Updated the slow (and rather boring-looking) BulletAnt chassis into a whole new SV: the SlamTek Kowari. Intended role is a light fighter / interceptor. It is equipped with 4 Rail Guns so as to deal some decent damage, but it should rely more on maneuverability than the ability to take multiple hits. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=766247492
Another updated design, the new SlamTek Sparrow Mk2. Massively improved speed, handling, and protection, all still in a cheap, affordable package. Comes standard with 2 Miniguns which can and should be swapped out for your gun of choice. http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=766821310 More pictures on the Steam Workshop page.
Tyrax Lightning and I discussed the idea of swarmer ships "butt-parked" - with the new potential for the placement of landing gear - to a capital ship that would then launch in huge waves when the call went out. That idea stuck in my head, and eventually it emerged with this ship as the result: Introducing, The Armored Swarmer Super small, super fast, and super tough. Designed to be a smaller profile, but hard to kill. I envisioned it as a part of a massive group of identical or similar ships, a "swarm." It is missing three things: 1. Paint and textures: I thought you might want to paint it to your factions/groups colors. 2. Weapons: I know I know, "no weapons?!" This is on purpose; everyone has different weapons preferences, to add them, just knock out some of the frontal blocks. 3. Landing gear; again, preference. Now that they can be added to any of the 6 surfaces, I figure it would be prudent to let you, the wise and discerning buyer, choose.
*Snickers* Ya coulda just Edited the Link into the first Post dude. With that said, I like the Design, though I don't understand the Grates over the side Slant Thrusters. Also, no contest, Rail Guns FTW.
Is this true?!? Holy crap that would make building so much easier, as I can place weapons on the wings or undercarriage now!!!
With this design I tried to treat any "exposed" system to direct fire as a vital system - including thrusters. At one point I even tried to cover the cockpit, but that started to make the design too bulky and heavy, so I opted to believe that the HP of the cockpits were/are enough. And I have never played with a small vessel in pvp, so I have no idea as to the relative effectiveness of the various weapons systems. I would like to believe that even in the games current form, that a sufficiently competent pilot could choose any weapon of their choice and it would be equally effective they would just need to adjust their approach strategy, but could be very wrong. The trick is that I have found rail guns to be... less than stellar against poi's... but then again, that was before I knew that you could place weapons further apart and their fire would converge. So they could be amazing. Now that I think about it, I am not sure I trust the info cards that appear in game regarding weapons systems. Supposedly, two volleys of any of the weapons systems should do the same damage, yet I have multiple instances in the game where plasma seems to do a great deal more per shot than pulse lasers. Hopefully these things all get better explanations and balancing.
Yes it is To test, or as an example, use this ship: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=757825767
I've attempted to Verify this happening by testing with my Creations, but have not been able to do so. I too would like proof that this is true. (Or if the Claimant is getting fooled into seeing non-existent Weapons Fire Convergence by their FoV Perception...) I tried testing shooting a big dummy target CV in my Creative with a dummy SV with Rail Guns mounted far apart from the center & one in the center & seeing the positions of the Impact Kabooms on the CV Wall & it still seemed like at any Meters of range I tested the guns seemed to me that they still fired straight forward. (Which I don't really mind cause it seems to me that ya NEED Spread Shots to cover more Space with your fire & increase your chances of landing actual hits on Enemy SVs.) The kabooms always looked the same distance apart at Impact vs the rough placement of their Positions on my SV & distance from SV Center. I have MP PvPed & vouch for the fact that there, Rail Guns or bust, & even Rail Guns have to work to hit the enemy but they're the only one with the Projectile Speed to hit anything in combat... EVERYTHING else, including the higher level unlock requirement Pulse Lasers have too slow a Projectile to EVER hit any Enemy SV dodging at all. My Iji has even faced enemies firing just Pulse Lasers & been able to dance & weave between the Pulse Laser Volleys while hitting the Enemy SV back with her Rail Gun fire for effective hits & damage. I wish I had been Recording during that fight. It felt like playing a Old School Ship Shooter for a bit there & dodging & weaving between the Enemy's Bullet Hell... which I tended to never be able to fully beat in those old school games cause my reflexes, fast thinking speed, & dodging skills are crap. The Pulse Laser Volleys? Even I handled them, they're that slow. Iji's Rail Guns did good against Enemy POIs during her Test, but then again that was pre-SV Weapon Damage vs Hardened & Combat Steel Blocks Nerf, (which I STILL think was a mistake) & I recently test drove my Violent Taxi Plasma Cannons vs POI Turrets & found how many times I had to hit them to defeat them feeling kinda disappointing... it felt like Rocket Launchers mighta been more effective... Meh, in my shamelessly biased opinion, my Flying Rocket Fist or my Flying Plasma Fist is a better Bomber.
I am a scientist and writer by trade, so I never make assertions without experimentation and proof: evidence of converging fire using the above linked Heavy Bomber:
Interesting. Have you tested with different atmospheric pressures (ergo different range on the guns) to see if they converge at the gun limit or at a defined range?
I have tested that on Omicron and the above Ningues. I have not tested it with any other weapons, on Capital vessels or Hover vessels. There also appears to be minimums involved: There is a minimum spacing on small vessels - the distance apart the weapons have to be before convergence occurs, and minimum distance to the target - if the target is too close to you, the convergence occurs "behind" them. I do not know what these minimums are, only that they seem to be somewhat intuitive.
Makes me curious to perhaps attempt my own Experiments when I have time & remember to think of it... this may be a job for my Dummy Survival Game...
Yes, I was testing this to an extent last night and came to similar conclusions. I also found that what you said in another post holds true. The only time I was really able to get non-convergent impacts is when I fired at something I was really close to (<50 m away give or take). Mind you, this was on a 'ship' that i built specifically for this - literally a flying bar with a cockpit on it and a rocket launcher at either end of the 'arms' on each side. I would spend more time doing further testing to identify precisely how this works, but my only real concern was whether or not this was a real thing. Now that I'm confident on this, I can shift up my building styles to be a little more aesthetic instead of trying to build my aesthetics around the game's mechanics.
Ahh cool, ya beat me to it. Consistent Results from multiple peeps is hard to ignore... i'm starting to become a believer. This bodes well for Design Options & increased ability to do more what we want.
Well I should add that this was tested on my own SP game using rocket launchers and mini-guns because I don't add T2 or higher components to my BPs - I save that for after I spawn them (it's easier to replace a lower tier weapon than build a whole new ship). I noticed that others who have discussed this have done their testing with plasma or rail guns and the like, so I can't really verify those results...yet.
I wish we could see the Explosions of Weapon Impact from farther away then roughly 285ish meters of distance. Also I got an inspiration: Perhaps a Dummy Test Subject could be a Dummy SV with the Test in Space. The idea is that the SV has the Small Blocks instead of the CV Big Blocks thus making for more precision in being able to see the Impact Zones in finer detail. (Not to mention that the SV & Dummy SV would be using the same Block measurements thus making it MUCH easier to compare Impact Locations vs Test SV Weapon Placement.)
Yeah and for some reason it doesn't show up on the recent additions to the Steam Workshop. Maybe because I added it privately until I got the pics up then switched it to public?
