Death Star and ships - point and boom

[Evilwookie]

well won't you eventually be able to use the 2nd death star in EAW too? and then that one will be able to target ships probably

[Gen.Vader]

or if they positioned the beam between the planet and the DS with the rebel fleet in the middle.

 

well lets just say its killing 2 birds with one stone

[Swiftdraw]

read the Jedi Academy trilogy where the Prototype Death Star misses a planet and destroys a moon.

 

Yet it managed to hit the suncrusher at least once.... I never could figure out how.

[Evilwookie]

ok, we have clear the first death star can't aim very well so i guess it can't hit capital ships while the 2nd we know can, but can the first death star hit installations?

[Wiking_pff]

It's almost certain that there won't be a Death Star 2 in EaW anyway.

[Lytyr]

I've heard countless times the phrase "the first death star couldn't target ships," or a variant of it. I was wondering: why? Seems to me it'd just be like shooting an oversized gun, you aim, you press the "Fire" button and the thing shoots. Surely a planet-obliterating blast could decimate a starship?

 

Or is the problem not that it can't, but that is uses the energy to destroy a planet, hence incurring wasted energy (and by logic, an equally long cooldown?).

 

Either way, I know I'd rather blow up an enemy space station then a planet unless there was a particularly dire situation at hand, because that way I can still keep the planet and its ressources.

[Eduardo]

Well, The problem could be that it wastes energy, but it still can fire to capital ships....I dont know why we wont be able to do such.....or perhaps im wrong

[Zer_Teron]

THe first Death Star actually couldn't target ships, it didnt have a proper targeting computer for this huge and unstable beam, read the Jedi Academy trilogy where the Prototype Death Star misses a planet and destroys a moon.

 

The second Death Star had the proper targeting computer plus added a controlable energy planet so it could easily fire on ship after ship without having to wait hours or even days for a recharge.

[Teradyn_pff]

THe first Death Star actually couldn't target ships, it didnt have a proper targeting computer for this huge and unstable beam, read the Jedi Academy trilogy where the Prototype Death Star misses a planet and destroys a moon.

 

The second Death Star had the proper targeting computer plus added a controlable energy planet so it could easily fire on ship after ship without having to wait hours or even days for a recharge.

 

Right, it was able to conserve its energy on the shots to only use what was needed for destroying a ship. Plus more effective cooling techniques made fireing quicker possible.

 

As for EAW, the tech for the DS2 will not be in for sure because the tech ends at ANH. Targetting installations is another matter since they should be large and stable enough to target, even if it takes longer than a planetary shot. You would still not be able to fire more than once in a fight I think. Still, this type of question is one we should be asking in the chat.

[Zer_Teron]

The reason the Prototype missed the planet was because its Superlaser was not calabrated, but it got that fixed for good accuracy but its kinda hard to rotate a giant battlestation toward the correct space of a moving ship and fire while its still there.

[Popcorn2008]

It would really only a mathematical formula to figure out. You just need to know the speed of the capital ship your targeting, and how fast the laser goes. Then you would comphensate and fire the super laser at empty space that is in the heading of the capital ship. By the time the super laser reaches that space, if calculated correctly, the capital ship will be there and then boom! So technically it wouldnt require too much and it should theoritically be able to be done.

[Makwu]

how fast the laser goes

 

299,792,458 meters per second

[Gen.Vader]

soo....thats fast?

 

its easy, you have sensors that tell you the speed of the current ship and how far away it is and have computers fire in that split second!

[Makwu]

Yeah, its not an issue of the ability to detect the speeds of the enemy ships. Its how fast can the super laser track? Its a relativly easy mathermatical equation than I can break out if needed but basically: From close range Id say it would be impossible for the laser to track another ship. At a long range, it would be easier. But the super laser doesn't have the motion of a stand alone turret...I think you'd have to move the whole space station at a speed that matches the radial volocity of the ship you are targeting. Combine that with an vertical component to the ships movement. Not an easy task. Though not impossible.

[Zer_Teron]

But you have to take in mind how SLOW the Death Star moves and rotates

[Popcorn2008]

I think any tactical genius could pull it off. It wouldnt be impossible for someone who has a heavy mathematical background. Or, just simply have the Emperor use the force to guide that superlaser along its way. lol.

[Ghostly_Substance]

Or you could guess where the ship will be next and fire at that spot and worked well when I tried using rocket launchers. When it worked succesfully I accidently hit the HIND and blew up the person in there and damn he cried like a baby and teamkilled me back and copied my excuse.

 

What I tried saying was you could guess where the ship is next.

[Popcorn2008]

What I tried saying was you could guess where the ship is next.

Exactly. I would do the same thing in RA2, with the V4 rocket launcher. Because some units move to fast, I would force fire at an estimated location and by the time the rocket hit the ground, it smacked into the high speed unit. That's sorta what I was trying to say earlier.

[Makwu]

you could guess where the ship is next.

 

Though each missed shot would consume an incredible amount of energy and recharge time. I'm sure it would be preferable to leave guesswork out of it.

[Popcorn2008]

you could guess where the ship is next.

 

Though each missed shot would consume an incredible amount of energy and recharge time. I'm sure it would be preferable to leave guesswork out of it.

If you used a mathematical equation, then you would be able to figure out where the ship is next, therefore you will get a pretty accuarate chance.

[Swiftdraw]

Then you got to figure in that you used one incredibly powerful shot to blow up 1 ship. Congratulations, now be a good boy, sit for awhile and wait the cool down and re-charge to complete. Using the Death Star's main laser on capital ships is incredibly in-efficient, exspecially if we're talking about the Mk.I which had a far longer re-charge cycle than the Mk.II. Any variant of the Death Star primary purpose (except for the proto-type, which was a proof of concept thing) was to blow up planets and other similary very large objects, I do believe this will be reflected in game.