Weapon ranges?

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Weapon ranges?

Atruejedi
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Post by Atruejedi » Fri Apr 22, 2016 12:27 am

Hi,

I'm a bit out of the loop and have forgotten basically everything... I'm going to make a custom mission to retrain myself, but I can't seem to remember the exact ranges of weapons in X-Wing Alliance.

Ships with small lasers seem to start shooting at around 1.5 km.
Warheads can be targeted on larger ships at 6.0 km, I believe... and 2.5 km on smaller ship?
At what distance do capital ships begin firing on each other? I read somewhere it was 4.0 km... but I'm not sure if that's accurate...
Do starships fire missiles at fighters at 6.0 km?

If anybody has a list and could provide it for me, I'd much appreciate it! I'll take all the information I can get on weapon ranges and engagement distances!

Tony Knightcrawler
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Post by Tony Knightcrawler » Sat Apr 23, 2016 7:52 pm

Supercharged lasers have a 1.5 km range. Lasers that are not supercharged have a 1.0 km range.

Dunno about the other questions.

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Mark_Farlander
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Post by Mark_Farlander » Mon Feb 12, 2018 11:57 am

Sorry if I'm a bit late for this, but I've just seen another topic about warhead speed, so I know these questions are quite recurring.

Let's clarify that the weapon range (WR) and the targeting range (TR) are two different things, and the only relation existing between these 2 ranges is TR<WR.
However, if you wish to know WR, you can calculate it using the values you read in Demon's BinHexEdit.
You can download Demon's BinHexEdit from here: http://www.darksaber.xwaupgrade.com

EDITED BY DARKSABER: DO NOT LINK TO INDIVIDUAL PAGES FROM MY WEBSITE!!


It's the first craft editor you see, but you can also read and edit weapon stats.
The first time you open it, you must select the project you are interested in (basically XWA with or without DSUCP) and then you will be asked to indicate the location of XWINGALLIANCE.exe.
Weapon speed (WS) should be the 5/289 section and weapon duration (WD) the 6/289. Unfortunately, while WD is expressed in seconds, WS is not in MGLT, so you have to find the conversion factor. Then you can multiply WS (in MGLT) x WD (in s) and you obtain the weapon range (WR) in milliklicks when fired from a fully stopped craft.

And what about targeting range (TR)?
Search for the starship you are interested in and look at the line 36, 37 or 38: that's TR for lasers, multiply it by 2 and you have TR in klicks.
For starfighters carrying warheads TR is much easier to estimate: 6.0 klicks vs starships, heavy transports and stations, 4.0 klicks vs light transports, 2.5 klicks vs starfighters.
And for starfighter cannons:
Tony Knightcrawler wrote:Supercharged lasers have a 1.5 km range. Lasers that are not supercharged have a 1.0 km range.
I don't judge tactics. The Battle is the best and only Judge.

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keiranhalcyon7
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Post by keiranhalcyon7 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 7:35 am

Mark_Farlander wrote:Sorry if I'm a bit late for this, but I've just seen another topic about warhead speed, so I know these questions are quite recurring.

Let's clarify that the weapon range (WR) and the targeting range (TR) are two different things, and the only relation existing between these 2 ranges is TR<WR.
However, if you wish to know WR, you can calculate it using the values you read in Demon's BinHexEdit.
You can download Demon's BinHexEdit from here: http://www.darksaber.xwaupgrade.com

It's the first craft editor you see, but you can also read and edit weapon stats.
The first time you open it, you must select the project you are interested in (basically XWA with or without DSUCP) and then you will be asked to indicate the location of XWINGALLIANCE.exe.
Weapon speed (WS) should be the 5/289 section and weapon duration (WD) the 6/289. Unfortunately, while WD is expressed in seconds, WS is not in MGLT, so you have to find the conversion factor. Then you can multiply WS (in MGLT) x WD (in s) and you obtain the weapon range (WR) in milliklicks when fired from a fully stopped craft.

And what about targeting range (TR)?
Search for the starship you are interested in and look at the line 36, 37 or 38: that's TR for lasers, multiply it by 2 and you have TR in klicks.
For starfighters carrying warheads TR is much easier to estimate: 6.0 klicks vs starships, heavy transports and stations, 4.0 klicks vs light transports, 2.5 klicks vs starfighters.
And for starfighter cannons:
Tony Knightcrawler wrote:Supercharged lasers have a 1.5 km range. Lasers that are not supercharged have a 1.0 km range.
My in-game tests just now gave ranges of approximately 1.35 and 0.9 for supercharged and standard lasers, respectively, 10% shorter than the 1.5 and 1.0 km ranges quoted in mission briefings across the series. There's some fudge factor in there, since I was moving (at a speed of 3), and I think the size of the target affects the distance somewhat (i.e., distance to target surface is shorter than distance to target center). I was shooting at container/As, and the actual readouts were 1.38 and 0.93, so I'm chalking the 0.03 up to these two effects. (I also observed that near the outside of the range, you can score hits without getting green. I think this is related to the target size effect, since I've also seen the green indicator come on for longer ranges when flying at speed, and even come on and then turn off again while decelerating.)

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Mark_Farlander
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Post by Mark_Farlander » Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:00 am

keiranhalcyon7 wrote:
I've also seen the green indicator come on for longer ranges when flying at speed, and even come on and then turn off again while decelerating.
This confirms targeting range can't be higher than weapon range, provided that weapon speed is affected by your craft speed.
See the section Warhead Mechanics/set speed in the Pilot Lounge.
keiranhalcyon7 wrote: There's some fudge factor in there, since I was moving (at a speed of 3), and I think the size of the target affects the distance somewhat (i.e., distance to target surface is shorter than distance to target center).
3 MGLT is a speed of no relevance.
Target size can't affect weapon range, but it could fudge targeting range readouts, because the targeting computer shows you the distance from your craft to the specific targeted component. Take the Executor for example: you can see a green target indicator even targeting a component which is 9 km far from your craft.
keiranhalcyon7 wrote: I was shooting at container/As, and the actual readouts were 1.38 and 0.93, so I'm chalking the 0.03 up to these two effects.
Strange, containers don't have "single components", and considering you were moving so slow, those values could be the actual weapon ranges for lasers.
I have just done a similar experiment and I wasn't able to hit a container at a distance of 1.41 with fully charged lasers from my fully stopped A-Wing.
1.5 and 1.0 were probably measured from a craft moving at 50 MGLT.
I don't judge tactics. The Battle is the best and only Judge.

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Mark_Farlander
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Post by Mark_Farlander » Tue Feb 13, 2018 11:41 am

keiranhalcyon7 wrote:
I also observed that near the outside of the range, you can score hits without getting green.
2 explanations for this:
1) Once again targeting range can't be higher than weapon range
2) Cannon convergence was turned off

Which craft were you piloting?
Was cannon convergence adjustable (Z key) on that craft?
I don't judge tactics. The Battle is the best and only Judge.

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keiranhalcyon7
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Post by keiranhalcyon7 » Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:49 am

Mark_Farlander wrote:
keiranhalcyon7 wrote:I've also seen the green indicator come on for longer ranges when flying at speed, and even come on and then turn off again while decelerating.
This confirms targeting range can't be higher than weapon range, provided that weapon speed is affected by your craft speed.
See the section Warhead Mechanics/set speed in the Pilot Lounge.
Yes, I've been following that thread as well.
Mark_Farlander wrote:
keiranhalcyon7 wrote:There's some fudge factor in there, since I was moving (at a speed of 3), and I think the size of the target affects the distance somewhat (i.e., distance to target surface is shorter than distance to target center).
3 MGLT is a speed of no relevance.
Target size can't affect weapon range, but it could fudge targeting range readouts, because the targeting computer shows you the distance from your craft to the specific targeted component. Take the Executor for example: you can see a green target indicator even targeting a component which is 9 km far from your craft.
keiranhalcyon7 wrote:I was shooting at container/As, and the actual readouts were 1.38 and 0.93, so I'm chalking the 0.03 up to these two effects.
Strange, containers don't have "single components", and considering you were moving so slow, those values could be the actual weapon ranges for lasers.
I have just done a similar experiment and I wasn't able to hit a container at a distance of 1.41 with fully charged lasers from my fully stopped A-Wing.
1.5 and 1.0 were probably measured from a craft moving at 50 MGLT.
Indeed. You may find this thread and the google document linked therein interesting.
Mark_Farlander wrote:
keiranhalcyon7 wrote:I also observed that near the outside of the range, you can score hits without getting green.
2 explanations for this:
1) Once again targeting range can't be higher than weapon range
2) Cannon convergence was turned off

Which craft were you piloting?
Was cannon convergence adjustable (Z key) on that craft?
X-Wing, convergence unchanged (on). My conclusion is that the displayed range is to the center of the container, which is a bit farther away than the nearest surface where the lasers strike.

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Mark_Farlander
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Post by Mark_Farlander » Thu Feb 15, 2018 4:34 am

Looking at the X-Wing Weapon stat chart (page 5), it seems for red lasers the stats are the same as in X-Wing Alliance.
The weapon range for fully charged red lasers is 1.37 klicks at full stop and 1.63 klicks at 100 MGLT.
So I guessed right 1.50 klicks is the weapon range at 50 MGLT.

Weapon range works in the same way for green lasers, but you have to multiply the value at full stop x0.9 because in BinHexEdit red laser speed is rated at 2000 and green laser speed at 1800, whereas duration (lifespan) is the same for both. Tests confirm this too.

For ion cannons weapon range is completely different in X-Wing Alliance because of the weapon speed.
X-Wing Weapon stat chart: charged laser speed 1000, charged ion speed 375.
BinHexEdit (X-Wing Alliance): full red laser speed 2000, full ion cannon speed 1600.
Tests also confirm this: in Weapon stat chart 0.87 klicks is the range for charged ion cannons, whereas I was able to hit a target 1.20 klicks far from a fully stopped craft in X-Wing Alliance.

However, now it's obvious that a Weaponry Test topic is needed, also because there is a "Weapon Range" and a "Warhead Speed" topic, but there is no "Weapon Damage" topic.

And what about targeting range?
In my test I was able to get the green circle for fully charged red lasers at 1.54 klicks from the target while I was flying at 100 MGLT.
This is obviously in line with the general rule that targeting range (1.54 measured) can never surpass weapon range (1.63 at 100 MGLT), but I thought I would have found a much closer value.
keiranhalcyon7 wrote: My conclusion is that the displayed range is to the center of the container, which is a bit farther away than the nearest surface where the lasers strike.
The displayed distance (the distance you read in the CMD) is from your craft sensors to the targeted component, but since containers have no components (only main hull), the whole container is considered as a single component, therefore the displayed distance is to the center of the container.

What do you mean with "displayed range"?
If you mean the distance where you get the green circle, that's what I called targeting range.
For a container, now that we have excluded cannon convergence influence in the test, I find no other explanation it's calculated to the center.
However, as I said in a previous post, it's not true in general that targeting range is calculated to the targeted component: in a test I got the green circle on the Executor while targeting a hull component 10.62 km far.

I think a "Target Practice" topic is needed too.
Last edited by Mark_Farlander on Thu Feb 15, 2018 5:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
I don't judge tactics. The Battle is the best and only Judge.

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keiranhalcyon7
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Post by keiranhalcyon7 » Thu Feb 15, 2018 7:19 am

Mark_Farlander wrote:What do you mean with "displayed range"?
The range readout in the cmd.

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