ts Dev.Blog 5- OMFG NOT DA LAZARS RAWR! (11/28/2011)

[Guest r315r4z0r]

Cyborgs won't be able to drive. Also it takes time to earn vehicle enhancements. Chances are you will already know about the stealth harpy and should be on the lookout for it. Also, don't forget about the MSA which can detect stealth units.

 

Speaking of the MSA, how large will its range be? About the same size as the MSG? Or perhaps larger? Will there be a visual circle that those on the same team as the driver can see to know how far the radius of the vehicle reaches?

Edited December 4, 2011 by r315r4z0r

[Wallywood]

Yes, the rank sys. will be hard coded into the game. Also the games balance will be based around it also, so removing may unbalance a few things.

 

Bear in mind, it's likely no cyborg will be able to drive vehicles- they'll only be able to be passengers.

The plan is that Ghost Stalker, Jump Jets, Cyborgs and Cyborg commando will not be able to drive, but only ride in APC style units.

 

*Harpy- Missile Upgrade This one I don't really know what to think. Missiles don't really seem to suit it but then again who knows? I'd actually consider a personal cloaking device for this if the Harpy was mainly effective against infantry and light vehicles (not so much structures aside from defenses)

Keep in mind that in the cut scenes and on the model it self there are already missile pods, this perk would pretty much just activate them.

 

*Moblie Stealth Generator- (none) Actually I think that is a pretty good idea. If you run over enough people with the MSG, you should get a personal cloak for when you aren't deployed.

This issue here is it either has to be cloaked out of level edit or not. This is something that is limited due to the engine.

 

*Disrupter- Explodes on death

Bad, as stated many times, the Disrupter is slow, large, and easilly disabled by the travel time of it's beam. Having it explode just doesn't suit it, and needs a better enhancement. A good idea is to inrease the wave speed(which it did in TS) and possibly damage.

What if instead of exploding and doing damage, it has an EMP burst explosion? That way if any enemy vehicle is nearby when it blows up they become disabled for a little while.

I do like that idea ...but the issue I have with it is that EMP blasts do Friendly fire damage.

 

I really don't think we're going to be setting up a vehicle perk or vet sys. for any unit that doesn't have a primary weapon except the Harvesters, and MRV. Sorry guys.

 

We may be able to come up with something a little better for the flying units. As always stated at the bottom *anything is subject to change.

[Guest r315r4z0r]

I'm pretty sure I've played some Renegade maps where you could be granted stealth through powerups and script zones. Obviously you already know about the script zones. But I remember a server once that had SBH drop stealth suits when they died. If picked up, the suit would turn your character stealth and you would retain your character and all of its weapons.

 

However that was for infantry. I don't know how something like that would work on vehicles.

 

 

As for the Harpy, yes I know it has the missiles there... but activating them will totally make it a new unit depending on how strong they will be. How powerful do you intend to make them? And how many of them will they hold? Also how will you allocate ammo between the missiles and the machine gun?

Edited December 5, 2011 by r315r4z0r

[Guest Retaliation]

That's quite simple really. From what I know they can't so missiles and machine gun ammo will be shared and will probably end up something like missiles using like 20 gun ammo to fire.

[Wallywood]

I'm pretty sure I've played some Renegade maps where you could be granted stealth through powerups and script zones. Obviously you already know about the script zones. But I remember a server once that had SBH drop stealth suits when they died. If picked up, the suit would turn your character stealth and you would retain your character and all of its weapons.

 

However that was for infantry. I don't know how something like that would work on vehicles.

 

 

As for the Harpy, yes I know it has the missiles there... but activating them will totally make it a new unit depending on how strong they will be. How powerful do you intend to make them? And how many of them will they hold? Also how will you allocate ammo between the missiles and the machine gun?

 

Yes I know about the Renegade unit suits, but what I'm saying is that the presets for the stealth assigned to a vehicle, AFIK can't be changed with the promotion system. re-stealth time,turning it on/off, or de-stealthing time.

 

Also the Missile thing isn't set up yet so I can't give a real answer to that. But think of it like a nerfed orca fighter with a machine gun.

[Guest ryknow]

So the pilot can choose between rocket and bullet?

[Wallywood]

So the pilot can choose between rocket and bullet?

yes, we could have right click missiles left click gun. But they would share the same ammo supply....and of course we would have it so missiles take up a lot more rounds.

[Enduar]

Could do something more interesting with the missile rather than just straight up anti-vehicle damage or splash. Maybe something like a chemical missile that damages infantry over time? Maybe it could also be given a lingering AOE if possible.

 

Just something to consider.

[OWA]

The vehicle weapon script that allows you to switch between vehicle weapons using keyboard keys 1 and 2 may be worth looking at for this. Sharing ammo is messy.

[madrox8]

hope most of the stuff stays to its TS true, otherwise my research would be for nothing

[Guest ma1kel]

Commands->Enable_Stealth(object,on or off);

 

Works on vehicles and units, from what I remember the stealth/de-stealth time is instantaneous so custom stealth/destealth time can be implemented with scripts timers. There was an issue with ancient versions of scripts.dll that caused players who have a version of scripts.dll that DOES that have support for this stealthing logic would not see people stealthed if they were stealthed with this command before they joined (this is separate from the issue where people without custom scripts.dll would see the players without stealth). I dunno if that's been fixed, has been 6 years since the issue was discovered.

Edited December 5, 2011 by ma1kel

[Guest Nod00]

harpy with missiles? why?

[Wallywood]

Could do something more interesting with the missile rather than just straight up anti-vehicle damage or splash. Maybe something like a chemical missile that damages infantry over time? Maybe it could also be given a lingering AOE if possible. Just something to consider.

Now that is a pretty cool idea, I might test this a bit and if it plays out right. We might use this idea.

 

 

harpy with missiles? why?

They had them in cut scenes and the model already has them. So if we do Enduars idea they'll stay true to a Infantry only unit.

[Guest APB_ICE]

Instead of sharing ammo, why not just add the missiles as a seperate weapon? (Scroll through, or use the 1 & 2 keys)

 

Also, I really like that chemical missile idea. Very Noddish.

Edited December 5, 2011 by APB_ICE

[Enduar]

The VTOL refill logic only works with one instance of ammo, so any weapon the aircraft has will draw from a single pool of Ammo, I believe.

[Wallywood]

 

Could do something more interesting with the missile rather than just straight up anti-vehicle damage or splash. Maybe something like a chemical missile that damages infantry over time? Maybe it could also be given a lingering AOE if possible. Just something to consider.

 

Just looked through my game plans, and I don't see this messing up anything with it. So Looks like you might be seeing this in game.

[Enduar]

Sounds like fun. Now that I think about it, the lingering AOE effect like a gas cloud isn't all that hard to imagine either since it's basically just the flamethrower's effect with a different appearance. (I do actually try to stay pretty skeptical of engine limitations when I post an idea)

 

Since you liked that, maybe it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to apply this sort of mechanic to other vehicles that have less interesting/useful perks. Like having the Orca Bomber get a sort of napalm bomb (Wider blast, lingering fire, less overall damage, and higher ammo cost to prevent lag inducing fields of fire). A lot of people have mentioned that Radar Invisibility isn't quite so effective since aircraft are pretty easy to see (unlike the Jump Jet).

 

(And if we're going to follow the same trend with the other aircraft, I'm not quite so sure how I'd modify those. Maybe the ability for the Banshee's projectiles to track targets better, or higher missile velocity for the Orca Fighter for better strafing against Nod's light vehicles)

 

** Not trying to get ahead of myself, here, I'm happy the chemical missiles will see the light of day. Just curious if we can take it farther and see similar balance among each faction's aircraft.

[Guest r315r4z0r]

Instead of sharing ammo, why not just add the missiles as a seperate weapon? (Scroll through, or use the 1 & 2 keys)

 

Also, I really like that chemical missile idea. Very Noddish.

It wouldn't make a difference. They would still be pulling ammo from the same place.

 

Also, if you guys are looking into AoE on weapons, then you should consider doing it for plasma shots from weapons like the CC, Banshe and Confessor. Plasma is super heated so it would be cool to have the plasma scoring left on a surface cause a small amount of heat (fire) damage to anyone who steps on it for 2-3 seconds after it hits a surface.

Edited December 6, 2011 by r315r4z0r

[Enduar]

Hmm... You know how in the cutscene where the MKII is destroyed by the Banshees? How about that cool looking green electrical burning effect when it hits a player, coupled with a nice glowing hole if it misses and hits the ground?

[Guest Elsa]

Isn't this much nicer.

[Guest r315r4z0r]

Isn't this much nicer.

Don't be a catalyst for more off topic discussion! I couldn't bear it! (See what I did there? )

[Raptor29aa]

Just looked through my game plans, and I don't see this messing up anything with it. So Looks like you might be seeing this in game.

 

Sweet another unit with the ability to burn stuff!!! :emot-dance: (It's an alternative to cyborg commando flame thrower!)

Anyways I agree

also Enduar's idea of orca bomber with naplam sounds cool as well... :emot-madmax:

[Wallywood]

Just looked through my game plans, and I don't see this messing up anything with it. So Looks like you might be seeing this in game.

 

Sweet another unit with the ability to burn stuff!!! :emot-dance: (It's an alternative to cyborg commando flame thrower!)

Anyways I agree

also Enduar's idea of orca bomber with naplam sounds cool as well... :emot-madmax:

For the Harpy it would be more of a Poison effect then a burn. Also for the naplam effect that could work as well, but I don't think that will be an AOE weapon.

[Guest credulo]

Hmm... Before I start giving an suggestion I need to confirm something... Wally, do the engine only accepts VTOL/Helicopter kind of moving for air units? ( Problem for Banshees )

[Wallywood]

Hmm... Before I start giving an suggestion I need to confirm something... Wally, do the engine only accepts VTOL/Helicopter kind of moving for air units? ( Problem for Banshees )

There is a plane style set up...but it is very buggy right now and there is no ETA when it will be ready. : /

[Guest r315r4z0r]

Banshees are kind of weird though. They shouldn't be able to hover in one spot... but they also seemed to still be VTOLs in TS (they were able to takeoff and land vertically without a runway).

 

Their design indicates that they should always have to be moving forward... but the fact they can takeoff and land vertically throws things through a loop. Since the craft is essentially a strikebomber, I think it would be better for it to always be moving forward... but that might be hard since there are only helipads in TS when it comes to aircraft.