Search the Community

Bit of a trivial topic, but seeing as projectile weapons are a thing, there are a couple ways one could go about supplying ammo for such a weapon. You could use: A) a Mass Effect style system, where your ammo comes from a wedge of steel inside the weapon; the top layer is shaved off and used as a projectile. This means you'll only have to replace the item once in a blue moon, though you're still limited by thermal energy produced within the weapon. B ) a normal ballistic weapon system, with the ammo being stored within clips and magazines, and loaded into the weapon separately. This means you'll have to produce bullets and the like, and magazines for them. Could become another market within the game. A bit less limited by thermal energy, but it could potentially prove a problem. C) a conveyor system, like in Space Engineers, where if they're in your inventory, or a ship's cargo hold, they feed directly into the weapon. Simpler than the other two, but less realistic, and thus less immersive. Commence deliberation!

This is for those who are new to Dual Universe (and the forums) and whom have not seen some of the art/in game assets shown by Novaquark. ​You can see more art assets made for Dual Universe by visiting the media section here. http://www.dualthegame.com/medias This is a large Weapon Turret to be used on larger spaceship constructs. The PIPES here would feed to these guns to provide power. Too cool! http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/static.www.novaquark.com/marmoset/Turret_01.html?platform=hootsuite​ https://twitter.com/dualuniverse/status/703285049853140992 EDIT: Below is another weapon, a Laser Cannon http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/static.www.novaquark.com/marmoset/Canon.html?utm_source=hootsuite​ https://twitter.com/dualuniverse/status/667770755724263424

Here are all the things I'd like to see on the battlefields of Dual Universe, whether in space or at your base. -Weapons- Cannons Lasers Missiles Mines Flak Electromagnetic Pulses (including ion cannons) Railguns Plasma Rockets Corrosive Cryo Bombs Tesla -Defenses- Solid Armor Reactive Armor Magnetic Shielding Energized Armor Deflector Shields Absorbing Shields Stealth Self Mending Armor -Mechanics- Cannons require ammo and are versatile yet slightly less powerful than more specialized weapons, coming in all shapes and sizes from automatic rifle caliber guns to large mortars Lasers require a constant input of energy and deal scaled damage over time with energy consumption, distance from the target lessens the effectiveness of the laser and absorbing shields will almost completely nullify it, however any light craft will be devastated by lasers Missiles require more materials to produce and can be intercepted, however they are able to home in on enemies, deal a lot of damage, and be filled with different lethal ingredients Mines are multipurpose bombs left in space or on a surface that can be used for ambush of an enemy, defense against projectiles, drones, fighters, or even restricting the movement of an enemy, the only downside to mines being that they sacrifice other factors for utility such as cost or movement Flak are a subclass of cannon that is more costly for the ability to explode and still deal damage to nearby targets EMP's effectively take the form of any weapon that is capable of disabling a ship's systems if they are unprotected, however, they take a lot of power to fire when emitted directly from the ship (in the form of an ion cannon), the advantage there being that they cannot be intercepted Railguns take a lot of energy and a solid slug to punch through multiple layers of armor and do critical damage in a thin straight line Plasma cannons accelerate a magnetically contained packet of super heated gas that bursts on contact, melting everything it touches, but coming at the cost of a significant amount of energy Rockets are unguided missiles that are cheaper and capable of packing a larger punch than missiles Corrosive elements can be added to any container of explosives for a less powerful explosion but a constant stream of damage over time Cryo weapons work by filling a container with an extremely cold gas and dispersing it into small fissures in hard metals, causing them to become brittle and freeze up mechanical systems, allowing a followup shot of sufficient force to shatter the material, the trade off being that cryo weapons on their own do next to no damage Bombs are powerful explosives that are cheap to produce and only work with the presence of gravity Solid armor is extremely effective against smaller caliber weapons and lasers while not being that effective against piercing, explosive, corrosive, cryo, or melting weapons, with stronger armor materials allowing for higher defense against larger projectiles Reactive armor is extremely effective against explosive and kinetic weapons but is partially used up in the process, allowing a few hits to be absorbed fully before becoming ineffective, meaning that lasers and high fire rate weapons can quickly use it up Magnetic shielding protects against EMP's so long as it completely surrounds the system it is protecting, meaning that any large enough gaps will make that shielding ineffective Energized armor is armor that is strengthened by a stored electrical charge, meaning that it will sustain all damage thrown at it by drawing on the charge of energized armor connected to it (the more damaging the projectile, the larger the area drawn from), weakening itself and the armor from which the charge was drawn from until becoming a very weak solid armor Deflector shields are dome shaped shields that block all types of incoming damage at the cost of a lot of energy for every impact, meaning that large kinetic weapons do additional damage, whereas smaller weapons deal less Absorbing shields nullify energy based damage (lasers and plasma) and conform to the shape of the object they are protecting, effectively reducing the overall damage of energy based weapons at the cost of a constant stream of energy scaled with the percentage of damage nullified Self mending armor draws on a ship's power to mend itself (up to a fixed rate of health regained per second) and is otherwise a slightly less powerful solid armor Tesla weapons fire arks of electricity that, while not so useful against enclosed ships, will devastate unprotected electronics and personnel Feel free to point out any flaws with this and share your own ideas on what features space combat should have.

I've been reading a lot of the information on this game and everything seems fine but I would like to suggest finding a better weapons mechanics than EVE online. Although EVE has it's fans, the whole lock on weapons takes away from the battle in my opinion. I guess it's fun for some but for a game like DUAL Universe it takes away from the freedom idea. So many other Sci FI voxel base games allow you to manually fire your own weapons and even games like Emyprion allows you to take control of your turret and manually fire your turret if you choose to. One of the most entertaining parts of building a ship is having full control over your ship and its weapons. I think using a EVE online weapons lock on system will be a step back for such forward thinking game such as Dual Universe .. Smaller ships dog fights will not be as entertaining and since you're planning on doing multi crew capital ships. If I'm a gunner in a turret then me just locking on and letting my weapons auto aim and shoot will be kind of boring for me. Again I'm not saying that there aren't tons of players that love to point at something and let the game aim and shoot for them but a weapons system like that doesn't bring the Star Citizen or Elite Dangerous fans. They need full control over their weapons. I don't know if this suggestion will be taking seriously because EVE is a popular game but I think for this style of game a EVE combat style of game play will take a lot away from a game like this.

So say, you and a group become large enough to colonize a planet. You're also going to be big enough to notice, especially if your planet or territory falls strategically. I would enjoy seeing the ability to construct limited range shield 'domes' on planets, that protect you from external/orbital bombardment for a limited damage or duration. These generators would be fueled by 'x item'. If they run out of fuel, they go down. This does a couple of things over all. It allows people to have a comfort blanket above them for installations on a planetary surface and forces, possible ground assaults instead of flying assaults or orbital ones. It means fights would be more centralized. Now, the downside, I guess would have to be a restriction of how many within a specific area are allowed, so you have to protect your more important areas, spaceports, mining areas, living areas, whatever you deem important. Another downside would be possibly defense systems would have to be outside of the dome, thus making them 'vulnerable'. I'm not sure how the system with organisations is going to work, but hopefully there will some form of 'standings' systems between people so you can judge who has access to the shielded areas. I'll assume bunkers will be possible with the simple installation of a building underground, as it's all voxel based. -- However, on the ticket of standings, etc, seeing shield doors for docking bays on stations and capital ships that allow only selected people in and stop projectiles from straight penetrating into a docking bay would be a lovely addition. -- As for anti-orbit weapons, I would like to see various systems that can be used to track hostiles in orbit or that you are allowed to possibly control, but that are quite large and require defense on the planet surface. -- On the line of defensive weaponry, how possible would point defense/anti-missile systems be? i.e, a system that tracks and has a chance to kill incoming missiles or smaller ships? I understand there is LUA, but I guess the speculation would be that maybe missiles and other projectiles would be almost impossible to kill on the fly. However, we are yet to see weapons, etc. -- Keep in mind, this is all speculative, as there isn't much about the way standings and relations between organisations will be dealt with, whether there will be a war system like EvE or whether it will just be groups brawling it out and letting their intentions be known via projectiles.

I have a specific, but sort of general, question about sensor granularity when it comes to DPU events and functions. What level of granularity can we expect from various sensor systems for things like developing an AI-based targetting system? For example, in the Lua DevBlog, the radar was mentioned with an enemyAt(x, y, z) event and the inclinometer would have our ship's getPitch() / getRoll() functions. Let's say I am building a targetting AI for a laser-based weapon. I would simply use the current enemyAt(x, y, z) position for the target location as it would be very unlikely to combat at or near light speed. But if my ship is using a projectile weapons system with a bit of delay before reaching the target, I would need to program the AI to use the enemy position plus their current direction of movement and velocity, combined my my ship's current direction velocity to compensate and lead the gun appropriately to hit the target if they maintain their current speed and vector. So, will things like getEnemySpeed(id) and getEnemyVector(id) functions be available from the sensor systems? Or will the gun DPU system have basic targeting and appropriate aim leading code already implemented for AI and human firing? On another note, would there be a mechanism for rayCast targetting from a gun? ie. Checking in the direction the gun is pointing to find the collision position and ensure it isn't a point on my own ship, or a friendly ship before firing? Sorry for all the technical questioning, but thanks for listening!

The biggest disappointment in space engineers was the fact that there was no actual engineering. Building in the game (to me) feels more like an exercise in esthetics, slapping on functional parts as necessary. The fact that the capabilities of a ship in space engineers is defined more by what and how many functional parts were on a ship, than the actual design is extremely disappointing. In From the Depths, on the other hand, design has a meaning. In FTD most functional parts of a ship are multi block structures. The way these are built effect the performance of the ship drastically. This means compromises must be made. Summarized into a triangle, a design of any component must balance between size, power and efficiency. For example: there is a very efficient 7x7x2n engine design (2n means it is tile able, but one tile must be 2 blocks thick) however, of the 98 blocks per tile, only 4 are the power generating cylinders. The rest increase power output per cylinder and efficiency, or are pipes and dead space. Thus I cannot use the design on small ships or ships that need a lot of power in a small space. This gets a lot more complex for some systems, like the advanced projectile system. So I would really like to see a multi block systems mechanic added to this game. It would significantly increase depth and variety, while being avoidable by those who do not want to go so in depth. It adds on to player interaction as well (pro/con list below). Of course, some people are not interested in designing stuff. In FTD, you get around this by either copying someone's design or using prefabs, which are like blueprints that place parts of or even entire multi block assemblies. This way, if you don't want to spend a long time designing a system, you don't have to. Also of note: the capabilities of a system don't have to depend solely on the design, just as you could have multiple/upgraded parts, components of a system could have upgraded or specialized version, that require certain resources, research or infrastructure to produce. This also adds cost/ effectiveness to the design considerations. Single block components would also still be relevant. They should be cheaper (as the are prefabricated) and smaller, but less specialized and not a scalable. They would be used to quickly produce small, inexpensive objects (drone, turrets, mines, etc.). Pros: -more depth -better customization -more individual designs -no optimal design/better specialization -more balancing factores/more subtle balancing allows for better over all balance ( if done properly) -adds an appealing side to design other than esthetics -expands perfectly on the build your own universe idea -avoidable if you're not interested -adds another specialization possibility for players (engine designer, weapon designer, etc.) -adds another trade good (blueprints, possibly the prefaced system) -adds more weapon/system variety for all players, not only those who would use the system design mechanic Cons: -longer (but not steeper) learning curve (that can be avoided) -takes longer/may be harde to balance -may take more processing power (server side) Note: I mainly imagine thes multi block structures for larger ships, not for something as smal as a fighter.

Greetings! This will likely be a long post with lots of interconnected lists, so bear with me.. Ship Weapon design/customization system Most sifi games simply give the player access to a selection of existing weapons, designed by the devs. Each weapon has base stats that can sometimes be customized with upgrades, but for the most part this simplistic approach leads to the emergence of a very confined meta of loadouts that work. The concept I will describe is aimed at making ship-mounted weapons modular, so that players can design and test weapons based on the need at hand and the resources available. The idea is to maximize the diversity of play styles and make encountering unique or niche weapon systems a common occurrence. Additionally, it will add a degree of R&D, where players can test and refine their systems and even invent entirely new methods of war. A player could, conceivably, make a career of designing weapons tech, for a price. To describe how this could be done, I will try to represent the idea visually. A weapon is made up of several modular parts arranged in a hierarchy, and the parts are chosen according to the desired outcome. Each part is contingent on the part above it on the hierarchy, and controls a major attribute of the weapon. The hierarchy could be as follows: Body Core Receiver Barrel Body - The frame of the weapon that is fitted to the ship's hardpoint, or weapon slot. This decides the class or size of the weapon: it's hitpoints, maximum weight, volume, and power consumption. Also controls the weapon's gimbaling range, if any. Core - The guts of the weapon, mounted within the Body. This decides the basic type of weapon that will be produced. For example, a Kinetic Core will produce some kind of projectile weapon, be it a railgun, Gauss gun, chemically propelled gun, etc.. A laser core will produce some kind of directed energy weapon, be it a pulse or beam laser. The core affects the weapon's base stats like power consumption. Receiver - Midsection of the weapon. This module determines what subtype of weapon that will be produced, and allows for things like multiple barrels. For example, a Kinetic Core fitted with a Gatling receiver will have access to certain barrels and thus ammo types, while a Plasma core fitted with a Mortar-style receiver will have access to others. This affects things like rate of fire, temperature, and damage output. Barrel - The business end of the weapon. This is involved with the fine tuning of the weapon. For example, a Rail barrel of a given length and power rating will affect the muzzle velocity and charge rate of the weapon. Different types of focusing barrels for laser weapons could effect range and heat buildup. Lets run through a hypothetical R&D session by an aspiring weapons designer who is trying to build the perfect weapon for a contract. He/she gathers some materials and opens the weapon R&D window, and is presented with a selection of parts that can fit the hardpoint in question: Body - Manufacturer 1: 3T, 0 degree Gimbal, 24 max power input, 10 Internal space. Manufacturer 2: 2.2T, 5 degree Gimbal, 17 max power, 18 internal space. Manufacturer 3: 1.8T, 180 degree turreted, 9 max power, 12 internal space. etc.. Our tech decides on the second option, the heavy body with the 5 degree gimbal and ample power. Core - Kinetic Core. Base power draw: 3. Plasma Core. Base draw: 5. Missile Core. Base draw: 0.5. Laser Core. Base draw: 8. The player decides they need something with a good balance of range and armor penetration, and they are starting to get an idea of what they want. They choose the Kinetic Core. Based on that choice, they have these options for compatible receivers. Receiver - Cannon receivers: 1 barrel, 2 barrel repeating, 4-8 barrel gatling. Rail receiver. Gauss receiver. The player wants range, so he chooses a Rail receiver, turning the weapon into a basic railgun and affecting it's base stats. Based on this, the player has the following choices. Barrel - 45 mm barrel. 72 mm. 85 mm. 102 mm. The barrel decides what ammo types the weapon will have access to, and will every stat from rate of fire to heat generation. The player chooses the 85mm barrel, and has thus designed a simple railgun with a moderate charge time, excellent range, and low heat generation. More options and customization would obviously be needed, this is simply an example of the concept. TL;DR: Making ship mounted weapons modular and allowing players to design them will add depth and immersion in the same way that leaving the economy open to be player driven adds depth and complexity to industry. Please leave feedback if you have some, I would like to see if we can evolve this idea, and see where it takes us.