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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0014200The Last FederationGameplay IdeaMay 21, 2014 6:10 am
ReporterPenumbra Assigned To 
Status newResolutionopen 
Summary0014200: Relative velocity for weapon fire
DescriptionI just spent about 100 turns chasing the last enemy ship in the tutorial mission. I put full energy to the engines to catch up, and about half in weapons. We went the exact same speed, and my weapon's fire would just build up on itself and not go anywhere near the enemy. He, however, could easily fire back at me.

Only when I could get him to chase me, out of range, could I hit him. I did so easily by firing 'at a spot' instead. Then, he would just run into my bullets.

What if your ship's current velocity applied to your weapon fire trajectory and velocity? This would allow you hit ships you were pursuing.
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Penumbra

Apr 18, 2014 10:36 am

reporter  

Pursue.png (93,899 bytes)   
Pursue.png (93,899 bytes)   

Penumbra

Apr 18, 2014 10:41 am

reporter   ~0036262

Last edited: Apr 18, 2014 10:43 am

It took 167 turns to finally hit him enough times.

Putting my weapons to full power, with engines at half, caused the enemy ship to move left and right, hitting my weapons fire. He could have just kept doing what he was and eventually won. He didn't have any fear of my bullets and I killed him.

topper

Apr 18, 2014 11:06 am

reporter   ~0036263

Additionally, I think the fast enemies should not show up in the tutorial mission in the first place.

windgen

May 7, 2014 3:05 am

reporter   ~0037624

Bump for 1.015. Relative velocity for weapons would be awesome.

ptarth

May 7, 2014 3:43 am

reporter   ~0037625

I'm not sure on this one. The problem is that you'd also given enemies relative velocity shots. That would mean an enemy could shoot and hit you in a single round, prevent you from doing anything about it.

Penumbra

May 7, 2014 4:15 pm

reporter   ~0037682

Have you ever had to chase an enemy ship? When they shoot, they aren't adding in their velocity (which is going in the other direction) to their shot, which allows them to easily hit you.

This will go both ways, and make relative speed matter. If both ships are going in the same direction, dodging will actually be easier.

ptarth

May 7, 2014 6:26 pm

reporter   ~0037687

Yes, I have, and what you say is true. But I think you are neglecting the other relative ship velocity case.

Consider the case that I brought up (regardless of my apparent inability to conjugate properly), which is the opposite of your example. If two ships are headed toward each other at a sufficient speed, then because you have a 3 second interval between commands, you won't have the ability to dodge some shots.

So, it seems we have to choose between having it difficult to catch fast ships and easier to dodge shots versus easier to catch and very difficult to dodge. Which was my point to begin with.

In most battles I must avoid enemies at the beginning because they outnumber me, in contrast to the end, when I may need to catch the stragglers. If shots are made too difficult to dodge with the advantage of relative velocity adjustments, then we'd are forced to circle strafe to avoid an unavoidable alpha strike. I'm not sure that would be an enjoyable change.

windgen

May 7, 2014 6:45 pm

reporter   ~0037689

> an enemy could shoot and hit you in a single round

This already happens. Part of tactics is staying away from high-DPS enemy formations until they split up or you've whittled them down a bit from a safe distance.

> If two ships are headed toward each other at a sufficient speed, then because you have a 3 second interval between commands, you won't have the ability to dodge some shots.

You have a lot of assumptions here. You must be headed toward the enemy, and the enemy must be headed toward you. You have control of half of this equation by definition -- if an enemy has a dangerous amount of DPS, you might think twice about approaching it at high speed! Then, "toward each other" is another assumption. Relative velocity would make weapons a little less omnidirectional (they would have an advantage firing in the direction the ship's going and a disadvantage in the opposite direction). So getting behind enemy ships is less dangerous. As for your third assumption -- "at a sufficient speed" -- most ships in this game are quite slow, except for the player or a few exceptions such as Velocitar class.

So I suspect the change won't make much practical difference except for high speed chase situations (which have been a big source of player complaints).

Drak

May 7, 2014 7:42 pm

reporter   ~0037692

I've had to do the chase thing too, and it's pretty lame. Not 100% sure the relative velocities thing is the answer, but I'd definitly be interested in seeing that in a beta release to see how it goes. The ability to outrun your own bullets (with say afterburner) is a little silly, especially in space.

The ship does have a kind of inertia (which can be observed when making turns or trying to stop), but even that isn't 100% space realistic as there's a kind of top speed effect too, so there's plenty of "for fun" factored in... But outrunning our own shots is a little ?.? ...

Drak

May 7, 2014 7:45 pm

reporter   ~0037693

The BIGGEST problem I can see is if those smaller ships that fire the shield piercing shots just swarm a player, and as a result of the shot velocity they become completely undefendable - those things are already annoying since ther's no way to recover hull, if they can't be dodged or Specialed down before they hit, that would be a serrious problem.

Drak

May 7, 2014 8:05 pm

reporter   ~0037697

Another thought occurs: Relative shot velocity would do wonders for the Burlust duels as well, as it stands now, you just basically kite him around at full weapons, 3 speed, and his shots never threaten (because he outruns his own shots), if they were relative it'd be considerably more scary...

Penumbra

May 7, 2014 8:09 pm

reporter   ~0037698

Also, it would be more consistent with how I expect things to work ;)

Poulpe

May 21, 2014 6:10 am

reporter   ~0038233

I'm in a distress call mission where almost all the ennemies ships are fast.
I can't see the end of this mission. Needless to say that when I'm chasing them I'm not protecting the trades ships and they'll all go Boom for sure.

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Apr 18, 2014 10:36 am Penumbra New Issue
Apr 18, 2014 10:36 am Penumbra File Added: Pursue.png
Apr 18, 2014 10:41 am Penumbra Note Added: 0036262
Apr 18, 2014 10:43 am Penumbra Note Edited: 0036262
Apr 18, 2014 11:06 am topper Note Added: 0036263
May 7, 2014 3:05 am windgen Note Added: 0037624
May 7, 2014 3:43 am ptarth Note Added: 0037625
May 7, 2014 4:15 pm Penumbra Note Added: 0037682
May 7, 2014 6:26 pm ptarth Note Added: 0037687
May 7, 2014 6:45 pm windgen Note Added: 0037689
May 7, 2014 7:42 pm Drak Note Added: 0037692
May 7, 2014 7:45 pm Drak Note Added: 0037693
May 7, 2014 8:05 pm Drak Note Added: 0037697
May 7, 2014 8:09 pm Penumbra Note Added: 0037698
May 21, 2014 6:10 am Poulpe Note Added: 0038233