Looks awesome! All of the TA-related content so far is very exciting and I love seeing the various updates on it. It's really amazing to see that people are still developing content for Quake 3 even as we approach its 20th anniversary later this year.
I remember when I first tried out the Phalanx in the Reckoning, I wondered exactly what unique niche it served. As mentioned in the description on the gallery page, it's effectively a double-barreled rocket launcher. Undeniably useful, for sure, and great fun to use, but all it appeared to be at first glance was a beefed-up RL.
Then I realized that because the two bolts fired with a short delay in between, you could actually move your view around in-between shots to have the bolts go in different directions. This meant that you could choose between having the two bolts hit a single enemy for massive damage, or have them diverge and take on multiple enemies, at the cost of having the damage spread out. Once I realized that it immediately became one of my favorite examples of weapon design in the Quake series, as it is a terrific example of hiding tactical complexity within seemingly simplistic game mechanics. In a way, the Tribolt from Quake Champions could be considered its spiritual successor (though mixed in with a bit of Prox Launcher as well), as both employ the concept of high damage in a concentrated area versus low damage spread out over a wider area, and being able to switch between the two by moving the player's view around. I'm not sure if this kind of strategy was ever intended by the original developers, but it's really cool nonetheless.
|