We all agree (I think) that the capital ships in the future of Vendetta should have some kind of heavy-hitting primary weapon. So, let's have an ideas thread. I propose ONE IDEA PER PERSON, so as to keep us from getting Celebrim's list of 64 different weapons all in one post. I'll put the obvious one here so no one else has to post it.


"Laser/Ion Beam Cannon"
Damage: 10000/second (measured in fractions if necessary)
Duration: 5 seconds
Range: 1500m
Power Usage: Erm... no clue, since I don't know about cap ship power
Slot: One capital ship primary weapons slot, also can be mounted as a turret on super cap ships
Description: Your standard Homeworld-style ion beam. Does a lot of damage over a 5-second period, but requires that it be kept aimed on target.

Not quite a heavy hitter but...
AMDS (auto missile defense system)
Damage: 1
Range: 400m-900m
Power: very low or if it can some how become projectile none
Ammuntition:4000-6000
Slot: possibly where the gattling turrets are currently mounted on the frigate
Description: Fires thousands of rounds of ammunition at a torpedo/guided torpedo/med sized homing missile, to ultimately destroy the torpedo using very small rounds (not visible, muzzle flash will tell if it is being fired) Activates automaticly when a torpedo enters its range and field of fire. Fires a "wall" instead of direct fire at the torpedo.

Torpedoes. Since the style of dogfighting in Vendetta is already similar to dogfighting in WWII, I think a battle between frigates should have a similar to the submarine battles of WWII. I for one would like to see slow moving torpedoes nearly hit a slow-moving frigate that's struggling to dodge shots ever so slowly. It adds A LOT to the action of gameplay, as crew members watch helplessly as the pilot (player 1) and gunner turret (player 2) try their best at keeping the frigate intact. The image I'm getting in my head is similar to the capital ships of Starship Troopers, actually. So here's my proposal:

"Durandal Torpedo" (1x per player-controlled XL-port turret)
Damage: 2x current avalon
Speed: = current avalon
Range: = current avalon
Fire Rate: 1 torpedo per 5 seconds
Slot: XL-Port (maybe 2 or 3 total)

Description: Massive slow-moving torpedoes that are ONLY to be used in frigate-to-frigate combat. They must be fired by a crew member (another player aboard the ship) located in a movable (slow turn rate) turret. The turret player will be equipped with a compass-like moving band along the top of their HUD to indicate direction (in degrees), and because of the turret's slow turn rate, your teammates on board can help you out by giving the torpedo gunners the direction of the enemy before they get a chance to fire first. Communication and teamwork will be critical due to the slow turn rate of these massive launchers! I also think that there should be smaller turrets (B-17 style) that move quickly, but should only be used against fighters and bombers. These already seem to be in, albeit in a rudimentary form

EDIT: changed proposed speed of new weapon back up to current avalon speed.

Something like an avalon.

XL-port-turret thingy.
Damage: 12000-36000
Speed: 2x-1/3x of the current avalon
Range: same as avalon
Fire-rate: 2 seconds
Charge rate: 1/second
Once charged it will leak plasma, causeing damage to the turret.
Charge Requirement: 5 (this is just to delay fireing of full strength one)
Description: A torpedo with the strength of a single Avalon, Can hold charged plasma to intensify the strength.

Ship-to-Ship Missile (SSM):(XXL Port or LCS port[Large Capital Ship Port])
Damage: 100,000
Speed: 30m/s
Fire Rate: 1/10 seconds
Splash Radius: 500m
Tracking: Slight (Can move about 5 degrees per second to track its target)
Description: A 500 Kiloton Fusion warhead in a slightly guided torpedo, when it hits it inflicts massive damage, but has a 10% Chance of exploding every 100m it travels (i.e. Can blow up in your face as it leaves the weapons port[owie o.0])

Err... I can't do just one. But have fun. If I see a good idea, I promise I'll steal it and add it to my wish list. ;)

Flak Cannon:
Damage: 1000 per shell
Speed: 50m/s
Fire Rate: 5 per sec
Splash: 40m
Proximity: 20m
Ammo: 1k to 2k
Description:
A small double barrel flack turret. Perfect for swatting fighters, bombers, and torpedoes as they attempt to hurt you.

roguelazer: Continuos weapons probably hog too much band width since thier position must be updated, well, continuosly. Also, they have some wierd interactions when lagged. Note for example that the beam weapon we've seen is not continuos, probably to avoid this very problem.

silent suicide: Very high cycle rate and particularly very high cycle rate ammunition weapons are probably out for band width reasons as well. It's probably just better and alot easier on the server to put an invisible sphere around the ship and give a certain % chance that any rocket type munition intering this sphere will be destroyed by the AMDS gizmo. This would effectively be then a variation on my ECM gizmo on the toys thread.

Arolte: I basically agree, but think that we can draw analogies from the whole of WWII naval combat.

Lemming: Why is everyone only coming up with variations on the Avalon?

Humpy: Ditto. Besides which, you do realize that there is about an 82% chance that the weapon will blow up in your face using the numbers you've given?

Daon Rendiv: That's a pretty nice weapon except that (other than the ammo capacity) it looks like something that would be acceptible in the small fighter slot, not something you'd likely see as a capital ships primary weapon. A variation on 'double barreled flak cannon' might be ok as a capital ships secondary weapon though (or in a large weapon slot), except that weapons with high cycle rates that consume ammunition currently give the engine trouble and probably should (for now) be avoided when making suggestions for new weapons.

What exactly defines a high cycle rate? More than 2 per second?

The Avalon Torpedo seems like an ideal Capital ship weapon. Sort of like the sunflare of capital ships. But I too would like to see some different weapons. Here's my idea for a staple cap ship weapon, basically ripped right out of "Star Wars: Rogue Leader."

Turbo Laser Battery: Basically a giant, capital ship class gatling cannon. The rounds are extremely large (as all capital ship weapons should be) and thus, easy to dodge by most fighters, but difficult for any ship with a large profile.

Damage: 6000-8000 per shot.
Cycle rate: Slightly faster than the Tachyon.
Velocity: About the speed of the Bus cannon.

Well the FC is more of the primary weapon(s) of special anti-fighter cap ships. To fix the ammo update problem of the FC give it a .5 sec reload and behave as 2 sperate weapons fireing in sequence (both barrels alternating). Then split the ammo between them and presto, the problems with ammo level update are solved.

There's probably a server-side solution. I have a feeling the ammo update bug is because the client sends the amount of ammo left on each ship to every other player online, or something like that. Once the devs find out WHY it can't calculate ammo separately, it'll work.

IN DETAIL:

Why not calculate ammo separately? The client sends a "start firing" signal to server, and both of them calculate ammo left. Once the server figures that there's none left, it sends a "stop firing" signal to the client. Same if the client figures out no ammo left first. This keeps the lag caused down and makes it a 2-signal process. And please don't feel the need to tell everyone else insector the amount of ammo either.

Another idea ripped right out of another game: "Starcraft"

The Yamato Cannon (Name subject to change)

Info: The weapon charges for 1 full minute before being released. As it is charging, a laser sight paints the target. Once fully charged it unleashes a lethal, high velocity blast of concentrated energy at the target. The Yamato Cannon also causes a sort of Electro-magnetic recoil that renders the firing ship unable to access any of its energy stores for 20 seconds.

Damage: 0-550,000. The closer the range, the more damage. The Beam dissipates as it travels. (A capital ship charging for a full minute at point blank range to do full damage will probably not survive to fire.) If such a constraint is not permitted by the engine, the cannon could do 200,000 damage.

Speed: 400m/s

This one is sort of an original.

Current homers move in a small spiral pattern (a large spiral if it's a yellowjacket) as they zero in on their target, so this is inspired by that motion.

Artillery Barrage:

Damage: 4,000
Speed: 100 m/s
Splash: 1/8 an avalon
Maneuverbility: Abysmal
Proximity: Infinite (I'll explain in the info)
Arming Delay: 5 seconds. (Or 500m from the firing ship, depending on what works out better for gameplay)
Cycle Rate: 1 volley per 3 seconds.

Info: Fires 5 bombs (or charges) per volley. Each charge flies in a large spiral towards its target and automatically detonates 5 seconds after it is fired (or 500m) dealing damage over a large splash radius. The weapon has low auto aim and each charge approaches the target from a different direction. The weapon is supposed to look like an artillery barrage and leave very conspicuous trails and explosions. Useful for damaging large clusters of ships or station defenses

That's more than 1, but whatever. :D

Oh, 1 per person? I thought it was one per post. Oh well. How seriously did you take that request anyway?

Not much. It was just to keep Celebrim from posting a 70000 pixel long post. I really don't care much.

Okay, I came up with this weapon idea on my own, but the physical explanation is going to be blatantly ripped off from "Ender's Game" :P.

Molecular Displacement Device

This weapon uses a triangulation of hyperspace particle beams to warp matter onto a locus already occupied by matter. The resulting physical paradox creates a devastating explosion (the matter spontaneously converts to energy with 100% effeciency) at that point in space. This weapon is a non-conventional "experimental" weapon, and as such is not as effecient as other energy batteries and is somewhat more difficult to deploy. However, it is a very useful "sucker-punch" weapon against unsuspecting marauders and incoming fighters. The weapon must be charged up, and the longer it is charged the bigger the explosion will be. The range is a variable that can be set by the turret gunner.

Very Large port (VL)
Molecular Displacement Device - 130,000 cr
Energy: Must be charged for a minimum of 2 seconds, and a maximum of 10. Energy drain during the charging period is 500/second. If the gun is not charged for 2 seconds, the energy is lost, if it charges for a full 10 seconds, it automatically fires.
Speed: Virtually Instantaneous: three bright purple beams triangulate the point in space specified by the gunner for 0.2 - 1.0 seconds (depending on how high the weapon was charged) before the explosion takes place.
Damage: 3,000 - 15,000 (1,500 per second)
Explosive Radius: 80m - 250m
Range: 0.5 km - 2.5 km (specified by gunner, or matched with target)
Repeat: weapon must undergo a 2s "cooldown" after it fires before it can be charged again.

Now, some might call this weapon Uber, but it's not. It's an experimental, non-conventional weapon as evidenced by its high cost, terrible energy effeciency, and not-too-great firepower. Captains may have to participate in a few "research" missions before they can get their hands on one of these.

True, the ability to create a nuke-sized explosion nearly instantaneously up to 2.5km away is a fearsome feat, but that single shot would have drained 5,000 energy (which would probably be a majority of a cap ship's battery) and would have taken 10s to charge up. This would be a good "first strike" weapon to use on an incoming wave of fighters or an unsuspecting convoy, however it would be a terrible weapon in a heated cap ship battle. Also, the weapon does not guarantee a hit, since it takes a full second for the beams to generate an explosion, *and* the weapon still must be aimed either by the turret gunner (if mounted on a turret) or by the skipper (if mounted as a centerline weapon).

Edit: If for some reason the weapon was not able to maintain a lock on that one point in space for 0.2-1.0 seconds, no explosion would occur and the energy would be lost. This would give a large disadvantage to an M.D. Device mounted as a centerline weapon, as the skipper would have to maintain a single heading for that brief period of time. Forwards/backwards motion would not be an issue since the range of this weapon is adjustable and the computer would automatically maintain a lock on the locus point. A misfire would probably almost never happen if the weapon was mounted on an L-turret. (The only reason I could think of would be if the weapon fired on a point that was at the very edge of its hemisphere of fire as the ship rolled).

I like the idea of any weapon that can create an explosion without needing to be 'near' a target and which doesn't have to worry about friendlies 'near' los detonating the weapon (and BTW I love "Ender's Game"), but implementing the weapon as you describe sounds difficult.

1) If the beams are held in place for a particular length of time one of two things has to happen. Either the beam doesn't move with the ship or it does. If it doesn't move with the ship, then its easy to implement, but the result could look pretty silly as the ship slips 50-100m or so along while the beam is left there hanging in space. On the other hand, if the back end of the beam does move with the ship then you have to have an algorithm unique to this particular weapon for keeping track of the beam. Likewise, while the weapon is most interesting if it has variable range, variably set range is something no other weapon has which means that there must be a unique interface for this weapon if it is to be human controlled (AI control would present less of a problem).

if you mount it on a turret the gunner can't move right?
so make forward and backward adjust range.
have a number that indicates current setting.

I agree with Celebrim in that this weapon would be a pain in the butt to program. So many things would have to be made from scratch. If we could create a whole class of matter warping weapons it may be more feasable.

Or. . . We could change how the turret gunner fires the weapon. It would be a bit less of a hurdle. When the gunner hits the fire button, he gets to fly a little drone (very tiny) by wire to the targetted area. That tiny drone gets to the target point and after a timer runs out the drone stops, begins to charge, the warp opens up and KABOOM!

If the drone had very very poor agility this might just work. It could also lower the charging time since destroying the drone would negate the weapon, giving it a critical vulnerability. Or, if you are intent on making the weapon create something out of nothing you could just make the "drone" invisible. The only thing that would need to be added is auto-matic fly-by-wire capability for projectiles which can be used to make other weapons as well.
Fly-by-wire rockets as fighter weapons, etc.