MBlue's that aren't just plain inferior to BGreen's in everything except range? And for shock-jumps, that extra range isn't exactly necessary. And since a Chimera is literally built around 3 of these, fits in some point defense turrets, and is still noticeably larger than a Deimos, it really should feel like a salvo of overwhelming firepower that would give a Sathanas reason to worry. The Iceni had significantly more firepower, on top of being a command frigate, science vessel(ish), heavily armored, good speed, and is not that much larger than a Chimera.
Basically, a Chimera that acts as threatening and powerful as it looks like and is advertized as. Yes, I'm aware that the UEF has enough problems with them already, but it kind of makes defanging a Chimera with a few Paveways all the more meaningful and dramatic, doesn't it?
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Replace all UEF blob turrets with Point Defense Turrets. Those things look awesome, are balanced while still being versatile and pretty effective, and make blob turrets flat out obsolete.
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Decrease the built-in inaccuracy on the pulse turrets. It doesn't have to be much, but if these things are supposed to replace flak guns I would like to see it take down targets at least half as fast as them.
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Halo-style plasma torpedoes? Not quite sure how that could be done in this engine (here's my current brainstorming on it--)
Trying to figure out how to make a "plasma torpedo" weapon for FS. What I'll need:
1. A warmup/sucking-in-particles phase, like the beam cannons have. This part is the least critical.
2. A laser, possibly "blob"-like, that can track targets and move like a missile or torpedo.
3. A way to make it look like something other than a clear-cut blob. I need something that looks more like a cone(ish) of blue fire. It should have a blue trail, as well.
4. An impact explosion that is similar to its Halo counterpart--bursts into blue flame on impact, kind of spherical in nature.
Problems:
1. Primary weapons can't really using homing. (Right?)
2. Might require new bitmaps/textures for the visual effect.
Possible solutions:
Make it a secondary weapon with plasma-like textures. This allows it to use homing and function like a missile, but it might require a work-around for the warmup sequence--perhaps a fire-delay with a custom texture/animation that triggers when "fired", but looks like a warmup sequence?
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Please, PLEASE make the missions more flexible in terms of player playstyle, or make it clearer what's going on, when, and what I'm supposed to be focusing on/working towards. A big part of that, I know, is lack of voiceacting and TTS problems making it very difficult to keep track of and think about dialogue during combat, but this was probably my biggest problem with WiH--too often, I didn't understand (or misunderstood) what was going on, what I should focus on at a given time and try to accomplish at a given time, what I could be reasonably expected to accomplish above the bare-minimum, and...Delenda Est. The epitome of "what's going on/what or how much do I need to do?" because there is simply way, WAY too much going on both visually and audibly to comprehend and keep track of the various twists and turns of the mission (often through dialogue) and figure out what a given random wall of text means (beams are going to be overdriven in 40 seconds? Or that they're overdriven now, and will overheat too much in 40 seconds?), and for the love of god please don't make me disarm all of the beam cannons myself while all my allied gunships do nothing---
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Updated versions of FS2-era GTVA missiles/weapons? Like an EMP missile that isn't stupidly impractical to use because it has little range, velocity, and you often get caught in your own blast? A Piranha that doesn't suck (or has a limited heat-seeker guidance?) A Tempest-style missile that has the velocity to match standard guns (or at least approach that of the Balor)? An updated version of or new cross-breed between the Rockeye and the Tempest--close-range "dumbfire" missile that has some heat-seeking guidance, and is small enough to be able to pack a decent number of in a standard missile bay?
Harpoon update that has better hit probability or shorter aspect-lock time? Even if it packs less of a punch, the point of a missile like this is to quickly and reliably get an aspect lock, and have a good chance of hitting the target regardless of the angle of deflection of the shot.
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Can we have gliding on craft as a standard? Possibly with the Dynamic Glide Cap for simplicity and (maybe) balance? It makes dogfighting feel much more fun, dynamic, and interesting, at least in all the experimenting I've done with it. It puts a whole new spin on fast, maneuverable fighters and slower, heavier assault fighters alike.
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Dumb-fire torpedoes. Seriously, in all of the experimenting I've done with it, it has been both fun to play with and against, much more friendly with skill and tactics, and far more satisfying to use (letting a pair of Cyclops loose against a corvette feels awesome and dramatic, even if the damage is unchanged--rather than having to wait a ridiculous amount of time to get aspect lock on a turret (that hopefully won't be destroyed before you fire) so that you can actually loose the bombs at point blank range after sitting there for a stupid amount of time.
Personally, I'd like to see bombers be more specialized for carrying smaller numbers of larger, more powerful torpedoes that would have a faster thrust/speed and a bit better durability, but do much more damage. Or, perhaps, have heavy bombers just be designed to use heavy anti-ship weaponry rather than torpedoes (kind of like the Durga). I made a variant of the Durga that changes its gun bank configuration from 4-4-4 to 4-8, and had all of them fitted with Redeemer cannons. Linked primary banks, reduced secondary capacity, and a fun amount of DAKKA.
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Bombers. Bombers should not, NOT, be sent in to run at a target without an escort. This happens almost every time in WiH, and it's both jarring and a clear reason why bombers tend to fail unless they can double as fighters. The best you usually see is a bomber wing by itself that has the benefit of a distant fighter wing jump in at the same time as a distraction. Why not just have some fighters as part of the wing, so they jump together? Or just have two wings jump together?
The reason heavy bombers are impractical in WiH is because, with the long (and nonsensical) refire delays with torpedoes and boring, long aspect-lock times for all torpedoes (at close range!), heavy bombers would have to be able to sit right next to their target for minutes on end to release their full payload. Heavy bombers, both in history and the modern world, usually have the capability to release their full payload in a few seconds. Torpedo bombers (WW2 era) never carried more than one torpedo because there weren't any practical, larger craft to fit the role that could be used on the aircraft carriers of the day. And the torpedoes were, individually, pretty damn powerful regardless.
In-universe, I don't understand why anyone would want to be a bomber pilot (unless you're using something like a Durga, maybe), as your role is incredibly dangerous for relatively low gain even when successful, and downright boring; there's little difference between a "veteran" bomber pilot and a "rookie" one--they do almost the same simple task in the same way and hope to get lucky and not be killed in the process.
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Sorry for the list; last one for now.
HUD addition: what missiles are tracking you
Basically, some text that tells you what missiles are currently tracking you. This is to make missile evasion more fun, skillful, and understandable. It is usually not apparent what kinds of missiles are being fired at you, especially when several missiles are fired at you.
What it might look like:
A small, square/rectangle-ish section of the HUD, near the center cluster, that provides simple text to tell you. It is ordered, based on the order fired upon you.
Undecided: Whether it just adds "x2" when two missiles of the same type are fired at you, or if it sticks to the chronological order--like Trebuchet x2 | Tornado x2 | Trebuchet x1 ////(of course, if someone launches a dual-fire-mode salvo of Trebs, it will still say Treb x2 because they launched at the same time).
Might need some abbreviations of missile names, just to keep it lean/clean.
Ex:
Trebuchet = Treb
Tornado = Tornd
Hornet = Horn
Harpoon = Harp
Rockeye = Rock (or Rcky, etc.)
TAG B = TAGb
Javelin = Jav (or Javn, Javln, Javl)
Grimler = Grmlr (or Gmlr)
Dart = Dart
Dirk = Dirk
Slammer = Slmr
Etc.
Once a missile is either:
A) Dead (explodes after lifetime is over, shot down, etc.)
B) Incapable of hitting/tracking you (you are outside the missile's seeker FOV, or the missile can't turn back around in time to get near you before its lifetime is over)
It drops from the list. Bonus points if you can make it briefly flash to a different color (like green) before dissappearing, so that it's easy to notice/keep track of. Further bonus points if you can have an individual "distance to target(you)" for each missile. Alternatively, instead of chronological order for the list, you have a proximity order--the list is ordered from "closest to you" to "furthest from you".
