So I've seen a lot of threads and posts about turret zoom, not being a big user of cap ships, I dont have much experience with it, and o not much of an opinion either way. However I've seen lots of people arguing about it.
Which made me think; what is the POINT of turret zoom? I'm asking this in the most literal way, as in;
"What did the devs INTEND turret zoom to do/fix when they implemented it"?
Because it seems to me, you cant know if turret zoom is working as intended, and therefore if it is worth keeping, without knowing WHAT it was "intended" to do!
As far as I know, turret zoom was intended to prevent big cruisers and BSs from filling up the whole screen and messing up your firing, however seeing as with the auto aim you can kinda "fire through your own ship" I'm not sure why this was needed, but hey, I'm not a dev. But if this WAS the intended use for it (and I'm not saying it was, its just what I've gathered) then why was it added to gunboats and freighters (and arguably smaller transports) as they dont fill up your screen?
So my question is: "What was the INTENDED use for turret zoom when it was implemented?"
As it seems that is point that has to be established to see if it's working properly.
(I guess this is more a question to the devs/admins.)
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People used to be able to solo gunboats in a fighter. Soloing an anti-fighter platform, in a fighter...
Also, before TZ and TS, capital ships were flown as if it was piloted by a one man crew. TZ and TS allow you to steer in one direction, whilst firing the in opposite the direction. This makes sense since capitals ships have different crew members assigned to different tasks. That is, a gunner wouldn't be weighed down by piloting and a pilot wouldn't be weighed down with shooting. TZ and TS is our current solution to the problem even though capitals are still, obviously piloted by a single person.
Only Joe does that...
And usually during large fights there are separate groups. Each of them has its own team leader.
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PSA: If you have been having stutter/FPS lag on Disco where it does not run as smoothly as other games, please look at the fix here: https://discoverygc.com/forums/showthrea...pid2306502
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Well, talking from my own experience. Then again during RM raids, one of the turtles takes over for the turtle squad because all the snubs are too busy fighting their duels.
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PSA: If you have been having stutter/FPS lag on Disco where it does not run as smoothly as other games, please look at the fix here: https://discoverygc.com/forums/showthrea...pid2306502
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described in the other post - the point of turret zoom:
in short: to make using capital ships different from small ships.
a more detailed explanation:
capital ships in that case are ships that ( usually ) require a crew that shares tasks. - snubs for that reason are usually ships that allow the pilot to multitask. that means he is pilot, gunner, communication etc. - all in one.
some ships are of course an exception of that picture. - for example the BHG orca is meant to be piloted by only ONE person - while many bombers and who knows - some VHF might be flown by at least 2 people.
now - a snub is usually meant to focus on one task at a time. - when engaged in a dogfight ... the pilot focusses ENTIRELY on that combat. it is kind of like a tunnel view. - so although that pilot is multitasking everything needed to operate his ship - his mind is focussed on singletasking - on taking down his opponent. everything else becomes secondary - everything else becomes fuzzy. - once the target has been dealt with - he will move on to the next target after assessing the situation.
the above is but an abstract concept of what a snub is about. - of course a pilot also pays attention to its surroundings - especially in a group fight.
a capital ship has a lot more resources to "spare" when it comes to multitasking. - it is not just one pilot focussing his attention on staying alive or taking down his enemy - it is a full crew of people performing their tasks but also being able to spare thoughts on other things. - shared work means that they can pay more or at least as much attention on the tasks required ( compared to the fighter ) ... for a lot less concentration.
hence a capital ship is multitasking.
in terms of gameplay - that means that the best view for a fighter is either cockpit or chase view - cause whats REALLY important happens in front of its guns ( or - if he is running away - behind him - in which case rear view is interesting ) - but either way - its usually best to focus on one task. split the concentration too much and you end up lacking the focus to do anything.
a capital ships zoom ability is to reflect its multitasking. - a good capital ship is a heavy support ship. - it does not need to focus singlemindedly on ONE target ( unless it faces another capital ship - in which case it becomes much like a fighter .... and in which case the turret zoom becomes mostly irrelevant for it ) but it focusses its attention to WHERE ITS NEEDED THE MOST.
to accomplish that skill - the zoom allows a greater battlefield overview.
basicly its like a mixture between 1st person shooter - and classic RTS game. - the 1st person shooter is in the thick of the battle - and may go for personal kills. the battlefield commander however applies different tactics - even sacrifice troops to win - not cause he can - but cause he has a greater idea of when it is necessary.
that means:
capital ships are not fighters anymore ( unless they fight against a similar shipclass ) - they are commanders units with the ability to see where their fire is needed.
- they are extremely flexible in terms of where to apply firepower
- that makes them highly valuable in terms of RP. a capital ship is not worth the net sum of its crew compared to the fighter. - but it is worth its ability to dominate the battlefield by knowning where to do what at which time.
- they are still vulnerable ( or should be ) to precision strikes or massive ordinance bombardment like dual novas etc. - being able to avoid more spray and pray than before - but still not nearly as good as a fighter
why was it done?
to differentiate the skills needed to optimize the strength of those very different shipclasses. capital ships are not benefitting from a perfect "hand eye coordination" ( usually referred to as "skill" ) - but from a calm assessment of a situation and the experience/knowledge when to strike where ( usually in an arcade game that is NOT referred to as a skill )
weaponsfire and hitting something ( as long as in range ) - is meant to be easier, cause these ships share their tasks among a large crew. - so a gunner focusses on gunning - but not like a fighters pilot on flying, gunning and all else.
capital ships also - in contrast to fighters - have weak spots that are easier to exploit. while fighters have of course arcs they cannot fire at an enemy, they are a 360 degrees turret themselves. - capital ships are by nature NOT a turret themselves. when they have weakspots, they cannot easily cover them. - they also have weaknesses in terms of speed vs. weaponrange / speeds. - something a fighter hasn t have to worry about ( too much )
some capital ships do NOT have many weakspots though - just like some have more than fairness would allow.
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if you were really interested in background reasons and information - you won t mind that wall of text. - there is more about it - but that should suffice for now, i think.
edit:
there is that ancient mindset in disco that describes that "the smaller your ship and the more humble about your pvp skills you are - the more venerable you are"
once ppl loose that attitude - one might realize that it is nither good RP, nor sane to attack a foe with insufficient forces. here is a little "rough" list of shipclasses and their roles:
- battleship: very heavy support, extremly flexible to support the battle WITHIN its weaponsrange, but inflexible to react to a battle outside of its own zone of influence. a battleship is strong vs. another battleship and takes up a SUPPORT role vs. all others. ( meaning it needs others vs. anything but its own class - IF the enemy decides NOT to fight it on its own terms )
- battlecruiser/cruiser: a heavy jack of all traits, flexible within its weaponsrange - and sufficiently flexible to react to a larger battlefield outside of its own guns. it is meant to be a PERFECT balance between hitpoints, agility, multitasking - for a capital warship. ( unless its purpose is meant for something else than combat - like the order recon cruiser )
- gunboat: meant to offer a LIGHT support vs. ships larger than itself - and to be a hunter killer of ships smaller than itself. strangly - a gunboat is NOT meant to be the primary choice when it comes to fighting another gunboat. ( that is what small cruisers are best for ) - the gunboat is the smallest ship with limited multitasking abilities - but usually MEANT to be used like a fighter. ( single-tasking )
- bomber: one unique ship that is meant to fight ships larger than its own class. it is meant to be a match to a gunboat in firepower, but trades size and agility for hitpoints. both ships are meant to annihilate each other. - but the primary target for a bomber is the cruiser. ... against battleships the bomber is to be a SUPPORT ship.
- HF/VHF/SHF: mainly to fight ships of their own class - or lightly support others. - a VHF can attack a gunboat. but its not a good idea.
- LF: interceptor, scout and in the past ... the ship that could tip the balance ( with some LFs being able to fire the inferno - and support their heavier ships vs. capital warships )
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