[starfox]

I was surfing around the HLP site, when I found the picture of planetary defence cannon aparently firing from the surface of the planet. So how is this possible, or was the image "doctored". It look real though...

So, is it possible to create a planetary defence beam cannon, that fires and destroys orbiting capital ships ? Even an "illusion" of the working gun would work on my case.

You could just hide a capship very far and give its beam weapon unlimited range, ordering it to fire on specific ships. This would give out impression that Beam is fired from the planet itself, not from the untargetable capship that's hiding against the planet

[karajorma]

Basically it's what you describe. Take a ship. Texture it with the invisible texture and have it fire an extended range beam whenever you want.

[Kie99]

Or just use a Mjolnir and arm it With BFGreen

[NGTM-1R]

Enter ungodly large number into posistional box in the direction of the planet, use a Mjolnir, make it stealth. You'd probably want to come up with a new beam for it to fire, something more powerful, since it make sense a groundbased installation would have more power available. Good results could probably be obtained by tinkering with the BFGreen's damage values.

[pyro-manic]

You'll probably want to shrink the muzzle glow as well - it'll look rather odd otherwise.

I tend to use mjolnir beams as defence cannons - the strange colour looks good, and marks it out as something other than a capship beam.

[aldo_14]

Anyone remember - on a similar note - the GTVX Focal Cannon (or named something like that)?  I remember it from the POTD on the VW FS page.

[pyro-manic]

Can't say I do. The big beams that stick in my mind are the Golgotha's main gun, the bow cannon of the MTD Auriga from Derelict (vivid memory of flying past an Aeolus cruiser as it gets vapourised from 8km away, as the Auriga rounds the planet), and some kind of experimental beam (a meson beam IIRC) involving a Zephyrus miner with a meson bomb attached to the back of it. I think it was used to kill a Sath...

[starfox]

I see, thank you all for your advice. I think I can come into something....

[Mad Bomber]

Originally posted by pyro-manic
Can't say I do. The big beams that stick in my mind are the Golgotha's main gun, the bow cannon of the MTD Auriga from Derelict (vivid memory of flying past an Aeolus cruiser as it gets vapourised from 8km away, as the Auriga rounds the planet), and some kind of experimental beam (a meson beam IIRC) involving a Zephyrus miner with a meson bomb attached to the back of it. I think it was used to kill a Sath...

The experimental Zephyrus-beam was the Gorgon Cannon, from Derelict. It was used to successfully destroy a couple Shivan cruisers and the Ravana-class SD Azathoth, before the meson reaction lost containment and the cannon was destroyed.

[pyro-manic]

That's the one. I really should play Derelict again....

[Trivial Psychic]

Originally posted by aldo_14
Anyone remember - on a similar note - the GTVX Focal Cannon (or named something like that)?  I remember it from the POTD on the VW FS page.

I recall seeing a screen of this device, cycling on the FreespaceWatch website from time to time.  In fact, I was just going there to make sure  I had the name correct, and guess what poped up in the image...

[StratComm]

Are the Shivans really that stupid?  Why on earth would a Sath charge headlong into what is plainly a giant focal ring for a cannon?  Or is this thing aimed directly at a node?

[Taristin]

There's definately green behind the sath. Looks like a node to me, but waay too far off in the distance to have the Sath come straight out of t, as such.

[Unknown Target]

It's a node.
And anyway, why don't you just make a planet model (since they're supported now), make a turret, make it invisible, and make that the beam's firing point?

[-Norbert-]

That looks like a beam (probably BFGreen) fired through severel of those repair stations.
I don't remember the name, but some of them are seen in the cutsceene about the colossus.

[Kie99]

GTI(Why I? wouldn't Dd be better?) Ganymede.

BTW that's several beams close together, the GTXD Gorgon actually had 4 elysiums with BFGreens set to fire at once as well.

[terren]

If your going to stick a planet based gun on a planet, why not give it a modle?  

and why should it need to be beams, Realy Huge fast pulse guns would work, and look realy impressive.  The first time atleast.