Sovy phasers supposed to be weak in front?

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Maybe you wanted it this way, but the Sovereign Class' phasers are weakest
in front:

    DamagePerBank:FRONT 441.000000
    DamagePerBank:BACK 588.000000
    DamagePerBank:LEFT 735.000000
    DamagePerBank:RIGHT 735.000000

Not sure why.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by thomas.s...@gmail.com on 21 Jan 2010 at 12:22

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suggestion?

Original comment by jtaylor...@gmail.com on 22 Jan 2010 at 8:09

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That's actually canon.  There are multiple phaser arrays on the sides, they wrap
around the saucer in a solid line.  Due to the elongated shape of it, very few 
of
them have a forward facing.  The additional weapons at the back of the saucer 
section
outnumber those.  The only thing that doesn't match up well with canon on the
Sovereign is the lack of the turreted torpedo launcher with 360 coverage on top 
of
the saucer.  If you want an ability that fires off an extra torpedo, it would 
fit
well with that.

Original comment by psych...@gmail.com on 22 Jan 2010 at 9:37

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He's right about there being more phaser strips along the sides of the ship.  
I'm not
sure where the torpedo turret comes from though.  The designer's sketches show a
single tube under the bridge, one at the front of the saucer, and double tubes 
at the
back of the bridge module.

Anyhow, take those numbers with a grain of salt, as a couple of weapon points 
on the
saucer are oriented at non-right angles (like 30 and -30 degrees).  I'm not 
sure how
that translates into DPS in the Dev exe, but it gives more coverage to the 
front than
the sides from those specific points.  

Still, if it's actually a proven problem, my suggestion is to increase the 
target
count per bank on the left and right weapons.  This way they don't all focus on 
a
single target and it should even out with fewer hardpoints and targets on the 
front.

Original comment by aaron...@hotmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 12:18

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ungh, canon or not, that makes for a crappy ship in a lot of senses.  It's 
frickin'
terrible for station raids since it spends most of its time facing the station 
on a
bombing run.

Personally, I'd be tempted to chuck the canon and make the forward do greater 
damage
just to make the ship more useful.  

Original comment by thomas.s...@gmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 1:28

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It's the tube under the bridge, don't ask me why I was thinking it was on top.  
That
tube is turret mounted.

The phaser damage may be tilted in favor of the rear, but the 600 damage quantum
torpedo shot is forward facing.  The dps difference is only a couple points, 
and the
initial damage when moving towards a starbase is 453 points higher.  Any suck 
factor
in such activities is in your head.

You really wouldn't like the Nemesis refit, they added three more aft torpedo
launchers and only two forward.

Original comment by psych...@gmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 2:08

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How about this then:

As far as trek canon is concerned, any point on the phaser array can fire in any
direction as long as it isn't through the ship.  So, the designers are let off 
the
hook there.  For our purposes, though, some of those weapons points have to 
face the
sides in order to simulate the ship's 360 degree coverage.

Sins is hardcoded to give any point a total firing arc of approximately 120 
degrees
rather than the logical 90, which means that, even with those points angling 
directly
left or right, all weapons on the saucer technically have the capability to fire
directly forward.  It just registers in the primary direction on DPS.   

In regard to the Nemesis refit, it's already implemented.  All 5 of the torpedo 
tubes
added for the movie are on the mesh in addition to the nacelle pylon phaser 
arrays.  ;)

Back on the topic of balance, I've taken a look at the mesh and was mistaken on 
the
angles.  For the saucer there are 3 pointing forward, 4 pointing directly left 
and 4
directly right, and 2 pointing back.  The secondary hull has a further point 
each
pointing left and right, and 2 more pointing back.  So, in a simple proportion, 
the
forward damage should be 3/5 of the side damage, and the back should be 4/5 of 
the
side damage.

The good news is the stats already reflect this.  So, technically, every phaser
hardpoint is producing exactly the same amount of damage, and the side points 
do have
a chance to fire forward thanks to the sins hardcoding.  When you look at it, I 
can
totally understand how someone would think it was off kilter, though.  In fact, 
I
agreed with you until I sat down and did the math just now.  Go figure...  

Original comment by aaron...@hotmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 3:53

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Oh, and as for the station raids, don't forget that you have an entire 
broadside's
worth of phasers firing as you pass the station, and then after there are still 
more
phasers and torpedoes as you turn for another pass.  

Starfleet never had weapons as powerful as the other major races in trek, but 
they
did have an advantage with 360 degree firing arcs.  Where Klingon ships 
normally have
to be facing their target, a federation starship can fire no matter what 
direction
it's facing.  Lower DPS in a single direction is a worthwhile price, I think, 
but
that's purely my personal thoughts on the matter.    

Original comment by aaron...@hotmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 3:58

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Good points, all.  Perhaps just close this one out and call it a day for the 
Sovy.

Original comment by thomas.s...@gmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 10:01

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Original comment by thomas.s...@gmail.com on 23 Jan 2010 at 11:25

• Changed state: Invalid