What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Do direct fire weapons get more accurate the closer you are? If so, my ideal range for a DF ship would be just outside the enemy's range if possible. If I couldn't out-range him then ideal range would be point blank. Is this what happens with "optimal" range? Is there any way to engineer this?

How is "optimal" range calculated?
(my full copy should arrive in a couple of weeks and the answers may be in there but meanwhile I have a PBEM demo game to win!)

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Yes. For every square further away you are, there is a 10% loss in the to-hit percentage. IIRC, this is (along with everything else!) moddable.

Edit:

IMHO, I think it would be cool if the various distances for the movement strategies were moddable. For instance, say that you have researched missiles 20000 http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif , which has a damage of 3000000 at max range of 30. You don't want your missle frigates closing to range 8 (the default range for "Max firing range", IIRC). Instead, you would want to adjust the strategy so that max weapons range = ... about 15 or 20.

[ 12 March 2002: Message edited by: dumbluck ]</p>

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

So if you want to close to the closest range you can get while being outside the enemy's range, can you do that? If so, how? And how is optimum range calculated?

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

This leads me to another question on missiles...CSM missiles have the same damage no matter the range, once they hit then poof. But Plasma millies apparantly do less damage the further away you are, just like many beam weapons. But they are seekers?! How can this be? Once they hit, does the damage for 0-range apply? or the damage based on the distance between the launcher and the target at the time of shooting?

Also does multiplexing help missiles? Can it auto seek another target if its orginal target is destroyed? (in strategic combat).

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

A missile will disarm and vanish if its target is destroyed.
The plasma missile's damage depends only on how far the missile travels.
Think of it as using the plasma from the warhead to run the engines: the farther you go the lower the yield remaining in your warhead.
If you fire, move away, and your target moves directly on top of the missile before it has a chance to move, that "range zero" hit will do the same damage as a range one hit.

Multiplexing determines the number of targets the ship can attack in one combat turn using any or all of its weapons. Auto-firing Point-defense weapons do not count towards this limit, although manually firing point defense at, say a stack of sats will count against your multiplexing.

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

From the Gold manual: <blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr> Optimal weapons Range: Ship moves to a range that enables it to inflict the maximum damage on the enemy while suffering the minimum damage in return. <hr></blockquote>The exact formula isn't known, but it should involve both To Hit chances and damage at range.

Multiplex Tracking will allow a ship to launch missiles at different targets in the same turn; I'm not sure whether the AI is capable of using this to advantage, but a human in Tactical can judge how to divide fire.

[ 12 March 2002: Message edited by: capnq ]</p>

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

So, in other words, multiplex tracking is useless in strategic combat (as I've always suspected).

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

still a good thing to have.

Kinda works like extra sensors, and saves all them lost firepower just because it couldnt track.

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Huh? Not at all. The AI will use it, no problem there.

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by dumbluck:
So, in other words, multiplex tracking is useless in strategic combat (as I've always suspected).

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon8.gif <hr></blockquote>

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

I suspect that level 2 or 3 multiplexing is all you need, and the AI won't effectively use anything higher:

MX 1 (no component): The AI bLasts a ship apart, and can't fire unused weapons (due to range or target being destroyed)

MX 2: The AI kills one ship, and starts on the next in one turn,
-or-
fires long range weapons at a primary target, and short range at a target of opportunity.

MX 3: Same as above, put can also shoot unused PD cannons at sats.

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

So if a starbase has MX 5, it won't vaporize 5 targets per turn?

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

If you've got a base with enough weaponry on it to completely vaporize four targets, then yes, multiplex 5 would be useful.

By the time you get big bases, your opponents will likely have really big ships as well, so you might find it difficult to kill four in one turn.

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Unless the enemies are pre-damaged, and you're finishing off hulks.

Or is using a mod like Proportions, where small ships are actually used later in the game.

Or, more likely still, if the enemy launches large numbers of little fighter Groups, and PD isn't wiping them all out. Then high MP tracking could be very useful.

PvK

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Or, against a mob of drones!

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Or if your ship strategy is based more around disabling than destroying- say your ship is armed with engine killers. LOTS of engine killers. You might have enough to kill the engines of more than a few ships.

Phoenix-D

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

1) If you're finishing off hulks, you don't have to worry about multiplexing them, since you can easily get a 20:1 kill ratio

2) PD dosen't count towards the limit when autofiring on fighters as they move. It only counts against multiplexing when manually firing them, which usually only occurs against sats, which stack.

3) PD autofires on drones, IIRC, and so, dosen't use multiplexing.

4) Ion/Tachyon/Neutrino/Nullspace weapons, combined with a 10% damage per ship rule would require a good multiplexing. That's a fairly specialized ship example, though.

Re: What does "optimum range" mean?
 

Reading these Posts about multiplexing reafirms my belief that mixed fleets of large, medium and small craft is best. A large ship with massive firepower that doesn't have multiplexing could be overwhelmed by masses of smaller vessels at range with their defense bonuses. Plus all that firepower will be overkill against each small vessel individually, while the small vessels can mob their opponent.