A new kind of laser

[Ganelon]

Ok, just the title of this post will likely get some people assuming that I'm going to suggest something "uber".

But what I'm suggesting is a laser that can be "turned down" for mining. Have a "poly-mode" version of military or beam or pulse lasers that can be set for mining asteroids as an alternative to having to mount a mining laser on at least one weapon facing if you want to mine.

[Disembodied]

Ooh, now, this could be interesting! Especially if it takes, say, 60 seconds (minimum) for the laser to alter phase ... if you're quietly mining away, and someone jumps you, you'd have to do a bit of ducking and weaving while your laser gets re-tuned to military. Maybe even something like 30 seconds between phase-steps – so it takes 30 seconds to go from mining to pulse, then another 30 seconds between pulse and beam, and so on.

[Ganelon]

I hadn't even thought of it having more than two phases (full power and reduced for mining), but that's an interesting idea. Whether it was one step or more, though, it taking time to switch between the modes could be good. Especially if it takes however many seconds *without firing* to switch. Trying to fire before the change was complete could either get the last mode and reset the timer for the changeover or simply get.. nothing. LOL

More than two phases could make sense, though, if there could be a possible advantage to using say, the beam laser sometimes. Maybe beamers could be more likely to result in an opponent abandoning ship, allowing for scooping their pod(s) for added profit. The mil would have been designed for pumping enough power to destroy the ship and it's crew rather than make them have to abandon ship since logically the military wouldn't be interested in salvaging or scooping pods.

[Commander McLane]

Especially if it takes however many seconds *without firing* to switch. Trying to fire before the change was complete could either get the last mode and reset the timer for the changeover or simply get.. nothing. LOL

... or get the weapon to blow up, damaging your ship in the process (I felt the list wasn't complete without mentioning the worst case scenario)

[Disembodied]

I hadn't even thought of it having more than two phases (full power and reduced for mining), but that's an interesting idea. Whether it was one step or more, though, it taking time to switch between the modes could be good. Especially if it takes however many seconds *without firing* to switch. Trying to fire before the change was complete could either get the last mode and reset the timer for the changeover or simply get.. nothing. LOL

More than two phases could make sense, though, if there could be a possible advantage to using say, the beam laser sometimes. Maybe beamers could be more likely to result in an opponent abandoning ship, allowing for scooping their pod(s) for added profit. The mil would have been designed for pumping enough power to destroy the ship and it's crew rather than make them have to abandon ship since logically the military wouldn't be interested in salvaging or scooping pods.

Oh yes, the laser would definitely be offline while shifting phases! I suppose the advantage to a beam laser over a military one might be, you'd have to wait another 30 seconds (or whatever) before the military laser was available. Do you want a beam laser now, or a military laser later? Remembering always that "later" might mean "after you're dead"?

[Switeck]

Ironically, a big problem I have with the military laser is its rate of fire is so high it overheats from a short burst. If it could be dialed down to fire at 1/2 or even 1/4 rate, it would be more suitable for mining asteroids...or mining enemy ships. I could fire a warning/leading/first shot at long range with it without as much concern that the laser would double-shot (or worse) on me and jack my laser heat way up before the fight's even really begun.

If it always fired slower, it would have the perception of cooling down faster even if actual cooling rate remains unchanged.

A strange combo would be a "super laser" with the heat-per-shot and fire rate of the pulse laser (still not terribly slow), the damage of the mining laser, and the range of the military laser. It could be something either only for sale at TL14 or TL15 systems or even only as a possible reward from a special campaign. Also, it would have to cost at least 20k credits just to justify its ability as a multi-use weapon. For a single quick kill, the military laser would be better due to its higher damage per second rate. But for staying power and total damage over time, this laser would be better.

[Ganelon]

Well, if you use a joystick, xbox type controller or mouse, there is a fairly common mod used by folks who play FPS (shooter) games. Called a "rapid fire mod", I think some controllers come with it already, or it can be added via a kit or assorted schematics found on the internet. It's usually basically just a 555 timer chip and a transistor or two and a few other common components.

I built one (from a schematic, I'm too much of a cheapskate to spend 20USD or so on a kit for anything that simple) into the joystick I use for Oolite and some other space games. I didn't do it particularly to get the lessened heating so much as just wanting it to sorta go more "Ze-ze-ze-ze-zeeeooow!" when I pull the trigger. LOL But it does heat up a bit slower, and I like that. Mine is made to fire about 10 pulses a second, I don't know the exact duty cycle, but it does pretty good damage while still having enough "stutter" to not heat up so fast. It heats up somewhere between a beam laser and a mil laser, but a bit closer to the mil. I have a toggle switch to go from that to normal mode, and use normal mode mostly only when the target is big and slow.

But it still doesn't seem to work as well for asteroid mining as a mining laser. Even in rapidfire bursts, the mil laser most often just explodes the asteroid. I think the game may only give a better chance of getting boulders and shards if it sees a mining laser being fired.

And besides, a "rapid fire mod" circuit is a hardware solution, and those don't usually get discussed much on this forum.

[Commander McLane]

I think the game may only give a better chance of getting boulders and shards if it sees a mining laser being fired.

Yep. The chance of boulders and splinters to appear depends on what laser you use (specifically, the mining laser, of course), not how rapidly you fire.

[CommonSenseOTB]

What's the JS script one would use to add/remove a weapon on a ship's weapon position? Can it be done?

[Commander McLane]

What's the JS script one would use to add/remove a weapon on a ship's weapon position? Can it be done?

I don't think it can. Weapons are handled differently from other equipment.

[Thargoid]

No you can't, or else you could open the possibility of the infamous laser cooler (by removing and re-awarding the laser).

[Amaranth]

I like that idea, to be able to mine stuff as well (i have a military laser om my ship) sometimes near the end of a run I might have a few tons of capacity in my cargo bay and want to pick up a few extra credits for minerals.

re the laser cooler, a good commander should be able to turn their ship around once having overheated the front laser and give the target a good blast with the tail laser. The only ship that really could have a laser cooler as an upgrade without being too much of an ubership would be the anaconda. it would give an anaconda pilot a better chance to defend against pirates, however would come at the cost of half the cargo bay volume and a shed-load of credits.

the logic behind this would be that normally, laser heat is routed to the ship superstructure to bleed off via radiation ( a bit like the cooling limk from yout computer's CPU to the heat sink), however in order to refridgerate the heat sink (a big ship) would need an enormous cooling plant in the cargo bay, and a way of safely venting off that stored heat.

[CommonSenseOTB]

I like that idea, to be able to mine stuff as well (i have a military laser om my ship) sometimes near the end of a run I might have a few tons of capacity in my cargo bay and want to pick up a few extra credits for minerals.

re the laser cooler, a good commander should be able to turn their ship around once having overheated the front laser and give the target a good blast with the tail laser. The only ship that really could have a laser cooler as an upgrade without being too much of an ubership would be the anaconda. it would give an anaconda pilot a better chance to defend against pirates, however would come at the cost of half the cargo bay volume and a shed-load of credits.

the logic behind this would be that normally, laser heat is routed to the ship superstructure to bleed off via radiation ( a bit like the cooling limk from yout computer's CPU to the heat sink), however in order to refridgerate the heat sink (a big ship) would need an enormous cooling plant in the cargo bay, and a way of safely venting off that stored heat.

If you're looking for a player ship with 2 weapon mounts on the front then look here:

https://bb.oolite.space/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11010

There are 2 variants that would fit your desire to have a mining laser on the front in addition to the military laser. The cobra3 'prospector' and bushmaster 'prospector' models have a secondary mining laser permanently mounted. It is not a "switchable mode" laser but you can switch between 2 lasers, each with its own cooling. Only balancing drawback is you have to give up a rear laser mount to get it. Quite fair, really. Why not give it a test drive or some of the ones with multiple forward military lasers and see if they fit what you're looking for in terms of balance and playability. Let others know what you think. Good or bad.

[Spartan]

Just my 0.02 Cr input, I would be highly interested in having a laser I could dial between beam, military and mining, and would be willing to work with a wait time for such.

[Lavir]

Just my 0.02 Cr input, I would be highly interested in having a laser I could dial between beam, military and mining, and would be willing to work with a wait time for such.

Yeah, I also like the idea very much! Can we expect something like that to be implemented?