Fachxphyre, on 14 March 2012 - 08:17 PM, said:
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Autocannon completely disregarding fluff debates, it doesn't make much sense to call them autocannons if they're not capable of rapid fire. If they are firing single shells, they're just cannons. from a gaming perspective, it would be nice to have a burst-fire weapon to stand in contrast with the single high-damage shot of the gauss rifle and the steady stream from machineguns. especially with the implementation of recoil, it would be quite possible to aim "center mass" on a target, and let the recoil track upwards from the center torso to the cockpit, in hopes of scoring some nice crits.
I disagree.
An autocannon is just that - an
automatic cannon - because it is a
cannon utilizes an
automatic loading and priming mechanism (rather than a manual loading mechanism).
"An
automatic weapon fires, automatically extracts the used cartridge case from the barrel and ejects it, then loads a new case into the barrel; generally either by harnessing the recoil of the cartridge's explosion, or the diversion of propellant gases."
"The term can be used to refer to semi-automatic firearms, which fire one shot per single pull of the trigger (like the .45 "automatic"), or fully automatic firearms, which will continue to load and fire ammunition until the trigger (or other activating device) is released, the ammunition is exhausted, or the firearm is jammed."
"A fully automatic weapon (a machine gun) is one that fires a succession of bullets so long as the trigger is depressed or until the ammunition supply is exhausted."
"A
semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine. Typically, this includes extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case from the weapon's firing chamber, re-cocking the firing mechanism, and loading a new cartridge into the firing chamber.
Although automatic weapons and selective fire firearms do the same tasks, semi-automatic firearms do not automatically fire an additional round until the trigger is released and re-pressed by the person firing the weapon."
"
Manual operation is a firearms term describing any type of firearm action that is loaded one shot at a time by the user rather than automatically. For example, break action is a form of manual operation using a simple hinge mechanism that is manually unlatched by the operator exposing the chamber(s) for reloading."
The higher rates-of-fire of automatic (and semi-automatic) weapons are byproducts of the tendency of the automatic loading and priming mechanism to be able to prepare the weapon to fire another projectile much more quickly than manual operation can practically do so; actual rates-of-fire are irrelevant to the definition or designation of automatic weapons (including autocannons) as the actual ROF has no impact on whether an automatic loading and priming mechanism is present.
That being said, I would like to see a variety of ACs in each class that can,
by user toggle, fire in any of "semi-auto mode" (one shell fired per trigger-pull), "
burst mode" (a short burst of 3-10 shells per trigger pull, with the trigger needing to be released between bursts), or "full-auto mode" (continuous firing for as long as the trigger is held and ammunition is available).
Failing that, I too would prefer ACs to fill the niche of "burst-fire weapon" to complement the Gauss Rifle's semi-auto and the MG's full-auto roles.
Your thoughts?
Edited by Strum Wealh, 14 March 2012 - 09:13 PM.
4
)) and all fire shells rather than other projectile types (see below).
