Combat Mechanics Explained (WIP- project)

[Wenzel]

I think it would be great to collect all the basic information on how the game works! I have taken a close look at the module-types in the game files, but still I only understand parts of the game. I will try to keep the first post updated with any information more experienced players provide! Fire away, airsailors! :)

TARGETING & HITTING

• Each weapon has a base inaccuracy and a firing arc. Some weapons also have a maximum range (e.g. the Gatling gun who would otherwise burn through ammo too fast?). The optimum range stat is only there for the AI, to tell her how close she should get with her ships.
  
• Weapon modules somehow determine a point (always within their firing arc) at which they aim. There is no official information available on this, but from my ingame observations, I do get the impression that weapons can lead their target (the aim will be corrected if the target is moving - however ascending and descending doesn't seem to be part of it!), and also that certain module types have lower/higher priority for targeting (e.g. if the weapon can choose between a structural module and a propulsion module, it seems as if it usually aims at a propulsion module). There might also be a priority for tiles that have already lost armor.
  
  
• One thing that seems pretty consistent to me: Once they have decided upon a target (a tile or module?), weapons will keep firing at that very target (as long as the target is in their arc of fire). I suppose that - in order to make the weapon fire at a different target, you'll need to "cut/break" and re-establish the firing arc, which triggers a new target-decision?
  
• Then inaccuracy and distance come into play, as described in detail by the developer here:

  Originally posted by Zarkonnen:

  OK, here's the precise calculation (which I fully admit is kind of weird and random), taken from the code:
  
  Deviation from the intended target coordinate is calculated independently for the x-axis and y-axis, so it does all of this twice. It calculates the deviation magnitude and then multiplies this with a random gaussian value[docs.oracle.com] that has an average of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.
  
  x = targetX + gaussian() * deviationMagnitude
  
  y = targetY + gaussian() * deviationMagnitude
  
  The basic deviation magnitude is calculated as follows:
  
  weapon inaccuracy * distance to target in pixels * 16
  
  This is then modified by:
  

  • The "precise gunnery" bonus, if present and applicable, halves the deviation magnitude.
    
  • The accuracy bonus from crow's nests, telescopes and targeting computers. Each of them is only applied once, so if you have two telescopes it counts as if it were one. The bonuses are added together, so if you have all three, you have 10% (Crow's Nest) + 30% (Telescope) + 30% (Targeting Computer) = 70% bonus, which means the deviation magnitude is reduced by 70%.
    
  • Shooting at ships in fog triples the deviation magnitude.
    
  • Various WeatherEffects can increase the deviation magnitude. For example, dawn doubles the deviation magnitude when shooting from left to right, and night doubles it under all conditions.

  
  OptimumRange has no effect on these calculations and is only used by the AI to position its ships.
  
  JitterMerge works by taking the previous deviation and mixing it with the new deviation. So if the jitterMerge is 0.5, the final deviation will be half the newly calculated one and half the previous one. This means that weapons like Gatling guns have their deviation drift around rather than being completely different each time, which would look odd.

• You can get a basic feeling for ranges in the game from this post: https://steamcommunity.com/app/342560/discussions/0/1620600279669940573/#c1620600279671467210 ; The height of the scrollable world is 2500 pixels=360m, the deployment area has a height of 1600 pixels=230m). So 7 pixels represent 1 m. I've also figured out the size of tiles: each tile has a size of 16x16 pixels (which might also explains the 16 in the accuracy formula), which equals 2.3 x 2.3 meters.The deployment zone, measured from ground level (not underground level) to top is 100 tiles = 1600 pixels = 230 meters. The height of the scrollable world is 156 tiles.
  
• There is no information available on how projectiles strike their target. This is my guess, based on subjective impressions: The projectile travels to it's target pixel (determined as described above). If the target pixel (+ blast radius?) overlaps with the targeted ship/vehicle/building when the projectile arrives at its target pixel (projectiles do have different speeds...)*, the projectile hits and inflicts damage to the module/armor (note this does not need to be identical with the module that has been targeted). If the target pixel (+ blast radius?) does not overlap with the targeted ship/vehicle/building when the projectile arrives at the target pixel, the projectile misses. In this case the projectile sprite will simply disappear (in case of bullets) or explode with a smaller animation (in case of explosive weapons). Note that a projectile cannot deal damage to a ship/vehicle/building that has not been targeted (in case of explosive weapons, I'm not sure).
  
• Here is a list of modifiers that affect targeting behaviour (also see the quote above with the dev's explanation):
  
  • crow's nest 0.1 (stacks with telescope and targeting computer)
    
  • telescope 0.3 (stacks with crow's nest and targeting computer)
    
  • targeting computer 0.3 (stacks with crow's nest and telescope)
    
  • Weather effects are explained by the dev above; The weather-effect files feature "JitterMult"-entries: dusk: "shootToLeftJitterMult": 2, dawn: "shootToRightJitterMult": 2, night: "shootJitterMult": 2, storm: "shootJitterMult": 1.5.
    
  • fire mode, according to a developer's quote:

    Aimed: +50% reload time, 50% reduction in shot offset. Rapid: -25% reload time, +100% increase in shot offset. Shot offset modifiers are multiplied with the modifier from targeting modules, not added.

  
  
  -----
  * Often you will see projectiles fired by the same type of weapon travel at at different speeds. There seems to be a standard speed variation range for each shot. You can tell because some weapon-modules have entries on maximum and minimum speed, one also has a smaller variation (grape shot cannon).
  
  sidenote - Edge-targeting: Note that individual weapons will only fire at those tiles of an enemy ship that are in their arc of fire. This can be used in order to target specific parts of enemy ships: If you bring your ship into a position so that its weapons have only a part of the enemy ship in their arc, they will fire at that part. Unless you have very manoeverable ships and/or your opponents' ships are very slow, this is rather hard to pull off though. But perhaps it's something to consider for ship design: the edge-areas of a ship are more vulnerable as they can be intentionally targeted. A streamlined, rounded design can reduce the dangers of this tactic (as you offer more tiles of your ships to your enemy from all angles).
  
  on AOE/splash damage:
  

  19) AoE only occurs when the shot itself hits. There's still a visible explosion for most explosive weapons when they miss, but it doesn't do any damage.

  
  
  RELOADING
  
  • Each weapon has an individual reloading time after each shot. The reloading process is indicated by a small yellow bar.
    
  • A non-depleted clip needs to be present to allow a weapon to reload a shot. Clips need to be transported from the ammo storage to the weapon. Note that the resupply of ammo is only initiated once the weapon has fired and requested new ammo - ammo runs are not conducted in anticipation, but only when the need has already kicked in. So the distance between the weapon and the ammo store matters a lot. The ammo-run will be carried out by any crewmember that is currently waiting at an ammo storage.
    
  • Usually, a clip equals 1 ammo. So, a sailor needs to go for the ammo storage (whose supply is reduced by 1) to fetch a clip and bring it back to the weapon. Some larger weapons' clips require more ammo though: imperial cannon, aerial torpedo --> 2 ammo per clip; giant flamethrower, massive rockets --> 4 ammo per clip. In these cases, the sailors need to make several supply runs (in each run, they can only bring 1 ammo).
    
  • Weapons' clips contain an individual number of shots. E.g. for most guns, clips contain only 1 shot, so a new clip needs to be transported to the weapon after each shot. For smaller or "special" weapons, especially those with a very high rate of fire, clips contain more shots (e.g. flamethrower: 100 shots/clip, gatling: 50 shots/clip, musket: 12 shots/clip). So they can shoot several times before a new clip needs to be transported from the ammo storage to the weapon.
    
  • Effects of fire modes, according to a quote of the developer:

  • fire mode, according to a developer's quote:

    Aimed: +50% reload time, 50% reduction in shot offset. Rapid: -25% reload time, +100% increase in shot offset. Shot offset modifiers are multiplied with the modifier from targeting modules, not added.

  [/quote]

DAMAGE & DESTRUCTION
some introductory remarks

• ADJACENCY (I): A module only comes with its full HP if it is adequatetly embedded into the ship, i.e. if it has neighbouring tiles for at least 50% of its "exterior" tiles - note that diagonal neighbours don't count for this purpose. For any missing tile, the module suffers a HP malus. To see the effects, check out the HP-overlay in the ship editor and observe how the hitpoints of modules change when you place other modules around them. Also note that some module-types count less for this calculation (e.g. struts, brass pipes, etc). IMPORTANT: The adjancency malus is updated during battles! So, when modules get completely destroyed, chain-reactions might occur, as neighbouring modules might suffer an adjacency malus. Basically, this means that modules that are located on the exterior of your ship (modules that have fewer neighbouring tiles) are more vulnerable. Remember that it can also matter how much blows neighbouring tiles can take without getting completely destroyed. Very fragile modules (e.g. struts) might not provide a reliable, lasting protection, whereas modules of the category "shape" are very handy (and can be armored!).
  
• ADJACNECY (II): Modules that have no neightbouring tile in at least one adjacent, non-diagonal slot can get completely destroyed and dissolve (and thereby creating adjacency maluses) if they suffer excessive damage (see below). Modules that have neighbours in all their adjacent slots do not dissolve.
  
• STRUCURAL INTEGRITY: Above a certain weight limit (3500), the modules on an airship start to suffer from a HP-malus, called "structural integrity" malus. Keels counter this malus.
  
• KEELS, FIGUREHEADS, BOWS: Figureheads, keels and bows can be used to increase the HP of your ships' modules - Check out the HP-overlay in the design editor and see the effects on your ship's modules. It seems as if the bigger/more tiles/more HP a module, the bigger the share it gets from the additional HP provided by keels, figureheads and bows. Just as mantioned above for adjacency, the bonus provided by keels, figureheads and bows disappears if they get destroyed, potentially causing chain reactions in your ship. Naturally, the fewer modules you have in general, the more bonus HP each one will receive.
  
• sidenote: Modules that are impassable for crewmembers (e.g. dust tank baloons, shapes/filler blocks, keels, etc) cannot be repaired.

• A weapon can either inflict penetration or blast damage (or, in rare cases, both). Weapons that deal blast damage have a blast-range, so that they can affect several tiles at once.
  
• When a weapon hits a tile which still has armor left, the armor's HP gets reduced by (damage - armor absorption). Note that damage and armor absorption depend on the type of damage (penetration, blast).
  
• When a weapon hits a tile which has no armor left, then the damage is applied directly to the module. Likewise, if a tile's armor gets reduced to 0 by a hit, then the remaining damage is inflicted to the module.
  
• E.g. a cannon ball (dmg = 40 penetration) hits a tile which is covered in (still unscratched) steel-wall armor (penetration absorption 3, HP 27). The absorption will absorb 3 dmg, 27 dmg will be applied to the armor itself, which is enough to completely destroy it and still deal the remaining 20dmg to the module underneath the armor.
  
• Note that projectiles that deal penetration damage can only hit the ship they were targeted at (such a projectile will never deal damage to a ship it wasn't aimed at). Projectiles that deal blast damage, however, can deal damage even to ships they were not aimed at.
  
• Some weapons also inflict "direct damage" (e.g. acid spitters). These ignore all armor absorption and always deal full damage. Note that the damage is still inflicted on any remaining armor first, not directly to the module underneath the armor.
  
  
• Damage status, visualisation of tiles
  
  • If the module is shown in bright colors without HP-bar - The module still has more than 50% of its hitpoints left.
    
  • If the module is shown in bright colors with HP-bar - The module has less than 50% of its hitpoints left (unless it is repaired in which case you can see HP-bars that are filled above 50% filled. In this state, the module can be repaired (if it is accessible - non-accessible modules such as shapes cannot be repaired). Note that you will see a little line on the HP-bar. This indicates the threshold, how much HP the module can win back if it gets repaired.
    
  • If the module is shown in dark colors/black without HP-bar - The module is below 0 hitpoints. It can still be accessed by your crew (ladders do still work) but will no longer function in any other way.
    
  • If the module explodes in a small explosion - The module has been reduced to below -40% (number not confirmed) of it's maximum hitpoints. It is now completely destroyed, can no longer be accessed, has no more colision box, and does no longer provide adjacency to neighbouring tiles. IMPORTANT: Only modules that lack a neighbouring tile in at least one of their (non-diagonal) adjacent slots can dissolve/explode in this way. If all its non-diagonal adjacent slots are occupied, a module will not dissolve.
    
  • The condition of armor is always visualised too (scratches and holes start to appear on the tile's armor)
• Most modules have a fire threshold, which is invisible to the player. Everytime a module whose HP are already below the fire threshold takes damage, there is a CHANCE for it to catch fire (see fire).
  
• Some modules, particularly ammunition, have an explosion threshold, which is not indicated in any way in the game. If a module whose HP are already below the explosion threshold takes damage, it will (have a chance to?) explode after a very short time in which you will see some sparkles flying around. If it explodes, it deals explosion damage (the amount depends on the module-type) to surrounding modules. Note that the explosion effects are not symmetrical in most cases (one direction is harder than others). You can which tiles will be affected by explosion damage in the explosion-damage overlay in the ship-editor. Considering explosion damage is a major concern, as chain-reactions caused by an explosions can easily trigger catastrophic chain reactions.

CREW DAMAGE AND OTHER CREW-RELATED STUFF (also see "Boarding")
Presumably, whenever a projectile's destination pixel (/+ blast radius) overlaps with the hitbox of a crewmember that is not protected by armor (pay attention to exterior modules such as decks!), it gets hit by the weapon (I'm pretty sure that in this case the module is spared - so an unlucky crewmember sometimes serves as a wall of human flesh! :D ). All crew/soldier models have hitpoints (sailor, soldier, marines, arachnids, pirates have 5 HP, grenadiers and guards have 6). Also, all types have an entry "minimum HP to work", which is 3 for all types. I assume that this is the threshold when a soldier gets wounded (and can be carried off to the sickbay to heal).

So, the hitpoints of all soldier models are very low - so low, actually, that I suppose the instances in which they get wounded (as opposed to killed) are relatively rare. Most weapons' damage is way above 5 or 6. However, injuries can occur in man-to-man combat (the soldier types that inflict the highest damage are the grenadiers and the guards, both deal 6 dmg), in airplane-attacks (biplanes deal 4 damage), when very weal weapon modules hit (rifles deal 5 damage) or maybe also when the more powerfull weapon modules strike through armor (e.g. weapon deals a total of 25 dmg, armor soaks up 20 before it is destroyed --> remaining 5 are dealt to a crew member?).

I suppose that while crew can get hit by chance, only a few weapons will actively aim for crew members (at short ranges). Maybe this is even limited to soldiers who have the ability to board, but I'm not sure on that one. For a list of weapons that can target soldiers please refer to the first bullet point in the section "boarding" below.*

When designing ships, remember that tiles do differ in terms of movement speed. For example, a deck might expose sailors to enemy fire (no armor!), but it allows them to move much faster than a corridor. From my observations, I get the impression that sailors always opt for the fastest, not the safest route.



FIRE

• There is a chance that a module takes fire everytime it takes damage while its HP are already below its fire threshold. According to cataclysm, the chances are: "blast damage 99% chance, penetration damage is something like 75% chance". This means that small arms, with a high rate of fire (gatlings, rifles, deck guns), can cause havoc (start fires in very short intervals) on an already battled ship?
  
• The chance to take fire might be reduced by weather conditions.
  
• Fires ignore armor. They deal damage directly to modules.
  
• While burning, fire slowly eats up a module's HP.
  
• Burning modules are still functionable.
  
• There is a chance (?conditions?) that modules that are path-adjacent (fire spreads along the paths of a ship) to burning modules also catch fire. NOTE: Since the new module "fire door" does not have any specific entry (it just features a "fire HP" of 0), I assume that fire can only spread to modules that are flammable (have a "fire HP" greater than 0).
  
• Fire may injure your crew (?how exactly?).

EXPLOSIONS

• Some modules can explode. These modules have an "explosion" threshold that works the same as the fire threshold described above. Everytime a module that can explode and whose hitpoints are already below its "explosion threshold" takes damage, there is a chance that it will explode. If it is going to explode, you will see white sparkles flying around and then, 1 second or so later, a huge explosion. The exploding module will deal damage (according to its "explosion damage") to (all?) adjacent modules and be destroyed. Note that you can check the "explosion overlay" in the ship-designer.

BOARDING & TROOPS

• Small arms (muskets, rifles, gatlings, grape shot cannon), certain large guns (flak, deck gun) as well as flamethrowers (both the normal and the large one) each have an individual range in which they will fire at boarders and squadrons. Flamethrowers, muskets and rifles also have some modifier on accuracy when targeting troops and squadrons (2 for flamethrower, 7 for muskets and rifles). I suppose that this makes them LESS accurate against troops (otherwise they would always hit, see the formula in the section on "Targeting and hitting" above).
  
• EXTERIOR POSITIONS: For the parts following below, you need to understand what an exterior position is, as boarders can only jump off from exterior positions and can only enter an enemy ship through exterior positions: The following tiles are exterior positions: 1) tiles that have no more armor left, 2) supply hatches and cargo doors, 3) decks [except for the new crenellation deck], including deck-guns, 4) airplane hangars, 5) accessible struts (if the path leads into your ship...)
  
  In addition, boarders can also climb the outside of ships - you will notice that you can see them in the "outside view" and their faces will be turned away from you. Troopers who are climbing the outside of ships are also considered to be in an exterior position. But in order to enter the interior of the ship, they will need to find a deck/cargo door/hole in the armor/hangar/struts.
  
• I suppose that boarding troopers can only be targeted by weapon-modules if they're in an exterior position, or are in the process of moving over to their target (see boarding methods below; jumping/grapple-hooking/flying).
  
• 1) PREPARE THE BOARDING: If you have troops with a boarding ability on your ship, you can give your ship the "board ship" order. If you click on it, green lines will show up left and right of your ship, which give you an idea of the horizontal jump range of your troops. Note that grenadiers come with grappling hooks and have a greater range because of that (and also are less likely to miss their jump...). Boarders will be able to jump over to an enemy ship that is IN BETWEEN and/or below these two lines. Grenadiers can also grapple-hook upwards. To confirm the boarding order, you need to click on an enemy ship. What will happen now is that your boarding parties will move into exterior positions (see above), preferably onto decks. (REMARK: It seems as if they go for the "higher" option - e.g. if you have several decks on your ship, the boarders will choose the top deck as their jump-off point) Note that giving a ship a boarding order will not move the ship. So, if the target ship is not within jumping range of your boarders, no boarding will take place yet - you still need to move your ship into range.
  
• 2) TRIGGER THE BOARDING: If you've given a ship a boarding order and any of your boarding troops are within range of the boarding target (see boarding methods, below) or a ship that leads to the target and in an exterior position, they will move over to that ship. Huzzah! So remember that your troopers might move over to another ship if they perceive that they can move on to the targeted ship from there. If you're not carefull, this might lead to undesirable results, e.g. your troopers jumping to a ship that's bound to explode, or is moving away from the targeted ship.
  
• 3) THE BOARDING PROCESS: If a boarding trooper landed on an enemy ship, he will first try to get into the ship. He can enter the enemy ship's interior through any exterior position (see above). Note that troopers can move around on the outside of the ship (see exterior positions above) to find an entry point. Once inside, boarders will roam the enemy ship, with a priority for cockpits and bridges, weapon modules and propulsion modules. (..fighting process, guards...) In this stage, sailors will fight the boarders (while fighting, a sailor cannot man a module?).
  
• 4) TAKING OVER: [NOTE: Spiders do not take over ships, they just try to murder everyone] If boarding troops manage to take control over all cockpits/bridges of the enemy ship, it is now under control of the boarders. The boarding player can now control the ship as if it was one of his. Any of the formerly defending sailors on the ship will stop resisting. However, they only perform certain duties: outing out fires, manning lift-modules. They will no longer man weapons or carry ammo. These tasks now need to be taken over by the boarders themselves, who can now additionally act as crew members to man weapons, cockpits/bridges and carry ammo.
  
• Note that you can have your boarding troops capture one ship after the other. If you capture a ship, you can start another boarding action from the captured ship.
  
• Note that you cannot target one of your own ships for boarding (e.g. in order to rescue boarders from a heavily damaged ship). But you can make use of the pathfinding described in the point above (2) trigger the boarding).
  
• BOARDING METHODS: Different kinds of boarding troops use different kinds of boarding methods: 1) Ordinary air marines can only jump over to ships. For this they need to be located above their target (they cannot jump upwards). Also, their jumping range is rather short and if they miss (e.g. because the target moves away while they're jumping), they fall to their death. 2) Grenadiers come with a grappling hook, which increases their boarding range and also allows them to board ships that are above them. Also, they cannot "miss" their target. 3) Air dragoons come with suspendium backpacks and will fly over to their target. Their range seems to be unlimited, but they fly rather slowly (so be carefull when you give the order to board!). 4) Spiders behave like marines, but it seems as if they can jump upwards a bit.
  
• (...)
  
  
• TROOP BEHAVIOUR It seems as if any troops of a ship which have no active "boarding order" prioritize first any "guard posts" and then, secondly, the crucial modules (modules have an entry "recommended guards"). It's often hard to tell where troopers are since several sprites usually overlap each other. NOTE: If troops have an active boarding order, guard posts are kept occupied! Only troopers who are guarding crucial modules leave their positions and proceed to external positions in order to board.
  
• Maybe some interesting official info here: http://www.java-gaming.org/index.php?PHPSESSID=s6bpd9uhpgncdq6r3o6pedck41&topic=32226.msg322597#msg322597

MANOEUVERING

• The higher the current altitude of your ship, the more it "wobbles" in the air (moves up and down).
  
• Allegedly, the "height" (number of rows) of your airship negatively affects its speed. To make a fast ship, make it slender/thin and extend its length rather than its height. You should check out the info in the ship-designer.
  
• Diagonal movement: It's really hard to predict the movement path of a ship ordered to move diagonally. This can be a real problem, as it can trigger unintentional "evasive manoevres" which will halt all movement. My impression is that there are two ways in which ships will react to a diagonal movement order: 1) true diagonal movement - the ship moves in a direct line from its current position to the new position, 2) L shaped movement - the ship first moves horizontally (with a very tiny vertical movement prior to this), and only then vertically. Now, you need to test which ship uses which kind of movement. Generally speaking: the faster (propulsion) the ship and the greater the vertical component of the order (in relation to the horizontal component), the more likely it is that the ship will move diagonally. The slower the ship and the greater the horizontal component in relation to the vertical component, the more likely it will move in an L-shape. These observations are independent of the ship's facing.
  
• Speed of ascending and descending: All ships have the same speed for ascending and descending. It is neither influenced by lift, propulsion nor ship weight. Perceived differences in a/descending speed stem from the fact that airships constantly wobble around in the air and there is some inertia. So, for example, a ship that was already wobbling "upwards" will seem to react faster to an ascend-order than a ship that was wobbling "downwards" and has to reverse its direction first.
  
• In order to change its facing a ship needs to be (almost) stationary on the horizontal plane.If you order a ship to change its facing AND include a horizontal movement in the same order, then the ship will always conduct the movement "forwards", i.e. with its nose in the direction of the horizontal movement. Accordingly, the ship will change its facing before or after the horizontal movement. [NOTE: OUTDATED - you can now order a ship to flip before or after the movment takes place!]
  
• (...)
  DEVELOPER'S QUOTE ON HORIZONTAL vs. VERTICAL MOVEMENT:

  29) It counts equally moving forwards and backwards. Vertical movement is handled differently, because that's done by adjusting Suspendium chamber output power.

  ANOTHER DEV QUOTE:

  turning speed [i.e. how fast a ship can flip] is also based on ship speed

RAMMING & OTHER COLLISIONS

• For the ramming command, the same rules as for the movement command apply (see above, "manoevering"). The most important implication: You need to start your ramming manoeuvre at the correct height. Any vertical movement that is included in your command will only be carried out once the final horizontal desination has been reached.
  
• I don't think that ramming damage ignores armor. But I'm not sure whether it deals an ordinary type of (absorbable) damage (penetration/blast) or unabsorbable direct damage.
  
• Judging from the dev-quote below, ramming damage is calculated like this: You take the relative speed of the opposing ships (if they are approaching each other, e.g. you would add their speeds, if they're moving in the same direction, you'd substract it, etc.) and square the result (²) to get the total damage that your ship will deal. I suppose that the same method is used to calculate damage for vertical movement (ships falling down on stuff...). The total damage is evenly distributed among all the modules that touch the enemy ship. So, e.g. if you deal a total of 100 damage and two modules make contact, each module would inflict 50 damage on the enemy module (what if it touches several modules?) it touches. Some modules get a special multiplier on ramming damage. This might either be handled by the "isRam" entry or by the "hardness" entry in the files (regarding hardness, most rams have a hardness of 2-2.5, while squishy stuff like slopes, domes, decorations have a hardness of only 0.2). Also, some modules can be resistant against ramming (dragons have the entry: "collisionDamageReceivedMult": 0.2). Modding-note to self: Create a mod that applies this to "domes". Should give things a better protection from stuff that falls on them from above...
  
• (...) I have lots of questions, but these things are hard to test in singleplayer battles. How do ships behave when they push against each other - vertically and horizontally? How to disentangle ships (often, when contact has been made, ships seem to glue together...)? You can sometimes prevent that from happening if you ram hard enough, which will push away the enemy ship even after contact. Etc., etc. Also, a major question for ramming is whether the "lack of adjacent squares"-malus on module-hitpoints is updated live. My observations tell me it is, but I'm not 100% sure - if one module gets destroyed, do neighbouring modules suffer a hit to their HP as a result of this? I think I've seen chain reactions that can only be explained by this.
  
  DEVELOPER-QUOTES:
  

  When a ship collides with another ship or a floating rock or the ground, damage is calculated on the basis of the square of the relative speed, and evenly distributed to all tiles that are colliding. So the narrower the collision area, the more of the damage is dealt to the tiles. Rams have a damage multiplier of 2, and spike rams of 2.5. Some modules, like dragons, take reduced damage from collisions.

  
  

  They're [ships that get entangled in each other] stuck to each other if they're trying to move into each other instead of away from each other. This can be due to engines, or it can be because one is being pulled down by gravity onto the other one.

AIRPLANES (husars, biplanes, triplanes, bombers, air dragoons)
Note: When I say airplane, I mean husars/triplanes/biplanes/bombers, when I say ship, I mean ordinary battle ships.

• At the start of the battle, all airplanes automatically take off and start to attack the closest enemy ship or enemy airplanes. The player does not have any control over airplanes. Also, I can't quite tell how the game decides how many and which airplanes attack enemy airplanes, and how many an enemy ship. It's pretty obvious though that the airplanes of a carrier take note when their carrier gets attacked (=actually comes under fire) by enemy airplanes - a large part of the airplanes usually turn around to help out their carrier.
  
• When attacking an enemy ship, attack airplanes (husars, biplanes, triplanes) will fly at the height of the target, pass by with their rifle blazing, turn around and repeat. I guess they have the same targeting priority as rifles? Bombers fly in the same way (right and left), but above the target in order to drop their bombs (similarly to a bomb bay). It seems as if all airplanes have unlimited ammo (I was able to count 17 bombs being dropped by a bomber in a single shift before the battle ended).
  TIP: When designing a ship, keep in mind that even a rear weapon can be usefull in case of an airplane-attack.
  
• Small arms (muskets, rifles, gatlings, grape shot cannon), certain large guns (flak, deck gun) as well as flamethrowers (both the normal and the large one) each have an individual range in which they will fire at enemy airplanes. Here are the ranges for the current version of the game (August 21, 2018): flak 750, rifle 400, musket 300, gatling 250, grape shot cannon 200, deck gun 200, both flamethrowers 200. Flamethrowers, muskets and rifles also have some modifier on accuracy when targeting troops and squadrons (2 for flamethrower, 7 for muskets and rifles). I'm not sure if it is a bonus or malus.
  
• Also, air husars, triplanes and biplanes can attack other airplanes.
  
• Airplanes have no coal/fuel, but will return to their carrier when they have lost some amount of their hitpoints (this is individual per airplane-type). Note that their spirte changes to the "damaged" version. They will generate lost health while pausing on their carrier (you will see some green sparks). Air husars (15 total HP) and bombers (30 HP) take one second to heal a single HP, bi- (15HP) and triplanes (19HP) take 2 seconds per healed HP. When fully healed up, airplanes will automatically lift off again and continue their attack.
  
• There are three types of attack airplanes . You can get an idea here or look up the exact values (game data/crew types). I noted that biplanes and triplanes can either fire a frontal rifle or a heck rifle (which has a very short range), but not both at the same time.
  
• Airplanes do NOT disappear when their hangar gets destroyed.
  
• I observed that airplanes seem to target decks - this seems special to me as ordinary weapon modules don't aim for structural modules?

LAND COMBAT

• (...)

[Wenzel]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1494873147

So I've built a "target baitor" ship. It has four muskets around its body (marked with rondels, the lower left one is already missing in the screenshot). In this test, I descended into the fire arc of the fortress-gun at very close range. And voila: The lower left rondel (already missing) was always targeted by the cannon. The explanation seems to be that this was the first to enter the fire arc of the gun. And the gun kept shooting at it until it was destroyed (which left my rocket bay at the nose unharmed). Once it was destroyed, the gun switched to a new target, but I've not really noticed a pattern yet. Sometimes it was the lower right bait-musket, sometimes the propulsion, sometimes the lift. I've also tried different types of armor, and it didn't seem to make any difference. So you can armor your baitor-spots in order to make them survive longer.

Next I will see what happens when two enemy guns are active. (Surprisingly, the enemy rilfe in the top row of the fortress clearly changed its target from time to time).

The screenshot also shows the target of my rocket bay. As my ship descended, the rear part of the fortress came into my fire arc first.

Another thing which seems to be quite clear to me by now is that ascending/descending is not considered when weapons lead their targets - only lateral movement.

PS:Here is a list of modules I placed at the edge to see whether they're targeted:

YES: weapon modules, coal storage, prpulsion modules (tested a propeller),

NO: all structural modules (didn't even test them), all shapes & deco modules (didn't test these either), supply hatches,

[Aereto]

PS:Here is a list of modules I placed at the edge to see whether they're targeted:

YES: weapon modules, coal storage, prpulsion modules (tested a propeller),

NO: all structural modules (didn't even test them), all shapes & deco modules (didn't test these either), supply hatches, [/quote]

They also target command modules such as cockpits and bridges, as do accuracy improvement modules. I say this mainly from my observations while pitting my designs against each other and while on Conquest mode.

And bisecting a unit so that the top half falls into the bottom half tends to result in breaking the bottom into two unless the keels are on top and can support such a mass on it... or the structures being crushed by the falling structure survives from the stress put unto them.

[Wenzel]

Originally posted by Aereto:

They also target command modules such as cockpits and bridges, as do accuracy improvement modules. I say this mainly from my observations while pitting my designs against each other and while on Conquest mode.

Hey, yes. I haven't finished the list yet. Also, I was wrong with supply hatches. They do seem to be targeted. I think it's plausible to assume that it works on a module-class basis anyway. Also, I've seen some re-targeting when I increased the distance. I will report back if I think I can see some pattern. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the "optimum range" entry. For example: the cannon has an optimum range of 400 pixels. The enemy cannon's target switched from my 1 tile "bait" module to a bigger module if the range was increased to what must have been 400 pixels. When I increased the cannon's optimum range to 4000, the enemy gun kept firing at my small bait module even at longer distances. I still need to do more experiments...Increasing the size of the bait module didn't make the cannon's target stick to it at longer ranges.

And bisecting a unit so that the top half falls into the bottom half tends to result in breaking the bottom into two unless the keels are on top and can support such a mass on it... or the structures being crushed by the falling structure survives from the stress put unto them.

Hm ramming and falling, or more generally speaking collision damge, is still one of the biggest riddles to me. From what you say I get it that only the exterior/in-contact modules get damaged, which is certainly also true when you ram ships. The question is how much a falling or ramming object can preserve its speed and ram into consecutive tiles. And also if all modules suffer an equal amount of falling damage or if damage is spread out the greater the area of contact? The "breaking in two" could simply be a result of the adjacency maluses kicking in when a whole row of modules gets destroyed? But that's all wild speculation. As always :)

[Wenzel]

I'm not in the mood to continue target testing as it is quite tedious. Maybe the developer is willing to provide some information? :)

However, I used my comprehensive Python knowledge (lol) to quickly calculate some distances that might be interesting:

Let's assume that the aim of a weapon is always centered on one tile of the targeted module. If that's true, the deviation of a shot must not exceed 8 pixels (1/2) in either direction in order to hit that tile (assuming the target stays stationary and does not wobble around in the air). Now here are the distances at which the projectiles' deviation cannot exceed 8 pixels, taking into account the weapon's inaccuracy:

As randomness plays a big role, you need to know that these values are based on a rather accurate shot (picked the random gaussian number +/-0.5). For an inaccurate shot (e.g. gaussian number = 1), you'd need to half all distances accordingly.

Ordered from least to most accurate:

• musket 201 pixels = 28 meters = 12.5 tiles
  
• gatling 201 pixels = 28 meters = 12.5 tiles
  
• grenades 201 pixels = 28 meters = 12.5 tiles
  
• massive rockets 334 pixels = 48 meters = 21 tiles
  
• rockets 401 pixels = 57 meters = 25 tiles
  
• imperial cannon 455 pixels = 65 meters = 28 tiles
  
• grape cannon 501 pixels = 72 meters = 31 tiles
  
• deckgun 501 pixels = 72 meters = 31 tiles
  
• bombs 589 pixels = 84 meters = 37 tiles = 37 tiles
  
• dorsal/ventral turret 626 pixels = 89 meters = 39 tiles
  
• heavy turret 626 pixels = 89 meters= 39 tiles
  
• cannon 715 pixels = 102 meters = 45 tiles
  
• heavy cannon 834 pixels = 119 meters = 52 tiles
  
• rifle 834 pixels = 119 meters = 52 tiles
  
• flak 1001 pixels = 143 meters = 63 tiles
  
• Torpedo 1251 pixels = 179 meters = 78 tiles

[Panda V4]

I wish i could upvote threads on Steam. So much useful information here.

[Admiral Obvious]

Originally posted by Panda V4:

I wish i could upvote threads on Steam. So much useful information here.

Can't upvote threads, but you can put this thread into a guide. It tends to stick around since there's so few of them.

[Wenzel]

I've made some small updates.

The open questions I'd be most interested in:

1) If a module makes contact/rams two enemy modules, does it apply its full ramming damage to both modules, does one module suffer all the damage or does the damage get split up on both modules?

2) Is "hardness" the ramming damage multiplier? If not, what does it do (suspicion: shock absorption/speed reduction modifier when it gets destroyed in a ramming action?). Is "isRam" the ramming damage multiplier? Or is it tech-related and obsolete (like "isGun" entries).

3) I'm at a total loss when it comes to ships getting stuck on each other. It seems that the slightest point of contact glues two ships together forever. Maybe I'm missing something. An explanation of how ships behave when they overlap would be highly, highly appreciated. I can't seem to dis-entangle ships at all, which turns dedicated ramming ships into a non-option.

4) When it comes to ramming, I'm also uncertain how all the odd shapes and decorations are handled. Is ramming calculated using the 16x16 px module boxes, or the actual shapes (ignoring transparent pixels in the spritesheet...)? And if a module gets destroyed, how much speed does it take away from the ramming ship? If you have enough speed, can you push "deeper" into the enemy ship and destroy multiple modules?

5) Manoeuvre: If you give a movement order that involves both x and y movement, is there a way to predict whether a ship will move diagonally or in an L shape?

EDIT: Why have I found this only now?
https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-module-kit/tutorials/acts-module-string-reference-guide