1/24/22:
The level of damage shipboard weapons do in Star Trek varies wildly. Sometimes, characters imply that a single photon torpedo can destroy a city, or that phasers can crack continents. And then, in the same episode, said weapons will barely dent the hull of another ship until used in large quantities.
Now, granted, nuclear weapons don't do as much damage in space as they do on the ground (most of the energy release arcs away from the target), so it would stand to reason that a photon torpedo would be similar.
Still... I think it makes more sense to base the damage dealing potential first on what we see on screen in ship-to-ship damage, and extrapolate from there. That is, the weapons are probably more similar to conventional missile warheads in their yield. And, though photon torpedoes can be variable dependent on how much antimatter is deployed, the average
damage would be more like a conventional missile/bomb with slightly more direct damage (from antimatter reaction) than they would resemble a nuke.
Also, finally, the Tajarans are using directed energy weapons and heavy warheads. They have historically been unable to manufacture antimatter in large quantities, and thus don't use it for weapons.
01/31/22 02:48 AM
Swiftbow: No, that makes sense. I'm talking about when they can sometimes liquefy a planet's crust in minutes, but an enemy starship puts up much more defense. The depiction in Star Trek 2009 seemed more on point... they had to deploy a seriously powerful mining laser to do real planetary damage. And even then, on its own it only dug a really
big hole. And it took awhile to do that.
01/30/22 07:25 AM
Oldarmourer: Perhaps energy weapons are attenuated by atmosphere with different planets affecting them more or less strongly ? Starship armour and shields might give more protection than the average building as well, an artillery round will damage or even destroy the outer walls of most skyscrapers today but against a WW2 battleship's 16"
armour belt ? not so much.
01/24/22 01:20 PM
Swiftbow: It's Kelowna from Stargate SG-1. (Jonas Quinn's home country.) It was orbitally bombarded in season 8, but I didn't use that particular shot.
01/24/22 12:20 PM
BrickVoid: Where did you get the background image from? I'm pretty sure the tower that got hit was copied and modified from the one next to it that didn't get hit. Nice effects, anyway, looking good so far! :D
