Increase the rotation-speed of laser-turrets

[unbekannt1984]

Hi,

 

I think it's time to increase the rotation-speed of all laser-turrets, since you don't have to rotate a heavy gun - you just need to rotate mirrors and maybe a few lenses to point a beam into a different direction, the laser-emitter itself can be stationary (doesn't need to be moved at all).

 

Well, I'd recommend this change for all lasers - including mining- and salvaging-lasers, but also point-defense-lasers.

 

I think the code-snippet for this change is already used (found the following in ~/.steam/SteamApps/common/Avorion/data/scripts/lib/story/the4.lua):

turret.turningSpeed = 2.0

Problem is: Changing it in the turret-factory and/or turret-generator would only affect new turrets.

[BlackGazebo]

If you're arguing in terms of realism then no, you would not have a massive fixed laser cavity with a ~180 degree traversing lens assembly.  The cavity would need to traverse with the lens assembly for the same reason that a cannon shell casing has to traverse with a barrel assembly - you can't just "bounce" huge pulses of light off mirrors without melting said mirrors.  This would make the entire turret quite heavy.

 

In terms of in-game balance, lasers are pretty crummy and could use a buff, but I don't know if turret rotation speed is going to matter (considering how grossly overpowered rails and lightning are). 

[DivineEvil]

You have both failed to argue from the realism perspective (since there's no mention of using mirrors in beam turrets anywhere) and from the balance perspective (why the hell do we even need these changes).

[BlackGazebo]

You have both failed to argue from the realism perspective (since there's no mention of using mirrors in beam turrets anywhere) and from the balance perspective (why the hell do we even need these changes).

 

Lmao

 

Other voxel games (e.g. From the Depths) lets you build the "guts" of a laser weapon in one spot and transmit the energy to an actual firing piece (lens assembly) on a turret base via Transceivers, which are fancy mirror assemblies.  What this means is the actual laser turret can be very small and light even though the damage it projects is comparable with a much larger cannon turret.  I think this is what the OP is modeling their idea on.

 

But that comparison is free of realism because very high-energy lasers (in the GW or TW order) can't be reflected the same way low-energy lasers can.  Any material that "reflects" light at a >0 degree angle is going to absorb some energy, and so a mirror is going to absorb 1) a lot of energy in 2) an extremely small area.  This causes all kinds of problems - even assuming that the mirroring material is able to "sink" this heat without vaporizing in seconds, it's still going to expand, which will create a non-flat surface, which is going to send your beam into a non-intended direction, potentially causing a RAD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) event. 

 

So this means that the laser "guts" or cavity has to be in a position to "project" the beam directly to the lens assembly without any intervening mirrors, which means that it has to be part of any turret assembly. 

 

(lenses can also heat up and cause RADs but that's a totally different topic)

[DivineEvil]

You have both failed to argue from the realism perspective (since there's no mention of using mirrors in beam turrets anywhere) and from the balance perspective (why the hell do we even need these changes).

 

Lmao

 

Other voxel games (e.g. From the Depths) lets you build the "guts" of a laser weapon in one spot and transmit the energy to an actual firing piece (lens assembly) on a turret base via Transceivers, which are fancy mirror assemblies.  What this means is the actual laser turret can be very small and light even though the damage it projects is comparable with a much larger cannon turret.  I think this is what the OP is modeling their idea on.

 

But that comparison is free of realism because very high-energy lasers (in the GW or TW order) can't be reflected the same way low-energy lasers can.  Any material that "reflects" light at a >0 degree angle is going to absorb some energy, and so a mirror is going to absorb 1) a lot of energy in 2) an extremely small area.  This causes all kinds of problems - even assuming that the mirroring material is able to "sink" this heat without vaporizing in seconds, it's still going to expand, which will create a non-flat surface, which is going to send your beam into a non-intended direction, potentially causing a RAD (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly) event. 

 

So this means that the laser "guts" or cavity has to be in a position to "project" the beam directly to the lens assembly without any intervening mirrors, which means that it has to be part of any turret assembly. 

 

(lenses can also heat up and cause RADs but that's a totally different topic)

When the reply has no associated quotes to your specific post, you should presuppose it to be the reply to the OP.

 

I'm fully aware of all the things you've written, although I'm vastly more concerned about the balance side of things (which is the only reason I'm not screaming about the utterly ridiculous nature of Lightning guns in space at every corner). But even then, OP author haven't provided any balance justification for the change either.