test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Where are the hardpoints on my escort?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
edited March 2010 in The Academy
Hey everyone - so I recently made captain and switched over from cruisers to an escort. I really love my Defiant hyrbid, but something is a little troubling - where are my hardpoints? On my commander-level cruiser, it was very easy to identify where my beam weapons were emanating from. Now, with my escort, it seems to fire it's beam weapons directly from it's hull plating! Guh?
Has anyone found the reason for this? Am I just not looking closely enough? I don't see any beam arrays, cannon ports, or anything!

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    they skimped on some of the models...missing details, weapons firing from nacelles..even thin air

    they really should go over them and fix em
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    weapons firing from nacelles..even thin air

    they really should go over them and fix em

    I love my T5 Escort except for the "Nacelle cannons". It does look terrible and I agree these should be fixed at some point.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Wow, I didn't know that Cryptic hadn't given detail to the escorts - it does seem kinda important to pay attention to detail in terms of the ships that you use - seeing as how they are the focus!

    Like I said, I love my escort - but it kinda lessens the experience to see my ship firing from it's hull plating. Don't you think it would be easy to just put in some array decals or cannon ports? They exist on my commander-level cruiser.....

    Hopefully this is something that Cryptic cleans up in the "Common Ground" patch. Does anyone know if this topic was mentioned?

    Are there any more ships that are firing from strange places?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    My Commander level Science Vessel would fire beam weapons from the nacelles as well. It does look odd, but I don't think it is a priority item to fix. I have not read anything about this being fixed in the Common Ground patch. I've also not paid attention to where the weapons fire from as I've been play testing on Tribble though.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Morin wrote:
    My Commander level Science Vessel would fire beam weapons from the nacelles as well. It does look odd, but I don't think it is a priority item to fix. I have not read anything about this being fixed in the Common Ground patch. I've also not paid attention to where the weapons fire from as I've been play testing on Tribble though.

    On my Science Vessel, Commander Rank, my Forward Quantium Torpedo fires out of the stern of the ship. This looks really odd becase the torpedo has to do a 180 to hit targets in front of me.

    It is just a graphics issue. It doesnt effect game play. I am sure it will be fixed eventually but so many more pressing bugs that do effect game play.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Jonbre wrote: »
    Hey everyone - so I recently made captain and switched over from cruisers to an escort. I really love my Defiant hyrbid, but something is a little troubling - where are my hardpoints? On my commander-level cruiser, it was very easy to identify where my beam weapons were emanating from. Now, with my escort, it seems to fire it's beam weapons directly from it's hull plating! Guh?
    Has anyone found the reason for this? Am I just not looking closely enough? I don't see any beam arrays, cannon ports, or anything!

    Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!!

    Defiant gallery, including shots of the ship firing

    Above is a link to pictures of the show Defiant, can you tell me where the "hardpoints" are?

    The ones in-game are actually accurate for the front weapons (firing from the join between the nacelle and the hull), given MMO model limitations - the rear weapons, on the other hand...well, last I heard the Defiant had one minelayer rear in the show.

    Also according to canon, if you mont beams on the Definat they should emit from the BOTTOM of the ship - there's a phaser strip around the docking hatch.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Morin wrote:
    My Commander level Science Vessel would fire beam weapons from the nacelles as well. It does look odd, but I don't think it is a priority item to fix. I have not read anything about this being fixed in the Common Ground patch. I've also not paid attention to where the weapons fire from as I've been play testing on Tribble though.

    I think this is a artifact of the object system used by the game.

    Being based on the CO engine, the STO engine doesn't have any model-specific details - it appears to use the old "bounding box" mechanic that Starfleet Command used. So, weapons don't originalte from any one specific "point" on the hull - facing is all they have. With dual beams firing fromthe "sides" of the box - that gives us a pretty good approximation of what we see in game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    they skimped on some of the models...missing details, weapons firing from nacelles..even thin air

    they really should go over them and fix em

    I agree, I noticed yesterday that my Advanced escort was firing its dual beams from the tips of it top 2 nacelles. Star Trek fans take their details very seriously, we're not the fans to make mistakes like these around.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    Jonbre wrote: »
    Wow, I didn't know that Cryptic hadn't given detail to the escorts - it does seem kinda important to pay attention to detail in terms of the ships that you use - seeing as how they are the focus!

    Like I said, I love my escort - but it kinda lessens the experience to see my ship firing from it's hull plating. Don't you think it would be easy to just put in some array decals or cannon ports? They exist on my commander-level cruiser.....

    Hopefully this is something that Cryptic cleans up in the "Common Ground" patch. Does anyone know if this topic was mentioned?

    Are there any more ships that are firing from strange places?

    I doubt heavily that it will be "cleared up" in ANY patch.

    Models used in any game have to be simplified due to the fact that we run on PCs - not the supercomuting servers that do the rendering over at ILM or slsewhere. Models in MMOs have to be even FURTHER simplified - due to the fact that you can't predicvt how many ships will be onscreen needing to be rendered at any one time - the more ships (objects) onscreent hat need rendering, the higher the client workload AND the more lag the user expereinces.

    Even highly optimized clients and immensely powerful server farms have this limitation - they ALL reduce objects onscreen for playabiility over quality.

    In STO, the tiny ships (like the Defiant) fall victim of this more than most others that are larger - simply because it doesn't make a lot of sense to include details that for the most part will never be seen. Even on the larger ships, the "hardpoints" are limited to small black pyramids eith a red dot on them, instead of the shi-p-covering phaser STRIPS they shold be, or the ball-with-black-dot that they are on things like the Miranda and Constitution-refit. Again, it's inthe name of playability.

    The cannon "hardpoints" onthe Defiant-class are accurate in their placement (see earlier post with Defiant pictures in it to see the exact locations of the cannons) - in-game the armament of the Defiant would be one dual heavy cannon, two single cannons, and one quantum torp.

    Due to "hardpoint" limitatons, the canon location for beams isn't usabel (bottom of the main hull ins the only place pahser beams have ever been shown to be eimtted from - from the ring around the bottom hatch, to be exact). Dial beams I presume come from the nacelle tips due to model limitations - you see this on other escorts as well.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited March 2010
    I've never noticed from where my weapons are firing. I usually have other things to which to pay attention during combat. I watch where my enemy is going, how long for my cooldowns to finish, what weapons my enemy is firing at me, how much damage my shield facings are taking, which shield facing I need to bolster,can I fire my fore or aft torpedo now, and other actual combat related things. Where on my ship's hull the phaser beam originates is probably the last thing to which I will ever pay attention.
Sign In or Register to comment.