Quote:

Original post by CyberSlag5k Since a bullet travelling through space would encounter (almost) no resistance, the shape of the bullet would be dependent only on the function of the bullet and what it is supposed to do upon contact. If it is a solid slug designed to penetrate the hull of an enemy vessel, the shape of a traditional bullet would work nicely. If it's an explosive, it doesn't realy matter. Whatever would be sensible to fire. If you're thinking of putting fins or something on a space-fairing projectile, do so only for cosmetic effect (and be ready for the more picky players to notice it). Good luck!

Not quite true, fins could still be useful for channeling exhaust/propellant.

Maybe this is just an effect of sci-fi, but I would imagine projectiles would be less effective in space because of the long distances and open spaces. Contermeasure research is still pretty early, but it seems space would offer a lot less problems for their design. In that case, projectile warfare could become a case of either large quantites to overwhelm defenses or "stealthy" missiles that could not be detected by the other ships defenses. That would mean there would still be design considerations other than function in space.

the bullet could be anyshape to start but for the game you could just have a glowing looking point sprite and say it get heated red hot from the current passed through it if its a rail gun

Quote:

Original post by intrest86 Maybe this is just an effect of sci-fi, but I would imagine projectiles would be less effective in space because of the long distances and open spaces. Contermeasure research is still pretty early, but it seems space would offer a lot less problems for their design. In that case, projectile warfare could become a case of either large quantites to overwhelm defenses or "stealthy" missiles that could not be detected by the other ships defenses. That would mean there would still be design considerations other than function in space.

Yes, one tends to think of a missile launching a counter-counter-missile which in turn is countered, and the ship that is hit is the one that runs out of missiles.

On the other hand, how about an antimatter drive on the missile that thrusts at 40-50 Gs, that way there is no time to counter, or perhaps very agile missiles that dodge counter-measures.

It always seems to me that there should be a way to handle relativity in a Space-sim, it would make the whole space-flight/combat system a lot more interesting.

Missile shape would probably be determined mostly by two factors:
1) Is it easy to store?
2) Can thrusters be placed such that the missile is fast, agile, and resistant to acceleration.
The first factor would probably result in the use of simple rod-shaped or box-shaped missiles. The second factor just means that you probably want to make the missile longer than it is wide in order to make it easier to place the orientation thrusters.

Bullets would most likely not be launched with electromagnets. Electromagnets are used in coil guns, and current coil gun technology is far less efficient than rail gun technology. Do a search for rail guns on the internet and you will find a lot of interesting sites. Having looked at some of them myself, I noticed that rail gun projectiles tend to be somewhat flattened and to have flat projections sticking out from the body that form the electrical connection. The projections look a bit like wings or fins, but they are shaped like rectangles instead of triangles.

Degra has my vote

Quote:

Original post by mumpo Bullets would most likely not be launched with electromagnets. Electromagnets are used in coil guns, and current coil gun technology is far less efficient than rail gun technology.

Amount of damage to rails, per projectile launch, is rather high. You could forget about more than 30 projectiles between rail replacement, and replacements are problematic for space ship.