Here's an idea for a unique new "weapon"

Force Plane Mines
L-port weapon
Ammo: 3 mines
Duration: 5 minutes
Connectivity range: 300m

Here's how it works:

You drop 3 mines within 300 meters of each other and it creates a glowing blue triangular "plane of force"; a solid barrier similar to the station exit port. The barrier itself would be indestructable, but the mines could be destroyed causing the barrier to collapse. If these mines were used within the no-fire zone the station bots would treat them like all other mines and take them out.

Possible uses? Say you're in a duel and you want a shield handy that you can duck behind while you recharge...

These mines could also be alot of fun in non-combat situations... say you want to create an obstacle course or a piece of space art just for the heck of it?

this actually has more potential as a group weapon then a solo. It would allow you to set up perimiters and small clusters and protect your missle bombers from long range laser attacks while still allowing fire from AGT's or other close range weaponry. I like it, though I think there should be more mines. Perhaps 9 mines, allowing for three seperate fields to be created with every load. Though it would be nice to have invulnerable shields, it doesn't seem quite right, give them say, 15000 ac, and put the mines themselves under the protection of the field seems better cause it woudl be relatively easy to come in and blow one mine up and then the whole thing is mute cause it requires three to make the field.

...and if you don't have a problem with that weapon, how about the next step up?;

Force Pyramid Mines
L-port weapon
Ammo: 4 mines
Duration: 5 minutes
Connectivity range: 400m

These mines wouldn't activate until all four were dropped... but when they do they would create a glowing green "force pyramid." Imagine flying circles around a slower opponent, dropping these mines one at a time until suddenly, they find themselves trapped inside a glowing pyramid! Of course all they would have to do would be to blow up one of the mines to escape, but it just might afford you the time you need to get away or to trap them in one place long enough to let them have it.

Pretty crazy huh? But as Ender Wiggin puts it: someone's gotta come up with these crazy ideas because one of them just might work ;)

The pyramid would be too easy to exploit while blast radius weapons are not stopped by solid objects.

It was implied that they work like the fields at station exits, which means that stuff inside can leave (like weapons fire and ships) but stuff outside can not enter. At least that's how I read it. So trapping someone in a pyramid would not work.

i absolutely love this idea.

and i dont care if people get trapped. thats @#$& hilarious.

they can shoot the mines if they want to get out.

Does the player that equips these have to be a master mine layer or will they fly into a triangular formation for you and auto activate? I would be nice if they did, and would make deployment a bit easier.

I can imagine the first guy to come out of warp inside a pyramid.

In fact, I can see pirating becoming more like crabbing or something, where you set up a trap and hope some poor bastard appears inside. Azek would become a trawling ground with ten nets going at any given time..

Heh, I like it.

Johnhawl: I'd imagine you might want a different shape/size force field depending on the situation... so the mines would stay where you layed them.

Another funny possible use for these: Trader A runs from the pirate while his friend Trader B has already laid 2 mines up the road... Trader A zooms past and Trader B lays the third mine, activating the force field which the pirate plows into at 200 m/s ;).

/roadrunner voice: "beep beep" zoooom......

 

this is an interesting idea, but there had to be a maximum size, otherwise you could have one triangle with each side no less than 20km long, and i'd expect keeping track of that would hinder the server. especialy if there are lots of them in the same sector.

also perhals the mines could have a sphear of operations and generate conections to any other barier mine dropped in range (so you could create shapes other than triangles and/or pyramids)

hehe,
I can just see Harry Seldon showing us his newest space ship design :)

Eh? What does that have to do with mines?

I *do* have some designs on my computer that could be popped into the Spacecraft Design Contest, but I'm I'm currently busy enough texturing my current ships.

Heh, thread resurrected by one of Roguelazer's mysterious blank posts....

Lord Q: that's what I mean by "connectivity range." I had envisioned a maximum distance of 400m to a side.

Distance between the mines have to be big enough to prevent chain-reacktion (an explosion triggers the closest mines, they triggers the next wave, etc) but the mines have to be close enoough to prevent ships to slip between.

Mine fields can be used in large battles to build a deffence barrier or to lure the enemies there.

Most effective should be the self organizing mine field. You launch a dozen of mines and they automatically build the net.

Mines have to be visible by friends and barely visible by foes.

Regards,

Darkwood

"also perhals the mines could have a sphear of operations and generate conections to any other barier mine dropped in range (so you could create shapes other than triangles and/or pyramids)"

Meaning with enough mines it could look like a ship!!!!!!!1

holy $h!7! guys! now, if you make it so it is INSIDE-OUT so the blocking part in on the INSIDE and the other part is on the OUTSIDE!

this is what I've really wanted...the pirates can lay a mine field of this stuff, around wormholes, and when a moth comes...POP! stuck in a hole until it excapes, or a pirate kills it =D

two things...one, it needs to last 10 minutes after someone leaves the sector...or it wont be able to be used, and two, it needs to last 30, and three, cost 50k and be level...9 of everything other then mining.

How about just one mine projects a circular "force plane barrier?"

Would make opponents break off turbo if they are directly behind and shooting you in the ass,
OR
it would make them chase you in a way where they couldn't shoot you in the ass.

Plus circles would make for neater artwork-making capability. How about different colors available?

Haha, imagine someone dropping one of those circular mines in a racetrack, instant obstacle, you'd have to shoot out the mine to continue, would make some fun racing.

portable force field barriers are interesting idea ... but there is a problem:

You have to anchor the barrier or it can be pushed away :)

Btw: when a ship bumps into a pancake like force field the field will close behind the ship. In result the ship will be entrapped in a forcefield bubble.
The ship can not move (the bubble is a closed innertial system) nor fire. ... er... you can fire but the field screens the shots until wears off.

Regards,

Darkwood