Update on the new missiles and the missile cruiser:
The Trebuchet LRM is really fun and meaty. The big EMP burst looks amazing, especially when it fries multiple fighters at once. It was fairly tricky to script it (I had to learn Java and get Netbeans specifically to do Starsector modding; usually I use C++), but I think the effect works well. It's an effective anti-frigate, anti-destroyer, and even anti-fighter weapon due to its area damage and ability to overload shields nearly as well as sabots. It's slightly better in terms of actually killing things at range than MIRVs so it costs a little bit more OP.
Hornet MRMs are great filler missiles. If massed, they can kill, but otherwise they just keep things busy. Hence, they are assault missiles. The small version can't keep up the pressure for long (without expanded racks) due to ammo restrictions, but it works well for alpha strikes. The medium version is where the real effectiveness is; with a couple of Tornado Hornet Launchers, you can keep up constant high explosive pressure for no flux cost, with the added benefit of using up the target's point defense systems. They easily hit frigates (even the Tempest and Lasher) and occasionally hit fighters too. Thanks to xenoargh for a baseline missile AI to use so I could add a drunken flight path to the Hornets.
The way I accomplished the drunken flight path is really simple: the missile does not dampen its rotational acceleration and always accelerates forward regardless of its bearing. In other words, I made the missile dumber. This means it will swerve over to point toward the ship, but overshoot and be forced to swerve back, ad infinitum. It works surprisingly well and gets a very consistent result. If you want to, you can randomize the missile's turn speed or turn acceleration to make them swarm more chaotically. For the Hornets, to make them hit fighters more easily, I made them stop doing the drunken motion once they're very close to the target, so they don't drunkenly swerve right past the ship they're trying to hit.
Along with these, I added a missile cruiser (designated Achilles) with two large missile turrets and six medium missile hardpoints (plus two medium ballistic turrets and two small ballistic turrets) with a nerfed fast missile racks system and a built-in expanded missile racks hullmod. It can serve a surprisingly large number of roles; those large missile turrets are great for cyclone reapers in a strike role but also do well holding trebuchets or MIRVs, while those six dorsal hardpoints can be used for mass annihilator broadsides, huge swarms of hornets, massive pilum barrages, typhoon reaper torpedo broadsides, crazy harpoon strikes, a horrifying mix of missile types, etc. You can even use them for those otherwise useless phase charge mine things, obliterating masses of fighters.
The Achilles, depending on loadout, is an extremely effective ship for its given role, but is useless for other roles and runs out of juice quickly (even with the expanded racks). Its reactor sucks and has a pretty bad shield, and doesn't have as much armor or hull strength as it would need to survive up front. A strike destroyer, hyperion, or speed-boosted cruiser can punch through the front lines to waste an Achilles mid-bombardment, making scouting more important. In order for it to gain survivability to operate in the front lines, several weapon systems must be compromised to increase its armor/hull (OP is limited!), making it dependent on player skills to work in some of its possible roles.
In tests, a lone Achilles with the right configuration can destroy a fleet of frigates and fighters singlehandedly, if the player uses it correctly. The sheer damage that all those missile slots can output is terrifyingly high; with clever conservation of limited flux capacity and activation of the fast missile loader, the Achilles can kill a huge pile of ships before they can manage to kill it in return. Just the same, this plan can backfire horribly, earning few kills and a wasted cruiser. Also, the Achilles generally performs poorly against cruisers and capital ships, especially those that have flak cannons, and cannot do much to a Monitor.
Expect these things in my mod Starsector+, once I have finished the Achilles' sprite. My kitbashing method is very time-consuming.
