Helios Arsenal

Helios Arsenal

Six new weapons, kinetic, energy and sci-fi, for large and small grids, in the Helios tier colours. Every model is new and every weapon has its own effects. Works with or without WeaponCore, and it switches by itself: without WeaponCore they are real vanilla turrets and guns, so ammo, conveyors, turret AI, toolbars and programmable blocks all just work.

Weapons

[table] [tr][th]Weapon[/th][th]Kind[/th][th]What it does[/th][th]Range[/th][/tr] [tr][td]Shredder Flak (T1, cyan)[/td][td]kinetic[/td][td]Rotary flak battery: 6-pellet airburst shells, made for missiles, fighters and drones[/td][td]900 m[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Pulse Laser (T1, cyan)[/td][td]energy[/td][td]Near-instant laser pulses (3 km/s) at 3,000 rounds a minute from a focusing emitter, fast tracking[/td][td]1,100 m[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Mass Driver (T2, violet)[/td][td]kinetic[/td][td]Coilgun slug at 1.6 km/s that punches deep through armour and ricochets; the barrel recoils[/td][td]2,400 m[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Plasma Cannon (T2, violet)[/td][td]energy[/td][td]Bursts of glowing plasma bolts that burn through armour and burst for 5,000 over 5 m[/td][td]1,500 m[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Arc Projector (T3, orange)[/td][td]sci-fi[/td][td]A plasma arc that hits for 27,000, then jumps to 3 more blocks, each a random 5-30 m away, each hit a black hole tearing at everything within 4 m[/td][td]1,000 m[/td][/tr] [tr][td]Graviton Lance (T3, orange)[/td][td]sci-fi[/td][td]Fixed spinal gun: 2 s charge, a graviton core with four times the railgun's penetration that implodes for 30,000 over 10 m and drags nearby ships in for 2 s[/td][td]3,000 m[/td][/tr] [/table] Turrets are 2x2x2 (Shredder, Pulse, Arc) and 3x2x3 (Mass Driver, Plasma) on large grid; the Lance is 1x1x6. Small-grid versions are scaled down (4x4x4, 6x4x6, 2x2x12 small blocks) with less damage and range.

Effects and animation

• Layered laser beams that flash and fade, a smooth plasma whip that jumps from block to block (no jagged lightning), each hit becoming a small black hole with a spinning accretion disc, violet plasma bolts and bursts, coloured trails and impacts
• Recoiling barrels (Mass Driver, Plasma Cannon), a spinning rotary barrel (Shredder)
• Running lights in the tier colour that race while firing; the Lance's rings fill as it recharges and flash while it charges
• The Graviton Lance's implosion pulls ships, players and debris towards the impact point
• Effects are depth-tested: they do not shine through hulls

Sound

Every weapon has its own sound: a steady laser tone on the Pulse Laser, an electric zap and a collapsing power-down for each black hole on the Arc Projector, a blaster crack and a coil whine as the Mass Driver recharges, a deep thoom and a blast for the Plasma Cannon. The Graviton Lance builds a rising charge when you fire, cracks like a railgun, powers down, then winds up from the ship's power for 20 s, peaking as it is ready again.

Ammo or power

• Kinetic weapons take ammo through conveyor ports under the whole base: Flak Drum (Shredder) and Driver Slug (Mass Driver), made in the Assembler from ingots
• Energy and sci-fi weapons need no ammo and have no conveyor port: Pulse Laser, Plasma Cannon, Arc Projector and Graviton Lance run on power alone

Power

Energy weapons draw real power while firing (Pulse 1.5 MW, Plasma 4 MW, Arc 6 MW, Mass Driver 8 MW while charging). Short of power, they stop. The Lance draws 24 MW while it recharges (20 s after each shot).

Firing the Graviton Lance

It is a fixed gun: aim the ship. Click it on a cockpit toolbar, or use Shoot once in the terminal: it fires whether or not there is a target. Without WeaponCore, its terminal shows its state (recharging, NO POWER, READY).

WeaponCore support

One mod for both: nothing to install or set. If WeaponCore is in the world, Helios Arsenal registers all six weapons with it, on both grid sizes, so it does not remove them. If not, the WeaponCore code does nothing.

• WeaponCore fires the weapons and controls their targeting, so damage and handling can differ from the non-WeaponCore version
• Kept under WeaponCore: the Arc Projector's jumps and black holes, the Graviton Lance's and Plasma Cannon's bursts, the Lance's pull, running lights, recoil and sounds
• Beams, tracers, trails and projectile models are drawn by WeaponCore
• Helios Shields: without WeaponCore, Pulse Laser beams and Arc Projector arcs stop at the bubble. Under WeaponCore, shots pass through the bubble to the hull
• You can add or remove WeaponCore later: placed weapons stay, and without it Helios turrets get their range back

Good to know

• Multiplayer and dedicated server ready: damage is server-side, effects are drawn on clients
• Damage goes through the normal damage system: safe zones and shield mods (e.g. Helios Shields) see it
• Own block category "Helios Arsenal", toolbar icons, construction stages, paintable hulls
• Without WeaponCore, turrets follow the world's friendly-fire setting: with "Turrets friendly fire" off they will not damage your own or your faction's ships
• From the Helios set (Fusion Reactors, Ion Thrusters, Jump Drives, Shields), works on its own

Credits

WeaponCore support includes WeaponCore's definitions file, (c) 2024 Shane R. Stixrud, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Sound effects from Pixabay (Pixabay Content License): "Futuristic pulse weapon shot" (fronbondi_skegs), "myexplosion1", "power down", "warp speed", "lazer" (freesound_community), "EDM zap", "Blaster FX" (soundreality), "Laser charge" (gregorquendel). This mod's 3D models were made with the help of AI tools.