Railgun OXP

Introduction

This OXP adds a new class of weapons to the Ooniverse. Railguns fire high velocity kinetic projectiles which are destructive simply by impacting on their target.

Overview

Fauchon-Oliphant Inc., producers of high-powered electrical coils and appliances, proudly present their newest contribution to advanced weapons technology: the Fauchon-Oliphant X-series of precision railguns.

The basic principle of railguns has been known for centuries: a strong electric current sent through a pair of metal rails accelerates a conductive projectile to speeds much higher than achievable by propellants like in missiles. The Fauchon-Oliphant X-series operates with kinetic projectiles: there are no explosives involved, the damage to its target is dealt purely through the kinetic energy of the impact. The lack of explosives makes at the same time the projectiles perfectly safe for storage on a space ship.

Currently the Fauchon-Oliphant X-series of precision railguns consists of three different varieties: The X-100 Small Railgun, the X-150 Medium Railgun, and the X-200 Heavy Railgun. Their basic difference lies in the different composition of the projectiles. The heavier projectiles yield more destruction on impact, but the gun needs more time and energy to recharge. While the X-100 allows for an almost continuous firing rate of its lighter projectiles, the rate is noticeably slower for the X-150 and the X-200. The prodigious amounts of energy needed to create the electric current means that with all weapons the user should have an eye on their energy banks.

Each of the railguns needs its specially manufactured projectiles. These are available in bundles of 100 at your local equipment department of at least techlevel 4. The railguns themselves can be fitted in stores beginning with techlevel 6 for the X-100 Small Railgun.

Fauchon-Oliphant Inc. guarantee the efficiency of all their projectiles up to a range of 20 km, independent of the type of projectile. Above this range the projectiles tend to dissolve due to the increasing friction with the surrounding phlogiston.

The Fauchon-Oliphant X-series of precision railguns is mounted close to the front laser of your ship and fires its projectiles strictly forward. It is currently not available for other orientations. All railguns need to be activated first (default key 'SHIFT-N'), before they can be fired (default key 'N'). A message informs the pilot how many projectiles are left in the magazine. When all projectiles have been fired, the gun stops working until the pilot has re-filled the magazine.

Minimum Requirements

Railgun.oxp v 1.1 requires at least Oolite 1.75.1.

Download Location

This OXP is available for download via Box.net.

Installation

Move or copy the file railgun.oxp from its download folder into your AddOns folder. Where that resides depends on your installation. Restart Oolite.