Clarification on Comp. Enhancements

[Tampa_Gamer]

In reviewing this data file in the .56 demo it appears as though they effect damage only and are available at all tech levels. Does anyone know whether (1) other ability types will be in the final Version and (2) you can make certain techs as prerequisities.

[dmm]

Can you clarify what you're talking about?

[Cyrien]

Yes I believe you can edit this file and even create new ones. I remember reading somewhere where one of the Beta Testers altered the file to make a weapon mount that took up half the size as the weapon normally did.
Don't know about tech requirements though or if final Version comes with others.



[This message has been edited by Cyrien (edited 03 October 2000).]

[Rambie]

Tampa,

You can edit all the data files in SE4. The mounts: Large, Heavy, Massive (L, H, M) are for direct fire weapons only. It affects the damage done and the size of the weapon.

Now, can you make more sizes? I'm sure you can. Can you make a tech requirement? Maybe, but I don't think so. I’ve never played around with the mounts, I feel they work fine the way they are. However, there already are some tech requirements you may not be thinking about.

1- The mounts L, H, and M each have a minimum size requirement for the ship. A Large weapon can't be mounted onto anything smaller than a Light Cruiser (LC.) Heavy needs to be on a larger ship yet, and Massive will only fit onto the largest ships and bases.

2- The base weapon is another limiting factor. If you Heavy mount an Anti-Proton Beam I onto a LC it's no match to a standard-mount APB III.

3- Size, even the largest ships can only hold a limited amount of these weapons. As I said before, the bigger the mount the bigger the size of the weapon.

In both SEIII and SE4 (early beta) you'd build a large ship (say a Dreadnaught) that'd hold massive amounts of the "standard" sized weapons. Then you'd get into tactical combat and it'd take a long time for that one ship to fire it's weapons because it had so many. It was also a waste because Multiplex tracking stops at 5, if memory serves.

Rambie

[Tampa_Gamer]

In the data directory there is a file called comp. enhancements which contains enhancements that can modify components. In the demo this file is limited to the large, Heavy and Massive modifications to direct-fire weapons on ships and weapon platforms. My questions dealt with the file.