Prancer
Junior Member
Jousting in space. We're all Knights of the Stars.
Posts: 57 
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Post by Prancer on Jul 29, 2018 4:37:40 GMT
So I've been working on a carrier design, and I've switched over to using blast launchers to carry my drones on my carriers while using a square high aspect ratio armor scheme for a flat hull shape to also save on mass and volume. The launchers are arranged along each broadside pointed outwards.
This to me seems like a better way of storing drones on a carrier than the carrier modules. Thoughts?
I would post pictures, but my game is currently refusing to save any ships I make uncorrupted...
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Jul 29, 2018 9:06:13 GMT
So I've been working on a carrier design, and I've switched over to using blast launchers to carry my drones on my carriers while using a square high aspect ratio armor scheme for a flat hull shape to also save on mass and volume. The launchers are arranged along each broadside pointed outwards. This to me seems like a better way of storing drones on a carrier than the carrier modules. Thoughts? If we ever get an option to berth drones and more complex scenarios than "go there, kill stuff" it will have drawbacks.
Also, you can use carrier modules in conjunction with blast launchers to make high velocity missile launchers for gun-range use without exposing them to enemy fire or compromising the armour scheme - build a small container consisting of control module and a 1x blast launcher with your missile sitting on top of lots of explosive and long engagement range. Launch those out of carrier module while oriented nose forward or (optionally) aiming a spinal weapon (which can be tuned for similar ballistics as your missiles).
You can put a short burn rocket motor and engine fuse on your container if it keeps falling behind your manoeuvring ship.
Discover the joys of trying to make worthwhile stock designs!  (Seriously, until the namespace collisions problem is solved they are by fare easiest to share AND provides fixed tech level baseline to help hone your *ship*-building skills.) Also complain on tech issues forum. |
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Post by jtyotjotjipaefvj on Jul 29, 2018 12:13:40 GMT
I would post pictures, but my game is currently refusing to save any ships I make uncorrupted... Square brackets in mod module names seem to cause issues. I fixed the AE modules by copying them into userdesigns.txt, but I think you can also rename the mod modules with some tag that doesn't contain brackets and fix them. |
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Prancer
Junior Member
Jousting in space. We're all Knights of the Stars.
Posts: 57
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Post by Prancer on Jul 29, 2018 15:17:43 GMT
If we ever get an option to berth drones and more complex scenarios than "go there, kill stuff" it will have drawbacks. Absolutely. The ability to berth drones is one of the top items on my wishlist. And if there were someway to coordinate attacking flights of drones to split and engage their targets from multiple vectors, I might want to reconsider cylindrical armor. This reminds me of a missile pod concept from the Honorverse series. I'll have to play around with this. Point-defense nuclear missile for nose-cone ship anyone? I've actually done a little bit of that, and alas my first steps away from it is what led to this problem. Every module that I have that is not [AE] is a descendant of stock modules, and I have a small run of pure stock ships. I'll share some of them on the core design thread. Square brackets in mod module names seem to cause issues. I fixed the AE modules by copying them into userdesigns.txt, but I think you can also rename the mod modules with some tag that doesn't contain brackets and fix them. I will try that, thanks! |
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Post by doctorsquared on Jul 29, 2018 19:50:01 GMT
Blast Launchers (IMO): Pros:- 'Reload' speeds equal to or faster than Carrier Modules (depending on design)
- No power requirements.
- Lower crew requirements (0.1 versus 0.7 for Carrier Modules)
- Does not require radiators.
Cons:
- Taller than carrier modules when loaded with larger payloads (assuming detached ammo bays) which leads to a larger cross-section
- Precision strikes with lasers or lucky shots can lead to sympathetic detonation of the other launch cells leading to internal damage to the ship. (This can happen with carrier modules too but I haven't encountered it as much)
- Not as efficient space-wise at holding large numbers of drones and munitions.
I agree with Atom Heart Dragon that BL's are a good close-range 'panic button' that allows you to launch drones/missiles way faster than you could from a carrier module. Also, MIRVs or multi-stage drones that use BL's with high dV propulsion to launch multiple smaller drones/missiles can be effective too. The third option is to use the newly added Multibarrel Conventional Gun: Pros:- Turreted, so at close-range missiles/drones don't have to consume as much dV to course-correct towards enemy.
- Starts already loaded like a BL, multiple barrels = multiple shots in quick succession.
- Can draw from an ammo module which allows for reloading (unlike a BL) and a smaller cross-section/mass versus a comparable BL.
- Doesn't require additional radiators like a Carrier Module.
Cons:- It's still a Conventional Gun module, so you're stuck with the game-determined engagement range versus a manually set one seen with BL's and Carrier Modules.
- Has power and crew requirements similar to a Carrier Module.
- Can be heavier than either a BL or Carrier module depending on design.
Here's one I've been tinkering with to launch defensive gun and it kinda works:    |
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Post by Rocket Witch on Jul 29, 2018 22:12:06 GMT
Point-defense nuclear missile for nose-cone ship anyone? Like this? www.youtube.com/watch?v=06JUYGA75usUses blast launchers instead of linear induction motors for rapid deployment without drawing power from other defences. Ideally the launchers would be slanted forward; in lieu of this a gun-fired version would probably be worthwhile. |
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Post by newageofpower on Jul 29, 2018 22:17:34 GMT
Ah, is that your video?
One problem I see is that the incoming missiles seem really, really slow. If they were incoming at a very high velocity I'm uncertain you'd intercept in time.
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Post by Rocket Witch on Jul 29, 2018 22:24:47 GMT
Ah, is that your video? One problem I see is that the incoming missiles seem really, really slow. If they were incoming at a very high velocity I'm uncertain you'd intercept in time. Yes. Intercepting in time is mostly a matter of launching them earlier. I just have the launchers set to combat stockalike missiles and limited to 50 for boredom and performance reasons respectively. |
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Prancer
Junior Member
Jousting in space. We're all Knights of the Stars.
Posts: 57
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Post by Prancer on Jul 29, 2018 22:50:28 GMT
Point-defense nuclear missile for nose-cone ship anyone? Like this? www.youtube.com/watch?v=06JUYGA75usUses blast launchers instead of linear induction motors for rapid deployment without drawing power from other defences. Ideally the launchers would be slanted forward; in lieu of this a gun-fired version would probably be worthwhile. That was very nice to watch. |
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