First complete proposal of weapons for the New Tech Tree.
Find in the attach xls file a table with most relevant numbers to balance damage and cost as of my method.
For each weapon, the damage per slot and damage per PP is calculated for six cases: maximum, vs shields, vs flaks (vs interceptors would require an extra column, at start I thought it was redundant now I'm not so sure), vs tiny ships (defense bases on overkill damage waste), vs stealth ships with close range weaponry, and vs decoys (drones that are targeted by anti-ship weapons even with the targeting computer), and this is done twice, for base numbers of the weapons and defenses, and for maximum numbers (late game scenario).
Right know I'm too lazy to include in the xls the explanation of the different formulas for the vs defense cases, but the formulas themselves are in there, and I got a file with most of the explanations so I could add it here if someone is interested.
I've checked most of the numbers and I think they are free of correct, but that is not exactly sure for the most complex equations. Also, at least one of the formulas is not very solid, the one vs decoys, its seems a good approximation for small numbers of ships but not good for large numbers estimations. I tried another version based on probabilities but that gave very odd results for 1vs1 battles.
To balance the weapons, I've tried (a) to keep similar total damage output of the ships for same tier and number of slots required (so that the more shots per combat, the less damage per shot, but overall the same total damage), with some extra boost (of damage as well as cost) for multi-shot weapons to make them not completely useless against same tier shields, and (b) to keep same damage/PP for same tier weapons, slowly growing from tier to tier (that is, higher tier weapons do more damage per PP invested; I thought at the begining that wasn't necessary, that constant damage/PP would be balanced, but after thinking more on it I belive that would make low-tech high-production strategies OP).
There are 5 tiers, although most of the tier 5 weapons require a core slot. Next tier is always 1.5x stronger than previous tier. Tier 5 is 5x tier 1 (currently we have tier 4 weapons are 5x tier 1).
There are particularities in some of the weapons:
- Some are intended to be unique (no more than one per ship): the asteroid ram and the different "mouths" of living ships (claws, jaws and maw). Now I realise I haven't indicated this in the file. Also, most core weapons included could or should be scripted as unique also because I'm introducing a mastodontic hull with 2 core parts.
- One of the mech weapons (kinetic torpedoes) is an external-slot weapon that require a single, shared internal part (as a form of ammo storage, but the real reason is to force the use of some of the interior part to balance for its extra damage/cost efficiency).
- As I understand (and like) living hulls, they won't be affected by its species pilot trait and will grow with time instead. So the 6 maximum refinements indicated is just a way to reuse the formulas of the other three themes. The maximum value (shown in the table) will require growth time to get the equivalent of the pilot trait bonus, as well as the regular three tech refinements.
I think that's all.
Check the notes tab for the meaning of the variables.
While I wait for your feedback I have much more things to do regarding the new tech tree, so I can wait for a long time. Don't hesitate to answer in this thread even if it is getting cold.
PS: I am very interested on anyone's and everyone's insight on whatever related to weapons, balance, early vs late game, theme vs theme, strategy vs strategy, etc. And I am particularly interested on the thoughts of Dilvish, Vezzra and Geoff. Geoff, I think you did the initial numbers, which I've found really well balanced, so I'm certainly eager to know anything you have to object to this proposal.