Ablative Armor

[StarShadow]

Yes and no, ablative armor on, for example, a main battle tank, is not going to be destroyed by everything that hits it, if that were the case small-arms fire would be the bane of every armored tank.

Strictly speaking ablative armor as we know it, is not possible in SE4. The purpose of ablative armor is that it basicly destroys itself in order to prevent or reduce damage from an incoming projectile.

To me it seems that emissive is the closest thing SE4 really has to offer, and considering that early ablative armor used rubber (either as a filler between two armor plates, or as a backing) to reduce damage, it seems appropriate. In any case, since this is a game, we're allowed to stretch/alter/change traditional meanings.

[Fyron]

Ablative armor is the most directly implementable form of armor in SE4... You burn off the outer layer to prevent the ship from taking any real damage. Ablative armor is directly represented by raw hit points. Making it come in tiny chunks makes it burn off all the faster, as well as making it harder to repair than big pieces of "regular" armor.

Emissive armor is exactly not what ablative armor is; emissive is a magic, limitless reduction effect, which negates damage without any commensurate reduction in strength. Think of a mirror reflecting a laser beam.

[Black_Knyght]

So - here's the question - How would YOU work up Ablative Armor?

[Suicide Junkie]

1kt size, 12-20 hp/kt, without armor ability.
Or,
1kt size, 6-10 hp/kt, with armor ability.

I would probably add a 3kt option, with 75% of the hp/kt of the above. Research would go through standard armor, then the 3kt stuff, and finally the really ablative 1kt stuff.


In fact, I even made a mod for the SE4 classic demo which added such armor.

[Black_Knyght]

Suicide Junkie said:
1kt size, 12-20 hp/kt, without armor ability.
Or,
1kt size, 6-10 hp/kt, with armor ability.

I would probably add a 3kt option, with 75% of the hp/kt of the above. Research would go through standard armor, then the 3kt stuff, and finally the really ablative 1kt stuff.


In fact, I even made a mod for the SE4 classic demo which added such armor.

This sounds dead-on, but try as I might I can't seem to figure out how to write it up, or get it researched

[douglas]

Black_Knyght said:
This sounds dead-on, but try as I might I can't seem to figure out how to write it up, or get it researched

For just adding it to stock as high-end armor and ignoring the 3 kT stuff, do the following:

1) In TechArea.txt, increase the maximum level of Armor to 9.
2) In Components.txt, copy a basic armor component.
3) Change the Tonnage Space Taken of your new component to 1.
4) Change the Tonnage Structure to 6.
5) Change the Tech Level Req for Armor to 7.
6) Change the Family number to something that is not used by anything else.
7) Set the costs and name of this new component to whatever you like. Keep in mind that cost is per component, and you need lots of this component to do anything. You now have level 1 of your new ablative armor.
8) For the other 2 levels, copy your new component, change the Tech Level Req to 8 and 9, change Tonnage Structure to 8 and 10, and change the name and cost as appropriate.
9) For the leaky versions, just copy the three components you just created, remove the armor ability, double the Tonnage Structure, and change the family number to something unique.

You might want to change the description too.

[Nocturnal]

An example of Ablative Armor based on Suicide Junkie's:

ABLATIVE ARMOR

Name := Ablative Armor I
Description := Armor which absorbs energy by vaporizing its surface layer.
Pic Num := 30
Tonnage Space Taken := 1
Tonnage Structure := 6
Cost Minerals := 5
Cost Organics := 0
Cost Radioactives := 2
Vehicle Type := Ship\Base\Sat
Supply Amount Used := 0
Restrictions := None
General Group := Armor
Family := 45
Roman Numeral := 1
Custom Group := 0
Number of Tech Req := 1
Tech Area Req 1 := Armor
Tech Level Req 1 := 4
Number of Abilities := 1
Ability 1 Type := Armor
Ability 1 Descr := Is damaged before any other components on a ship.
Ability 1 Val 1 := 0
Ability 1 Val 2 := 0
Weapon Type := None

Per 10kT, this armor will cost 50 minerals and 20 radioactives, and provide 60kT of protection. Therefore compared to normal armor it will provide better protection, but will cost slightly more (radioactives) and take ten times as long to repair.

Edit: whoops, didn't notice this thread was a month dead.

[Black_Knyght]

Nocturnal said:Edit: whoops, didn't notice this thread was a month dead.

Not dead, just napping.

Thanx, btw, to both you and Douglas for the break-down and detailing. It helps me get a better visual understanding of what I need to do

[StarShadow]

Not quite, as I said, ablative armor *destroys itself* to reduce or prevent damage to it's vehicle. That is not the same as a regular armor plate that takes damage until it is destroyed. It is not possible to model true ablative armor in SE4. Also, and this is just my opinion, I do not see emissive armor as a magic armor that negates damage. It is simply an advanced armor that requires a lot of damage to overcome, in the same manner that it's nearly impossible to damage a main battle tank with small-arms. However we don't consider tank armor to be magic armor that shrugs off damage even though, with weak weapons, that's exactly what it does.

[Suicide Junkie]

Only if by "destroys itself" you mean "is destroyed by the enemy weapon".

You might be thinking of reactive armor, where you have an explosive charge in your armor plate to counter penetrating rounds.
Reactive armor is generally simulated by giving the armor a range-1 point defense weapon, with a reload time of 30.

Ablative armor absorbs a lot of energy by allowing its surface layers to be vaporized, leaving the inner layers unscathed.
This is simulated in SE4 by having very small components with good HP; each hit destroys at least one armor plate, but you have lots behind it.

In stock-like games, the repair time is usually irrelevant, since ships are very rarely left alive but damaged in combat, and repair rates are quite high.