[Desert Tyrant]

 
Wait a minute, the Fusion Morter does more damage than a Lterslash?

[Mars]

I was wrong...

LTerSlash sustained damage / second:            149
Fusion Mortar damage / second:                         80

But given the realitive accuracies of these weapons, the Fusion Mortar isn't too far off.

The LTerSlash out ranges the Mortar by 1500 meters as well.

[Desert Tyrant]

Eh, its not like they can take down a ship on their own anyhow.... right?

[Commander Zane]

If you mount torpedoes or missiles on a capital ship, you need magazines.

Beams penetrate shields and armor and make stuff explode.

Magazines explode.

I think we have a good case for the lack of torpedoes.  Think about what a measly support ship does when it blows. 

Also think about the fact that we've already tried making these type of offensive beam weapons (Not the retarded ass anti-missile beam cannons) and they blew the testing installation they were in sky high after firing it once.

[Turey]

Also think about the fact that we've already tried making these type of offensive beam weapons (Not the retarded ass anti-missile beam cannons) and they blew the testing installation they were in sky high after firing it once.

We're not talking about now. We're talking about in FreeSpace. Beam Cannons don't cause explosions. Torpedoes, BY THEIR NATURE, explode.

[Desert Tyrant]

Meh, the torp think worked in Wing Commander, but then again, They didnt have Beam Cannons

[Mars]

Lets face it, beams are just cooler in the original graphics... now if somone could make a supersexy version of torpedos... maybe.

[General Battuta]

I'd love to see some shipkiller missiles almost the size of a fighter used in juggernaught combat.  Big, slow, and armored.  It'd be so much fun to fly interceptor duty against those. 

I think bombs are slow because, uh...they have to be carried on bombers, and...engines are big.  Maybe they don't have the mass to mount better drives?   

Freespace engine systems have always been wonky. 

[miskat]

Wait...when did anyone (private industry or government funded project) try to create a fully-blown BEAM cannon?  As in LASER weaponry?  I remember the Star Wars project and all that jazz, but that was, as you put it, just just a panzy anti-missile cannon... and if I remember, it didn't blow up.

I'd love to see an article.  Or something.

I mean, YES, a true beam weapon would generate a LOT of heat but I just don't see that as being an obstacle that modern cooling systems could not overcome.  The biggest boundary I see is energy.  I mean... everytime you fire the sucker you're going to owe the power company a bill the size of an entire residential blocks monthly power bill.

[General Battuta]

You know we have no idea what an actual Freespace beam is.

Though some kind of plasma weapon seems most likely, it wouldn't work in atmosphere at all. 

[Scooby_Doo]

Meh, the torp think worked in Wing Commander, but then again, They didnt have Beam Cannons

Quite possibly because they were fast and deadly 

[Agent_Koopa]

Wait...when did anyone (private industry or government funded project) try to create a fully-blown BEAM cannon?  As in LASER weaponry?  I remember the Star Wars project and all that jazz, but that was, as you put it, just just a panzy anti-missile cannon... and if I remember, it didn't blow up.

I'd love to see an article.  Or something.

I mean, YES, a true beam weapon would generate a LOT of heat but I just don't see that as being an obstacle that modern cooling systems could not overcome.  The biggest boundary I see is energy.  I mean... everytime you fire the sucker you're going to owe the power company a bill the size of an entire residential blocks monthly power bill.

I'm curious too.

[NGTM-1R]

The US Navy's had a working laser weapon capable of engaging orbital targets since the early 1990's. Big old thing, looks like a telescope almost. Just the Air Force has been vehemently opposed to testing it.

[Mars]

Wassit called?

[NGTM-1R]

I dunno the project name, I just know people who worked on it. My father actually had adminstrative control of the thing for a few years as a director of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. I used to have poster with the project team next to thing.

It's big, they designed it as a drop-in replacement for the Mk41 VLS on an AEGIS cruiser.

[Dysko]

I think cap ships should mount a large number of high-caliber, side mounted projectile cannons ("Revenge of the Sith" anyone?).

This would be an interesting mission: the player has to disable as much turrets as possible before the ships come in range.

Or, since IA ships don't roll, friendly ships could pass above the enemy ship...

[phatosealpha]

Eh.  Special Purpose torp ships, yes.  Just on general purpose ships, no.

It's just one of those things that they're hard to justify use of.  Torps get shot down.  Beams don't.  Torps run out - in all of freespacedom, not one beam weapon has simply run out of ammo.  Even if they were fusion based, or otherwise not prone to just explode cause they got shot, giving the enemy a chance to block your attack while at the same time giving your logistics train another commodity to worry about doesn't seem like a great idea.  Just put in a beam cannon where the torp launcher would be instead.

On specialist ships though, I can see a purpose.  Beam cannons have power requirements and cool down times, so using them for fast, hard first strikes isn't so great an idea.  You could, however, make something vette classed, with something like 8 or 10 torp launchers on either side and no other weapons, with the idea being to jump in, drop off it's entire payload as quickly as possible, and get the hell out of there.  Over the long haul, you're better off with beam weapons, but if all you want is the heaviest strike you can get then a quick exit stage left, torps could have a use.  Cruiser class probably wouldn't work though - for it to work, it has to be able to survive that first beam salvo, and that's not an easy trick for a cruiser up against something where a massive torp broadside would be appropriate.

[Wanderer]

Torps run out - in all of freespacedom, not one beam weapon has simply run out of ammo.  Even if they were fusion based, or otherwise not prone to just explode cause they got shot, giving the enemy a chance to block your attack while at the same time giving your logistics train another commodity to worry about doesn't seem like a great idea.  Just put in a beam cannon where the torp launcher would be instead.

Err... Colossus beams versus Sathanas I, the few Aeolus cruisers (or what they were) in one the multiplayer missions....

I think bombs are a good alternative for the beams but they should have some advantages over the beams for them to be used. In default FS weapons there really isnt anything - well except 'jamming' of enemy capships beams with bombs in fully beam freed missions.

Larger range (something like 8000 compared to beams 4000), higher speeds or something simple as 'corkscrew' option (AI doesnt really hit these) would balance the scales considerably.

This is mod thing but for example i use capships missiles that travel at velocity of 220 and carry enough punch to tale out a freighter on a single hit. Sure few of them gets shot down but even few impacts here and there before the capship closes on the beam cannon range can make the difference.

[NGTM-1R]

This would be an interesting mission: the player has to disable as much turrets as possible before the ships come in range.

Didn't we call that Bearbaiting?

[Scooby_Doo]

Beam Turrets DO however get knocked out of action. Besides torps plus fighters plus bombers plus beam guns = overwhelmed enemy.
Plus torps don't require massive amounts of energy to fire.