Forums » Suggestions
weapon heating and reading
Most energy based objects in our world require a period of time to "heat up". This is because the activity within the ship that is creating the massive amounts of power (in some cases for tacyon-level speed) needs the time to calibrate itself, run quick saftey checks, etc etc.
Why not, during the switching of a weapon or after long periods of time without firing, have the weapon systems require a warm up period. Yes, I know many people would hate that simply because it would hinder their reaction time(?), but in the end it creates that sense of realism and deep ship control, as well as giving it an even more RP aspect.
Certain weapon system take less time to "get hot" (such as government issue plasma) while others may take a few seconds to even 10 seconds to be considered "Ready to use" (such as a gauss based system).
Dont' get me wrong, I'm not talking about time between shots, just "ready to use" time. Then, after they are inactive for, say 5 minutes, they are shut off for both ship saftey reasons and temperature control (not to mention physics :) )
Why not, during the switching of a weapon or after long periods of time without firing, have the weapon systems require a warm up period. Yes, I know many people would hate that simply because it would hinder their reaction time(?), but in the end it creates that sense of realism and deep ship control, as well as giving it an even more RP aspect.
Certain weapon system take less time to "get hot" (such as government issue plasma) while others may take a few seconds to even 10 seconds to be considered "Ready to use" (such as a gauss based system).
Dont' get me wrong, I'm not talking about time between shots, just "ready to use" time. Then, after they are inactive for, say 5 minutes, they are shut off for both ship saftey reasons and temperature control (not to mention physics :) )
Like in Mechwarrior 4 where your Mech has heat sinks that keep your weapons from overheating?
Not so much that, so here is an example to explain:
1. DeathStar from Star Wars required a "heating" period in which the internal coils and reaction chambers could begin producing enough energy to release a cataclysmic bolt of energy. After that single shot, they could still continue to fire as the system was already warmed up and still in a continual state of generating that amount of energy.
2. EMP (electro magnetic pulse) machines require a "warming up" period in which the internal magnets have to heat up and generate the needed power to release the pulse.
3. You turn on a water hose and it streams out slightly, as you only turned it on a little bit. However, you cap the end of the hose and let the hose "build up" the water pressure behind it, and when the cap it released the water shoots out with an huge amount of force/distance.
1. DeathStar from Star Wars required a "heating" period in which the internal coils and reaction chambers could begin producing enough energy to release a cataclysmic bolt of energy. After that single shot, they could still continue to fire as the system was already warmed up and still in a continual state of generating that amount of energy.
2. EMP (electro magnetic pulse) machines require a "warming up" period in which the internal magnets have to heat up and generate the needed power to release the pulse.
3. You turn on a water hose and it streams out slightly, as you only turned it on a little bit. However, you cap the end of the hose and let the hose "build up" the water pressure behind it, and when the cap it released the water shoots out with an huge amount of force/distance.
The first two are rate of fire examples not warming up. They both build up to a certain thresh hold and then release all of it at once.
I like the idea, but I think players should have more control over it. They should be able to activate and deactivate their weapons at will. Everyone else should be able to see wether or not the weapons are activated, as well as maybe getting some form of warning when someone starts activating weapons, or has them targeted with active weapons.
Additionally NPCs could enforce weapon-deactivation zones within which it would be "illegal" to activate, or have active weapons.
I like the idea, but I think players should have more control over it. They should be able to activate and deactivate their weapons at will. Everyone else should be able to see wether or not the weapons are activated, as well as maybe getting some form of warning when someone starts activating weapons, or has them targeted with active weapons.
Additionally NPCs could enforce weapon-deactivation zones within which it would be "illegal" to activate, or have active weapons.