Railguns

This article contains information relevant to both the C# and VB6 versions of Aurora. Where differences exist, they are noted in the appropriate sections.

Railguns are a type of beam weapon.

Description

A railgun typically shoots four projectiles at once, each of which has 1/3 the damage of a similar tech Laser, for a total damage output that's 33% higher. However, due to the lower damage of each shot, it is not as good at penetrating Armor or inflicting Shock Damage, and it has a shorter range.

Maximum Range = ( Base Damage * 10000km ) * Range Modifier
Rate of Fire  = ( Base Damage * 3 * 5s  ) / Capacitor Recharge Rate

While the theoretical maximum range far exceeds 1.5m km, no Beam Fire Control is able to handle ranges beyond this limit. Longer ranges still have some value, as they reduce the damage drop-off at longer ranges, which leads to increased damage across their effective range.

Railguns cannot be mounted in turrets.

Usage

Railguns are used in situations where their rate of fire and raw damage output are most valuable, and their weakness at armour penetration matters less. For example, they are commonly used as an early point defense weapon, as their high number of shots (as many as 4 per 5-second tick) means a lot of chances to shoot down incoming missiles or fighters. This gives them a similar role to Gauss Cannons, which are larger per shot (assuming the same accuracy), but can be mounted in turrets.

Damage Profile

The Damage Profile of a railgun uses a medium gradient, which is not as good at armour penetration as lasers, but better than Missiles or Plasma Carronades. Each shot inflicts damage separately, so the total damage inflicted by a railgun burst can be rather spread out.

Background Tech

There are three key pieces of technology involved in the creation of a Railgun.

Railgun Size or Calibre. Larger projectiles cause more damage, has higher range, but requires more power, which means it'll fire slower unless your recharge tech keeps up.

Larger laser cause more damage, has higher base range

Calibre	10cm	12cm	15cm	20cm	25cm	30cm	35cm	40cm	45cm	50cm
Size (HS)	3	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	13	15
Base Damage (per Shot)	1	2	3	4	5	7	9	12	16	20
RP cost	1,000	2,500	5,000	7,500	10,000	20,000	40,000	60,000	120,000	240,000

Railgun Launch Velocity The muzzle velocity of the railgun. Railguns with higher velocities can shoot their ammo further and inflict damage at greater ranges.

Launch Velocity	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
RP cost	1,000	2,000	4,000	8,000	15,000	30,000	60,000	120,000	240,000

Capacitor Recharge Rate determines your rate of fire.

Recharge Rate	1	2	3	4	5	6	8	10	12	16	20	25
RP cost	1,000	2,000	4,000	8,000	15,000	30,000	60,000	125,000	250,000	500,000	1,000,000	2,000,000

List of Components

Engines and Power Plants: Engine • Fuel Storage • Jump Engine • Power Plants
Beam Weaponry: Beam Fire Control • Lasers • Particle Beams • Mesons • High-Powered Microwave • Plasma Carronade • Railguns • Gauss Cannons
Missile Weaponry: Missile Fire Control • Missile Launchers • Magazines
Defensive Systems: Armor • Shields • CIWS • Sensor Jammer • Fire Control Jammer • Missile Jammer • Decoy Launcher • Cloaking Device
Maintenance and Repairs: Engineering Spaces • Maintenance Storage Bay • Damage Control • Maintenance module
Carriers and Fighters: Hangar deck • Fighter Pod Bay
Sensors: Active Sensor • EM Sensor • Thermal Sensor • Geological Survey Sensors • Gravitational Survey Sensors • ELINT Modules
Command and Control: Bridge • Flag Bridge • Auxiliary Control • Science Department • Main Engineering • Combat Information Centre • Primary Flight Control
Transportation: Cargo Hold • Troop Transport Bay • Cryogenic Transport • Passenger Accommodation
Logistics: Cargo Shuttle Bay • Refuelling System • Ordnance Transfer System • Tractor Beam
Production: Orbital Mining Module • Sorium Harvester • Terraforming Module • Jump Point Stabilisation Module • Salvage Module