Large targets (nearly) immune to radius effects.

[PM]

The distance used for damage calculations appears to be based from the missile explosion to the center of the target, instead of from the missile to the point of impact on the target.

To see this bug in action, fire XM900 Lucifer missiles or 98R high-flux MAGs at Starton Eridani or any other similarly large target. The aforementioned missiles have an explosion radius of 4, and large stations like Starton Eridani have an approximate radius size of 5. If the missile fragments and explodes, the station will take very little, if any, damage. Flying inside the target and firing missiles (such that fragmentation does not occur) will cause full damage.

[shanejfilomena]

The distance used for damage calculations appears to be based from the missile explosion to the center of the target, instead of from the missile to the point of impact on the target.

To see this bug in action, fire XM900 Lucifer missiles or 98R high-flux MAGs at Starton Eridani or any other similarly large target. The aforementioned missiles have an explosion radius of 4, and large stations like Starton Eridani have an approximate radius size of 5. If the missile fragments and explodes, the station will take very little, if any, damage. Flying inside the target and firing missiles (such that fragmentation does not occur) will cause full damage.

I think many of us have tested weapons against Starton : probably because they always sell us bad ROMS.
but it is true large stations or objects are harder to kill while standing off because : not the fault of your weapons but the fault of the calculations of HP / LifeLeft / distance to travel . Missiles do not have engines : the speed affect comes into play for the hit : " where will it hit and how bad ?" if you put an engine on your Missile : such as I once tried the Himal Interceptor designed as a missile : it changes the effect. but still nothing compares to the cometfall's hit on PJ : that is ALWAYS the kink in the rug.

I think the fragmentation is good for lessening the cpu action on impact but it adds more to calculate.
if you grab a hit prior to frag : you get a straight hit at whatever the HP damage was to be ( I run into missiles or MAG rounds often and my shields hate me for it : but I tend to live longer )

[digdug]

this could be a problem with the failsafe, Star Weaver noticed that too recently with some modded weapons I was making.

[PM]

failsafe has nothing to do with this. failsafe only prevents fragmentation if the missile impacts too soon. This problem occurs for any instant radius attack, like those caused by fragmenting nukes (XM900) that successfully fragment or custom weapons that generate instant area zaps.

Here is an old example for those familiar with Quake and QuakeC. Bouncing grenades (weapon 6) never cause damage on a direct hit. Damage is calculated from the point of the explosion to the monster's origin. A direct hit would cause the grenade to explode, but if the target has a fat hitbox, such as an ogre, it may take noticably less damage than normal because the distance between the two points is long, longer than hits against targets with a thin hitbox, such as grunts.

Back to Transcendence, huge targets like Starton Eridani or Phobos (if hit at the front or rear) are so long that explosions with a short radius may not even cause damage, because the distance between explosion origin and target origin (instead of impact point on target) may exceed maximum radius. Weapons like XM900 cause little or no damage if the missile successfully fragments. Therefore, if the player wants to hunt big game with XM900s, the player needs to fly inside the target, then fire so that the XM900 never fragments. Currently, zaps with maximum radius of 6 or less are useless for attacking big ships or stations, the sort of targets that you want to use weapons with high WMD.

What I want is damage calculation to use distance between explosion center to impact point on target. The latter point should not be the target's center because if the target has a fat hitbox (say range 5 or greater), then short radius attacks such as those caused by fragmenting XM900's will not even hit the target.

P.S. Not all weapons have direct hit damage that matches radius damage. XM900 missiles cause 6d24 damage either on a direct hit or as maximum radius damage. Other missiles, such M2 Vulcan, cause a pathetic 1d12 damage on a non-fragmenting direct hit, instead of 10d24 thermo radius damage plus blast fragments on fragmentation. If the target is fat, that 10d24 may be reduced by half or more.

[Atarlost]

Weapons without minimum fragmentation ranges no longer ever score direct hits unless fired within something's hit region.

[Song]

I've noticed this as well. The code also results in some modded weapons (like the M4 in my Mines & Missiles pack) hitting a target, throwing out submunitions...which can't get far enough away before the failsafe turns off and explode in a tiny circle around targets. That, or the failsafe itself is broken for those submunitions. not entirely sure.