Nuke Mines and Screamers explode into a magic red soccer ball when they hit something.
Considering how powerful they are, and how much damage they do, it makes no sense! Aaaaah!
Therefore, I suggest that they should make a much more impressive boom, atleast visually, when they go off. If a Nuke mine is actually what it says on the tin, even a sub-kiloton range nuclear weapon would create an impressive flash when it explodes. Screamers might explode into something else, such as an EMP blast or plasma cloud, so it's more forgivable they get the soccer ball treatment, but it's difficult to differentiate the two.
Alternately, we could simply retcon the Nuke Mines into some sort of plasma bomb or something. Since one would think with how common it is, that many nukes, even little ones, in the hands of common citizens would be a disaster waiting to happen.
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While we're on the topic: As fighter guns have been rebalanced, so too should mine droppers. Everyone only uses Nukes or Screamers unless they're destitute, so why not re-engineer the lesser mines into something else, or atleast make them competitive. It makes little sense for everyone and their mother to be running around with the same military grade explosives, so I purpose the Rippers/Razors/Cutters be given a workover. Make them self-propelled and faster then nukes or screamers, or modify them into Improvised Explosive Devices for pirate factions.
A few different IED-type mines would be weaker, but MUCH cheaper then Nukes and screamers. Probably fashioned from plasma coils, reactors, mining charges, cardboard, and duct tape. The molotov cocktails of outer space.
Perhaps a mid-range of mines for the more discerning freelancer, or corporate/bounty hunter factions, or richer pirates.
Save the Screamers and Nukes for the house militaries, and you have yourself some diversity!
Even the OP's gone off-topic from the starting point, so I'll address things bit by bit.
The visual effects, yeah, could use a tune-up. I agree whole-heartedly that 'nukes' look silly, and not very nuke-y.
Secondly, damn fine point. Everyone and their mother is not supposed to have access to nuclear devices. Even the highest-grade military stuff would be anything other than nuclear. So call them plasma-goo-balls, or splodge-pods, or something less nukey.
Also, variety. We had it with guns, SNACs, transport turrets. Why not mines. Lesser guns are gone, lesser mines should be reworked so they're all in-line stats-wise. Some faster, some more tracking, some more boomfull, some more shield-chomping, blah blah blah. And then, we can have different types/colours of explershuns for different types of mine, linking back into the first point.
That gives me an off-topic RP idea. Someone should lobby for a vote on nuclear non-proliferation. NO MORE NUKES! NO MORE NUKES!
There are enough mine effects from the vanilla game to some variety into the more commonly used mine effects. Also on the note of nuclear mines, yeah it is kind of weird that everyone has a nuclear bomb, but I do want to make a note that nuclear weapons are theoretically very weak devices in space, as they largely rely on shockwaves and heat to cause most of the destruction. That requires an atmosphere, in space only fleeting amounts of radiation and a potential EMP are a threat.
Most mines in vanilla are actually shrapnel based according to their infocards.
That dosen't change the fact that you can buy a Hexipak™ of nuclear weapons on any planet or base. Most of which are chock full of air and materials to propagate an explosion. By this point, every planet and base in discovery would have become a radioactive, zombie infested wasteland.
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Using vanilla effects, we can (and should) easily make factionalized mines FOR EVERYONE!
Dark Blue ones for Liberty. Light Blue ones for Gallia. White ones for Bretonia. Yellow ones for Kusari. Green ones for Rheinland. Red ones for Pirates.
We already have purple gloppy-ish ones for Nomads.
Add to that some flamey-explodey-ish IED type bombs and repurposed Mining charges, and we have a diverse set of explosives.
Another question. Is it technically possible to spawn something other then mines using the same hook that causes a mine to spawn? Like a weapon platform for instance?
I've always wondered why despite there being numerous different, really cool mine effects, all three usable mines have the same one. Why don't Screamers have a white effect? Rippers a green one?
Diversity is good.
On that note, I'd kind of like to see more diversity with mine stats as well. Fast EMPs and such.
Just a note Rippers are competitive ( to be fair I didnt know this either till a few months back) there are 3 types of Mines "Seekers" "Dumb" and "EMP". Each of them tier up being better then their predecessor up to the final Level which is Ripper(seeker),Nuke(dumb),Screamer(EMP) Category. I don't think I need to go anymore indepth then One moves fast one moves slow but has a Huge Punch the other is simply for wasting the other person's Core/shield
![[Image: jWv1kDa.png]](https://i.imgur.com/jWv1kDa.png)
