Reggie Stoneloader
JAFA Trade and Manufacturing Cooperative
Coercion Phenomenon
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Posted - 2010.02.08 20:28:00 -
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I like the idea of boosting the graphical representation of missiles firing, and it could definitely be done client-side without changing the server's math. After all, the tendency of missiles, particularly defenders, to reach their target and then do a little flip before hitting it is, as I understand it, due to small latency issues being compensated for by the client's animation. So why can't the missile do a little dance as it's launched, and then play catch-up with it's actual location?
I do not, however, like the specific implementations you've described here. It bugs me that there's an "up" and "down" in EvE, and having torps "drop" out before firing up and zipping to the target seems off. Also, defining separate behaviors per missile seems unnecessary, since a given ship is unlikely to have class-inappropriate weapons fitted. No need for a Tempest to be shooting light missiles, after all.
I do like the idea of the missiles leaving the ship in an inactive state, and then igniting and burning to the target. That's a cool idea, and a great visual treat. I also like the idea of a cluster of missiles being fired concurrently, occupying one point in space but appearing as multiple projectiles graphically. The "slightly brighter dot" for multiple missile launches always bugged me, and one of my favorite effects from the pre-weapon-grouping days was when a salvo headed for a target would break apart and wander off into space if the target was removed before they reached it.
What I'd like to see would be for the missiles to be jettisoned from the ship in multiple directions, as inert objects, and then simultaneously light up and race toward their target in a little cloud, shifting around each other like a squadron of ships do in warp. But where would they come out of the ship?
For ships with obvious launcher graphics on them, like the Drake or Manticore, the point of egress is obvious, but where are the torpedo tubes on a Raven? Anything would be batter than the "spawn at coordinates" system we're seeing now, but some work would be required on CCP's art department's part to assign each missile hardpoint a location on the ship's geometry, the way turrets are placed. I hope it would be a simple adjustment, and since it would be a purely aesthetic client-side adjustment, it shouldn't generate any more lag than the current method does.
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