Topic: Weapons
Just wanted to have it written down somewhere, suggestions for different weapon system how it COULD be. I am pretty sure you will see similarities to other games, mostly EvE (because they have some logic behind their balance) and mechwarrior (because it exists longer the computer games), but also from games i have played during the last 20 years.
one game mechanic necessary would be listed here: Ammo used per cycle, others listed at the end of the post. I have marked them with italic letters
Sorted by category:
Common aspects:
- No Ammo consumption,
- High Power consumption,
- Infinte Falloff (instead of sinus based, it would be like 1/(1+x))
- Thermal damage
Short range burst Laser
high precision weapon with low damage output, average rate of fire and average powerconsumptionLong range burst Laser
high precision weapon with high damage output, low rate of fire and very high powerconsumption (sniper)Constant beam Laser
high precision weapon with low damage-output, constant DPS, average powerconsumption
(to reduce server-load all constant dps weapons are synchronized into 1 LoS and damage calculation)Siege Laser
low precision weapon with high damage output, low rate of fire due to extreme powerconsumption.
only effective against fortificationsgamma-ray burst Laser
special, low efficiency burst laser without LoS issues but no damage output.
Debuff's the targets repair efficiency
Common aspects:
- Ammo consumption
- Average power Consumption
- Average Falloff (current sinus based)
- Kinetic damage
Railguns
The kinetic-only, very high damage, longrange magnetic weapons.
due to the physics of the acceleration mechanic, only solid slugs without additional payload are possible.
small ammo size enables to carry many shots in magazine and cargoGaussguns (coilguns)
The flexible, short to medium range magnetic weapons.
larger and more expensive slugs with secondary damage payload makes it a weapon for special tasks.Gauss Mortar
Similar to Gauss guns, but for unguided indirect fire.
the propellant free grenades are smaller then conventional grenades, though weapon uses much more energy.
also available as Siege variantIon-cannon
instead of slugs, its using ionized heavy atoms as ammunition. cheap ammo, low damage, but devastating for active resist plating.
The ammo only needs to be refined. Different minerals result in different efficiency of the weapon.
Uses the ammo-per-cycle mechanicPlasmagun
short range, low damage but high RoF magnetic weapon. uses plasmacells as ammunition,
can also be used without ammo (using atmosphere to generate the plasma) but at a much lower rate of fire and damage.Plasma Mortars
Similar to the Plasma guns, just with an unguided ballistic arc and splash (AoE) damage.
also available as Siege variant
Common aspects:
- Ammo consumtion
- Low power consumption
- Short Falloff (current sinus based)
- Kinetic damage
Autocannon
high damage, medium precision, long range firearm. low rate of fire
Various high caliber ammo types with different ranges, dammage types, but compared to other direct fire weapons - rather large.Machineguns
medium damage, medium precision, short to medium range firearm. high rate of fire
all MGs fire several small bullets per cycle. less different ammo types then Autocannons. though small and medium ones using same caliber.Flechette Gun
short range, direct fire AoE weapon. Large ammo, best used against big number of smaller targets.Mortars/howitzer
Ballistic Firearm for unguided indirect fire AoE damage. Large ammo
Also available as siege and EMP variant.
Common aspects:
- Ammo consumption
- Most weapon characteristics based on ammo, not only damage
- Low power consumption
- no Falloff
- Explosion (seismic) damage
Guided Missiles
homing, fire&forget missiles. various different warheads and ranges available.
single and multi-missile launcher available.Ballistic Missiles
non-guided, AoE Missiles. beacuse of their bigger warheads, they need a different launcher then guided missiles.
Also available as siege and EMP variant.Bolter (direct fire missiles)
shares characteristics of missiles (damage calculation and variation) and firearms (turret slot, direct LoS).
drawbacks are the range dependant precision due to the relative low projectile speed, and the size of the ammoCruise Missiles
launched from Ballistic launcher, but guided and slow. needs target to be marked with target painter. expensive
Melee Arm
"emtpy" Arm torso slots of mechs automatically fitted with a melee arm as seen on the robopedia Tyrannos.
can be used to deal a very low amount of kinetic AoE damage at max 15m range, depending on robot size. doesn't need locked target
Melee modus can also be activated for any Arm module that has hands (neuts, drainer, RR, Energy Transfer, Mining/Harvesting mods, Missile launcher on gropho)
unguided indirect fire AoE damage weapons are in the works for some time now, as seen in various DEV-Blog posts.
same mechanic could also be used for short ranges and direct fire.
infinite Falloff for energy weapons sounds IMBA - but the limit is simply your locking- or visual range
chance to hit based on distance is self explaining.
As said at the beginning, i just wanted to have it written down somewhere public....
Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear