Advice about my phalanx, thanks

January 29, 2006

I’m looking for everyone’s opinion about the control the player should have over the phalanx system on their capital ship. I’ve implemented a simple system where the player chooses the direction and width to fire their phalanx defence in order to shoot down incoming missiles. The skill comes from figuring out where the enemy is going to attack your ship and therefore where you should fire your phalanx system to shoot down as many incoming missiles as possible. The phalanx system is basically a group of large cannons which fire large projectiles towards incoming missile in the hopes of hitting and destroying them.

While this initial system works well, I’m unsure of the control the player should have when actually firing the phalanx batteries. The choices I can thin of are:

  1. The phalanx fires continuously wherever the player points it. This is my least favourite option as it doesn’t add any depth to the game and isn’t what would really happen.
  2. The computer automatically decides when a missile is close and automatically starts firing. This option is fairly realistic and is the option I’m thinking is the best so far. The problem being it doesn’t add a gameplay choice for the player.
  3. The player clicks when they want to fire the phalanx system and when to turn it off. This adds a choice for the player however I don’t think it’s an interesting choice. Every time a group of missiles is close the player would always turn the phalanx on and then turn it off a little later. If I go for this option then I must make the choice an interesting one. For example, I could add a maximum time the phalanx can fire for before reloading. I don’t want players to be rewarded for just timing the firing of the phalanx to the nearest second and then turning off as soon as possible as this isn’t really interesting and would be better done by a computer.

So which of these options would you prefer, and can you think of any other options I can add to the list. As I said, I’m leaning towards option two as I can’t see a way of making this an interesting choice for the player. Please post any ideas as comments to this post or email me at alistair@doolwind.com.

Below is a picture of the phalanx firing from the ship. I don’t have the phalanx batteries on my model yet so I’m just firing from random positions on the ship.

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  • deathdealer

    from the stand point of realism coming from a military man. go with a combonation of numbers 2 and 3 with an over heat warning if you fire above a set rate of fire (rounds per minute)

    this is the real thing something to go on
    The gun subsystem employs a gatling gun consisting of a rotating cluster of six barrels. The gatling gun fires a 20mm subcaliber sabot projectile using a heavy-metal (either tungsten or depleted uranium) 15mm penetrator surrounded by a plastic sabot and a light-weight metal pusher. The gatling gun fires 20mm ammunition at either 3,000 or 4,500 rounds-per-minute with a burst length of continuous, 60, or 100 rounds.

    CIWS has been a mainstay self defense system aboard nearly every class of ship since the late 70’s. It was originally designed to defeat low altitude antiship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and was called the block 0. As antiship cruise missiles became more complex in maneuvers and ability to be detected, and warfare areas moved from open ocean to littoral environments, CIWS has evolved to meet the threat.
    Block 1 incorporated a new search antenna to detect high altitude missiles, improved search sensitivity, increased the ammunition available for firing by 50 percent, a pneumatic gun drive which increased the firing rate to 4500 rounds per minute, and started using tungsten ammunition as well as depleted uranium. Block I improvements provide increased elevation coverage, larger magazine space for increased round capacity, a variable and higher gun fire rate, and improved radar and processing capabilities.
    Block 1A incorporated a new High Order Language Computer (HOLC) to provide more processing power over the obsolete general purpose digital computer, improved fire control algorithms to counter maneuvering targets, search multiple weapons coordination to better manage engagements, and an end-to-end testing function to better determine system functionality.
    Block 1B Phalanx Surface Mode (PSUM) incorporates a side mounted Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) which enables CIWS to engage low slow or hovering aircraft and surface craft. Additionally, the FLIR assists the radar in engaging some ASCM’s bringing a greater chance of ship survivability. Block 1B uses a thermal imager Automatic Acquisition Video Tracker (AAVT) and stablilization system that provide surface mode and electro-optic (EO) angle track. These Block 1B enhancements will allow day/night detection capability and enable the CIWS to engage small surface targets, slow-moving air targets, and helicopters.
    Baseline 2C improvements provide an integrated multi-weapon operations capability. During integrated operations, the command system controls CIWS sensors, target reports, mode employment, and doctrine. The sensors are utilized to provide 360 degree search and track coverage, while providing track data to, and receiving designations from, the Command system. This CIWS installation includes a conversion kit for each weapon group to facilitate ease and safety of maintenance; the “maintenance enclosure” kit installs the below-deck equipment for a gun mount in a prefabricated enclosure with the mount located above it.”