Utility weapon: Air Blast Cannon

[Stirbelwurm]

Hey there,

I remember reading somewhere, that people were searching for ideas for utitliy weapons, to increase the diversity of usable weapons.
I hope I'm not repeating an often posted suggestion here, but how about this:

A weapon that builds up air pressure and upon release it pushes your ship in the opposite direction you are facing. How strong the push is depends on charging time and ship mass.

So, how could this be used? Depending on the position of the weapon and the direction it is facing you could use it for quick evasive movements (i.e. dodge a charging pyra by quickly moving sideways), use it as a emergency break by facing forward in the direction the ship is moving. Or just use it for short bursts of speed by firing backwards. Maybe even let it affect other ships that are near you, so you can push them away.

What do you guys think?

Imo this could open up some pretty interesting trick-play and new strategies. One other plus would be, that this weapon is even then viable, when it is not facing the enemy (or rather: it's especially viable then), which means that you can utilize more of your ships weapon slots at once.

[Zenark]

Yes please!

I would absolutely use such a gun. It'd probably have to have a single shot with a long cool down.

I like the idea though, it's nifty.

[Echoez]

A cannon that blasts air would need to be pretty huge considering it would be able to push ships and since you it would do no damage ( It's just air.. ) it would be a pure utility weapon, a Heavy weapon at that as well cause a light airblast cannon I can not see working, it's hardly believable or functional.

A heavy weapon that is pure utility would make little sense on a Goldfish, seeing as it used the main gun as a main damage source and it would make little sense on a Spire as well since it also uses the hevay gun as a huge part of its damage source, so that only realy leaves the Galleon that has enough space for that on its weakside, can't see how this gun will be used at all.

I was thinking of a gun that could push ships around, thought a real cannon that shots cannon balls would be ideal for that as it would only deal Impact damage and it could mess with their navigation.

[Zenark]

A medium weapon version just couldn't work, it couldn't be used. As far as realism goes, we fly ships with balloons far too small to hold up the body, we as crew members are invincible, hitting stuff with a wrench fixes it, spraying a small piece of the ship with an extinguisher puts out an entire fire, hitting stuff with a hammer somehow makes it better, pouring moonshine into an engine makes the ship resistant to kinetic force, and we have a bird's foot that makes ships turn faster. We're hardly after realism, we want utility.

[Echoez]

A medium weapon version just couldn't work, it couldn't be used. As far as realism goes, we fly ships with balloons far too small to hold up the body, we as crew members are invincible, hitting stuff with a wrench fixes it, spraying a small piece of the ship with an extinguisher puts out an entire fire, hitting stuff with a hammer somehow makes it better, pouring moonshine into an engine makes the ship resistant to kinetic force, and we have a bird's foot that makes ships turn faster. We're hardly after realism, we want utility.

Not even talking about realism, I'm talking about believability. A small, light airblast cannon simply looks ridiculous if it is able to push a heavy ship away. It makes absolutely no sense as a light gun.

Even the lightest ship in the game is relatively heavy wieght and you are saying a light cannon should be able to push it? Come on.

[Zenark]

Why not? I doubt it would be like a 'poof', I was picturing more of like a concentrated explosion. It could also be like a miniature jet engine. A short wind up (like the mini guns from most games) then a WOOSH that stays on for like, what, perhaps three seconds? Then it would be 'overheated' and would have to 'cool down' instead of reload.

Or you could stick a light engine gun. Just an extra propeller on the side or wherever.

I like the idea of a utility that gives as a small bit of strafing ability, I wouldn't mind how it worked.

[HamsterIV]

Most cannons are only slightly smaller than the engines that push the ship around. Think about it as having a side mounted engine on moonshine. I don't think this is a good idea except perhaps on the rear of a squid. This item would put part of the piloting game in the hands of the engineers/gunners. I don't want to trust some of the troglodytes who crew for me with that responsibility.

[Zenark]

Troglodyte XD that's a fun word.

It'd be like giving a level one gunner access to a harpoon and mine launcher... Nothing could go right.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

If its a fart gun, I'm in.

[HamsterIV]

If I am flying a squid with a mine launcher on back I occasionally give the order to "poop us some cover." If this gun gets implemented I will be able to say "lets fart our way out of here."

[N-Sunderland]

I still haven't gotten around to trying tar + loch mines on the Squid.

[Shinkurex]

I still haven't gotten around to trying tar + loch mines on the Squid.

doesn't work.... tar kills the mine if I'm not mistaken

[Machiavelliest]

Keep in mind if you're moving other ships, at least that much force is applied to your ship. Equal and opposite and whatnot.

[Demigo]

I would love anything that would add a strafing to my ship. I don't care if it's a gun that some one can shoot on command or a mounted engine that I as a pilot can use while on helm. Strafing would be extremely useful on my spire, junker, and even mobula!

[Crafeksterty]

Does it have to be a weapon? Why not a component? Just a compenent attached to a medium slot. Components do things like this air blast cannon. etc