Homing Missile

The Homing Missile is a Weapon that is similar in appearance, sound, and functionality to a Rocket Launcher. After launching the rocket projectile, it will fly forward before exploding into a giant cluster of Nail projectiles. This Weapon was created by John Allensworth as part of XTRAWEAPONS.

While the Homing Missile does not have a pickup message, it is acquired when the player gets a Rocket Launcher. Note that the Homing Missile is a separate entity however; using a cheat to acquire a Rocket Launcher will not give the player a Homing Missile.

Note that the name Homing Missile is a misnomer; there are supposed to be two different Weapons in XTRAWEAPONS, Nail Rockets and Homing Rockets. Both function the same, meaning the player is given two identical impulse keys with an incorrectly named Weapon. This means the player can use either impulse 72 or impulse 74 to select this Weapon. The reason the Homing Rockets proper were not included is because they shared the same bit field as the regular Rocket Launcher. Upon disabling them, it seems the author kept the wrong name in-game, meaning Homing Missile appears while Nail Rockets are only referred to in the documentation.

Note that this Weapon can be found in a more basic form (meaning lacking custom death messages) as a simple modification made by John Allensworth known as Nail Rockets. In-game, the Weapon is referred to as the Fragmentation Warhead. In all cases, the Weapon appears to be describing the projectile as opposed to the launcher, the launcher itself is never given a proper name.

Strategy
This Weapon appears to be the Rocket Launcher equivalent of a Bouncing Betty. While a bit weaker than the aforementioned Weapon, this Weapon can be fired directly at foes and mostly treated as a more powerful variant of the Rocket Launcher. Note that the more Nails that contact the player, the more damage, and that the explosion can cause even more injury. Since the explosion needs to be a short distance from the player, it is advisable to get relatively close to the opponent. While not close enough that it should be risked, this Weapon does not cause Splash Damage, making it somewhat safer to use in tighter maps than the Rocket Launcher.

In general use cases, this is likely a more cost-efficient way as opposed to a Bouncing Betty to ensure an opponent will die. However, the player should be aware that this is one of the buggier Weapons included in XTRAWEAPONS and thus their mileage may vary.

Advantages

 * Just like a Rocket Launcher, but far more painful. Much like the Bouncing Betty, it can be lethal in one shot, and the player doesn't need to rely on trapping their opponent.
 * Even if the damage isn't enough to kill the player, the Nail projectiles can spread to cause some injury in a long corridor.
 * No Splash Damage means it is safer to use than the Rocket Launcher.

Disadvantages

 * Costs a lot of Ammo to use. At best, the player can use it 10 times.
 * This Weapon can be buggy. Sometimes the player will only get 1 shot before it assumes it is out of Ammo. Other times it will remain at a constant number on one of the standard counters, meaning the player will have no easy way of seeing how many shots they have left.

Death by Enemy Homing Missile

 * "Player" couldn't dodge "Attacker"'s Homing missile
 * "Player" was gibbed by "Attacker"'s Homing missile (if target is Gibbed)