In Ashes of the Singularity, both 1 and 2, weapons are a bit of their own unique gameplay component. Units aren’t limited to just a single weapon; they can actually have any number of weapons, and each weapon can define its own firing properties, gameplay effects, etc. While for practical purposes, most units often have only one primary weapon (which suits their combat role), a number of units in Ashes 2 will have multiple weapons, each capable of independent targeting and firing solutions.
Tank primary weapons face forward while their secondary weapons face backwards
Most weapons in Ashes 2 are mounted on Turrets. If you’re familiar with a tank turret, you probably get the idea. Turrets aren’t just for visuals, however; they have defined rotation rates, maximum pitch and yaw thresholds, etc. Turrets have to rotate to a valid firing solution before they can fire on a target, and while we keep rotation speeds high to give a responsive feel, it can still cost you a few seconds if a hostile approaches from behind and your turrets have to rotate before returning fire.
If a target is too far above, or too far below the turret’s pitch threshold, the weapon won’t be able to fire upon it. Certain weapons need pretty generous pitch thresholds, such as anti-aircraft weaponry, but many weapons are a bit limited and will require the unit to reposition itself into a ‘better’ location when it has to fire up or down extreme angles. This also means that map topography matters! You can put your tanks in a position that, while they may have an eagle-eye view of a hostile target, they can’t actually depress their weapons far enough to fire at them.
Tanks will need to crest the hill to hit targets far below
New to Ashes 2 is actually the ability to have “turrets on turrets”. This means that we can have nested turrets on a vehicle, such as the UEF’s primary tank unit. It has a classic tank cannon on it, but it also sports a secondary machinegun on its own turret, which sits on top of the cannon turret. With a little bit of work we’ve also managed to use this system to support ‘torso twisting’ on mechs, which are sort of weapon-less turrets. Now we can have a mech with a torso that can rotate to face a target, while the mech's arms are each independent weapons, capable of their own targeting as well! The UEF’s heavy mech currently has two radically different arm weapons, and it can fire those at completely different targets, rotating to use different firing solutions.
Artillery units have a large turret traversal, enabling them to fire over steep elevation and indirectly at radar signatures
There are going to be a lot of great weapons in Ashes of the Singularity II, with each of the three factions sporting their own unique arsenals. We’ll have lasers, plasma launchers, missiles, and more explosions than you can shake a stick at. We’ll be unveiling more of our arsenal as we introduce each new faction, so stay tuned for details on the deadly technology powering the PHC and Substrate.