Messages

271

Gameplay / Re: Artemis Rocket Launcher

« on: April 18, 2013, 08:10:04 pm »

How many Artemis rockets does it take to destroy a component?  Haven't been able to find a component HP chart yet.
Since it has AoE shatter, some explosive, and a pretty fantastic range, it could be paired with a merc for Jill damage outside of flak range.

272

Q&A / Re: Actual Numbers for Gun Stats

« on: April 18, 2013, 04:53:16 am »

Saluted. I was also looking for a location that had the hit points for the actual guns and components as well. The wiki and main page don't seem to have it. Also, does the previous link reflect current game mechanics?

273

Gameplay / Re: Pyramidion Role Reversal

« on: April 17, 2013, 11:13:48 am »

What ship deals balloon damage anymore?  Even if it does, if your gunner carries heavy ammo, he switches to gat and your eng (who is right next to the balloon with gat left) moves to repair.  One-gun Pyr can be done quite easily with a competent gunner.  If he's a Gungineer with a hammer/pipewrench, he's got the whole thing decently unless you're faced with a ship bent on balloon breaking.  But if you're in that range with gat/light flak, you're a bad pilot.

274

The Gallery / Re: Remote control Airship

« on: April 17, 2013, 05:45:02 am »

To be a true airship, you've got to use buoyancy, not propulsion to maintain altitude. Your difficulty is that a lift fan doesn't really change your buoyancy. You can't just use it to change altitude regardless of placement, since your ship will either rise or sink to its neutrally buoyant altitude when there's no thrust applied.

Also, using very small applications of thrust to maintain a non-neutrally buoyant altitude would be pretty tough. The differences in buoyancy are so minute for your build scale that the digital controls couldn't hack it.

I would suggest using a mock balloon, then using lift fans to actually maintain altitude. Not an airship proper, but an easier design concept.

EDIT: If you're using paddles on the craft at all, your airflow is not fast enough or over a large enough surface to benefit from turbulent instead of laminar airflow. Those paddles will still be exerting force etc etc and you'll have no benefit from their addition. A good bet would be a ducted fan with the duct extending through the mock balloon.

275

General Discussion / Re: Fellow Ex-Gunners Of Icarus Lend Me Your Ears!

« on: April 17, 2013, 04:12:08 am »

Well all this is coming from a guy who doesn't think gunners are useless or need buffing. I've been running one gunner for, well ever, and I value a good gunner over another engineer.

The advantage I find is that a gunner has generally more experience than an equivalent engineer with leading targets, projectile trajectory, and ammo types.  It's an advantage purely in an individual identifying themselves as a dedicated gunner. From a purely mechanics side I think the argument has already been closed.

276

The Pit / Re: If the ships were people

« on: April 17, 2013, 03:56:23 am »

Pyramidion - Your mom, because it's overused.

Junker - Your mom, because it requires one below deck and one above deck. Stern is sturdy but vulnerable.

Squid - Your mom. Oblong shape, temperamental to control. Only one useful side, and it's never the one I'm driving from.

Goldfish - Your mom, as the go-to for new pilots and inexperienced crews, but still enjoyed by the well seasoned.

Spire - Your mom, as it has a giant balloon orbited by spindly bits. Pretty easy to get around on if you're into jumping and running.

Galleon - Your mom. Difficult to maneuver--positioning requires forethought.  Always presents broadside. Take out her guns.

277

Q&A / Actual Numbers for Gun Stats

« on: April 17, 2013, 03:17:19 am »

Can't find the location or link for the table for side-by-side comparison of weapons with real numbers, not little pips. Also, is this thing updated?

278

The Lounge / Re: What did you name your ship and why?

« on: April 17, 2013, 03:13:51 am »

I named my Goldfish The Fishmaster because bastard, a dentist, popcorn, seven seater. Warrior, this eye pull in me.

279

The Docks / Re: Quack Quack, it's Duck Time

« on: April 15, 2013, 11:39:55 pm »

I'm on Japanese time.  My availability is pretty sketch, though, due to an unpredictable work schedule.

I know we have the Hungry Duck Games.  What about a less open-ended Aviator's Kumite?



The premise would be a duel between crews to test the crews' ability to adapt strategy in a one-on-one environment, removing the often frustrating element of teammate performance.  It would be fought in a 2v2 map, with only two ships doing combat at a time.  When one ship was victorious, it would be allowed to repair, and then then next opponent from the other team would engage from their starting point.  The rules need more refining, but here's the starter concept.

Ships would be constrained either to specific ship, specific loadout (which would allow concept testing for experimental builds), specific loadout (harpoons only, flames only, or more imaginitive combinations), and other permutations.  The important part in this Iron Chef: Battle Duck-style concept is that the Kumite restrictions aren't released until the lobby is created.  This prevents practicing, which is the whole point of selectively testing your crew and its ability to adapt, not the ship.

280

Gameplay / Re: Balance Concerns & Questions 1.1.4

« on: April 15, 2013, 11:06:44 pm »

After tailing a spire for several minutes (yes, minutes) multiple times in a squid, each time with constant flame/light carronade fire, taking no fire, it seemed to me that with even a moderately competent engineer, a ship can defeat the flamethrower.

This may not be a deep-in-the-numbers solution, but destroying a component currently douses the fire.  Perhaps the fire should continue through to the hull after the armor is destroyed, rather than being extinguished?  This would put a little more damage on the hull, and make balloon attacks more dangerous, since to effectively combat ground collision damage you would have to extinguish the fire and repair the armor, rather than letting the sequential armor failures extinguish the fire for you.

281

The Lounge / Re: Favourite Ship Names

« on: April 15, 2013, 11:00:00 pm »

I really like Carnage's ship, Taiyaki. Mostly because I love taiyaki.

I was a bigger fan of Takoyaki.  Flying with him makes me hungry ...

282

General Discussion / Re: I played with X

« on: April 15, 2013, 10:59:06 pm »

I flew with Charon and Shukketsushi together over the weekend. I had flown with each of them individually in the past, but this was the first time I saw them in action together ...

They are my regular crew and my first picks for any flying I need to do.

283

Gameplay / Re: Artemis Rocket Launcher

« on: April 15, 2013, 10:57:13 pm »

On the front mount of a Junker, it works well for chases in that you can disable enemy engines.  That said, you do have to be a bit of a surgeon to make that work.

284

Guides / Re: Geometry: A Pilot's Main Gun (continued)

« on: April 15, 2013, 10:49:53 pm »

For any of you who read the old forum thread (linked above), you will be at least partially familiar with the concepts of lead, lag, and pure pursuit, as well as turning circles.  You can glean that from the pictures alone, most likely, if you don't want to read it.  I'm also in the middle of counter-Best Korea ops and moving houses, so bear with me.  This guide will come in pieces.

By now even inexperienced pilots are grasping that coordinated strategy and mutual support are the keys to victory against an opponent in Guns of Icarus; you almost certainly see experienced pilots flying in some sort of formation to provide those two things.  This is a guide to the principles of flying in a formation, expounding upon the principles of flight geometry previously discussed.

Formation serves two main purposes with these airships:  mutual support and coordinated fires.  What type of formation you fly in greatly determines how effective it is.  My next post will cover what different formations are called, why and when they are used, and when they should not be used.

285

General Discussion / Re: I played with X

« on: April 13, 2013, 04:53:56 pm »

I can vouch for RaptorSystems