Honor Harrington Mod Discussion

[Phoenix-D]

Baron, I already have everything you've mentioned.

-No storge in the launcher, so you must have space for the drones you fire.
-Drones can be fired from anywhere in combat, so they greatly outrange the longest seeker or beam weapon
-Missile range can be extended by giving the drones strategic move- allowing missile bombardment from one or two sectors away.

The other big issue right now is how do I stop the player from putting 50000 missiles on a planet then firing them all at the first enemy to come by..

Phoenix-D

[Baron Munchausen]

So a drone launcher is called a 'missile tube' in your mod, huh? You could add a small missile component that only targets drones and call it 'anti-missiles' or 'point defense missiles' too. But I hope your missile launchers are all only one per turn, with possibly a 'special tech' that allows a large and expensive launcher to do more than that.

How big are the drones in your mod? Have you shrunk them to fighter size or are they still 100+ kt?

The thing about using drones as missiles is that they have no range limit at all, so anywhere on the combat map is 'in range' for missiles. Kinda messes up the strategic maneuvering issue. I hope MM will extend missile range another 10 squares even in SE IV, and of course expand the combat map and all weapons ranges even more in SE V.

The AI problem is another reason that drones as missiles is not such a good idea. I have noticed that ALL drones will be launchd on any planet when it is attacked. Argh...

[Phoenix-D]

"So a drone launcher is called a 'missile tube' in your mod, huh? You could add a small missile component that only targets drones and call it 'anti-missiles' or 'point defense missiles' too. But I hope your missile launchers are all only one per turn, with possibly a 'special tech' that allows a large and expensive launcher to do more than that."

Counter Missiles actually. Along with PD lasers and (early tech) PD Autocannons.

"How big are the drones in your mod? Have you shrunk them to fighter size or are they still 100+ kt?"

3-15kt. (Keep in mind the ship sizes are 100-8000kt)

"The thing about using drones as missiles is that they have no range limit at all, so anywhere on the combat map is 'in range' for missiles. Kinda messes up the strategic maneuvering issue."

"I hope MM will extend missile range another 10 squares even in SE IV, and of course expand the combat map and all weapons ranges even more in SE V."

Yup. I STILL would have to use drones though. You can't make a standoff missile warhead, it has to come into contact.

"The AI problem is another reason that drones as missiles is not such a good idea. I have noticed that ALL drones will be launchd on any planet when it is attacked. Argh... "

Oh great. It's still the only way though.

Phoenix-D

[killer]

Grav Lance? Energy Torpedo? ECM that works on seekers?

[Phoenix-D]

ECM working on seekers is taken care of because I'm not USING seekers.

Grav lance is easy- it kills sidewall generators.

E Torps are.. a pain. SE4 doesn't have a "can't hurt shields" damage type..

Right now I'm waiting on the patch because as SE4 is right now this isn't working.

Phoenix-D

[Puke]

so how do sidewalls work? just as shields? do drone warheads (missiles, i presume) skip shields? maybe they should be shields that regenerate 100% per turn. do engines generate their own shields?

[Phoenix-D]

1. Currently sidewalls work like so:
They generate, say, 200 shield. (Capital ships use Phased shields)
They RE generate equal to half their initial level (so, 100)

The drive components have crystaline shield ability. Bigger the drive, the higher the effect, and it's big effect. So when your shields are breached, they'll be restored.. IF the shot didn't damage an engine component. If it did, you are in serious trouble.

2. Drone warheads are direct-fire weapons that fire from 4-5 spaces out (laser heads) to 1 space (contact nuke). They don't skip shields.

3. Most any weapon can be made to skip shields by using a special varient component. This simulates a shot down the open throat of the ship's wedge. The problem is these components have a nasty negative to-hit.

Phoenix-D

[killer]

Let me rephrase that. ECM that works on missiles

[Baron Munchausen]

Originally posted by Phoenix-D:
ECM working on seekers is taken care of because I'm not USING seekers.

Grav lance is easy- it kills sidewall generators.

E Torps are.. a pain. SE4 doesn't have a "can't hurt shields" damage type..

Right now I'm waiting on the patch because as SE4 is right now this isn't working.

Phoenix-D

I think he's referring to some sort of ECM that affects seekers ability to hit. We've been asking MM to do this for a long time. He doesn't seem to want to do it.

The next patch will have a damage type 'Quarter Damage to Shields' which will provide quite a serious penalty against shields. This sounds like a good simulation of 'sidewall' deflection of energy weapons.

And... you could use the 'Only Shield Generators' damage type to create a Grav Lance. Too bad SE doesn't have shield facings and you have to knock out ALL of the shield generators to get a clear shot.

[ July 27, 2002, 19:58: Message edited by: Baron Munchausen ]

[Phoenix-D]

"I think he's referring to some sort of ECM that affects seekers ability to hit. We've been asking MM to do this for a long time. He doesn't seem to want to do it."

Again, I'm not using seekers so this is no problem. The missile (drone) warheads are direct fire..

(in other words, if you want to rant on unrelated stuff, please don't hijack this thread with it )

Phoenix-D