Re: [GZG] Revised Salvo Missiles Update

[Eric Foley <stiltman@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

*comes out of lurk status*

>From: Oerjan Ariander <oerjan.ariander@xxxxxxxxx>

>In space there's (usually) no horizon to block your line of sight, so if 
>your missiles carry enough on-board fuel you'll be able to guide them to 
>the *general* area of the target. ('Course, that "if" might not be entirely 
>trivial...) However, instead of the horizon you start to get significant 
>time lags in the communication between the launching ship and the missile, 
>so the missile still needs good enough target seekers - and enough autonomy 
>- to find the target on its own.

>Trouble is, as soon as the missile has *any autonomy at all* wrt target 
>selection it also runs a risk of attacking some other target than its 
>parent ship intended...

This is an excellent explanation of what we're trying to model within the game as compared to real life anti-ship missiles.  Unfortunately, it just flat out doesn't work for the FT model of missiles.  The real life missiles you're describing are far longer ranged than the direct fire weapons mounted by the same vessels, and cannot be guided by the firing vessel -- if they're guided by anything other than autonomous computers, it will be by external scouts such as recon planes or satellites.

In the case of FT, the missile ranges are dramatically shorter than the beam weaponry that the firing vessels have readily available.  So quite independently of whether it makes for a balanced game, the PSB doesn't sell in this case as to why the firing vessels can't use the same beam technology that goes into their weapons to simply laser guide their missiles and other solid projectile weapons to their targets.

Eric
(aka StiltMan)
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