Suggestion for lock-on targeting mechanic

[SonEasterZombie]

I was thinking about how a lock-on mechanic would work, and I realized that if it worked anything like it does in games such as Eve, it would get really boring for gunners. If you are just a gunner in a ship and all you have to do is click on a ship and wait then that isn't very fun, so I thought up something a little more involved.

 

The weapon GUI will have a crosshair, and constructs within the FOV of the weapon camera have circles around them. The size of the circle is based on the relative speed, distance, and size of the construct. In order to lock onto a target, the gunner must have their crosshairs inside the circle for a certain amount of time. This time is based on the weapons stats.

 

That's all great, but what happens when the gunner has locked on? well there are a few options, some more computationally intensive than others.

 

1) Ships have an additional stat, "lock-on time". This stat dictates how long you will stay locked on before you need to lock onto the enemy construct again.

 

2) You just stay locked on until one ship dies. This would be the least server intensive, but also less fun in my opinion.

 

3) the position of your crosshair inside the circle is saved, and as the ship changes speed and distance the circle continues to shrink and expand. If your crosshairs end up on the outside of the circle then you lose your lock. This would be more server intensive, but In my opinion would be the most entertaining.

 

Let me know what you think of this concept, and if there are any glaring flaws or improvements that could be made to it.

[Deathwatch]

I think this could work well, but any systems need to be very lag free, seeing as it will be a massive universe