I searched the suggestions forum, and the Autocannon has been suggested before. However, I've got an interesting new take on it. Basically, a salvo cannon. Not something you'd take for an extended tank fight. I'd be more for hit and run, and would cause a good amount of heat, as well as having a lengthy reload. Such a weapon would be great for short range combat, like in SoF or other tight areas. This weapon could either be a 2 slot cannon, or a 3 slot MG, although toned down a bit. Here's a breakdown of the specifics, with cannon/MG possibilities. Damage: 25/20 (150/120 damage in total) Speed: 3000/2500 (Fast, so armour type will matter a lot - absorbent will nearly negate it) Clip Size: 6/5 Cycle: -.2 (so, entire clip empties in one shot, in 1.2/1.0 seconds) Clip Reload: 10 Seconds. Heat: 7 (42/35 heat total) This cannon could be put into Mechanical, under advanced machining. This gives Mech at least a token cannon, even if it's only a support weapon. I the Autocannon being used in conjunction with bio or salvo weapons, for good hit and run tactics. Thoughts?
I don't think this would fit in with the current characteristics of cannon shells. How would you balance the BE heavy tank being able to fit 2 of these, the heat isn't going to fix it.
Absorbant would laugh at this cannon. Since you probably already have it to deal with railguns, which are themselves autocannons... The long reload time means it gives engineers free points as well.
If the heat output was bumped up to ~50, that would stop BE Heavies from using it as a one-hit-shotgun. And yes, it would be terrible for sieging a base; its a support weapon, not well suited as a main gun. I figured it'd be interesting to have a cannon that wasn't the main weapon on a tank.
The auto cannon has MG propertys becouse it is a MG. At least last time i checked it was so you would only be able to fit 1 AC onto your BE heavy becouse it would fit into the 2 yellow slots not one of the 6 red. I had some idea about inplementing the AC into empires but didn't. Some ideas i've had for the AC was: *Refinery upgrades where like in sup com you can upgrade you ref like a mass extractor but instead of health and output the refinery could shoot back with one of 4 AC. *CV upgrades upgrade the cv to one of three possibilitys, a mobile refinery, a repair tool, or turn the CV into a boom tank with a defensive upgrade an AC MG turret straped to the roof. *or just implement the AC as a multi purpose MG, an inbetween of DU and 50.
Railguns aren't actually autocannons. They are cannons with an electro-magnetic firing system that accelerates the shells along guiding rails, instead of using explosive propulsion. Typically an autocannon fires from a belt or some other rapidly loaded external ammo supply (except in cases such as naval autocannons which normally house the munitions within the armored casing on the gun and the area directly below decks). Vehicular autocannons, last time I managed to find an image of one mounted, normally have a belt leading out of an armored port on the vehicle, beside the gun itself, which then feeds the AC as a belt feeds a machinegun. In these cases, its typically a secondary weapon more akin to a machinegun. In the case of autocannons as primary weapons, normally only the barrel protrudes from the vehicle, firing a higher caliber, but still lower than that of a typical tank shell. Basic summary: autocannons aren't well suited to primary weapons. While they fire at a faster rate, the lower caliber makes them less effective, something more likely to be found on an APC or other such vehicle that cannot accommodate a cannon.
I think demented was just humoring us with his comparison of dual rails to autocannons, I'm sure he is aware that they are not autocannons in the physical sense(not that any cannons in empires have a physical sense because they are just different cannon shots comming out at higher/lower speeds and higher/lower dmg spawning at the end of the barrel, but whatever)
I like this idea. And mate i have to give u credit u know how heat works and stuff so thumbs up! :D LOL imagne haveing it as a 1 slot weapon and as a 6 shooter on an BE heavy ROFL would be one hell of a cannon...hold on...FUCK!!....that would be 36 shells in one salvo!!! One hell of a six shooter :p *Edit: I think it should be a 1 slot but would need some kind of balanceing so the above couldnt happen (cost, weight...etc) but a salvo 1 slot cannon would be good cus u would begin to see more of a mix of tanks on the battle field.
A salvo cannon doesn't make sense. If you want to launch a barrage of projectiles, use missiles, thats what there for. Cannons are for directed combat, not point-and-shoot-because-at-least-one-projectile-will-hit.
Bingo. This woudl be a support weapon. Either it could be mounted on an APC as the 3 MG, or as dual cannon. Either way, its gonna be a hit-and-run weapon. If its on an APC, its mostly a "OH SHIT ITS A TANK" weapon, where you could fire and then run away. On a tank, it would allow for either a barrage of hits (long range annoyance) or a good shotgun blast up close. It wouldn't kill a tank, but it woudl cause some hurt - follow that up with some missiles, or run and reload. I picture it pretty much as the Bradly tank listed above (except a 2,000 shot clip is a bit OP:p). A clip loaded cannon isn't really far fetched, and I think it woudl be useful to have. I like this idea since it 1: Gives a different cannon; all the rest are fairly similar. Variety is the spice of Empires. 2: Gives mech a weapon, but not a great one (don't want it paired with the best armour). My only problem with this is that EVERYONE goes Mech, no exceptions, so this weapon might be too common.
Hillybilly: if your gonna link to a huge-fucking-ass article, tell us WHERE in the article. I'm not searching that thing for what your trying to tell me, its too long.
I thort that it was pretty obivious where to look. Armement. Any how I thort that any person with sence knew that the bradly had an auto-cannon :p
The Bradley isn't a tank, so I was rather hoping that wasn't your point about the autocannnon. NOT A TANK!
Okay, so make it the APC version. A hit and run weapon for APCs for all-round defence, but best against tanks. Would this be a detrimental weapon for the game? It'd be really easy to code in; all you'd need to do is modify the weapon script.
Except what does it add? We already have powerful MG's for the APC, such as DUMG and HEMG. The only real difference I can see is the accuracy would be worse, in which case I'd rather just use a DUMG or HEMG, both of which are useful at extended ranges and close range.
Auto Gun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8hlj4EbdsE Also look up Metal Storm Works by firing bullets with electric impulses rather than through a hammer and primer. Basically, you line up x amount of bullets into a barrel and they can all be fired one at a time, at any speed up to as fast as an electric signal can be sent. So like that last clip showed, at a rate of 1,000,000 rounds per minute, (yes, 1 million rounds per minute). Just a side note, this weapon, last I checked, was going to be implemented by military for anti missile defense, due to its high rate of fire, it can put a lot of lead into the air. I haven't read up on it in a while though. Here's a bonus clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyAl9qK3Rlg&NR=1
It fits a different niche. DUMG and HEMG are great for extended conflicts, since they have respectable clips and constant damage. This would be, as I said before, a hit and run weapon. Meant to make your APCs not fodder for tanks, but not meant to make them a real threat, unless massed. But I'd have to see them in a game to see how they worked.
