Closed Alpha Test & Deth..
Topic: Idea about fighter laser cannons
I don't know if this has been suggested before, but I'll suggest it anyway.
THE PROBLEM: BF-2142's hit tracking on fast objects sucks. Thus making it very difficult to land a shot on any fighter except at point blank range or from the rear, with the target flying straight.
CURRENT SOLUTION: The fighters and turrets generate more projectiles than the eye would let on, except for explosion effects. Thus making it more likely for a shot to land. Drawbacks to this are that it doesn't solve the problem completely. It's still fairly hard to hit any fighter unless they are moving in a very predictable manner (which no smart pilot will do). It also makes it so that larger, slower-moving targets are way more vulnerable to fighters than they should be (The Lambda Shuttle is a big flying deathtrap with this system, the prosecutor being Airspeeders (and Y-wings)).
MY SOLUTION: We know that BF:2142 has a system for lock-on homing weapons (The stationary and BW-mounted Anti-air batteries). What if we made a small lock-on reticule in the HUD's of fighters and stationary turrets. Relative to the anti-air lock-on's in Vanilla, the lock-on process would take a long time (Maybe 4-5 seconds on fighter computers, and 3-4 on ground emplacements), have a much shorter range (about 200-300 m), and have a much smaller acquisition zone (about the size of the center circle in the current fighter HUD crosshairs). It would also not notify victims of the target lock until it is finally acquired. This targeting system would emulate the targeting computers on starfighters, as they size up the targets characteristics, calculate trajectories, and tell the laser cannons exactly where to aim in order to hit the target.
The lock-on system would only affect laser cannons (and maybe ion cannons). When a lock is achieved, the cockpit instruments will make the appropriate canonical noise depending on the faction. When the lasers are fired, the homing characteristics will last until the enemy fighter exits a 5* area relative to the laser's path. Between the short range of the targeting system, the very high speed of the laser blasts, and the small acquisition zone right in front of the attacking fighter or gun, you wouldn't need much turning speed to the homing mechanism; and IF the laser misses, it won't execute a wonder turn and try to hit a second time. I think that there would be very little turn to notice.
With this system, you'd be able to change the projectile count back to one projectile per laser shown. You'd also make infantry a little less pwned by the sheer volume of projectiles and a little more pwned by accurate firing work on the pilot's part. You'd also be able to do twin shots with the airspeeder again (I'm kind of religiously devoted to the Airspeeder's laser fire always being double fire-linked), as well as the turbo laser. Lastly but not leastly, it would make dogfighting become less of a fire-and-guess game and more of a keep-the-reticule-on-the-enemy game.
Just my two cents.
