Messages

16

Gameplay / Re: Field Gun v1.3.1 Discussion

« on: August 13, 2013, 08:22:42 pm »

I think the changes are extremely good, though I was not using Lesmock so can't comment on that.

Engineering on a Junker with 1 side double mercury: it was an effective support platform at range when we were parked. Not crippling, but with communication with our captain we could lay down a pretty steady fire. If we moved at all, our hit rate at long range went down to maybe 1/8. The guns were completely useless at close range - once the enemy team found out they pressured us and we had to switch completely to the brawling side.

This is IMO exactly as it should be.

My only complaint is that the lack of downward arc ruined a completely ridiculous Mobula build that RomanKar had developed. It was so horrendously effective that it probably would have been meta in like a week .

17

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Gatling Tracers

« on: August 13, 2013, 08:07:42 pm »

Well actually the rounds you see fired from the gun have nothing to do with the actual damage. The gun itself is a direct ray-cast weapon with a cone of fire in front of it. If I remember correctly it'll deal damage at random locations inside that cone. Unfortunately that location have nothing to do with the effect you see fired. They are also randomised on their own.

So with the current setup that is pretty much not doable I'm afraid

Even though it may be ray cast, the actual 'projectiles' still are affected by the motion of the firing ship. And currently the tracers and the actual 'projectiles' (rays) do not match up. All I want is for them to match up - the cone the tracers lie in to be the same as the actual effect.

actually since they updated the gatling, the physics of it are much better. if you watch the flight path of the bullets and extrapolate from when you cant see them anymore, it actually lines up with the ship.  the problem is you have to aim the gun kinda counter-intuitively, you have to adjust for your own ships velocity.  The bullet velocity is both forward and the direction your ship is moving. Then you have to make that stream line up with where the enemy ship is headed.

Well yes, but it really doesn't help that the tracers don't line up with the real bullets. I'm quite good at firing the gatling, but thats born of experience. New people will try to line up shots by watching the tracers. And they should, because it makes sense. But thats a trap.



All I'm asking is for the visual effect to match the damaging effect.

18

Feedback and Suggestions / Gatling Tracers

« on: August 13, 2013, 03:24:40 pm »

Small suggestion - could the tracers that the gatling fires be made to match the actual flight pattern?

It makes it very difficult for new people to use the gun when moving - they see the rounds going through the enemy ship, but no damage indicators. Some know they aren't hitting, some don't . They don't know if the 'actual' rounds are ahead or behind the tracers so don't know which way to adjust - heck, I still get confused by them sometimes!

19

Gameplay / Re: Pyra being op?

« on: August 13, 2013, 03:01:44 pm »

Incorrect ways to engage a Pyra:

|yourship>      <enemypyra|



Correct way to engage a pyra:

                       <yourship|

<enemypyra|


Problem solved!

Preeeetty much. Believe it or not squids are excellent anti-pyra ships - just put a carronade on front and a mortar on the side (more optional). Close as fast as you can, dodge the ram with chute vent or hydrogen, and come up behind them. Shoot out the engines, not balloon and voilla. Engines take a long time to repair, pulls an engineer off of the hull, and stops the enemy from maneuvering cold. You can either then ride them to the ground, killing armor and balloon, or ignore them and go double team another ship with your ally.

20

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Leaver penalty

« on: August 09, 2013, 05:19:29 pm »

...

Something as simple as a 'matches played/matches completed' stat that sits in the progress tab might be beneficial. No one else could see it, but the person would at least have a realistic count of how much they quit. Of course they might not notice, or care.

I kind of like this. It's like a passive aggressive note to DC'ers. Similar in thought to the electronic "Your Speed is" signs that are actually rather effective, if only briefly. I wonder if it would have any effect in this situation?

And when you click to leave, it pops up a thing saying "Are you sure you wish to leave? This will go on your permanent record." Might be a bit too much. But bring the shame. SHAME.

21

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Leaver penalty

« on: August 09, 2013, 02:11:26 pm »

There's a few problems with a penalty system  random dcs leaving to change ammo types will all come to an end

I don't think anyone has mentioned not rejoining the match you were in.

Something as simple as a 'matches played/matches completed' stat that sits in the progress tab might be beneficial. No one else could see it, but the person would at least have a realistic count of how much they quit. Of course they might not notice, or care.

22

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Defending ships dead, Time to cap.... Squid is back already.

« on: August 08, 2013, 07:06:01 pm »

Ah, I can see that. I have much more experience on the single capture point where everyone would have to be fighting for that location. I can see how very low capture time would be bad with multiple capture points. Hrrmph. The two gametypes could just have different capture lengths - long for multiple shots and very short for single spots.

23

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Defending ships dead, Time to cap.... Squid is back already.

« on: August 08, 2013, 06:55:42 pm »

And this after everyone complained "they cap too fast."

Heh...Guys gotta make up your minds. I had no problem with the cap rate before but a bunch fussed and now here we are complaining about it being too long.

Well I for one wasn't around then. I'm surprised it was ever made longer, at least from my experiences.

Perhaps a 'tag' mode would be fun where the capture time is 0 - whoever touched the barrel last has control. Not sure how that would work on crazy king though.

24

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Defending ships dead, Time to cap.... Squid is back already.

« on: August 08, 2013, 04:19:16 pm »

In my experience the countdown timer is so long that a third of the game is just getting to the point first. Example: I recently played a game in Labyrinth where me and a teammate decided to meet up before rushing the point so we could be concentrated. The other team got the capture before we arrived. We then absolutely murdered the other team - I'm not sure if either of us died a single time and we certainly got a dozen kills. Even with that the other team got 186 points - they just kept rushing back in over and over, always getting back before we could finish the uncapture.

I would be very happy if the countdown timer was reduced to 3 seconds or less for both capturing and uncapturing. Maybe this is a bit of an extreme position, but I can't think of anything less fun than 'whelp, I better sit here stationary for the next minute and if they come back then that whole last fight was wasted'. Not to mention all the times where in a close match you and your ally finally manage to kill the other team only to realize that with 30 seconds left you won't even be able to uncapture fast enough to win.

25

Gameplay / Re: The Mobula

« on: August 07, 2013, 04:02:32 pm »

I tested out the new Mobula on the preview build - the back ladders are in and the geometry in the back also allows for jumping from the lower section up (I couldn't get it quite right, but I only tried for a minute). It makes doing an engine loop possible (still a bit slow), but doesn't change gun->hull->gun time at all. You could do a hull->engine,engine,engine->balloon run now, but the hull->balloon time is still rough. Better I think to have double engineers. The AI still has great difficulty.

26

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Combat fly text and passive class abilities

« on: August 07, 2013, 01:22:59 am »

I'm not sure about the idea of damage numbers, but I love love love the idea of the color of the hit indicator changing depending if you hit the "right" component. New people seeing little white hits when hitting a balloon with gat, but bright streaked red when they hit hull? Oh yes please! That will make it soooo much easier to teach new people. The only downside is that it will make sniping slightly easier - you tell through clouds approximately where you hit for example.

27

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Right click for details

« on: August 06, 2013, 01:59:41 pm »

I can see this being useful, but I can also see it being abused -> captains refusing to ready until their crew take exactly what they want. Not usually a problem, but lots of people are unresponsive so the game just won't start.

I would like this to be just for your own crew - tools are the only surprise we have and I like that as a pilot.

28

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: General Tool Slot and New Tools

« on: August 06, 2013, 10:56:15 am »

Another cool range finder style tool would be a device that allows you to mark which ship you're targeting with a priority designation, so your team could focus fire and assign targets.

Brilliant idea.  But just make this an additional Pilot's tool  - it might even be worth a slot on the Captains toolbar, when the spyglass fell from favour with most Captains a long time ago.  Or, make it a Gunner's tool (they need some non-ammunition tools) and the value of Gunners will rise significantly.

I like this quite a bit. Of course, if its a gunner tool then I'll take it as pilot most times...

29

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: ship design thread

« on: July 30, 2013, 01:32:19 am »

Another! I'd forgotten how much I love messing around in 3d.

Presenting: The Sidewing Heavy Lifter 
--> slightly incomplete, missing hull repair and maybe a light gun. Maybe on the topside of the pylons?

A civilian craft designed not below, not above, but Around the balloon! Its pylons act as skids, allowing landing in soft terrain or water, while their topsides are flat to allow for massive cargo loading. The pilot is stationed on top of the balloon, near the turning engines. The main engines are on the pylons.

In its present, military configuration the balloon has been deflated slightly to accommodate the lesser weight. The engines however are still up to hauling spec, giving the Sidewing a respectable speed and acceleration! A medium gun has also been placed in each pylon. Unfortunately, the engineer must crawl into the extremely dangerous under scaffolding of the ship to repair the balloon!

Pros:
2 Medium front guns
Medium/high speed
Medium hull/armor
Small frontal hull target
360 degree visibility

Cons:
Poor bottom visibility
High draft - difficult to bottom
Exposed balloon profile
Balloon/hull proximity - gonna get hit
Low weapon coverage (depends where the light guns go)
2 main engines to repair (separate)


Ps: if anyone wants the files for these models just let me know - I use wings3d and they're really rough
PPS: OH! Just thought of what make this a cooler concept -- close off the hull in front of the balloon completely, leaving it only open in the back! It would be a Lumberjack countership.

30

Feedback and Suggestions / Re: Divide Lochnagar damage by clip size

« on: July 27, 2013, 09:16:28 pm »

I'm very surprised by some of the hostile and nonconstructive responses here! It honestly seems like some people did not read or understand the original post and proceeded to attack, degrade, and condescend to the poster. Not what I've come to expect from this forum.

The OP is not suggesting making this ammo type good for everything. They correctly point out that the ammo type is disproportionately bad for the guns it does not work on (and you must admit that no other "mismatch" is as bad) and suggests a way to ameliorate that - making guns take damage over time as they fire, in proportion to their total ammo. A Gatling for example might get off 15 shots before it breaks, or something like that - the details weren't set. Its still a bad match for the gatling, but maybe not as bad. Low ammo type weapons would be largely unaffected - it all depends on the details.

Do I think the suggestion is needed? Well... no. I think its ok for us to have an "expert" ammo, and I like how Lochnager works as is. That said, it is extremely noob unfriendly, so maybe a bit of tweaking is in order. Having a gradual gun breaking might be a good step in that direction. It also might open up new tactical possibilities. For example, a gat with this might do less damage per cycle, less damage per clip, and break, but for a little while deal very high burst dps. Thats situationaly useful and also interesting. Would a good gunner ever use it? Probably not.