The Barracuda Sky Torpedo

[Sgt. Spoon]

That flare guidance sounds rather interesting actually. You'd just have to make sure that it dosen't turn into the missile sling madness again.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

That would make it then an Anglean tech? All we know in the lore is that they have a lot of tech but no resources. Being raiders...hmmm. Yeah they'd be the type to utilize a torpedo weapon. Question is would they be advanced enough to have developed a heat tracking weapon? One of these times it would be nice to get some Muse input and see if the idea has either been considered or would it even be possible.

If they used it, probably would carry another name. Barracuda was just what popped in first when I was thinking of a torpedo with armor piercing properties. They are long slender fish like a torpedo but with sharp teeth. So, like an armor cutter. Actually caught one once. Suckers are fast and tough. Put up great fights.

[Sgt. Spoon]

Question is would they be advanced enough to have developed a heat tracking weapon? One of these times it would be nice to get some Muse input and see if the idea has either been considered or would it even be possible.

Well as a matter of fact, the missile sling (artemis, rocket launcher or whatever) used to be heatsinking. The seeking was later removed on account of it being incredibly OP, spamming missiles that targeted and wrecked everyones engines in seconds. So lore-/world- wise it wouldn't really be a problem.

[Pickle]

An aerial unguided torpedo is a rocket. An aerial guided torpedo is a missile (barring an in-depth technical discussion).

[pedant]

It's a valid term.  The Miriam-Webster dictionary includes its application to "a guided missile capable of powered flight".  The OED is less accommodating and only refers to aerial torpedo as an air-dropped underwater torpedo (also included in M-W as one of four possible meanings).  Online articles refer to the Kettering Bug of 1918 and the Mistel of 1943 as aerial torpedoes, amongst other guided aerial weapon examples.  Contemporary recollections of WW2 frequently refer to the V1 as an aerial torpedo.

Besides, it's sounds far more interesting than missile.  And distinguishes what's being proposed from the existing rockets and missiles in the game.  It's less a "bigger Artemis" and more the bastard love child of the Artemis and Mine Launcher.

[/pedant]

[HamsterIV]

But would heatseekers really fit in with the world? From what we've seen I'd say likely no. Why I was thinkin if there was a tracking capability, have them be magnetic. That would be a neat idea tho if they were combined with flares. You would suddenly have an all new purpose and reason for having flares.

It doesn't have to be heatseaking, there could be a hamster inside trained to move onto a pressure plate when it sees a green light. I am all for weaponizing hamsters, we they are cheep, replaceable, and have almost no sense of self preservation.

[Captain Smollett]

At one point early on in the thread the weapon had a balloon attached.  For something to be traveling slowly and to float like a torpedo I think this would be a must.

Oh and it would be cool as heck.

[Pickle]

Part of the point of it is that it would have to be insanely slow, you'd see it coming and either have to be boxed into a corner, stubborn or daft not to get out of its way.  It should be the ideal too to break-up a stalemate.  For example, when Red has set up camp in the northern arm of Canyon and is sniping with Mercury and Lumberjack as soon as Blue try and push into the open to rush them.  Or break a camp on the CP point when Labyrinth is heading for a shut-out victory.

Here's an odd idea.. what if the guidance mode only worked as long as the original gunner (not Gunner) that fired it remains on the weapon and does not fire a second torpedo?  If the gunner gets off the weapon, or fires a second torpedo, the original loses all guidance and cruises along in the current direction of travel.  Possibly with a time-delay fuse initiated so it explodes 5 seconds after losing communication.

[Captain Smollett]

Or.... what if the gunner could guide it?

[Squidslinger Gilder]

The torpedo still has a balloon attached. That never left.

One qualm I did think up with flare guidance setup is that the flares would not be limited to one side. The opponent could use flares to dupe torpedoes and keep them away. Yeah that is nice and realistic, but the flares last long enough where more can be shot out the moment the reload is up. So you'd have a literal flare war making sure the torpedoes never find their target. Sorta makes the weapon trivial in competition because competitive teams would be using flares like this. Maybe some tuning here would change this.

Now a guidance between firing idea. That is interesting. Promotes less spam fire. Course it will be slow firing anyways but that would add another factor.

Oh I know how to make them propeller powered and still have a contrail. Goes with that idea earlier but I hadn't pictured the mechanism yet. They will have...*drumroll*...a mini steam pipe exhaust that pops up from the back of the torpedo near the propeller and balloon. So internally it has a tiny steam/diesel engine powering the propeller.

Ok so run down story so far...Torpedoes will be:

-Long range->very long range
-Do impact damage like mines. All the damage types rolled into one.
-Warheads are like long torpedoes and are heavy. Will require a medium weapon mount
-Propeller driven so speed will be slower, also has slow reload
-Has a thin balloon to match it's profile to help keep it in the air
-Has a contrail effect in the air generated from it's own drive exhaust system
-Unguided but will have an activation time before the engine and balloon pop out. Gunners will have to compensate for it because the torpedo will drop a little in the air. This is time before the mini engine on board gets online.
-Can be shot down
-Basic model will be unguided

Undecided:

-Tracking system. Magnetic, heat, or other.
-Weapon mount appearance. Tube or more box shape like hwacha, animations for reloading,  ammo capacity
-Different name?
-Anything else?

[Andrej Peribosky]

I think this would change the game for the better.
Even if 1 in 5 shots hits, it promotes movement, and like another poster said, icarus lacks reasons for movement.
Flare lock-on is bad for gameplay however, and also difficult to code.
Magnetic or heat guidance is basically the same under a different name. I think we don't want heat seeking missiles.

This is unreal engine right? In that case, "follow the crosshairs" guidance is hardcoded into it. That could be used, but with very slow turn rate. If another missile is fired, previous missile becomes dumb-fire.

[Pickle]

This is unreal engine right? In that case, "follow the crosshairs" guidance is hardcoded into it. That could be used, but with very slow turn rate. If another missile is fired, previous missile becomes dumb-fire.

No, it's the Unity engine.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Its Unity engine.

Yeah if 1 in 5 Torpedoes hit and they do massive mine damage on multiple components, armor, and hull...people are going to move when they see them coming. Combining this with mines might make things interesting. Mines could be used to screen torpedoes but also to buy a torpedoed ship time to rebuild/repair before attackers rush in to finish off.

But I don't think it would completely kill long range engagements. They'd still happen. But it would provide a way for a cover fire situation so an attacker could get close. Even if both ships suddenly rose up to take down the attacker, the threat of torpedoes may make their counterattack end quickly. All it would take is that one torpedo strike and you'd have armor gone. With an attacker in close range that is like a death sentence. They'd be forced to move or sit there getting pounded by the attacker. Imagine if it was a Jackfish. It could just lob shots over cover without taking a heavy risk and could pull out fast enough if something went wrong. All the while a galleon is keeping the torpedoes buzzing the position.

[Andrej Peribosky]

Yeah the more i think about it, the more i like it.
This can lead to very interesting games.
We need to notify muse of this, maybe they will like it too!

[Captain Smollett]

Now don't get me wrong.  I really like this weapon but to be honest it sounds like it encourages more long range engagements not less.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

Don't think theres really anything we can do to encourage more close range outside of rebuffing CQC guns. Or heck maybe buffing hulls so much as to make long range engagements near pointless. But then folks will all complain about boring combinations again. Whether teams long range engage or not just comes down to the judgement of the pilots.