Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Downton, Diego Garcia, BIOT
Posts: 421

That is true, but the weapon that i am talking about wouldn't be used against the ship, but against the turrets instead. the turrets and beam weapon emitters are nowhere near as well armored if they are even armored at all(in the case of the emitters) this would make a small railgun carried by fighter-bombers and bombers an effective and useful weapon. also, capships could use it as an anti bomber weapon since bombers on their bombing run have to remain on a very specific heading to attain target lock, making them easy targets. thats why they are so heavily sheilded and armored.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Nov 2000
Location: Finland
Posts: 553

quote:

---

Originally posted by Charger:
Youe know, that would involve a 500-1000 pound penetrater being accelerated to about .7-.8c. that would take a rail gun well over a 100 feet long. unless you are planning to make an entirely new capship with this weapon mounted inline with the ships center-line, and it would have to be in the center line so the ship didn't rip itself apart from the recoil of this monster, good luck god bless.

---

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Downton, Diego Garcia, BIOT
Posts: 421

well, the only thing i can think of is placing a gravity feild generater onto the recoil mechanism as a reciol damper. the feild would apply a large negative grav-feild to the rear end of the weapon at the instant its engaged. the other idea is that instead of fireing the projectile with the magnetic feild, you could just keep the magnets to guide the projectile and use the grave field to fire the weapon. this method would produce a lower acceleration but would result in a weapon that would be simpler and more robust than the other design.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Posts: 928

As a rail gun would have to be long but yet pointed directly at it's target, methinks the best application for one (a huge one, at that) would be as a jump node defense platform, say 3000-6000 klicks from a jump node. Sathanas jumps in, and up starts the railgun. It could be either a heavy damage, low reload rate weapon or a rapid rate, low damage...

------------------
"He who laughs last thinks slowest."

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Downton, Diego Garcia, BIOT
Posts: 421

depends on the fireing mechanism.
since it doesn't move, you could have a constant acceleration feild, and then all you have to do is keep dropping pellets in the feed port, kind of like those baseball launchers you see at the baseball diamonds, those things will launch baseballs as fast as you can load them.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 6

*delurk* just for everyones info, railguns DO NOT RECOIL! they use super-charged magnets with reversable + - charge to "slingshot" a charge/projectile to near light speed using these magnets.... no explosive stuff necessary, so no recoil.. but it takes alot of nuke power to fire a 205mm cannon at light speeds (takes up a whole nuclear plants power almost)

just thought i should inform the modders about this, it should help them make it more realistic

the only problem is that if the magnets are not synch'd correctly, your projectile will jam in their and you will have to unpower the gun then retry

------------------
Slayer of Vasudans

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: The Cold Northland!
Posts: 8392

There would have to be a recoil. For every reaction there is an equal...yada yada yada. If I'm on a surf board in space (ignore the reality of it) and I throw a tennis ball one direction, I'll start moving in the other (barring all other gravitational effects). There isn't the recoil you get from the explosion required to fire the projectile, but there is going to be movement in the opposite direction.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Tania Austrailis
Posts: 3322

so by firing a maxim cannon, you should be able to propel yourself backwards

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: The Cold Northland!
Posts: 8392

By firing a missile, by firing a energy weapon, yeah...it should propell you backwards in some small way.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jul 2000
Location:
Posts: 1477

That is true, and another reason why rail weapons aren't used often in FS ships. (in early designs they didn't have enough power to field it, in latter designs the ships had advanced enough armor to screen against the majority of the kenetic energy)

On fighters, relativistic cannons were probably used, but shooting very small uranium slugs.

However, maintaining the firing mechanisms, and the cost of munitions would lead to energy-based systems such as Subach-Innes' line of laser weaponry (HL-14, ML-16, HL-7) to be utilized.

------------------
Ace
Webmaster
adamantpacified.org
[url="http://adamantpacified.org/"]http://adamantpacified.org/[/url]

Staff member
FreeSpace Watch
[url="http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/"]http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/[/url]

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: scotland
Posts: 1205

hmmm inietial dampning - it appears that such thigns are possible - early research with very high powered magnitic feilds can be uses to distorm to the quantum foam which then doesn't resist change of an objects motion there for acceleration and deceleration and anti recoil systems could work - but this tech is along long long long long long - you ge tthe idea from being practical and that was very early research i cant even remember when reading teh article if they had tested there thoerys or not at that point - i had a feel they had but wouldn't swear to it

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 6

you WOULD get recoil problems if the magnet was based in the "breech" of the gun, but in the railgun i am detailing it is multiple circular magnetic rings along the barrel... no "recoil" would be put on the ship, it would merely tear the barrel apart.. and im sure they have strong enough materials to make a gun of such magnetic properties (if not, God help the GTVA)

------------------
Slayer of Vasudans

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 6

and while we are talking about new weapons we would like to see..

i would suggest possibly a more wide-use of meson technology... UD-666 UltraKayser

8 hull, 8 shield, 8 subsystem damage... of course only heavy assault fighters could equip this and only with a nice chunk of energy dragon...

maybe even a tactical version of the mesonbomb... perhaps 2 to a bomber? 1 to a heavy assault? it could be just a little bigger then a helios, 60 second loading time, but could be one helluva bomb, like 10 cyclops in one?

also... i would like to see a VERY rapid low energy drain weapon with 2 hull and 2 shield, but put out energy FAST, like 1000 rounds a minute like a modernday M-2 browning 50calibur machine gun in wide use by the U.S. army.. of course it would have REALLY long range... effective at up to 2000m max range of 6000m...

also.. cap ships should have aspect-seeking missile turrets in greater array... in FS2 capship missiles are laughable

well thats it for what i would like to see

------------------
Slayer of Vasudans

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Jul 2000
Location: The Cold Northland!
Posts: 8392

Go up against the standard Deimos and tell me that those missile barrages are laughable.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Tania Austrailis
Posts: 3322

Hells no they aren't!

I hate those damned double Pihrana launchers!



lol

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 6

i was playing on the medium difficulty, were you playing on insane? on insane i die on the 6th real mission :P it seems like they all fire linked subachs at about 10000000000000 shots a second and have such a kinetic effect i cant escape...



of course, promotions come a lil quicker on insane, lieutenant junior grade pretty much right off the bat..

and if you cheat and give yourself the SSL, you get promotions VERY fast, take down the ravana and you get instapromotion!.. got commander by the end of the game

------------------
Slayer of Vasudans

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Downton, Diego Garcia, BIOT
Posts: 421

ok, first off, the projectile for a starfighter based railgun would be approximatly the sixe of a sharpie marker. it would be made from either uranium or compressed molybdenum etc. just so that its very dense. that marker would weigh almost a pound (us). now for all of you math gurus, tell me what the recoil would be if i accellerated that same shell to about .8 c, or 80% of the speed of light.

now earlier in this topic, i came up with a method of beeting most of or all of the recoil. remember, the gtva has gravity generator technology, right? well, just mount one on the rear of the weapon and tie it into the firing circuits. when the weapong fires, the grav plate goes to reverse and tries to apply a very strong jolt in the opposite direction of the recoil. this would enably you to justify a long reload time since you would have to run the grav plate off of a capacitor system due to the huge amounts of power that would be needed, but running it off of a capacitor system would mean that the launcher would not require a large power feed.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Dec 2000
Location: Devonport, Tasmania, Australia
Posts: 369

For those of you who want fighter beams, take a long hard look at the targeting laser in the exterior view of you fighter as it's firing i think that's the effect you want.
(that includes you Ice)

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Oct 2000
Location: Tania Austrailis
Posts: 3322

No... I like this effect:



Terslash on an Osiris. Yes, I am insane.

Die Fenris Die!!!!!



[This message has been edited by Snipes (edited 04-16-2001).]

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Downton, Diego Garcia, BIOT
Posts: 421

actually, i was thinking of having no effect other than a small streak heading towards the target. the player would have to compensate in the same way as the dumbfire missiles whose name i forget. its not hard, it just requires good aim and a desent knowledge of your ship. it will also keep rookie pilots from using this weapon on anything smaller than a frigate.

Not that it'll stop the rest of us though it will make things interesting

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged