Spaceships Questions: Guns

[jacobmuller]

Infinite range? have cannon rounds include a time limiter to detonate them if they fail to hit within a reasonable time. It can be switched off for bombardment of sessiles.

Recoil? Recoilless cannon? Venting system diverts gases for use as recoil compensation so even the negligible recoil is zeroed. Nice steampunk imagery too - all that smoke and flame.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by jacobmuller

Infinite range? have cannon rounds include a time limiter to detonate them if they fail to hit within a reasonable time. It can be switched off for bombardment of sessiles

I actualy think that this is pretty much reasonable. Given that although cannon rounds have a theoreticaly unlimited rainge and practicaly a very limmited rainge (the consensus so far) there exists a possibility of collateral dammage that more cautious planners may want to address.

[Langy]

Infinite range? have cannon rounds include a time limiter to detonate them if they fail to hit within a reasonable time. It can be switched off for bombardment of sessiles.

To be honest, it's not that big of a problem. There's already tons of junk soaring through space - and space is a big place.

[jacobmuller]

You're both right - it'd be really easy to include as a feature but highly unlikely to be included, until they actually manage to accidentally shoot something they shouldn't have, perhaps themselves.

I mean, what are the chances of hitting, and getting a one-shot kill, with a 22Rimfire at a range of 1 mile? But it has happened. The chances of cannon rounds hitting something they shouldn't are far less likely, but if you have a battle out by Jupiter and push 3,000 20mm cannon rounds in the direction of Earth's orbit, they might do something nasty, eventually.
Murphy's Rules of Combat: the most accurate incoming fire is friendly fire?

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Langy

To be honest, it's not that big of a problem. There's already tons of junk soaring through space - and space is a big place.

It's true, but it's still a pretty likely feature. I think quite a lot of modern AA munitions have something similar to keep misses from falling back on unintended targets.

Of course, if you're playing in 'space is big', you're not too likely to have guns anyway, because their effective range is a joke.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Frost

I actualy think that this is pretty much reasonable. Given that although cannon rounds have a theoreticaly unlimited rainge and practicaly a very limmited rainge (the consensus so far) there exists a possibility of collateral dammage that more cautious planners may want to address.

Salty language:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLpgxry542M