Ablative armor?

Skull13 · Post by **Skull13** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:49 am

Okay, this may seem dumb, but what the heck is Ablative armor?

Could someone give me an example?

Droid · Post by **Droid** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:51 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_Armor

Basically, its extra sections meant intended to take fire for more important sections.

Master Chief · Post by **Master Chief** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:33 am

You can just take a section, clone it, stretch it a little, or nudge it out by one or two pixels. There you go.

VNilla · Post by **VNilla** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:34 am

From what I've heard, ablative armor is armor designed to be veporized/destroyed by weapons fire to avoid major damage and to disperse pressure from said weapons fire.

It's basically just metal designed to provide protection for a craft at the expense of extra weight.

...At least that's what I've heard. No guarantees!

Latooni · Post by **Latooni** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:07 am

VNilla wrote:From what I've heard, ablative armor is armor designed to be veporized/destroyed by weapons fire to avoid major damage and to disperse pressure from said weapons fire.

It's basically just metal designed to provide protection for a craft at the expense of extra weight.

...At least that's what I've heard. No guarantees!

It technically is armor designed to take energy weaponry by atomizing when hit, thus slowly being eroded instead of something bad, like melted or cracked.

We tend to use the term to describe extra armor sections, here.

Skull13 · Post by **Skull13** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 11:19 am

Example, si vous ple

Squishy · Post by **Squishy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:15 pm

Ablative à gogo

Edit: Yeah, that ugly layer in the front is 'Ablative Armor'. It's possible to make aesthetically pleasing sacrificial sections, but for that you're better off scavenging for the designs of more experienced ship designers.

Skull13 · Post by **Skull13** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:41 pm

Alrighty.

So, basically I half expose an unneeded section to fire?

Gotcha. Thanks!

Squishy · Post by **Squishy** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:52 pm

Think of it as more like sections that have the sole purpose of 'meatshielding' their important brethren. Sacrificing themselves to protect the welfare of the whole ship.

Of course, they have to be exposed in order to perform their job, as long as you place them so that enemy fire is forced to get through them before striking the ships functional parts

Anarki · Post by **Anarki** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 1:29 pm

Generally, ablative armor will not have any kind of weapons or modules attached to them.

Grenville · Post by **Grenville** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:12 pm

ablative armor works best against beam and projectile weapons, they do little to stop railguns and other weapons that can bypass and hit multiple sections

natan_j · Post by **natan_j** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 2:19 pm

But you can still work anti-railgun wonders with multiple layers of armoring, as it'll burn up all the pierces of the railgun rounds. But yes, it is highly effective against beams first, projectile second, piercers last.

Spoot Knight · Post by **Spoot Knight** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:41 pm

natan_j wrote:But you can still work anti-railgun wonders with multiple layers of armoring, as it'll burn up all the pierces of the railgun rounds. But yes, it is highly effective against beams first, projectile second, piercers last.

But when the Railgun rounds go fast enough to skip them all...

Lizzie · Post by **Lizzie** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:38 pm

Ablatives are utterly useless against Tachyon guns. Keep that in mind.

ArcaneDude · Post by **ArcaneDude** » Wed Jun 18, 2008 7:25 pm

And (modded) plasma torpedoes are hell for 'em as well, due to the powerful explosions.