An improved solar sail that also functions as a low-power, no-supply-cost weapon.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm having a hard time thinking of a way to use a solar sail as a weapon. What are you imagining this to do?

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Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by capnq:

Quote:

An improved solar sail that also functions as a low-power, no-supply-cost weapon.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I'm having a hard time thinking of a way to use a solar sail as a weapon. What are you imagining this to do?

streach it between two ships, spin it untill it is twisted into a tight 'rat-tail' and snap it at your target at near-realativistic speeds.



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"...the green, sticky spawn of the stars"
(with apologies to H.P.L.)

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

I'm more than a bit surprised that the old MOO standbys, like Engine Pulsar and Lightning Field have not come up. Surely there is a use in SE combat for a weapon that sprays damage out to all ships surrounding yours? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif If the Engine Pulsar were available and could do X number of points per undestroyed engine in a ship you could make them a specialty restricted to "Propulsion Experts" and increase the value of that racial trait. The lightning field would be a really cool artifact tech. Having a "one shot - many kills" weapon to stop missiles would be very powerful, though. It would need some special restrictions to balance it out. Maybe it should be impossible to use it with shields? That opens the possibility of a MOO defense tech being added, too, the damper field. Imagine if there were another racial tech with damper fields, lightning fields, and some special weapon like the "spatial distortion" weapon that the Antareans had. (Similar to Engine Pulsar but not dependent on Engines). That would be a really interesting variation that could through a wrench into lots of strategies that work pretty well right now against the existing AI races.

BTW, the principle of the solar sail as a weapon is logical but awkward. Think of a magnifying glass and bugs on a sidewalk. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif It's the same thing. You could be able to focus the sail on something like a huge mirror and do some damage but it would be very large, slow and clumsy. Maybe as a base weapon it would be workable but it would still be very fragile. I guess it'd be best as a long range weapon. (Maybe on the strategic screen?)

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 31 July 2001).]

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>* An improved solar sail that also functions as a low-power, no-supply-cost weapon.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Try this: You tow it behind your ship, if someone tries to sneak behind you to get a clean shot, aim at the bad guy's engine intake and release it. (okay maybe there is no engine intake, try the missile launch tubes then!) Covering up his bridge with the sail is a good idea too. If it is metallic, you might even affect his sensors!

"Warning: The captain and the gunnery officer can't see anything out the window, and the combat sensors failed due to a large piece of unknown object hanging on the ship. Combat effectiveness seriously reduced."

(edit) Remember to fit a retro-rocket on the solar sail!


[This message has been edited by CW (edited 31 July 2001).]

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

Now, this isn’t workable in SE4, but if you use the Solar Sail as a solar oven, focusing the energy, you could have the damage variable, depending on the distance from the nearest star and the star’s strength.

Theoretically, the solar sail doesn’t reflect, it is pushed by the light, so we can not focus light with it, but that shouldn’t stop us. Maybe it is like a reversible sweater!

A more modable weapon would be something that drops something on the map. Right now you can drop mines, but what if you could drop a lot of something an force your opponent to change their movement. Create a barrier that limits the number of enemy who can come at you at once or funnel them into a killing zone.

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

would it not make better use of energy if it was reflective? I would think that it would gain more forward momemtum if it reflected light back rather than absorbing it.

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>A more modable weapon would be something that drops something on the map. Right now you can drop mines, but what if you could drop a lot of something an force your opponent to change their movement. Create a barrier that limits the number of enemy who can come at you at once or funnel them into a killing zone.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I was thinking about this the other day. What about a seeker weapon with a speed of zero? You could "fire" (really drop) unlimited mines. Of course, PD would kill them, but that would also make real missile attacks more likely to get through. I haven't tried it yet--no time for another two weeks or so. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon9.gif I think it'd be nice, though, to have a field of seekers with 600kt resistance sitting out there to use up my enemies PD. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Now, if only you could make them invisible...

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"The Unpronounceable" Krsqk
Basic Tech Mod
--Basic Tech Mod v.75

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Krsqk:

Quote:

A more modable weapon would be something that drops something on the map. Right now you can drop mines, but what if you could drop a lot of something an force your opponent to change their movement. Create a barrier that limits the number of enemy who can come at you at once or funnel them into a killing zone. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I was thinking about this the other day. What about a seeker weapon with a speed of zero? You could "fire" (really drop) unlimited mines. Of course, PD would kill them, but that would also make real missile attacks more likely to get through. I haven't tried it yet--no time for another two weeks or so. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon9.gif I think it'd be nice, though, to have a field of seekers with 600kt resistance sitting out there to use up my enemies PD. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif Now, if only you could make them invisible...

i think you can move through seekers freely.

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

Seekers move at a different stage of combat than ships, so the non-moving seekers would only be a problem if the enemy chose to move into their space. Another idea, but possibly something that is not modable, is a seeker that sits still until a ship comes into striking range, then rapidly shoots across the intervening space to detonate. A fancy magnetic mine. This could get fun, as increased tech levels increase the strike range. If you were used to fighting the old mines and then face some upgraded ones, it could be a nasty surprise.

Puke, the solar sail tech in a bit past me, but my high school physics suggests that something that bounces off would take a lot of it’s energy with it, while something that absorbed it would keep the energy. However, it might get heat energy instead of kinetic energy, so reflection might be better.

In the real world, I heard that a private firm launched a real solar sail near Russia a week or two ago. Can anyone confirm this or am I being made fun of?

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Saxon:
In the real world, I heard that a private firm launched a real solar sail near Russia a week or two ago. Can anyone confirm this or am I being made fun of?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

They attempted to launch one, but it didn't deploy correctly, and the Last thing I heard was that they were trying to decide whether to try another test or go ahead with the real thing.

Quikngruvn

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Ponder this: Scientists already knew that matter is 98% empty space. After they figured out the structure of protons, they determined the remaining 2% is mostly made up of... well, nothing. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?

Re: Ideas for new weapons
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>* An improved solar sail that also functions as a low-power, no-supply-cost weapon.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Wrap it around your oponent to restrict his vision and movement, then pummel him into submission. Space combat Version of a "Blanket Party"!

(Anybody who went through basic training will know exactly what I am talking about.) http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Geo


[This message has been edited by geoschmo (edited 01 August 2001).]