[rubixcube]

Does anyone know if there's an easy way to make slash beams more accurate while still maintaining the effect? OR does that require a code change?

[Droid803]

Give them a longer duration and they'll slash slower IIRC.
For the most part they're fine.
IMO, they're supposed "inaccuracy" is much exaggerated.

[soilder198]

Give them a longer duration and they'll slash slower IIRC.
For the most part they're fine.
IMO, they're supposed "inaccuracy" is much exaggerated.

Greatly exaggerated

[Dragon]

Yeah, slashers are inaccurate only compared to other beams, and even then, not by much. As a matter of fact, they're pretty much guaranteed to hit the target, the only question being for how long. Fiddling with miss values and adding longer lifetime may help here.

[Arpit]

Or you could open the mission in FRED and totally script the beam using fire-beam-at-coordinates. (there are two arguments which control the path of slash.) But then it won't be natural.  (Or perhaps somebody could create a script using this and get-object SEXPs)

[rubixcube]

what exactly governs where the beam slash starts and ends?

[Droid803]

rng

game picks two (random) points on opposite sides of the model and moves the beam between the two, I think.
someone who has looked into the slashbeam code more could probably answer with more technical details.

[Klaustrophobia]

i'm nearly certain i somewhere read once that it starts at one corner of the target "box" and sweeps to the other. 

[Spoon]

Give them a longer duration and they'll slash slower IIRC.
For the most part they're fine.
IMO, they're supposed "inaccuracy" is much exaggerated.

Greatly exaggerated

It really sorta depends on what the shape of the target is and what direction the beam decides to go in.
I mean, 75% of the damage can be completely lost when it cuts vertically on for example a raynor.

[Mongoose]

I've seen many a time when a slash beam manages to catch only a random spike or antenna on a ship, with most of the path flying over empty space.

[Droid803]

I've seen many a time when a slash beam manages to catch only a random spike or antenna on a ship, with most of the path flying over empty space.

I've seen that happen with direct fire beams as well - it aims towards an antennae or something near the rear of a ship, and then the target moves slightly and the beam misses entirely. Its common to all beam type weapons, not just slash beams.

Give them a longer duration and they'll slash slower IIRC.
For the most part they're fine.
IMO, they're supposed "inaccuracy" is much exaggerated.

Greatly exaggerated

It really sorta depends on what the shape of the target is and what direction the beam decides to go in.
I mean, 75% of the damage can be completely lost when it cuts vertically on for example a raynor.

Hell no. This is the sort of exaggeration I'm talking about. It's nowhere near 75% lost - the beam's slash speed is adjusted to the profile of the target. Going horizontally doesn't really increase uptime as the beam moves faster across the target. It always goes from one end to the other in the beam's lifetime. It's fairly consistent on most things unless the target in question has weird protrusions and hollow portions - of which direct fire beams will have an equally difficult time connecting (if the target is moving even slightly).

[rubixcube]

Still, sustained damage for direct fire beams is somewhat higher. Shame there's no easy way to change how for the beam slashes

[FUBAR-BDHR]

Wondering if no subsystem targeting would help with the shooting at objects away from the hull causing some of the missing. 

[NGTM-1R]

Wondering if no subsystem targeting would help with the shooting at objects away from the hull causing some of the missing.

Irrelevant, sweep is from vertex to vertex at random.