Topic: New weapon idea

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

I don't know why, but I have an idea for a new weapon in Eaw/OP. It's called the Romulan Plasma Disruptor, to make Romulan ships more different from their Gorn counterparts (less cookie cutter).

Here's the damage tables I thought of:

Plasma Disruptor Light:
1.67 charging cost, charges in 2 turns. 1.67 holding cost.
Range:0-2     2-6        6-10    10-15
To hit: 100%   83%    83%    67%
Damage:5         5       4          4



Plasma Disruptor Heavy:
2.67 charging cost, charges in 2 turns. 2.67 holding cost.
Range:     0-2      2-7        7-12      12-17
To hit:          100%     83%     83%     67%
Damage:       9              8         7           6
 

To keep the weapon from being cheap and unbalanced, the plasma disruptor will only do HALF internals. I modeled the Light version after the Plasma F, with the 1.67 charge cost and roughly a third of the damage. The heavy plasma disruptor is modeled after the type S torpedo-- same charge cost and less decay rate (just like the Pl-S compared to the Pl-F).

My idea to mount the Plasma Disruptors on a ship is to replace 2 ph-3's with 2 P-diz's. For example, the SPA+ would lose 2 ph-3s and they would be replaced by 2 Light Plasma Disruptors. The New series CAs (Firehawk, etc.) would lose 2 ph-3s and get 2 Heavy Plasma Disruptors. Again, to keep things balanced, the BPV would be hiked up, and I guess secondary systems would have to get lowered (less transporters, tractors, you get it). To keep things from being cheap.

I don't know at all how to add these weapons into the game, if it's possible at all, so right now it's conceptual. Just an idea I had. I would appreciate any advice, suggestions, or flamefests.


Keep on flying,
Robbie

[Panzergranate]

I've always liked the idea of the Large Cloaked Robotic "Skipper Missile" in the "Wing Commander" Movie. 

A PF sized missile that only de-cloaked to take a targeting scan update of its target, powered by Impulse Power and powerful enough to take out a starship regardless of shields. Now there's a weapon that would be nice to see in SFB and SFC!!

His anyone ever made WC models for SFC at all??!!

It would be nice if Klingon shield worming Drones were included in SFC or the point blank one shot Ph1 Drones. there were a lot of interesting bizare weapons intrduced in SFB Volume.III. back in 1988.

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

There's got to be a lot of demand for a program which might add new weapons to the game, like some of the exotic SFB ones. But I picture weapons have to be one of the hardest things to add to this game.

[Panzergranate]

It would involve hacking into and re-writing an whole block of the core code, adding in new subroutines and other major hastles.

Not impossible, just bloody difficult and time consuming, especially as whoever outside Taldren, does'n't have the project notes, any software diagrams (Jacksons, etc.), I figure that easier said than done.

I've had to pick apart old software and spend days drawing up Jackson diagrams on paper, figuring out all the variables, globals, controls, etc.

Worth a try though.

[_Rondo_GE The OutLaw]

You ever heard of the Bolt?

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

I've read about it in some of those SFB tourney articles. Sounds interesting, and it's too bad Taldren couldn't get it in there, either in SFC 1 or in the later ones. Probably they thought it was too confusing. 

Actually, I was looking searching Dynaverse.net and saw that Khoromag made a working bolt program, but Taldren didn't accept it. Maybe the Khoromag team still has it.

[Bartok]

It is a shame - TRULY adding new weapons would be nice, but like Panzer says - a virtual rewrite. 

There are some of the hidden weapons that can be used - the andromedan tractor/repulsor TRB can be added to the ship in the shiplist manually (not via shipedit.  The icon for it will show up like a ppd on the ship ui in game.   It doesn're really function the way it does in SFB, but is kinda like a mauler or an ESG lance..

Anyhow - i digress and the above is covered better elsewhere..

like the idea of the skipper missile PF thingy

[Panzergranate]

I think that Taldren wanted to keep with the original SFB Volume.I. game rules but added in all the ships from Volume.III. with some of the Nexus and Captain's Log updates.

Some of the weapons in SFB are kind of hard to figure how to "explain" into sofware compared to Phasers, etc.

Drones are pretty basic in SFC, compared to how complex they are in SFB. In SFB I can fire an empty (cheap) two payload space Drone at an enemy just to make him use up ADD if I want. Then there are ECM Drones, Phaser Drones, Dogfight Drones, Shield Worming Drones, etc.

I have managed to simulate the Romulan Cloaked Decoy easily enough in SFC 1 simply by entering the specs into the shiplist and selecting the appropriate model to represent it. As the Decoy is already deployed at the start of an SFB game, having a Romulan warship accompanied by a Decoy in a game works out the same in SFC.

To the opposing player or AI, there appears to be two Romulan Warships. Both can be fired at but only one shoots back.

I'll dig up the description, rules and liimitation from SFB and post it in here so folks can rig a custom Decoy for their usual Romulan warship choice.

It would have been nice if the game was 3D in nature, which would demostrate some of  the weapons arcs of ships to best advantage. SFB was limited to 2D because of gravity and the use of table tops. SFC dosn't have these limitations.

 

[Roychipoqua_Mace]

I like the sound of that Cloak Decoy... and it's cool you got it to work with the game. The drones in the computer games seem kind of boring and cookie-cutter, without the deception involved in SFB.
It would really be sweet if there was a Tholian web in too, but that has to be a modder's nightmare! The tholians in SFB OP 4.0 are fun still, though.

About bolts: I tried emailing Khoromag about the 'plasma bolt mod' but he said the files weren't available anymore. Oh well

[Panzergranate]

I downloaded Tholian fleet from a shipyard, converted them to SFC 1 (where needed).

SFB Volume.III. has the Tholians replace web generators on some ships with Dis3 captured and reverse engineered from the wreckage of Klingon warships. This included some of the 8 Neo Tholian warships.

Romulan Cloaked decoy from SFB Volume.III.

The cloaked decoy is a specialised shuttlecraft. Launched from a cloaked ship, it simulates that ship with such accuracy that the enemy forces cannot distinguish it from the real ship. The Romulan first used this device in Y178 (SFC Y32). It was used in only in rare and unusual cases when the mission was of critical importance. It was never a general issue item.

It is designed to mimic the specific ship that carries it, not one of the same class.

It carries no passengers, cannot be boarded and cannot be used for any other purpose other than as a decoy.

Size 2 class ship carry a larger decoy.  It occupies 2 shuttle boxes.

Bases cannot used decoys.

The BPV is always equal to 25% of the economical BPV of the carryong ship, (after all modifications). As the decoy will probally be destroyed, this will cost the Romulan player points. Only ONE cloaked decoy can be carried by a ship.

Activation:

I've skipped this part as it isn't relavent as the decoy would already be deployed at the start of an SFC scenario.

Operations:

The cloaked decoy is launched as for any other shuttlecraft, but does not expose the ship under (G13.41).

It must be launched while the ship is cloaked and while no enemy unit have a lock-on to the cloaked, otherwise it is otherwise instantly revealed.

The decoy flies a pre-planed flight path and can either be self-destructed, destroyed or recovered at the end of the mission.
 
The decoy's speed is 6 (or 12 with Warp Booster Packs).

The decoy has the maneuvering charteristics of an Admin Shuttle, which may or may not give it away.

Decoys can be pre-deployed before a scenario, but must not be more than 4 hexes away from the owning ship.

Mines treat a decoy as if it were the ship it is mimicking.

Asteroids and weapons fire treat the decoy as a shuttlecraft. HIt points are 3 (6 with WBPs) for a standard decoy and 6 (12 with WBPs). The explosion value is small.

The decoy has the maximum ECM rating fro the ship it is simulatating.

Decoys carry no weapons.

X ships can instantly detect a Cloaked Decoy.

OK anyone figure they can set up a Cloaked Decoy from this data for SFC 1 and SFC 2??

Just remember to attach the appropriate model image for your chosen Romulan ship.

[Panzergranate]

I tried this out in a FMSE written script and had 3 x genuine warships and 3 x cloaked decoys. Even knowing that there were decoy still had me and my two AI escorts blasting the wrong targets sometimes.

Closing into withing range 15 to 10 will reveal that you're targeting decoy though. They are also one hit wonders for some ships too!! Remember that it is only an unmanned shuttle after all!!

I've attached a text file with Sparrowhawk A version, though to use as another ship decoy just change the listing name to appear in game as the desired ships (note that only the R-SPA bit appears in the oponent's tactical flags!!) and the model image attached to the decoy.

Enjoy!!

[Panzergranate]

I had a go at creating a "Captor Mine" in SFC 1 today.

I used the XMN.MOD mine model from the game and gave the thing 1 x Tractor, 6 x APR, 20 x Armour (as shields would make it show up!! ), Sensors = 1, Scanners = 1, move cost 2 and turn circle H.

I then gnereated a scenario, using FMSE and tried it out.

Now you'd think that the bloody thing would tractor my ship (or an allied AI freighter) I sent into range of it.

Like bloody hell it didn't.

It's amazing that if it was an Orion Pirate it would tractor my ship or the AI ship, once I'd shot off the other weapon systems.

Give a game piece nothing but a tractor and all the power it needs to run it and it can't do the bleeding obvious, which is to tractor and hold a ship in place until help arrives or it is destroyed.

I made the mine's explosive value 200 so that blasting the thing to atoms by a ensnared ships is not a good idea.

I'm also toying with the idea of an Orion Pirate "Snare" device that'll hold a victim still so that hidden raiders can move in and capture it.

The idea is that you seed an asteroid belt with a few of these, using the FMSE scenario scenario script writer, hide and wait for something to be caught up. As the AI programming allows AI ships to be triggered if something in their side is fired at, the Pirate should automatically show up should a mine receive fire.

Needless to say, with the "Captor Mine" and "Snare Mine" both having 5 maximum tractor value, anything weaker than a warship will have problems breaking free and may have to resort to blasting away.

Up until then, I first have to figure why the mine doesn't want to tractor when all it has is a tractor and lots of power for it.

So basically the weapons are as follows:

Captor Mine:  A very large Tri-Lithium charge (explosion value 200) with a gravity anchor and high powered tractor beam. It holds its victim until help arrives or the victim fires at the mine, destorying both the mine and the victim in the subsequennt blast.

Snare Mine:  A device used by Orion Pirates to trap some of the faster freighters. Has a gravity anchor and high powered tractor beam. Holds a victim and allows Pirate vessels to surround and capture the victim.