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atroublestarter

Carrier Flares?

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OK, so I can build them, but i've never seen how to use them, or even if there is actually a use for them in the game. Since my AI controlled mantas don't fire missiles at the enemy carrier, i'm pretty sure that means the enemy mantas wont fire missiles at my carrier, and i've never seen them do so either when in a carrier to carrier battle.

So...can someone enlighten me as to if they're only half implemented in the game or something?

Edit: It's also worth noting, that missiles wont even lock onto a carrier or it's sub-systems

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Yeah, I had this feeling, too. When I took on the enemy carrier, I could not lock on any target. But I solved it, by looking at my own carrier, and firing at the same position of the Subsystem of the enemy carrier. Of course I know only if I hit it, when the smoke begins to rise, meanwhile the enemy carrier has all the time to shoot at me.

My AI Mantas follow me by assist end in offence stance, they shoot at the enemy mantas and walrusses, but not the carrier itself, that´s my job via my personal Manta or the offensive guns of my carrier in automatic as well.

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I think missiles are supposed to be an anti air weapon primarily, so the AI wont pick a ground target to override it.

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I think missiles are supposed to be an anti air weapon primarily, so the AI wont pick a ground target to override it.

That would be incorrect. Mantas are more than happy to use missiles on ground targets. In fact, they will use 2 missiles to take out a ground target when apparently only one would do. Or so I've seen.

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I knew that they locked on to vehicles but honestly I have never put missiles on my own AI controlled mantas as the loss is too expensive, so I never noticed this.

I actually solo everything in the game. I keep 2 equipped with the same items, take 1 out then when its low on fuel or ammo I dock and swap it with the other. I never lose a vehicle or any equipment that way.

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That would be incorrect. Mantas are more than happy to use missiles on ground targets. In fact, they will use 2 missiles to take out a ground target when apparently only one would do. Or so I've seen.

This is correct, one moment the manta AI wont even pick a target and fire, and when it does, it's trigger happy.

However, since no one else has mentioned the flares (of which your carrier can carry 10 or 20 of them can't remember which one), i presume that no one else knows how to use them, or has seen them in use?

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I have never seen the carrier flares working and I don't know if there are even any graphics for them. All I know is they are supposed to protect the carrier from incoming missiles and their use is supposed to be completely automatic. It just seems like they don't do anything, but I'm not sure. All of this is true for the manta flares as well.

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Carrier flares are not implemented. There's a function in the code for launching them, but calling it just causes a crash. They wouldn't be useful anyway, as none of the damage your carrier takes comes from heat seeking missiles. Maybe they were going to have hammerhead missiles launched from the island like the original game had, and it never made it.

Manta flares definitely do work though, you will hear them launch when trying to escape from a missile lock.

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Carrier flares are not implemented. There's a function in the code for launching them, but calling it just causes a crash. They wouldn't be useful anyway, as none of the damage your carrier takes comes from heat seeking missiles. Maybe they were going to have hammerhead missiles launched from the island like the original game had, and it never made it.

Manta flares definitely do work though, you will hear them launch when trying to escape from a missile lock.

I think there was a game I played one time in which I arrived at an island and there was an enemy turret near the coast and I think it launched missiles at my carrier. I don't know if I had carrier flares at the time, but nothing happened with the flares if I had them. I don't recall if my carrier was damaged or not. I'm not sure that this was a missile turret. If it was, however, then do you mean it wouldn't have damaged my carrier because none of the damage to the carrier comes from heat seeking missiles?

I can't tell about manta flares too well because I stopped using them long ago in favor of shields. I'll take your word for it that they work.

I wish the devs would either remove the carrier flares or make them work. I'd rather they make the carrier flares work, but only if there is (or will be) a use for them.

Edited by Rob04

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Well yes, those little missile turrets are heat seeking, but they are hardly a threat to the carrier and easily taken out. I'm talking about the big cruise missiles that came from the islands in the original game, maybe of similar damage to torpedoes, something worth launching flares for.

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Well yes, those little missile turrets are heat seeking, but they are hardly a threat to the carrier and easily taken out. I'm talking about the big cruise missiles that came from the islands in the original game, maybe of similar damage to torpedoes, something worth launching flares for.

Yes, I see what you mean. I think I remember what you are referring to because I had the original game back in 1988 and played it often on my Atari 1040ST. Thanks for the clarification.

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The big grey and red missiles in the original were launched by the tall launchers with the wires on top. They headed directly for the carrier and were not distracted by flares. If you had drones deployed, they would head for those instead :)

The small squat launchers fired missiles directly up at Mantas, no danger to the carrier or your Walruses. The yellow launchers actually aimed at you and could fire at both Manta's and Walruses. I don't recall them ever firing at the carrier.

Flares were used against the green missiles launched by the orange Maurader aircraft that swarmed your Carrier.

Fun times :)

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The flares were intented for countermeassure of the missiles incoming from the enemy carrier. In the old game. But in this game the carrier fight like in a boxing match. Just on close contact. Real Carrier fight would be fought at long distance with scouts, which are searching the carrier and then the rest of the mantas would start to attack it with torpedoes or tomahawk or missiles (but all this weapons should work at larger distance, like AGM-88´s or Anti-Ship-Missiles, which are deployed out of range of the AA-Guns of the Carrier. But for this adventure you need a comms-pod. Notice please this is the actuall modus operandi (rules of engagement) of modern warfare between carrier taskforces. ) The AA-Guns would have then the task to kill the approaching Anti-Ship-Missiles. In this game, the AA-Guns do not have a locking system on weapons of this kind.

Edited by Antares
wrong word, grammar

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