Topic: Effect of nebula on Plasma Torpedoes  (Read 8076 times)

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Offline TarMinyatur

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Effect of nebula on Plasma Torpedoes
« on: March 30, 2016, 12:29:51 am »
After a couple games with Tus in a nebula, I thought I should verify something -- that the ECM from the nebula was making Plasma do less than full damage (after accounting for the Phaser-like damage that nebulae automatically do to Plasma Torps).

I gathered data with d4v1ks in open space. Not a single Type-I missile struck for less than 12 damage when encountering a +3 attack shift penalty. So Seeking Weapon Damage Reduction is disabled in multiplayer SFC:CE, the same as EAW and OP. In singleplayer mode, 2 out of 3 will strike for less than full damage under these conditions.

Next, I gathered data in a nebula with d4v1ks. I fired 24 PlaF's from range 7.5. The minimum damage on bare hull was 9, the max was 13, and the average was 11. Unmodified, they should hit for 15 points each. This suggests that nebulae do a variable amount of damage per unit time or distance.

Let's assume the nebula "attacks" the torpedo every hex (1.0k) of travel. It does 0 or 1 per attack.

Some examples of nebula attacks and the remaining strength of the torpedo:

0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 ----> 15 (no reduction -- extremely unlikely)
0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0 ----> 13 (unlikely)
0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1 ----> 11 (a common result)
1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1 ----> 9 (unlikely)
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ----> 7 (maximum reduction -- extremely unlikely)

I doubt that a more sophisticated scheme exists, such as one in which damage accumulates in a non-linear fashion.

I'm not yet satisfied with all this.