weapons - especially continuous beams

[Jinx]

i was looking at freespace 2 and homeworld again recently. both games show the use of heavy and instant beams, usually used as capship vs. capship weapons.

in homeworld it is the ioncannon, especially the ioncannon frigate
in freespace 2 its pretty much every capship

what i like about those weapons is - they are utterly useless vs. anything small and fast, but deal some good damage vs. anything they CAN hit. freespace 2 beams appear to charge up for several seconds (1 or 2 seconds) before they actually fire. so allthough the beam is instant (when its about projectile speed, its a beam, not a projectile) it takes some aiming. the beam can t be adjusted once it fires and will fire ( and drain energy ) for all the time its active. ( in freespace 2 those beams fire for 3 or 4 seconds and weaken again for 1 second )

they deal damage over time instead of direct damage.

here is a utube video that shows freespace 2 space combat vs. cap ships:
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaYe7DrBTSY

and here is how a capital ship point defense should be ( instead of a flak ) - short bursts of instant beams at a low range - designed against fighters only - and i d love to see those weapons ONLY on frigates or destroyers. so it makes sense to have them along when going to war with a large fleet. while the heavy beams like shown in the freespace 2 video would be on battleships only.

- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtWn1aKGWkI...ted&search=

again - its just an idea. and a nudge to think about. not sure if its possible to make a weapon shoot an instant beam in freelancer. there appear not to be beams, but only projectiles.

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