Bomber Thread

Originally posted by Second Chance

Oh! There's so many ways we could go with this! It needs its own thread.

Ok, Her we go!

Now: OMG, I think the idea of energy bombs is an absolute stroke of genius (and I'm furious that I didn't think of it!). The possibilities for this are enormous. We can now make bombers act out their role exactly as they should, mainly attacking stationary targets (like stations). A flight of bombers would need to be escorted to the target by fighters, and enemy fighters would try to intercept the attack before they reached the target. Once at the target area the bombers would have to run the gauntlet of heavy station (or whatever) fire to get close enough to launch their bombs (and still get out again). All this time there would be a fighter battle raging around them. Being a bomber pilot on one of these bombing missions would be really exciting. Especially if the bombers were slow handling, cumbersome beasts; that could take huge amounts of damage but still manage to limp home.

Thats the idea. [^]
Just as an example of a tougher ship look at the "pioneer" used for the Turret simulation. It can take a a good bit of of damage. we can make them a bit more cumbersome too.
We can also fix bombers, since the are much larger ships, so the disruption phase only lasts a couple of seconds. Then they won't be sitting ducks if the get hit by the Tie/Int's Ion cannon.
Friendly CUVs can repair bombers by docking to them. They can also deploy "repair drones" which the bomber can pick up by colliding with them.
fighters have two things to worry about: protect the CUVs and the Bombers. [}]

On running the Gauntlet: The "heavy station (or whatever) fire" could also be mobile defense Turrets ("mini" gunstars) that can be placed dynamically by an enemy CUV. (the pioneer has them in it right now, just press the key G when you are in it)

All this time I always thought of the bombers the way they were shown them in the movie, rediculously dropping bombs onto the asteroid as if there was gravity (well, maybe they were used to bomb planetary ground targets also). The idea of a more reasonable space-borne bomb delivery system really appeals to me (in fact, I've just added it to the must have arsenal of Spacemaster [8D]). The bomber would have to get close to the target and be set up to deliver its bomb load all at once (maybe a rapid fire slug thrower with only about 5 - 10 bombs). Or maybe different numbers of bombs with different firing rates for different damage amounts!

Somewheres I saw a scene with a Tie bomber in action as it deployed bombs. They looked like big white bolts that went down at an angle to the target.
Basically the "energy bomb" would be a sniper cannon set up as a wide arc weapon with a really large vertical_fire_arc and markedly less horizontal_fire_arc. Then set the range (compared to a sniper cannon) fairly low.
That way it can target stuff outside the hud view (i.e below it). (maybe we can even make a sort of Bomb-Site beeper to tell if the target is locked, I dunno.)

we can time the "refire_delay" and the "shot_energy_cost" of the weapon(s). Then it would be possible to do 3 or 4 shots before you have wait for the weapon energy to Ramp up again. Alternativly we could make it use the complete energy reserve with each shot so it takes a long time to charge up enough energy again for the next shot.

It also means the Tie Interceptors and A-Wings could more accurately fulfill their role as interceptors. With the Regular Ties and X-Wings as the dogfighters they should be. And the Y-Wing could just be a light bomber option with fewer, less damaging bombs and a defense turret (it does have a turret, btw).

Could the turret on the Y-Wing be Ai controlled so it fires automatically?


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Putting this in here too as it is such a cool idea!

Originally posted by Shane

Some time ago (for Epic) I'd proposed the idea of bombers using seriously heavy ordinance which did not include propulsion systems of any kind. Rather like throwing a cargo pod at the Marauder station in SP EoC. Launch it and it sails on forever until it hits a target or is culled by the engine.

The Bomber featured several forward and rear 'ammo-dockports' located at the bottom of 'launch tubes' (to protect the payloads from stray PBC bolts). One keypress to select front or rear, another to launch.

I thought it would be great fun to line up on a target and bomb in that manner... having to get close and pull up at the last moments... then get the hell clear of the blast area.

But, it wasn't really accepted. Would it be suitable here? Or is this the idea you're talking about?

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Could the turret on the Y-Wing be Ai controlled so it fires automatically?

Yes, and I think they should be (a bomber pilot has got his hands full).

I love both bomb ideas, but I think Shane's is a little more realistic. Also, his description of the bomb delivery totally sold me on the idea for us.

One question though, how does a bomber undock from a CUV without dropping its bombs? Maybe they could be cargo pod dockports?

Oh! Oh! Oh! I just had a great idea! The "energy bomb" idea would be perfect for - Torpedoes! These ships could become torpedo bombers. Now that would make an awsome ship! It would also make them more versatile, because they could launch bombs at stations and torpedoes at cap ships. Torpedoes could be really slow moving missiles with limited guidance (and a cool new energy avatar), so they can track slow moving capital ships and such. You could, of course, attack stations with torpedoes too.

Whaddya think?

Now I'm totally stoked about making the Tie Bomber!

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Originally posted by Second Chance
Yes, and I think they should be (a bomber pilot has got his hands full).

Great, that makes life a lot easier for me too!

I love both bomb ideas, but I think Shane's is a little more realistic. Also, his description of the bomb delivery totally sold me on the idea for us.

One question though, how does a bomber undock from a CUV without dropping its bombs? Maybe they could be cargo pod dockports?

No prob! we lock the pods to the ship and they are only unlocked when he presses the key to "drop" them.
The freighters in EpicOnline have the same function so they can dock for repairs while fully loaded with pods.

Oh! Oh! Oh! I just had a great idea! The "energy bomb" idea would be perfect for - Torpedoes! These ships could become torpedo bombers. Now that would make an awsome ship! It would also make them more versatile, because they could launch bombs at stations and torpedoes at cap ships. Torpedoes could be really slow moving missiles with limited guidance (and a cool new energy avatar), so they can track slow moving capital ships and such. You could, of course, attack stations with torpedoes too.

Yes, thats kinda like what I meant, we've got guided and unguided Torpedoes like that already designed including ones with a flare-based (energy looking) avatar. They're already in the mod just not on any of the ships yet.

Remember, though the real issue is to make "bombs" that aren't ammo weapons (or missiles) specially for the version of the B-Wing that has the ion cannon. Thats where Shanes idea is really cool and where the energy based bombs come into play.

Now I'm totally stoked about making the Tie Bomber!

Great!

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We now have "Shanes Bomb" operable:


In that shot I'm actually following it in formate mode.

It works on a keybind, and goes after the target you have selected at launch. The bombs launch speed is determined by your own speed and it explodes after a hardcoded time delay of 20 secs. The first few secs it is on autopilot to get it lined up with the target. Then it just drifts straight on at a speed depending on your ships speed as you launched. The effective blast radius is only 8 km: i.e you will have to time it well as it may might overshoot your target.

This way it's primarily effective for stationary targets. You could get lucky if you send it after a slow moving ship but if the target turns your bomb will continue to drift straight on.


Here are some more shots:

Here an normal hud shot of it approaching the target

Zoomed in at the locality in question

Things can be rough for Casino Owners these days

Actually the Explosion looks like this, but it's not a pretty picture

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Originally posted by MajorTom

as it may might overshoot your target.

the original text was " it may not get close enough or might..."

But, the Batch File deleted it

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