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Anti Air craft fire can shoot down ICBMs???

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:21 pm
by The Empire
I (and a lot of others) find that Anti Air craft fire can shoot down ICBMs a bad joke!
I really wish DEFCON (hint, hint developers) could make a toggle button in the options to make it either harder or impossible for Anti Air craft fire can shoot down ICBMs.

If you agree with me please post replies.
Thanks, Pete.

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:25 pm
by Xocrates
Hum... How would one stop the nukes then?

And by the way, just because they look like AA fire that doesn't mean it has to be. :wink:

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:28 pm
by Feud
First, this should be in the "Think Tank" area.

Second, while that may make it a bit more realistic, it would destroy virtually all of the stratagy for the game. There would be no incentive to keep your silos closed as the longer you wait the more kills will be racked up by others. The game would devolve into a race to see who can click fastest, and areas such as SA would never have a chance to win do to distance issues. The game would be a clickfest since there would be no reason to defend.

...

Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2007 11:46 pm
by The Empire
I said to either make it harder OR impossible to shoot them down.
Also it would be a toggle button so you choose either or.

Re: ...

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:22 am
by xander
The Empire wrote:I said to either make it harder OR impossible to shoot them down.
Also it would be a toggle button so you choose either or.

Defcon, first and foremost, is a game. How would your proposed change affect the game? What is your justification for making the change? As I have said in the past, any change that is effecting simply for the purpose of making a game more realistic is ill considered. Realism is fine, but the game is more than making a realistic picture of nuclear war. It also has to be playable. If a change to make a game more realistic negatively impacts the game, then it shouldn't be made.

I think I see it much the way Feud does: if you can't shoot down nukes, or they are much harder to shoot down, then there is no incentive for people to hold off on launching their nukes. In fact, there is an advantage to firing earlier. This would fundamentally change the way in which the game is played, and, in my opinion, for the worse.

xander

Re: Anti Air craft fire can shoot down ICBMs???

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 12:26 am
by MegaDeathKill!
The Empire wrote:I (and a lot of others) find that Anti Air craft fire can shoot down ICBMs a bad joke!
I really wish DEFCON (hint, hint developers) could make a toggle button in the options to make it either harder or impossible for Anti Air craft fire can shoot down ICBMs.

If you agree with me please post replies.
Thanks, Pete.


Surely we're not talking AAA here, are we? The ICBMs can be shot down because they're being shot at by anti ICBMs!

Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:42 am
by kb5zht
I think the technical description of what you're seeing is "ABM's", for anti-ballistic missles. In reality, during the time this game takes place (height of the cold war), there were little to no ABM's in the world except for the soviet union, as per the SALT II treaty limitations (part of what is known as M.A.D.).

THough it would be more realistic to have little or no ABM's, the game would be kinda pointless; though bombers and subs may be tactically destroyed before getting into range, once the ICBM's flew it would be all over (like the movie Wargames expounded).

You can make the "abm's" in the game less effective, I think, by increasing the size of the world, or simply choosing the "big world" option, I think it's called; all radar range drops (makeing ABM's less effective, essentially), and I think the RANGE of the ABM's is outright reduced while the ICBM's are still global. I prefer that game mode, personally.

Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 6:39 pm
by ECOMCON
ABM systems are never 100% effective anyway. the strategy to overwhelm the ABM system: multiple warheads at one target launched from seperate silos/subs within seconds of each other. The true tactical value of the ABM is to just buy time for the ICBM silos to launch all their nukes before they inevitably get destroyed.