After thinking about some of the different mecha games I've played before it made me think about how Em-8er do homing weapons, if at all? And how much control would to have over the behavior of the weapons? I bring this topic up again because a friend of mine and I was talking about our personal favorite builds in games with highly customizable mechs and/or systems (Think of games like the Armored Core series). And of the thinks we ended up talking about a lot is how we both used missiles in different ways and how we designed our mechs around those ideas. But before I give you an example of one my build favorite builds. We have to talk about different systems and parts that are used to balance out homing weapons.
Built onto or into the mech itself:
As for one of my favorite builds using homing weapons. It is a close range AOE build designed to fight multiple enemies at once while also moving at high speeds using hit-and-run tactics. Going by the game if the option is there I use radar with the fastest scan times that covers whole 360 degree bubble around my mech. I use a targeting computer with wide and shallow scanning area able to track multiple targets at once designed for close to med-range combat. I use a mix of things fast multi locking hellfire missiles that I can fire on mass blindly (like fighting 10 - 20 missiles within 3 seconds), and few high yield with large AOEs missiles that have a small turning radius to do things like go around corners and on home in on fast moving agile targets. I also use mines and EMPs to try and hold the enemy place or at least annoy the hell out of them. I use guerrilla warfare tactics and speed pop in and out of combat to blow up everything around me while not staying in place long enough for anyone to track me. The basic idea is to do things like strafing runs and area denial to keep enemies off balance and control their movements. Even if they have a lot of armor and shields to not be killed in the first attack they can still be taken down by the cumulative effects of such attacks or by staying in place long enough for my teammate(s) to use higher powered weapons on them.
Built onto or into the mech itself:
Radar - There are meany different types of radar going from how the radar senses things, to the range of the radar, to the shape of the radar's scanning area, to the speed of the scan intervals, and what kind of shadows can appear on the radar. (Yes, in real life there are things some of us call shadows. There basically places where an object can hide from the radar scans. Like a smaller aircraft lining itself up in such a way that to always have a larger aircraft be in between it self and the radar. Because the larger aircraft is blocking the radar from seeing the smaller one it is said to be hiding within it's shadow. The size and shape of the shadow goes by what type of radar it is and if there is any interference to worry about. And yes, some video games do add in radar shadows make the game more realistic as smart enemies know how to hide from it.)
Targeting Computer - This computer is a subsystem that only effects the HUD by adding in targeting and tracking data, as well as effecting ability of weapons with lock-on capabilities. There are meany different types of targeting computers each designed for different tasks. Picking the right type of targeting computer to add your mecha with the right type of weapons can have a great impact on your playing style and how effective you are at a given range or area. The different factors that each targeting computer has are the range as which it can tract things, the shape of the area that it can track things in, how fast it can track something, and how many things it can track at once. A targeting computer with a long narrow field is better for long range combat with high precision, while a targeting computer with wide and shallow field is better for close range combat and blanking an area.
Innate Stealth - This is the based on the size and shape of the mecha, as well as the material it is made out of. It is passive ability the mech has to counter different types of detection without using energy. For example, a mecha what has armor with natural sound absorbing properties would be more or less invisible to sound based radar (namely sonar and echolocation).
Active Stealth - These are things like decoys, counter waves, flares, chaff, radar jammers, and cloaks. Things that take energy to use and need to be done actively or reflexively in order to work.
The weapon itself:Each weapon that has the ability to track a target has a number of factors to them. The effective ranges that is can lock-on to a target, the time it takes to lock-on to a target (this can also be effected by the arming and dearming time of weapon for safety reasons), how many targets it can lock-on to at once, and the weapon's turning radius combined with it's flight speed.
The question is how much control do we have over the different systems and weapons in the game? And what do you think about the idea of having homing weapons in the game? What do you think is the right balance between depth and complexity to be fun for the type of game the devs want to make? And what is your favorite playing style using homing weapons in games? As for myself, I say the more options the batter as long as it is fun.As for one of my favorite builds using homing weapons. It is a close range AOE build designed to fight multiple enemies at once while also moving at high speeds using hit-and-run tactics. Going by the game if the option is there I use radar with the fastest scan times that covers whole 360 degree bubble around my mech. I use a targeting computer with wide and shallow scanning area able to track multiple targets at once designed for close to med-range combat. I use a mix of things fast multi locking hellfire missiles that I can fire on mass blindly (like fighting 10 - 20 missiles within 3 seconds), and few high yield with large AOEs missiles that have a small turning radius to do things like go around corners and on home in on fast moving agile targets. I also use mines and EMPs to try and hold the enemy place or at least annoy the hell out of them. I use guerrilla warfare tactics and speed pop in and out of combat to blow up everything around me while not staying in place long enough for anyone to track me. The basic idea is to do things like strafing runs and area denial to keep enemies off balance and control their movements. Even if they have a lot of armor and shields to not be killed in the first attack they can still be taken down by the cumulative effects of such attacks or by staying in place long enough for my teammate(s) to use higher powered weapons on them.