# Kinetic Weapons

Kinetic weapons work by accelerating a small mass towards a target.

## Auto cannons

Autocannons are a type of kinetic weapon. They are mounted on a ship at any of the locations (stern, bow, port, starboard). They fire a number of small projectiles at targets that cause damage by collision. Shields are useless against kinetic weapons, but armor will reduce the damage.

### Caliber

The caliber of the autocannon determines the projectile mass and base damage. Each round of fire will generate an amount of heat.

S = Caliber size

${\displaystyle Damage=S_{c}^{0.5}}$

setting keys: autocannon_caliber_damage_factor

${\displaystyle Heat=S_{c}^{1.6}}$

setting keys: autocannon_caliber_heat_factor

${\displaystyle Mass=S_{c}*0.1}$

setting keys: autocannon_caliber_mass_factor

### Muzzle velocity

The muzzle velocity determines the energy that the projectile will have when leaving the cannon. This will affect the damage and heat generated by the weapon. The projectile will maintain speed in a vacuum environment and will cause maximum damage on impact. If it flies through a debris field or any other field with resistance the damage will degrade with velocity.

${\displaystyle Damage=1+V_{m}^{0.5}}$

${\displaystyle Heat=V_{m}^{0.3}}$

settings keys: autocannon_muzzlev_damage_const,autocannon_muzzlev_damage_factor, autocannon_muzzlev_heat_factor

### Recharge rate

The recharge rate is the number of rounds that the weapon can fire per turn. The more rounds fire the more heat the weapon will generate.

${\displaystyle Heat=RR^{0.3}}$

### Magazine size

The magazine size is the number of projectiles the weapon has in stock.

Recharge rate/magazine size is the maximum number of turns the weapon can fire.

Target acquisition and locking are done by a targeting computer that works in tandem with the weapon, so a weapon alone is not enough to fire upon a target.

${\displaystyle Mass=MagazineSize*0.0002}$

settings key: autocannon_magazine_mass_factor