How many weapons can we use at once?

[Omnires]

Like the title asks, how many weapons can we use at once in this game? Not how many weapons types can we hold and switch to. Or how many can we hold in our inventory. But how many different weapons could my character attack with at the same time? In most normal games using the human body as the standard often times the answer is just 2, dual wielding weapons in each hand.

But when talking about sci-fi games with things like A.I. and cybernetics that answer can be much higher as more weapons can be put onto different parts of the body built into the armor itself. And those weapons can be controlled by the wear's thoughts and/or an A.I. And in real life science has proven that the number of things a person can control at once is limited to the number of things their brains are linked to. This why when do things like attach extra robotic arms to people or have them control it with their brainwaves over wifi controlling 3 or more arms at once is easy. I point this out because of the biofeedback system the some of the omniframes have would mean that the pilots could many more weapons at once, with or without the need for extra arms.

Now, I'm not going to get into the whole attacking different targets at once. Since I don't think most people have ever played flight sims and/or realistic mecha games where there is more than one targeting reticle on your screen at once that are not all aiming at nor tracking the same things. So until I get told otherwise I'll just assume that this game is only going to have one targeting reticle at all times. So keep things simple, for now, how many guns can I point at and fire at my target if all my weapon slots was has a gun in it?

The simple math I have in my had for a basic war mech is, a small fun in each hand (like SMGs), a forearm mounted gun on each arm, shoulder mounted guns on each side, at least one large back mounted cannon. For a total of 7. But that number can go higher if you 2 back mounted cannons, head mounted guns (often small caliber used for anti-personal and anti-missile systems. Think things like Gundam where some of the mechs have valken cannons mounted near wears the eyes would be on a helmet.), as well as added in hip mounted guns (one on each side of the hips), and shin mounted guns on the legs. For a total of 13 different guns (I'm counting all the head mounts guns as one system) firing at once onto a target. And yes, I know to some of you that seems like it is over the top. But in truth it is not when dealing with vehicles of war and biofeedback exosuits/mechs at least when it comes to the more realistic sci-fi stuff I'm into.

So the topic here is, now many weapons could we use at once and how many weapons do you think we should be able to use all at once? As for myself, I say "If I have it, I'm going to use it.". So is I can use my shoulder mounted gun to fire at an enemy fire away while at the same time I'm meleeing a different target than I'm going to do it. But than again I'm also use to playing games where my ship or mecha can track up to like 20+ different targeting at once and I can fire at all them of them if I wanted too.

 

[Omnires]

For the people who don't know how you have more than one targeting reticle on your screen at once and still have it all make since. I'll use a simple basic example using four targeting reticles on something like a fight jet.

1. Fixed targeting reticle - This type of targeting reticle is for fixed mounted weapons that can't move. So the way to get them to aim at other targets is by moving and turning the vehicle or mecha itself.
   1. For our example this would be the machineguns that off the sides of the cockpit built into the frame of jet itself. And the set of rockets on each wing. They are always pointing forward in the direction of travel.
2. Moveable targeting reticle - This type of targeting reticle is what most people think of when talking about targeting reticles in games. Where the targeting reticle moves to where you point to.
   1. For our example this would be something like a ball turret laser gun mounted underneath the cockpit can freely aim in the 180 degrees downward hemisphere of the jet. This does not need to be facing the direction of travel.
3. Aim assessed targeting reticle - This type of targeting reticle is partly linked A.I. to have aid you in what you are aiming at. Once you find a target and mark it. The A.I. will make needed adjustments to weapon to help make sure you hit the target.
   1. For our example this would be linked to the laser guided missiles or used to paint targets for artillery.
4. Free floating auto targeting reticle - This targeting reticle that A.I. use to highlight targets that is identifies and is tracking. The do not need to be contacted nor control any weapon systems. This can be something as simple as face tracking and identification to highlighting the outline of an tank or gun battery hiding in the trees.
   1. For our example this would be linked to the self guided missile lock-on targeting. It'll automatically scan the screen for targets and tells you when it had a lock. You yourself don't need to aim at the target for it to identify, track the target, and lock-on a target. All you need to do is tell it when to fire.

Now with that out of the way it is also good to now that each type of targeting reticle looks different from each other so the pilot / player doesn't get confused as what weapon is aiming at what and which one to use. For example the fixed mounted machineguns on jets is often shown as this kind of shape -w- reticle, while the ball turret might have a circle reticle, the laser guided missiles would have a box targeting reticle, and the self guided missiles would have a triangle targeting reticle.

This is about as simple of a way as I can explain how it is easy to have multiple targeting reticles on your screen at once and have it still all make sense. But I'm sure there are other people who can explain thing much better than I ever could. But this is how I can play game I'm fighting large numbers while being able to track and follow 20+ different targets at once while firing weapons at all them at once.

This is just some random video about how a HUD in a fighter jet works inside of a flight sim game.

And as some of you know, because I'm a fan of things like Macross and Robotech this is also why some of us can do things like the famous missile carnival / missile massacre with out multi-targeting missile pods that put all over our ships and mechs.
For the people who don't know what a missile carnival is.

This is how it looks in anime

 

[farias]

4. Free floating auto targeting reticle - This targeting reticle that A.I. use to highlight targets that is identifies and is tracking. The do not need to be contacted nor control any weapon systems. This can be something as simple as face tracking and identification to highlighting the outline of an tank or gun battery hiding in the trees.

1. For our example this would be linked to the self guided missile lock-on targeting. It'll automatically scan the screen for targets and tells you when it had a lock. You yourself don't need to aim at the target for it to identify, track the target, and lock-on a target. All you need to do is tell it when to fire.

When I read this I immediately thought of the missile pod in Nier:Automata, which locks onto and fires at multiple targets at once, as long as they are in line of sight at the time it activates. It is possible to see how it works at 57 second mark of the video:

 

[Omnires]

When I read this I immediately thought of the missile pod in Nier:Automata, which locks onto and fires at multiple targets at once, as long as they are in line of sight at the time it activates. It is possible to see how it works at 57 second mark of the video:

Yes, that is one example of it of a free floating auto targeting reticle. And also note how they can still do things like melee while those missiles are firing.

And in some of the more realistic games (like Armored Core) players could effect things like the range of the locks, the speed of which things can lock, and the number of lock-ons that can be active at the same time for the different missile pods they had just by changing out things in their mechs to augment the stats of the missiles. Like changing out their radar system or targeting computer (yes, the targeting computer was a part on the mechs you can change out to for different styles of playing.) and/or the type of head they used (as some types of heads had different sensors on them suited for different tasks. Like the extra long range zoom cameras inside of heads made for recon and sniping or extra wide angel cameras for better peripheral vision and tracking in close range fighting.). Plus in some games you have to make sure you don't overheat you mech as all those things make their own heat when being used. And in some games my mech's or ship's A.I. would start yelling at me as start to red line all systems while I'm going berserker mode on the enemy(s), lol.

In some games played I'll be firing my missiles at multiple targets while also firing my gun, dodging incoming attacks, and meleeing the closest things to me while I'm speed boosting into the middle of a crowd of enemies. Because if you can put each weapon on to a different button then what is stopping you from using all your weapons at the same time? Because in some games I just love doing this.

Personally I love it when games let me use more than one weapon at the same time, even if they are not the same type of weapon. This is because I'm ambidextrous in real life and ever since I was super young my combat teachers, P.E. teachers, and coaches all told me to use that to my advantage in sports and in combat. After all, most people only train to go against right handed people as they make up about 90% of the human population and left handed people are about 10%, but ambidextrous people only about 1%. It is easy to catch people off guard when you start to switch stances and hands on them, even more so when you start to use both hands at once. So I love games where I can gun around with a gun in one hand and melee weapon in the other hand using them both at the same time.

 

[Omnires]

I was talking with a friend about things like drones and remembered how having multiple targeting systems active at once is also how some people can control and use more than one drone at once. And in games this is also the logic of how some swarm builds work.

This is how in some games let players control things like carrier or mothership class things using many smaller fighters at once. Or let small fighter ships or mechs control a number of drones at once. Often times to make things easier on a lot of players they often use the same systems at summoners and beast master classes have in other games but just with more control over your drones.

I would try to think up some good examples. But at the moment the only thing that is coming to mind is

Personally I always loved the idea of my drones or helper bots linking together in different ways to form different weapons and stuff. Alone they can be kind of weak but when they work at one the power output sky rockets.