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This article is from the netrek
Frequently Offered Clever Suggestions list, by Tom Holub
doosh@best.com with numerous contributions by others.
30. Prevent butt-torping.
Problem: Twinks in DDs keep toasting my CA by firing torps while
running away.
Proposal: Prevent players from butt-torping by altering the way torps
fired out of the rear 60 degrees or so are handled.
Why Not: "Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this." If you're getting
butt-torped to death, you have to stop flying into the torps. If that
means not killing the other guy, then don't kill him.
Players who do nothing but butt-torp are lousy space controllers and
are remarkably easy to clear off planets (just cloak and charge in
their general direction).
Netrek physics are such that torpedos always move at the same speed,
regardless of the speed of the ship that fired them. This means that
firing while running works to your advantage, since their torps have a
closing velocity of (12 - yourspeed), whereas yours have a closing
velocity of (12 + theirspeed) (assuming CA torps).
Various proposals have been suggested (and often implemented) over
time, including:
* "vector torps", where the firing ship's velocity is taken into
account. In the above example, the closing speed for both sets of
torps would be warp 12 if yourspeed == theirspeed. Care must be
taken to avoid giving SCs warp 28 torps. Also, butt-torping a
starbase that has you tractored becomes next to impossible.
* no torps out the rear section
* limited # of torps out the rear
* higher wtemp/fuel cost for torps out the rear
If you want to implement one of the latter proposals, you must also
take into account things like starbases (which don't really have a
front and back), and orbiting ships (they aren't running, just happen
to be on one side of the planet and not the other). These ideas
weren't all that popular in practice, because most players spin around
a lot while fighting, and even though they aren't running they are
still penalized.
Some people differentiate between "runner-scumming" and
"butt-torping", though this is largely a difference in attitude rather
than technique.
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