Torpedoes

[BJORN IRONSKULL]

I'm new to the game, and really like a bit of void warfare, so I've got some things I'd like to do...

How do you go about making torpedoes and torpedo tubes? I'd really like to add a couple to my frigate, for a bit of ship-to-ship warfare.
I've got an idea, to use a large thruster, large reactor, a few small reactors (for extra bang) and a couple of warheads.

All ideas are welcome.

[Nitro]

Thrusters, a gyo to keep it stable, a small reactor, and as many warheads as you desire. Thats a simple one

[Rhedd]

Sadly, small (or large) reactors don't make things go "boom". Warheads are the only thing that make any kind of explosion, and sadly, small ones will never equal a single missile. Wish they'd fix that.

Anyway, I love torpedos, too. If you don't mind using mods (you shouldn't), you should download not7CD's Torpedo Hull Set. Makes everything much prettier.

[Vargali]

Originally posted by Rhedd:

Sadly, small (or large) reactors don't make things go "boom". Warheads are the only thing that make any kind of explosion, and sadly, small ones will never equal a single missile. Wish they'd fix that.

Anyway, I love torpedos, too. If you don't mind using mods (you shouldn't), you should download not7CD's Torpedo Hull Set. Makes everything much prettier.

sadly there are times when the big warheads dont do as well as a missile either, unless you can clamp them straight to the target before detonation...also as for not7CD's torpedo hull set, i think it needs a tutorial...just a thought

[BJORN IRONSKULL]

So maybe something along the lines of the 40K Castus assault ram, would be better. Missile launcher on the front, and detonate the thing, when it enters the gap?

[Beef Supreme]

Hello there several components to think abot when designing torpedos. My current design is small ship, tube magazine, connected by connector blcok, shape charged, sensor and firing pin detonated, with pisiton counter measures, fixed gyroscope rotation, multistage gravity driven, crumple tipped with side slam tip. My escort (smallest ship i use) can disable the red starter ship with 1 tropedo, no mods, no glitches, no problems. When i fire a salvo of 4 from my escort it effectively destroys the red starter ship.

First how will they deal damage? Option 1 straight kinetic damage use heavy tough blocks and accelarate to high speed (easy when learning, low risk, lowest damage). Option 2 explosive warheads (high risk, many problems, medium damage), option 3 cargo container filled with something nasty (difficult, technical, inconsistent, high damage), option 4 a big rock held by a landing gear (difficult, technical, high risk, high damage). All have advantages and serious drawbacks.

Second propulsion. Again lots of options. Option 1 thrusters, option 2 a gravity gen attached to a mass block, Option 3 design a rail gun tube lined with grav gens, option 4 design your whole ship to propel torpedos using momentum by going fast then stopping quickly, torpedos then keep gowing. (try 1 and 4 first they both easy)

Third survivability. I dont see a lot of torpedos with more than armor options. I use more. I attach pistons inside the torpedo with a decoy on four sides. (deocys must be flush or below torpedo shell casing). increases target area for turrets targeting the torpedo by 70% and causes torpedo to spin off axis greatly reducing damage to the torpedo on its way to target.

Fourth Launcher: In order to build a torpedo tube large enough to house anything useful I find the minimum size to be 2x3 area with a heaxgon design. corners are right angle blocks inverted with regular 1x1s on top and bottom. Tubes should be constructed of heavy armor or blast doors. Some designs will use large ship landing gears as a tube.

Fifth initiation mechanism: How will you launch this thing? Option 1 attach with landing gear. Option 2 attach with connector. Option 3 attach with merge blocks. To make torpedos launh smoothly minor tube height adustments may be required. Adust by trying hvy armor top ad bottom, then blast doors top and bottom, then 1 side blast door 1 side havy armor, one of those should fit.

Sixth reloading: Option 1 stack multiple torps in 1 tube (very easy) design ship around tubes. Option 2 attach externally, option 3 design a reloadable magazine. I have seen only 1 effective magazine reloader consisting of a single piston pushing a group of blast doors desinged as a block to lift shells into a firing chamber (similar to a bolt action rifle). Use cauion gun designs with moving parts are fraught with problems. The more moving parts the more that can go wrong. Option 4 gravity generators with field settings set to minimum required size and strength needed. I have a working reloader that is compact but Option 1 combined with option 4 (maybe) is the best.

Seventh Guidance: Remote control block, camera, atenna. Set all to "Me" as owner. remote block orientation determines which end is "the front" and other sides (Green dot thing is front the green line is top). The word camera is on the bottom of the camera.

Hint on explosives. Add a sensor to the inside armor near the front, not outside. Set it to detonate in 5-7m, activate by remote after launch has cleared your ship. or tie in activation to a timer block as a safety. Guarantees no duds. It WILL explode, maybe not until it bounces off but there will be some splash damage. If timer is too short round may damage detonator on impact without explodig, if too long will bounc off armor and detonate too far away.

Hint on aiming attach a reglaur rocket launcher or pattern of rocket launchers near or around tubes. Rocket laucnhers show a red dot for where they will impact making a kig of laser bore sight for the torpedo tubes.

Super advaced features. Sabot rounds, nuclear rounds, rock rounds, multistage weapons, timer blocks for advanced controls, torpedo tip optimization, manual gyroscope alignment, center of mass alignment, chafe launchers, gravity shield countermeasures, clusetr munitions, bunker buster designs, thruster armor melting, grinders, drill bits, glass tip detonators, column fring pins, wheel reloaders.

I've had a lot of painful lessons in failed torpedo designs and so will you. Build a test world with nothing you care about. Test only 1 of the above components ata atime until you get it right. Use dumby rounds when testing the advanced stuff so you can make fast adustments without having to redesign some super complicated monstrosity.

[Eviscerator]

TL:DR.... I'll just stick with my magazine-fed, 32g, large blast-door section chuckin....thingy..
Shears off engine nacelles in one shot.

That is.. until Darth's Mass Driver is fully operational, then..... oh yeah...

[BJORN IRONSKULL]

Cool beans. I may well try that.
On another note; I'm hosting a void war, to control a 40K battlebarge, this evening, from 20:00 GMT. Anyone, who wants in, is welcome. Just join the server, and request to join one of the two factions. The objective is to take the 40K ship, by destroying the enemy's fighters, bombers and transports.