Mines(squash, tracker, anti matter) is there realy any use fo them?

[samoja]

In games like Freelancer mines indeed had a purpose, if a guy was trailing you you could drop a mine right into his face, in X however i cant see a use for them, maybe if they had friend-foe recognition system you could use them for protecting your property(although considering the price you are probably better off using ships) but rely, the AI is far from being able to handle a simple tailing, best it can do is just(possibly crash into you or something else) turn around, repeat, and deploying them around base practically ensures you get no customers whatsoever(god forbid you try sending your own freighters out), combined with the fact they are illegal to most races it rely seems they are just there so they would be there, just to fill the form, and no real use.

[greypanther]

Not in my experience, no.

[Nanook]

Have you actually tried dropping a small mine field behind you and then activating it just as the bad guy chasing you approaches it?

[samoja]

Have you actually tried dropping a small mine field behind you and then activating it just as the bad guy chasing you approaches it?

Well most of the time the "bad guy" was trying to not get toasted by my HEPT fire, and his buddies were just flying around like headless flies spewing potshots at me.

[Nanook]

If you're that close, you don't want to be dropping mines, anyway. They have a pretty large blast radius. They're more for area denial, and not really designed for dogfighting.

[Alan Phipps]

Also why say "In games like Freelancer mines indeed had a purpose, if a guy was trailing you you could drop a mine right into his face" as if it does not work in X3 and when you haven't really tried it? It actually works rather well if done correctly when you are running in a straight line from a pursuing ship, group or swarm.

In case anyone is unsure, all types of explosive mines will act, have effects and be used similarly. There are no differences by type apart from name, sources and cost.

[samoja]

Also why say "In games like Freelancer mines indeed had a purpose, if a guy was trailing you you could drop a mine right into his face" as if it does not work in X3 and when you haven't really tried it? It actually works rather well if done correctly when you are running from a ship, group or swarm.

Because in Freelancer you often had a guy trailing you(which you could not shake) especially in MP, so showing a mine up his throat was a good solution, here tough your enemies are not smart enough to stay on your tail and the fact that mines are illegal, and that they can blow up in your own face means they are rely not a good thing to have onboard just so you can space a few buggers in 1 out of 1000 situations, Drones are better for that task anyway, they are legal, last longer and always hit (correct) target. and if you are far enough to drop mines safely, you are most likely far enough to get the hell away.

[Alan Phipps]

You said " ... you are most likely far enough to get the hell away". Not if you are in a freighter and cannot jump away .... Sure, it is not frequently an optimum tactic, but that doesn't mean that you cannot do it. I have many times - and it works. Dropping LTs works too (in TC but not AP though). Surely you like a bit of variety in your games now and again?

[Nanook]

Also why say "In games like Freelancer mines indeed had a purpose, if a guy was trailing you you could drop a mine right into his face" as if it does not work in X3 and when you haven't really tried it? It actually works rather well if done correctly when you are running from a ship, group or swarm.

Because in Freelancer you often had a guy trailing you(which you could not shake) especially in MP, so showing a mine up his throat was a good solution, here tough your enemies are not smart enough to stay on your tail and the fact that mines are illegal, and that they can blow up in your own face means they are rely not a good thing to have onboard just so you can space a few buggers in 1 out of 1000 situations, Drones are better for that task anyway, they are legal, last longer and always hit (correct) target. and if you are far enough to drop mines safely, you are most likely far enough to get the hell away.

That's your opinion, and just because you haven't found a good use for them doesn't mean others haven't. And mines are in the game for those others to use. Let me put it another way. Things like the mines are there to give the player choices. Even though something may not fit a given player's style, they may be just perfect for someone else. The game is full of that kind of variety, and without it, it would probably be a bit boring.

As for using drones instead, I say PAH! Show me a drone that can take out a whole gang of pirates, from M5's to M3's, with one shot. A SQUASH mine can if used properly. And in the X-Universe, I've had enemies chase me many a time that I had a hard time getting away from, especially in my TS. Most of those times I didn't have a mine in my cargo hold, although I found myself wishing I did. Drones die easily, and don't pack that big of a punch. Mines kill everything instantly. Drones have their place, but so do mines.

[samoja]

You said " ... you are most likely far enough to get the hell away". Not if you are in a freighter and cannot jump away .... Sure, it is not frequently an optimum tactic, but that doesn't mean that you cannot do it. I have many times - and it works. Dropping LTs works too. Surely you like a bit of variety in your games now and again?

Sure i do, but in my opinion mines would get about 200% increase in their usefulness if they were 1. legal, and 2. had a friend-foe recognition system, that would make them a viable option to use in combat, as it is they are not worth the hassle, they just aren't.

[Nanook]

Pretty sure the only places all mines are classified as illegal are in Argon and Boron space. The other races actually produce most of them, so in the vast majority of the universe they're perfectly legal. The only mines that are classed as illegal in all five Commonwealth races sectors are matter/anti-matter mines (probably because they're Terran in origin). Ion mines and SQUASH mines are legal everywhere else.

As for friend/foe recognition, yes and no. You can turn them on and off if they're your own, though, giving you ultimate control.

[Aragosnat]

Pretty sure the only places all mines are classified as illegal are in Argon and Boron space. The other races actually produce most of them, so in the vast majority of the universe they're perfectly legal. The only mines that are classed as illegal in all five Commonwealth races sectors are matter/anti-matter mines (probably because they're Terran in origin). Ion mines and SQUASH mines are legal everywhere else.

As for friend/foe recognition, yes and no. You can turn them on and off if they're your own, though, giving you ultimate control.

Ion Mines and Squish Mines are illegal in Argon and Boron space. So not every where. <- <That is what Nanook said. Alan Phipps.>

[Killjaeden]

If you dare to modify your game you can get a script that launches mines per hotkey with preset fuse (no manual tracking/timing necessary after drop). You obviously need to aquire Mines first of course

[Osiris454]

Would it be possible to modify a mine to have the detonating power of a large missile? Like a Firestorm Torpedo?

[jack775544]

Have you ever read this example. To sum it up 100 SQUASH mines = a dead anything.

[Gazz]

Mine detonations are hardcoded, not a value in a resource file.

As a workaround you could try tieing a SIGNAL_DESTROYED to the mine object class and script additional damage to surrounding objects.
You can't (easily) target missiles with such an object search, though, but with another workaround...

[Troubleshooter11]

Have you ever read this example. To sum it up 100 SQUASH mines = a dead anything.

I knew someone was going to bring that chapter up sooner or later. It's freaking brilliant.

[Echofinder]

Yarr, mines are hard-coded to deal a set amount of damage which scales by distance. I think it's still the case where all mines - tracker, ion, SQUASH, and M/AM regardless - are the same in terms of effect; an unguided 75MJ of damage at ground zero with at 750m trigger range.

What you *can* do is edit the ware itself so you get more per production cycle and lower the price (Currently it's 1:1 Mine vs Thunderbolt missile and 2:1 for Mine vs Lasertower). Then our mad-bombing antics won't break our wallets along with the enemy ships.

[Snafu_X3]

Have you ever read this example. To sum it up 100 SQUASH mines = a dead anything.

I knew someone was going to bring that chapter up sooner or later. It's freaking brilliant.

Damright! I nearly peed myself laughing when NS brought out this chapter!

I like 'squish mines' though