Heavy/special weapons are mostly useless except in the most exceptional of circumstances.
Heavy Cannons are great for punching holes in thick armour but they fire so slowly, cost a lot, are expensive to armour up that you may as well get 2 cannons instead. Consider reducing cooldown (increasing firing rate) and size of the cannon.
Suspendium Cannon deals insufficient damage. For something that requires a heavy space premium to operate it is not that accurate and doesn't have that "ion cannon feeling". Increase the damage on this weapon, considering its heavy limitations.
Torpedo needs to fly faster. It is only useful currently for destroying buildings and extremely immobile ships/landships due to the uniqueness of blast damage.
Rockets don't seem to do much. I tried it and it just failed horribly vs normal cannons.
In most of my games I've played against other players, using rifles are superior to the gatling guns.
The trade-off for using heavy/special weapons must exist where the advantage of greater firepower is worth the risk/cost you're paying. Right now I don't think it does.
Heavy Cannons: Not worth their weight, room and money. But if you build a stronghold, they are quite usefull.
Suspendium Cannons: Something for backline-Landships. Good against standing-targets that are suposed to pack a bunch of shots.
Torpedos: I use them a lot, so i might be a bit biased to them.
Use them in packs, 3 or 4 of them, and against large ships, at best if they just started to move and you can predict where they will end.
Slow but hard is their special.
Rockets: Gamblingmachines. Win or lose, the dice speaks. They are suposed to be a gamble, so i am ok with it.
Except with the cannon, i am ok with them. But the Suspendium could need more punch, while the Heavys could take a better firerate.
The Torpedos and rockets do their job fine, at least when i use them. They do what they were designed for.
I will throw in my opinion on the multiplayer effectiveness side.
"Heavy Cannons are great for punching holes in thick armour but they fire so slowly, cost a lot, are expensive to armour up that you may as well get 2 cannons instead. Consider reducing cooldown (increasing firing rate) and size of the cannon."
I have to disagree, heavy cannons do fire slowly and have low DPS, but to make up for it they deal heavy damage, good range, and are super ammo efficient. I think regular cannons are rather weak since they burn through ammo too quickly. In a longer game slug fest the heavy cannon is gamechanger.
I am near undefeated in multi in a fair open battle and I challenge anyone to a dual who thinks standard cannons are superior.
Suspedium Cannons are kind of a worse version of a heavy cannon. They have better range/accuracy/firing rate, but cost a lot, use more resources, and deal less damage. I agree with you largely on this one.
Torpedos, I find them kinda weak vs anything, moving or not. Have yet to see an effective torpedo vessel.
Rockets, kind of funny weapons, really cheap but total gamble. Think maybe they can sacrafice some damage for some better accuracy.
Gatling guns, good for close range anti armor. I think gatling guns are in a ok spot. They have a small role to play and they fill it okay. Rifles tend to just be better general support weapons. Also really good at crashing peoples computers :D (people crash mine all the time with them...buggers)
I do agree overall though that a lot of the weapons could use some tweaks here and there but Zark is working on updates and it takes some time to get around to nerfs and buffs.
In the end it might come down to FPS. Let's say the host goes all Rifles, but can't run them all at 60fps, maybe not even 30fps, maybe less than 15fps but the user is "used to that" at 2k-5k (Dual Core, lets say). That user probably is skipping a data beat crashing the client.
But that's out on a limb. Haven't done any of my tests yet. But Gats & Rifles & Cap. Large explosions they can't render quickly enough... so on.
Used to blame latency, now I blame the opponents computer. I've had perfectly good matches under the highest latency scenarios as long as the opponents computer is good. It's not until some 3rd party malfunction a crash occurs - maybe 3/5 times a crash occurs it's not due to latency but some other problem.
Both clients should remain playing on a DeSync; that's how it was back in the day. Now 1 player remains while the other crashes. The remaining player gets no notification, is none the wiser. Ties into the desire of an improved chat system as well - elaborating that; if a second program were running and not crashing at least communication continues... something official.
I am in California, Pacific Standard Time. Can't name a time/date yet cause my computer is in storage since I am in between jobs/houses :(
Once I am up and running again I will let you know.
I do think Zark has been doing a solid job of keeping the balance. Although there are some weapons that at the moment in the meta are kind of useless the meta can swing and peoples preferences and styles will go with it.
@ Fatpiglet well, let me know when you're back to the game and we can faceoff on the Friday night games.
@ Zarkonnen - What proof do you need for me to conclusively explain and demonstrate to you that heavy cannon is far inferior to cannons that only in very selected and isolated incidents?
Let's look at some simple math.
Hvy Cannon $216, 150 dmg, 8 sec cd
Cannon $79, 40 dmg, 3 sec cd
Lets get Raw Damage Per Second (DPS), Cost paid per DPS, DPS per space premium. In this game space is a premium because u have limited space to put weapons.
RAW DPS - Cost Per DPS - DPS per Slot
18.75 - 11.52 - 9.375
13.33 - 5.93 - 13.33
Ignoring travelling distance to carry ammo from armoury to cannon, which can reduce but NOT nullify the difference between DPS of the two weapons. These figures tell us that while Heavy Cannon taken on its own, appears to have higher DPS upfront, you pay way too much per damage, and is inefficient at using space to deal damage. Cannons while less ammo efficient, deals out way more damage.
No one cares about a prolonged fight. All you need to do is carry enough ammunition to destroy your opponent faster than he can destroy you and you close quarters to do that.
I have ran numerous simulations on airship and tanks to test out various configurations of 2x cannon vs 1 hvy cannon on various armour but same structural layout (coal, ammo, living quarters, propulsion, lift etc) and in every situation except for 1, the 2x cannons can be relied to win majority of the time. Only when HEAVY STEEL ARMOUR is equipped, do Heavy Cannon win. However this armour is so insanely expensive and heavy, no one will armour it on the entire landship and thus, still exposing vulnerabilities to withering fire from cannons.
Moreover if faced against a heavy steel armour tank with heavy cannon, it makes much more sense to buy cheap tanks with lots of cannons to deal with that.
I can do the same for other weapons as well. Simply because people "disagree" about whether a given weapon is a good or bad, does not mean everyone's opinions are valid if it isn't substantiated by fact and extensive testing.
I will still disagree with you on the heavy cannon. I for one, do care about prolonged fights. I fight bunker style where I need to conserve every round possible as fights often go to who has the most endurance.
Zark and anyone else who has played against me can probably vouch for my fighting style and how effective(cheesy) it tends to be.
I will list why I think cannons are weak. I don't use cannons cause of their horrid ammo efficiency. I prefer a hybrid of deckguns and heavy cannons. Deckguns out DPS the cannon by an incredible amount and heavy cannons have ammo efficiency and range. So in close range short battles deckguns>cannons and in longer endurance battles heavy cannon>cannons. The cannon is a OK all arounder but I haven't based a ship/bunker around the standard cannon in ages and I have no plans to do so anytime soon.
I do extensive testing of my designs vs other designs and my own and I have found the heavy cannon, deckgun, rifle, and bomb bay to be the best weapons (besides boarders).
I do think Zark is right though, if multiple successful experienced players are debating heavily on whether a weapon is good or not. Than the weapon is probably strong/successful in one way or another.
Able Airman
Heavy/special weapons are mostly useless except in the most exceptional of circumstances.
Heavy Cannons are great for punching holes in thick armour but they fire so slowly, cost a lot, are expensive to armour up that you may as well get 2 cannons instead. Consider reducing cooldown (increasing firing rate) and size of the cannon.
Suspendium Cannon deals insufficient damage. For something that requires a heavy space premium to operate it is not that accurate and doesn't have that "ion cannon feeling". Increase the damage on this weapon, considering its heavy limitations.
Torpedo needs to fly faster. It is only useful currently for destroying buildings and extremely immobile ships/landships due to the uniqueness of blast damage.
Rockets don't seem to do much. I tried it and it just failed horribly vs normal cannons.
In most of my games I've played against other players, using rifles are superior to the gatling guns.
The trade-off for using heavy/special weapons must exist where the advantage of greater firepower is worth the risk/cost you're paying. Right now I don't think it does.
Midshipman
Heavy Cannons: Not worth their weight, room and money. But if you build a stronghold, they are quite usefull.
Suspendium Cannons: Something for backline-Landships. Good against standing-targets that are suposed to pack a bunch of shots.
Torpedos: I use them a lot, so i might be a bit biased to them. Use them in packs, 3 or 4 of them, and against large ships, at best if they just started to move and you can predict where they will end. Slow but hard is their special.
Rockets: Gamblingmachines. Win or lose, the dice speaks. They are suposed to be a gamble, so i am ok with it.
Except with the cannon, i am ok with them. But the Suspendium could need more punch, while the Heavys could take a better firerate. The Torpedos and rockets do their job fine, at least when i use them. They do what they were designed for.
Captain
I will throw in my opinion on the multiplayer effectiveness side.
"Heavy Cannons are great for punching holes in thick armour but they fire so slowly, cost a lot, are expensive to armour up that you may as well get 2 cannons instead. Consider reducing cooldown (increasing firing rate) and size of the cannon."
I have to disagree, heavy cannons do fire slowly and have low DPS, but to make up for it they deal heavy damage, good range, and are super ammo efficient. I think regular cannons are rather weak since they burn through ammo too quickly. In a longer game slug fest the heavy cannon is gamechanger.
I am near undefeated in multi in a fair open battle and I challenge anyone to a dual who thinks standard cannons are superior.
Suspedium Cannons are kind of a worse version of a heavy cannon. They have better range/accuracy/firing rate, but cost a lot, use more resources, and deal less damage. I agree with you largely on this one.
Torpedos, I find them kinda weak vs anything, moving or not. Have yet to see an effective torpedo vessel.
Rockets, kind of funny weapons, really cheap but total gamble. Think maybe they can sacrafice some damage for some better accuracy.
Gatling guns, good for close range anti armor. I think gatling guns are in a ok spot. They have a small role to play and they fill it okay. Rifles tend to just be better general support weapons. Also really good at crashing peoples computers :D (people crash mine all the time with them...buggers)
I do agree overall though that a lot of the weapons could use some tweaks here and there but Zark is working on updates and it takes some time to get around to nerfs and buffs.
Able Airman
Piglet I accept your challenge. Name your timezone and point cost. I'll bring mostly cannons and rifles only.
Aerial Emperor
Hmm, what's with the rifles and the crashing? Does it happen if it's just too many rifles?
Commodore
In the end it might come down to FPS. Let's say the host goes all Rifles, but can't run them all at 60fps, maybe not even 30fps, maybe less than 15fps but the user is "used to that" at 2k-5k (Dual Core, lets say). That user probably is skipping a data beat crashing the client.
But that's out on a limb. Haven't done any of my tests yet. But Gats & Rifles & Cap. Large explosions they can't render quickly enough... so on.
Used to blame latency, now I blame the opponents computer. I've had perfectly good matches under the highest latency scenarios as long as the opponents computer is good. It's not until some 3rd party malfunction a crash occurs - maybe 3/5 times a crash occurs it's not due to latency but some other problem.
Both clients should remain playing on a DeSync; that's how it was back in the day. Now 1 player remains while the other crashes. The remaining player gets no notification, is none the wiser. Ties into the desire of an improved chat system as well - elaborating that; if a second program were running and not crashing at least communication continues... something official.
Aerial Emperor
Thanks, Psyringe. I will add that scenario to "fun things to investigate".
Apart from that, I feel that as soon as people disagree about whether a given weapon is good or bad, I've done my job right. :D
Captain
I am in California, Pacific Standard Time. Can't name a time/date yet cause my computer is in storage since I am in between jobs/houses :(
Once I am up and running again I will let you know.
I do think Zark has been doing a solid job of keeping the balance. Although there are some weapons that at the moment in the meta are kind of useless the meta can swing and peoples preferences and styles will go with it.
Able Airman
@ Fatpiglet well, let me know when you're back to the game and we can faceoff on the Friday night games.
@ Zarkonnen - What proof do you need for me to conclusively explain and demonstrate to you that heavy cannon is far inferior to cannons that only in very selected and isolated incidents?
Let's look at some simple math.
Hvy Cannon $216, 150 dmg, 8 sec cd Cannon $79, 40 dmg, 3 sec cd
Lets get Raw Damage Per Second (DPS), Cost paid per DPS, DPS per space premium. In this game space is a premium because u have limited space to put weapons.
RAW DPS - Cost Per DPS - DPS per Slot 18.75 - 11.52 - 9.375 13.33 - 5.93 - 13.33
Ignoring travelling distance to carry ammo from armoury to cannon, which can reduce but NOT nullify the difference between DPS of the two weapons. These figures tell us that while Heavy Cannon taken on its own, appears to have higher DPS upfront, you pay way too much per damage, and is inefficient at using space to deal damage. Cannons while less ammo efficient, deals out way more damage.
No one cares about a prolonged fight. All you need to do is carry enough ammunition to destroy your opponent faster than he can destroy you and you close quarters to do that.
I have ran numerous simulations on airship and tanks to test out various configurations of 2x cannon vs 1 hvy cannon on various armour but same structural layout (coal, ammo, living quarters, propulsion, lift etc) and in every situation except for 1, the 2x cannons can be relied to win majority of the time. Only when HEAVY STEEL ARMOUR is equipped, do Heavy Cannon win. However this armour is so insanely expensive and heavy, no one will armour it on the entire landship and thus, still exposing vulnerabilities to withering fire from cannons.
Moreover if faced against a heavy steel armour tank with heavy cannon, it makes much more sense to buy cheap tanks with lots of cannons to deal with that.
I can do the same for other weapons as well. Simply because people "disagree" about whether a given weapon is a good or bad, does not mean everyone's opinions are valid if it isn't substantiated by fact and extensive testing.
Captain
I will still disagree with you on the heavy cannon. I for one, do care about prolonged fights. I fight bunker style where I need to conserve every round possible as fights often go to who has the most endurance.
Zark and anyone else who has played against me can probably vouch for my fighting style and how effective(cheesy) it tends to be.
I will list why I think cannons are weak. I don't use cannons cause of their horrid ammo efficiency. I prefer a hybrid of deckguns and heavy cannons. Deckguns out DPS the cannon by an incredible amount and heavy cannons have ammo efficiency and range. So in close range short battles deckguns>cannons and in longer endurance battles heavy cannon>cannons. The cannon is a OK all arounder but I haven't based a ship/bunker around the standard cannon in ages and I have no plans to do so anytime soon.
I do extensive testing of my designs vs other designs and my own and I have found the heavy cannon, deckgun, rifle, and bomb bay to be the best weapons (besides boarders).
I do think Zark is right though, if multiple successful experienced players are debating heavily on whether a weapon is good or not. Than the weapon is probably strong/successful in one way or another.