Thankyou !!! - I am sure the modders will have a field day with this one 
Ohhhh Yeahhhh, you can be VERY sure that i’m going to make reality some evil plans that i had some time ago >:D
nice now the star trek ships can fire a spread of torpedoes instead of single shots. Now would you be able to work that into missiles too and still retain the submissions?
I’m currently thinking about flak guns with area of effect to take out fighter squads, and maybe chaff for fighters to avoid missiles. Not sure if I’ll implement either of them, but could be fun. I certainly think flak guns are needed by at least one race.
Area effect would be an awesome payload option for Bullets & missiles 
On the subject of flak, to my mind it seems quite Tribey. Unless they’re already thought to be well catered for by the autocannons and howitzers, maybe the more… basic nature of flak is suited to them?
a can agree that flak weapons are awesome. i really enjoy watching lots of little explosions tearing fighters to little pieces.
BUT! i dont think that flak weapons fit this race. i think it looks way too high tech to use flak guns…
what about something like a shockwave bomb? it fires a torpedo and blows up with a shickwave like the ones frigates and cruisers cause when they blow up.
mabye create a new type of payload? like you did with radiation. except this one creates a shockwave when it blows up. with a moddable size, damage and spread speed.
How about a cannon that fires a shell which then explodes covering an area with little purple glowing bombs for the fighters to fly into?
Excellent news, Cliff! I second those proposals. They’re a wonderful breath of fresh air for GSB.
Would anti-missile chaff now become something that’s intrinsic (built-in) to fighter hulls themselves, or would it remain as a hardpoint choice one would have to voluntarily make? Regardless, having fighters gain access to a way to shake off incoming missiles or rockets would be highly desirable. Certain types of weapon spam would lose their potency and for that I would thank you. Even aside from the practical gains, chaff is fun!
Would the AOE function of the flak gun be modder-accessible so that it could be adapted for ship-to-ship combat in other GSB mod projects? This way, there could be the original anti-fighter version - presumably doing damage to nothing but fighters - and the high-octane version which would create detonations which would affect frigates and cruisers but, like ship explosions currently do, leave fighters unscathed by the blast.
I have to agree with Darkstar. Area-of-effect payloads on both those types of weapons would provide a useful - and fascinating - combat dynamic that has long been desired! It’s a great addition to the existing mode of applying damage to only a single target unit.
That sounds much like what Darkstar had been proposing to Cliff. The options you detailed are quite creative. Although I greatly enjoy having the ability to also use such payloads in bullet-type weapons as well as on missiles. Ideally, I’d like both to become a reality.
Now that’s an idea which took me by surprise. You mean like air-to-ground bomblet submunitions, right? These would remain stationary after their parent munition blew up, and would likewise remain “armed” indefinitely until an enemy fighter flew into one? That’s a pretty cool concept. I confess I find the other proposals to be somewhat more useful. However, one could create an interesting set of weapons if the ability you described was added to the game.
So how about it, Cliff? You’ve got several players who have put forth enthusiastic and well-reasoned replies in favor of flak guns, chaff, and AOE payloads on bullets and missiles. We’d really like to see all three related concepts implemented.
I could back the idea of flak in the context of The Parasites as long as their flavour/graphic effect reflected their nature. To arm what appears from screenshots to be a highly technological race with weapons reminiscent of the ballistics of The Tribe would feel out of place. If the proposed weapon could in flavour terms be akin to small… well, parasites I suppose, scattering from the detonation point and attacking the surrounding the area, I could buy into it. That’s not to say DoT, such parasites would be short lived to fit with the flak concept, but if the flak idea is nothing more advanced than IRL flak, then I can’t see it working with this new race.
Kremlinjoe, you raised some intriguing points.
I am definitely open to other players’ skepticism of Parasites making use of the flak-gun concept. I disagree with such, but I accept it. After all, we’re all here because we dig Cliffski’s groovy game. 
However, I think that mainly basing one’s praise or rejection of Parasites making use of the flak-gun concept on what appears to be nothing other than the appearance of the ships is not a solid argument. I take no issue with you personally, kremlinjoe. Long live the Rodina and the Politburo!
Let’s take a moment to backtrack. We don’t yet even know the first thing about the new race in any way that extends beyond Cliff’s screenshots, or the mention of a new kind of plasma and a missile defense. I mean knowing signifigant things about the race itself – not just how its starships look. That single, tiny little paragraph that Cliff writes for the Race Chooser screen probably doesn’t even exist yet. And once it does, that’s likely all we’re ever going to officially know about them. Let’s reserve judgement on that particular point until after this DLC goes public, eh? I see zero problem at all with what you might regards as a race which uses a “combined arms” doctrine, or simply enjoys sloshing around different technologies in a bucket in order to see what comes out of it.
And as befits a purely “gratuitous” game, anything like a story mode, intel reports on their tech base, or detailed official race histories simply does not exist in GSB. 
Such a thing has no role here; it’s irrelevant to the gameplay experience.
I certainly don’t mind if you dislike the flak guns. I just don’t think that your stated impetus behind it has much to do with the way that GSB really operates. It exists in an eternal now with no official history or future. We’re all just here to blow stuff up as fast as we can, with as little damage to our own butts as possible. Why should the routine use of more than one kind of weapon or defense be any cause for concern? Indeed, I take the viewpoint of: the more technologies, the better! It makes for a more fun game when additional tactical options are available.
If I have misunderstood your viewpoint in any way, apologies in advance.
For my own part, I’m strongly in favor of flak guns for the Parasites because:
- Ever since September 2009, I’ve been hoping that an area-of-effect anti-fighter weapon would someday arrive – the function has not been possible to create via player mods.
- This latest surprise announcement appears to finally be that chance.
- Having a race whose ships are more fighter-resistant than the others would add an intriguing tactical dynamic to GSB.
- From a purely personal standpoint, I think flak is awesomeness wrapped in pure win.
I like this, I have wondered why there was no flak in the game before and just took it as it was to short ranged to provide any sort of reliable damage. But the more i think about and read about it here i more i like the idea of flak in the game.
I also like the “mine field” missile that would release submissions that would not move and on impact explode. This would be both good and bad as it would in my mind explode on friendly ships if the plowed into the mine field. The other area effect weapons ideal is something that i would like also something like the smart-bombs the um swarm was is have for anti-missile duties.
As for whom the flak should go to as much as i hate it, i feel that the tribe with there all bullet weapons, perhaps the um order or rebels instead.
No misunderstanding, that was what I said
I agree with this in part. From all this pro-flak discussion, I’ve found myself between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, when I read that Cliffski was developing a missile returner, I started to see The Parasites in my mind’s eye as being a deceptive enemy, full of trickery. On the other hand, it seems as time goes by that the flak idea is more and more likely to be implemented, and if indeed it is, I’d like to have made my peace with it beforehand.
I will concede, it is a thin basis, yet as you point out, it along with the paragraph, it’s all the basis we’ll get. Flak will be an interesting new mechanic, and you can quote me on that. But as I’ve said before, if it’s anything like modern flak, I have to question the flavour balance between a fancy missle returning gizmo, and a fragmentation rocket.
To borrow a line from a certain TV show, “You want to carpet-bomb space?!?”
… Come to think of it, hell yes, I want to carpet-bomb space.
I agree that digging too deep into tech dissonance based on storyline etc. really is pointless in GSB. It’s the visual implementation of tech that’s important. That said, there are certain implementations of flak guns that would clash visually with these smooth, high-tech vessels - unless they also match one or more of that race’s other weapons. It’s all in the look, the aesthetic, and that’s more art than science.
Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a schizo-tech race, either.
Well said. If it could be implied that The Parasites assimilate weapons from other races, then modern day style flak I could enjoy.
I been asking for AOE for the longest time. So thumbs up for any AOE.
Without it, the best strategy is just to cramp all your ships as close together as possible. AOE will add a completely different strategy to this game.
Graphic wise, I prefer mini black holes or energy shock waves over flak.
Just call it “Plasma flak” or somesuch and be done with it.
A simple item: Ultra long range, ultra low damage, engine-disabling weapon. Similar to the EMP, but would only disable engines for, say, 3.5 seconds every 8 or so seconds.
The ultra long range of 1800 or more would be IDEAL for disrupting formations. This could result in a lot more tactical depth, promoting prediction and counterplay. And you get so much with just a single weapon.
Instead of tractor beams, Parasites could have something that slightly reduces movement speed within a ~300 area of effect to counter fighter swarms. The AoE slow is more reliable but less dramatic in its effect against fighters.
Hi! First post!
Anyway: For Hi-Tech flak idea why not have a vortex that damages fighters or smashes them into each other?
How about swarms of parasite repair bots that damage a ship slowly?
I think that the parasitic element is important.
Greetings, and welcome to the always-friendly GSB forums!
I like the way you think. A mass of tiny little pirahna-bots swarming around a helpless little man-in-a-can … Now that’s high-tech flak!