Author Topic: Laser never firing?  (Read 2409 times)

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Offline Whivy (OP)

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Laser never firing?
« on: August 22, 2011, 04:44:59 PM »
Hi, i have a issue with my laser cruiser.
I recently had some trouble with a neighboor, so i created two laser armed cruiser and send them into battle. 
They went into fight, into very close combat range (the enemy was on the otherside of the jump point).  Then the fight last 20 sec before my ship blew off.
I don't particulary mind losing the battle, but i don't understand why my ships didn't fire? They had the target assigned, and everything else, but every 5sec increment they went with "preparing to fire, but weapon not yet ready".  Do i miss something?

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Avenger class Cruiser    12,000 tons     1248 Crew     2131 BP      TCS 240  TH 1200  EM 900
5000 km/s     Armour 5-46     Shields 30-300     Sensors 6/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 38     PPV 38.08
Maint Life 11.07 Years     MSP 2998    AFR 63%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 45    5YR 673    Max Repair 360 MSP

Military Ion Engine (20)    Power 60    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 50.0 billion km   (115 days at full power)
Delta R300/15 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per day

Twin 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 320,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 32-8     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Fire Control S16 160-12000 H70 (1)    Max Range: 320,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 22.5    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR25-R120 (70%) (1)     GPS 2520     Range 25.3m km    Resolution 120
Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (70%) (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  6m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-11 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
 

Offline Xkill

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2011, 05:06:05 PM »
Well as far as my VERY limited knowledge of combat can lead me the problem is your reactors. You have only one reactor and your guns need 32. Just put some more reactors and your good to go.
 

Offline Andrew

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2011, 05:14:07 PM »
The Lasers need 8 power every 5 seconds each so you need to be able to produce 32 power per 5 seconds. With insufficient power I am not sure they will ever power themselves up.
Also after jump there is a delay before electronics come on line, during this time your active sensors and beam FC would not be working it is possible that your ships were destroyed before they came back on line.

Also as a not you have far too much maintenance it is very common, unless you want the ship to operate without resupply or overhaul for a LONG time you can manage with a maintenance life of about 1 or 2 years
 

Offline Whivy (OP)

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2011, 05:27:42 PM »
Thanks for the aswers.  I just put one reactor cause my ship design manager said "power required 16" "power output 22".  How much power should i get to make this roll? Is a total power output of 32 or more means that i can supply my two laser beam even in combat?

Also for the maintenance thing, thanks, i'll take this advice.  I didn't really knew if something like <100% afr was good or not.

Code: [Select]
Avenger mk2 class Cruiser    12,000 tons     1150 Crew     2188 BP      TCS 240  TH 1200  EM 1200
5000 km/s     Armour 7-46     Shields 40-300     Sensors 6/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 25     PPV 38.08
Maint Life 2.11 Years     MSP 570    AFR 230%    IFR 3.2%    1YR 171    5YR 2571    Max Repair 360 MSP

Military Ion Engine (20)    Power 60    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 50.0 billion km   (115 days at full power)
Delta R300/15 Shields (16)   Total Fuel Cost  240 Litres per day

Twin 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 320,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 32-8     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Fire Control S16 160-12000 H70 (1)    Max Range: 320,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 45    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (70%) (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR25-R120 (70%) (1)     GPS 2520     Range 25.3m km    Resolution 120
Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  6m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-11 (70%) (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Will this do? And, about the damage control, is two enough?
 

Offline Vynadan

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2011, 05:31:05 PM »
The reactor seems sufficient - he has a power outpot of 22.5 energy per five second increment and a need of 16 energy per such increment as he has two turrets each taking 8 points of power. It's only one reactor, but it's a large one I take it.

My guess is you were still blinded after the jump - Did you use the 'standard transit' or 'squadron transit' command to pass the jump point? And how long did the combat actually last before your ships were destroyed? Did the fight occur immeadetly on the other side of the jump point?
 

Offline Jacob/Lee

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2011, 05:47:53 PM »
I suggest atleast matching the power requirement.

Also, I heard somewhere that the jump blinds your active sensors, never seen it myself though.
 

Offline Whivy (OP)

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2011, 05:56:59 PM »
I used standard transit and my fleet was attacked the moment it jumped out.  The fight last about 30second, it was 2 for me against 7 for them.
I don't know if it change anything, but the jump point had a gate build by myself, so no jump engine needed.
 

Offline Brian Neumann

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2011, 06:17:49 PM »
Whenever you are doing a jump transit you will be blind for some time.  If it is a squadron transit then the time is usually 30 seconds to 1 minute.  For civilian jump drives it is a lot longer, I think around an hour.  Jump gates do not change this, and a standard transit is considered to be a civilian style jump.  In this case your sensors never came on line so your weapons never saw anything to shoot at.

Brian
 

Offline Whivy (OP)

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2011, 06:29:05 PM »
ok, thanks for the answers, i'll try another fight as soon as i get some cruiser build (which is a long way to go. . . )

Now for the reactor thing, is one enought or not? This is taking some space and crew.
 

Offline Vynadan

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2011, 06:43:44 PM »
A single reactor of your current design is more than your weapons need.
To take apart you design and explain, we see this line:

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Twin 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2)    Range 320,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 32-8     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6

Therein, we see the Power 32-8 and the ROF 20. The ROF is the 'rate of fire' and is the amount in seconds which your weapons need to load. This can be decreased with further research into capacitors. The Power section tells you that your weapons need 32 points of power. However, they charge for 20 seconds - meaning 32 power required over the course of 20 seconds. That results into a requirement of 8 points of power every five seconds.

This is important because reactor output is measured in five second increments.
As you have two of these turrets, you need 2x8 power per five second increment.
Your reactor supplies you with 22.5 points of power each five seconds - Adding this up you have a surplus of 6.5 points of power. As such, your guns will charge and can fire.

A tactical thought you might want to put is into your reactor design - You have a single reactor, meaning a single component that can be hit. If this reactor goes boom in combat, all your weapons are offline. If you build smaller reactors that produce less power but put more on the ship, you have a better chance of having your firepower only reduced, not entirely knocked out. However, the design as it is, is basically capable of combat.
 

Offline Thiosk

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2011, 06:44:05 PM »
yeah you definatly have delay through jumpgates, i lost 5 ships in 2 min to a combination of jump blindness and poor crew training.
 

Offline Whivy (OP)

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2011, 07:26:58 PM »
I'll take theses advices into account, thanks for it =)
 

Offline Caesar

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #12 on: August 26, 2011, 08:09:41 PM »
"Preparing to fire, but weapon not yet ready".

It tends to say that when your crew is not trained very well and the orders are taking time to come through.
 

Offline TheCosmicKid

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #13 on: September 10, 2011, 09:43:20 AM »
Quote from: Caesar link=topic=3994.  msg38955#msg38955 date=1314407381
It tends to say that when your crew is not trained very well and the orders are taking time to come through. 
This just happened to me too.    Gauss cannon cruisers successfully close to point-blank range.  .  .   and then sit there and get destroyed without firing a shot.    What's curious is that they worked just fine blowing through the enemy fleet at the jump point.    Is it just random?  Because that seems like it would be a just plain mean mechanic. 
« Last Edit: September 10, 2011, 09:46:15 AM by TheCosmicKid »
 

Offline Thiosk

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Re: Laser never firing?
« Reply #14 on: September 10, 2011, 12:42:15 PM »
Id have to know more about your setup.  If its working in one place and not in another place, and you aren't in jump blinkdness... i'm not sure what the problem is.  Did you forget to open fire?  Were there any error events?