I was debugging the torpedoes in C2 to make them work properly in 3d, and I noticed there's a bug in how torpedoes work that has probably been in since the beginning of this game, but I never really noticed before. I want to just talk about how torpedoes were working, and how I "fixed" them to work so that we can keep an eye on them and whether or not we should put them back and whether or not some of the torpedoes will be rebalanced because of the fix. I would have just left them as they were, except it was a lot easier to get them to work correctly in C2 after fixing them first.

As you guys know, a torpedo has an "arming time" after you shoot it, during which it just sits there and is vulnerable, and after which it starts to actually move. What you might not know is that torpedoes also have a "burn time", which is an amount of time after the torpedo launches that it's supposed to accelerate and aim, and after which, it's supposed to keep a steady speed and not aim.

The way torpedoes are working currently, is that they aim while arming, then due to a typo in the code, they don't aim and fly straight during the burn time while they're accelerating, and after the burn time is up, they start aiming again.

I can tell that it was supposed to not aim during arming time, aim and accelerate during burn time, then fly straight after the burn is complete. I think changing it to do that might make them a little difficult to use, so what I've done is make them aim during both the arming time and the burn time, then fly straight after the burn. I also increased the burn time based on range augs and skills, so that the burn portion remains as a constant ratio for each torpedo.

The main difference I'm seeing is that they can now go a lot faster with range augs, but despite that, they are worse at hitting moving things that are far away, but much, much, much better at hitting things in the close-medium range. I don't really have a strong opinion on if fixing this makes them better or worse. I think they are probably better fixed, since the previous behavior doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'd like to leave this issue open for now and give people a chance to test it and give their opinion.

I never realized this was a glitch myself. If it makes more sense to change it for C2 then it probably should be changed.

However, personally, I depended upon the bugged functionality when fighting some AI like MF Slumberchromes. It may only require a flying adjustment, but it's possible that this could upset the balance of MF Torpedo AI relative to their level, etc.

In any case, good job

This sounds cool. Something like it should be done with missiles.

What Jagur4 is pointing out is vital.

You really have to check anything that is currently using torpedoes, and ask around to see if anything needs a change after implementing the new changes.

Things that might need a change then, will be for example:

BFD Drones
All Torpedoe weapons
AI using Torpedoes
How certain classes now perform against torpedoe launching enemies

Apart from that, it sounds interesting. The current torpedoes in game (in this moment I'm sitting and doing an uber with Lion Quick Snaps) are used more as MagCannons with a charging time.

I use BFDs primarily these days to kill Seers and Snipers. I've turned to other drones against Speed Demons to be honest. So they will not be that bad.

Will this be affecting throaxes?

I think that this change could really hurt torpedo weapons. This is basically turning them into pre-tracking pulses. They will be pretty useless for anything fast or anything small.

Do correct me if I am wrong, but if the code works like in my picture I think they will become a lot less used.

i swear i couldn't have done better with photoshop...

Paint is the future. All hail paint.

Ditto