Hello everyone! Welcome back to Blueprints, where I explain some of the design decisions of Aerostrike. In this issue, I will explain the various weapon types in Aerostrike.

So we have all our ships and the AI to bring them to life. Now they need actual weapons to battle with. So let's start with the most basic weapon type in videogames: projectiles. Projectile weapons are physical objects that move in a given direction at a given speed, until they collide with something. They are easy to program and easy to customize through the use of our good old friends, variables. We can adjust how fast they travel, how hard they hit, and even how much they can deviate from their aiming point. One thing I figured out quite early was that bullet streams that fly perfectly straight are not nearly as interesting as streams that "wiggle" even a tiny bit.

Next we have something that first-person shooter players might be familiar with: hitscan weapons. These are weapons that technically work like a projectile, but instead of "flying" until they hit something, they instantly check if they will hit anything in their path. A classic example would be a laser beam, going out of the muzzle of the gun and instantly touching anything in front of it. The Stinger uses a variant of this laser beam that is very, very short. The Railgun Cannon is another hitscan weapon, but unlike Laser Beams, it checks everything in its path instead of just whatever is in front. This creates the effect of it piercing through solid objects and hitting anything behind.

Finally, we have the primary way of dealing with multiple foes: explosives. Explosives are weapons that, upon impact, will cause an explosion that damages nearby opponents. This is handled by a circle of a given size that checks anything it is currently touching, and dealing damage to them. However, we can change this explosion effect for other things. One example is Flak weapons, which detonate when they get close to an enemy, creating a group of "pellets" that fly in various directions. Another is Imploding Rockets, which violently drag anything nearby to an epicenter, be it a ship or a projectile, and causing absolute mayhem. Nothing like giving opponents a taste of their own medicine.

And just like that, we have the basis to create the various weapons of Aerostrike. However, there is more to combat than just shooty shooty bang bang. So how else can the combat be spiced up? Join me next issue to find out. Stay safe, Pilots!