Balefire Explosion

From HBM's Nuclear Tech Wiki

This page is still under construction, please be patient for future updates.

File:2023-10-29 15.40.41.png
Typical Balefire mushroom cloud (Balefire Bomb)

A Balefire explosion (or antimatter explosion) is an extremely powerful explosion type added by the mod. It also creates a massive mushroom cloud and visible shockwave, but they are unusually green. This is due to the Balefire warhead, which is also green colored. Balefire explosions are even more intense than standard Nuclear Explosions and are much more efficient in converting mass to energy (100%!), however, they come at the cost of different explosion behavior

Cause

When antimatter and matter "touch" one another, they destroy each other converting both to 100% of their energy equivalent, this is known as Mutual Annihilation. This means antimatter warheads can be even tinier than standard nuclear ones (or much more effective if the same size or greater). Added benefits also include lack of radiation produced (at least in the typical sense). This is at the cost of the antimatter itself, which is extremely expensive to produce in large quantities and Balefire shards can only be obtained by disassembling Duds (also an antimatter bomb).

In NTM, something more than the typical matter - antimatter annihilation occurs, as antimatter and Balefire seem to have connections. Even if no Balefire is used in an antimatter bomb (such as in the Custom Nuke), the explosion will still produce a green mushroom cloud and shockwave typical of Balefire. See more in Aftermath.

Aftermath

This section is under construction.

File:Balefire crater (Balefire bomb).png
Typical massive Balefire crater, note how it reaches bedrock level but the original steel tower still stands (Balefire Bomb, 20 blocks altitude)

The algorithm that handles the Balefire explosion is very similar to the one for Nuclear Explosions, but it does have some interesting differences. These differences may actually make a regular nuke preferable in certain situations.

Balefire explosions (for the most part) ignore the blast resistance of blocks, which makes it ideal for bunker or base busting. However, the main difference in the algorithm is that it destroys the environment in a top-down fashion. Summed up as "simplified terrain-aware destruction". This means structures very far away from the device vertically, will still be destroyed, while blocks very close that are underneath anything will not. A device detonated deep underground will produce a surface crater and destruction.

Due to these quirks, BF devices are ideal for destroying large areas of reinforced low-lying buildings on the surface or simply Euphemium Creation if it is a small device. For bunker busting or where a more typical explosion effect is desired, a nuclear device or a Schrabidic Fölkvangr Field is probably more ideal.

Stages

(Under construction)

  1. Calculation
    1. Same as the normal Nuclear Explosion, it calculates what blocks to destroy during the mushroom animation.
    2. Calculation is much simplified, so it will not be as long.
  2. Block Removal
    1. Blocks are destroyed in this section, regardless of blast resistance. Only the bottom layer of Bedrock and Schrabidium Clusters will survive.
  3. "Fallout" Wave
    1. Balefire explosions do not leave typical fallout, but they do leave some similar effects.
    2. Non-bedrock blocks are converted to Slaked Sellafite.
    3. Balefire (literal fire) is placed in random spots within the affected area, if the block it is placed on is a Schrabidium Cluster, it will transmutate into a Euphemium-Etched Schrabidium Cluster.

Gallery