We'll start with one of the oldest in the book, if you ask me;
Shockbeamer Overlay
Originally created by myself in an attempt to make more visually appealing super beams, the Shockbeamer Overlay is simple; it consists of two shockbeamers. Both have exactly the same stats apart from damage and colour. Both are in exactly the same position and have exactly the same fire arc. Both should have 0 deviation and 0 init deviation (due to the randomness the beams can split, which will look ugly!) as well.
Important note; both beams should have a max charge time and max damage multiplier of 1. This ensures that they do not overcharge or deal extra damage on their first shot. Although you could make them do that if you really wanted to, I suppose.
One beam (the 'core') should be white, and functions as the white part of the beam. The other (the 'exterior' or 'outer') should be whatever colour you want, and functions as the outer colour of the beam; red, blue, green, whatever.
This is a basic example of the technique in action;
Weapon codes;
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weapon|ShockBeamer|5|-1|-1|900|6|-1|2500|0|0.90|Main Beam Core|16777215|300|1|0|1|1|-1|1|1
weapon|ShockBeamer|5|-1|-1|900|18|-1|2500|0|0.90|Main Beam Exterior|16711808|300|1|0|1|1|-1|1|1Rule of thumb; the outer beam's damage should be 3 to 5 times the inner beam's damage.
Adapting to High-Powered Weapon Levels
This is actually really easy to adapt to higher-powered balance levels. I have to thank Lizzie for inventing this adaptation. All you need to do is add another beam (ideally a Megabeam) that functions like a damage injector. With identical stats to the other beams save damage and a white colour, it will function as the damaging part of the main gun. Bingo; now you've got a good-looking super gun that isn't retardedly big!
The only noticeable part of it might be an extra white section before the beam's actual initiation, like so;
Injector code;
Code: Select all
weapon|MegaBeam|5|-1|-1|900|5000|-1|2500|0|0.90||16777215|300|-1|0|-1|-1|-1|1|1Turret Covering
Turret Covering is the act of hiding one gun under another, for any number of purposes. Some people could argue about the right and wrong way to do this for hours. I'll just cover the basics.
The two weapons should be in exactly the same position (X/Y coordinates), and their range, arcs of fire and turning speed should be the same. The "cover" weapon should be placed after, so that it appears on top of the actual weapon.
In most cases, the easiest way to make the cover weapon nonfunctional is to set it's Burst stat to 0; this works with no errors in most cases, and 0 shots is 0 shots after all; the weapon will not play it's firing animation or sound, either.
This can also be used for other visual effects, such as targeting lasers as demonstrated on a number of my KMC ships. These harmless 0-damage consta-fire mining beams work in conjunction with the turret to help you easily determine where, and what, the turret is, or will be, aiming at. From a in-universe standpoint, they also increase the turret's target acquisition behaviour, thus reducing the deviation between shots.
Ex 1: Laser Targeters
Extensive use of turret covering is not advised, however, as it may make it difficult to properly identify which turrets are which, especially in the case of demeter turrets. Use it sparingly if at all possible!
Note that modules can also be incorporated in certain cases, for example the Orion Shipyards Ion Torpedoes use a modified Flux Projector that is essentially nonfunctional and simply there to make the launcher more visually pleasing despite it's deformed shape.
Ex 2: Flux/Pulsar Combo; "Ion Torpedo" Editor View
Finally, a live example from the Orion Shipyards Skimmer Patrolship. The Skimmer uses six particle cannon turrets that are beamers hidden under railguns. Below we have the Particle Cannon in the editor!
Ex 3a: Railgun-Beamer Combo; "Particle Cannon" Editor View
And now, we have the Particle Cannon in action. Railguns work very well with Beamers.
Ex 3b: Railgun-Beamer Combo; "Particle Cannon" Ingame View
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ChaosTheory wrote:Moar beam laying stuff.
The IonStream style involves a ShockBeamer glow, a Beamer damage-inducer, and a ScatterBeam core. Some other form of weapon is placed on top to cover the bunch.
weapon|ShockBeamer|135|0|1|75|10|-1|2000|0|2||2763306|28|1|0|1|0|-1|1|1
weapon|Laser|135|0|1|75|100|-1|2000|0|2||16711680|30|1|0|-1|-1|-1|1|1
weapon|ScatterBeam|135|0|1|75|30|-1|2000|0|2||-1|32|1|0|-1|-1|-1|1|1
In that order.
