Torpedo Seek Time

[vonfrank]

more questions to ask...

i was wondering if there was a way to speed up the ammount of time it takes for a spread of torpedoes to start seeking a target?

when i play as the defiant, i like to use the dual firing quantums, but when i fire, they don't seek immediately and the torpedoes pass the target before they start to head for it!

is ther some way to reduce the ammount of time it takes for the torps to start to seek the target?

for example, a file somewhere that has   torpspread_seekdelay = 1 second
              where i could change it to...   torpspread_seekdelay = 0.1 seconds

it will probably be a little more complex than that, but any help on this would be appreciated

[MLeo]

I would think that if you set the guidance lifetime and the max angular velocity to something high, then it can really do tracking.

But I'm unsure about any way to set the delay. I've looked through App.py, but couldn't find anything obvious.
I'm moving this to BC Modding, since more people who create projectiles look.

[vonfrank]

thanks

sorry for posting it in the wrong place

[MLeo]

thanks

sorry for posting it in the wrong place

It isn't, exactly, the wrong place, it was the right place. It's just that more people who create projectiles (including torpedoes) visit this forum more often than scripting.
And I as a scripter couldn't directly find the answer.

[Captain_April]

well, the only real answer you'll get does involve scripting, it has to do with the group fire skewing.  in stock BC, you could fire  multiple torps at once, and they would go skew OUTWARD and then start to track.  on the defiant, the torps don't skew, but the game demands a direction to skew them in.  you could either open up the hardpoint in MPE and select all the torpedo tubes and change their skew direction to Y -1 (see attached pic 1)

or you could open up the hardpoint (in BCDirectory/scripts/ships/hardpoints) in a text editor, then set the skew directions to 0.  (see below)

ForwardTorpedo4 = App.TorpedoTubeProperty_Create("Forward Torpedo 4")

ForwardTorpedo4.SetMaxCondition(2200.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetCritical(0)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetTargetable(1)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetPrimary(1)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetPosition(0.000000, 1.020000, -0.080000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetPosition2D(80.000000, 45.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetRepairComplexity(3.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetDisabledPercentage(0.750000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetRadius(0.040000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetDumbfire(1)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetWeaponID(3)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetGroups(26)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetDamageRadiusFactor(0.200000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetIconNum(0)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetIconPositionX(94.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetIconPositionY(37.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetIconAboveShip(1)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetImmediateDelay(0.250000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetReloadDelay(40.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetMaxReady(2)
ForwardTorpedo4Direction = App.TGPoint3()
ForwardTorpedo4Direction.SetXYZ(0.000000, 0.998752, -0.049938)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetDirection(ForwardTorpedo4Direction)
ForwardTorpedo4Right = App.TGPoint3()
ForwardTorpedo4Right.SetXYZ(0.000000, 0.000000, 1.000000)
ForwardTorpedo4.SetRight(ForwardTorpedo4Right)
App.g_kModelPropertyManager.RegisterLocalTemplate(ForwardTorpedo4)

[MLeo]

So it isn't a scripting thing, but a hardpointing thing. ;)

[El]

Well skew isn't really tracking, its just a vector bias when launching.

Torpedoes will track as soon as you launch them, however if they are fast torps and the target is close they can overshoot.

So unless you reduce their speed or increase their guidance lifetime, you can miss up close.

Of course the simplest solution... Don't miss.

[majormagna]

Well, yeah, torpedoes do track almost instantly, unless you fire them in the canon Defiant way (Dual fire) they shoot straight forward for a while (About 2 seconds) and then start tracking, it is quite annoying too...

[vonfrank]

Well, yeah, torpedoes to track almost instantly, unless you fire them in the canon Defiant way (Dual fire) they shoot straight forward for a while (About 2 seconds) and then start tracking, it is quite annoying too...

that's what i'm talking about, and i agree, it is very annoying

so from what i'm getting here, i can make it so they "skew" straight but not make them skip that 2 second delay before they start to seek?

[MLeo]

From what I've read here, the skew (or the "Right" vector) is the "rail" from the point that the torpedo will always travel.
Make the rail shorter (ie. the length of the vector, or |skew| shorter).

Meaning, that if you put the right vector upwards, then the torpedo will be fired from the top of the torpedo point.

[El]

Making the vector length shorter won't change the behavior MLeo, if I recall.
Worth trying tho, I could be wrong.

[MLeo]

Making the vector length shorter won't change the behavior MLeo, if I recall.
Worth trying tho, I could be wrong.

I don't know myself, but from what I've read here I wouldn't be suprised if it was.

[Nighthawk]

I ran on that stone making the dual quantums for the TAP defiant. one way to solve it is giving them slightly more turning speed, and less launch speed. also, these torpedoes are meant to be launched at a considerable distance. mine are accurate at about 25/40 km. less or more than that and they either pass the target, or turn too soon.
that's why I equipped that defiant with all three types of weapons. quantums for long range, phasers for medium range and pulse for close combat

another thing: dual tubes (or grouped tubes for that matter) can't be set to skew the torpedoes forward. if the angle of the skewing vector is less than 45 degrees off the perpendicular (or so) to the firing vector, the tube won't fire at all.
although, I think it might be possible to... "compensate" that a bit. from simple maths, if you put two vectors perpendicular to each other, their sum is another vector, at 45? between them. if you set the firing direction to 45? downwards, and the skewing vector of both tubes, 45? upwards (90? to the firing vector) the result might follow the ship's heading at 0?, but I don't remember getting it right, or trying it at all. I sort of "got around" that problem making them skew crossed a few meters beyond the "nose" of the defiant. that left them moving to the target spreading out.

[vonfrank]

Sorry for bringing this topic back up again, but i still havn't found a solution to the problem yet.

I understand the "Skew" directions of torpedoes but that's not really the problem here. There has to be some script file that was default with the origional game that determines how long a spread of torpedoes wait untill they start to seek.

I dont want to slow the torpedo down or increase the ammount it seeks, i just want to reduce the seek delay time.