Krendig
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Posted - 2004.03.28 07:40:00 -
[1]
The thing that gets me, is we have, supposedly, "targeted" and "untargeted" missiles-- So called Smart weaponry (not to be confused with Energy Pulse Weapons, which perform "Summon CONCORD and get smacked" ability), which apparently, there's no difference in.
Here's how it ought to work, in my personal view of the universe:
Rockets: No agility to speak of, no splash to speak of. Are basically slow (relatively) moving projectiles with large (relatively) amounts of damage. Personally, I'd like to see the "rocket launcher" made a into a generic high slot item-- No missile bay required. Rockets would suddenly be useful.
Torpedos: Slow, lacking agility, but capable of being "directed" to a target. Too stupid to dodge anything in the way, they do massive amounts of damage to whatever they hit, intended or not, and splash damage to anything nearby. Needs to be fairly inexpensive to make, because it's basically just as much explosive force as can be crammed into a casing, with limited intelligence.
Light/Heavy Missiles: Agile, no splash. As they are "guided", one would assume they can *dodge* things that "aren't their target". Especially other missiles, and definitely ships. Again, agility comes into play, but the chances of hitting something other than what you're aiming at should be relatively low.
Cruise Missiles: Agile, minimal splash. The ultimate in "when it absolutely positively has to blow up". Agile, fast, and above all, smart. You don't hit the wrong target. You hit the right target, if at all possible, and the missile maintains it's own lock. Ships "in the way" are avoided, because they're not the target you're looking for. Not the ship-breaking amount of damage of a torpedo, but still enough that you don't want to be in the crosshairs. Personally, I feel that cruise missiles shouldn't require the pilot to maintain a lock all the way in-- But I realize there are game balance issues at work here.
Just a few thoughts from my incoherent brain. In general, missiles are too slow, and none of this addresses the main point Jim Raynor makes, which is having gobs of damage at your command does no good if your target just warps off to a bookmark and back.
On the plus side, NPC's aren't shooting down my missiles with their turrets anymore, so that's a plus.
--Krendig |