How do mines work

[Suicide Junkie]

Now if we could just come up with a rationalization of why we can only squeeze 100 mines into a sector....

That's the maximum per sector that the Minefield Maintainers' Guild will allow their workers to manage.

If you add more, they will just let the minefield decay until it is back down to regulation size, as well as charge for their time waiting.

[Phoenix-D]

"Now if we could just come up with a rationalization of why we can only squeeze 100 mines into a sector...."

It gets too dense, and they start triggering each other. Given that each 'mine' in SE4 is 10-20kt, it's likely a field of mines unto itself.

Phoenix-D

[Grandpa Kim]

Phoenix or SJ, Phoenix or SJ. Who's right? Oh, decisions, decisions...

[Stone Mill]

Now if we could just come up with a rationalization of why we can only squeeze 100 mines into a sector..

Actually, this has to do with corporate redistribution agreements and market domination, enforced by galactic law, which is, in turn, funded by sweetheart deals from the weapons manufacturer.

[Zoompet]

Now if we could just come up with a rationalization of why we can only squeeze 100 mines into a sector....

Game balance.

[ckotchey]

To come up with an explanation of the mines - and the "they don't hit shields" rule - I think of the personal shields in Dune - in that they only stop fast-moving targets from passing. A mine could float right through it undetected and unaffected by shields, since it would be moving at less-than-projectile speeds.

works enough for me.

Since enough people seem to not like the "shields have no effect" rules, maybe an update to the game could be something like "if a mine detonates on a ship with shields, there is an x% chance of the shield absorbing the blow first". Perhaps each level of shield increases the odds - Shield 1 at 10%, Shield II at 20%, etc.

Dunno...I'm just making stuff up.

[ October 12, 2002, 22:00: Message edited by: ckotchey ]

[Arkcon]

Originally posted by ckotchey:
To come up with an explanation of the mines - and the "they don't hit shields" rule - I think of the personal shields in Dune - in that they only stop fast-moving targets from passing
.

explanation.

Since enough people seem to not like the "shields have no effect" rules, maybe an update to the game could be something like "if a mine detonates on a ship with shields, there is an x% chance of the shield absorbing the blow first". Perhaps each level of shield increases the odds - Shield 1 at 10%, Shield II at 20%, etc.

Dunno...I'm just making stuff up.

A worthwhile addition, it would prevent mines from dominating too much. But then, the best addition to mines is adding some randomness to the damage they do and the effectiveness of sweeping.

[jimbob]

I'd love to see a total re-work on mines. As to what this would entail... more randomness, probability that sweeping won't work, probability that mines will "miss" a valid target, etc... basically everything everyone has already stated. However, I like the fact that shields don't work against mines. Maybe like in STrek you just can't keep shields up for hours on end - maybe they burn out or something. Anyway, it gives us an excuse to use armour.

[Taera]

umm Grandpa, what is *so* wrong with my idea?

[mlmbd]

Jimbob
err... or perhaps a, rope a dope-pope?

And I still like the idea!

[ October 13, 2002, 08:15: Message edited by: mlmbd ]