Battle support units

[krychle]

For first, sorry for my english ...

I'm creating battle support units for Core and Arm.

The purpose of this units its:
- automaticaly repair friendly units
- capture enemy units
- build some walls, other things should be added later if needed
- it will be build in LVL2 vehicle plant

Core unit will operate closely in battle than Arm.

it will have basic wepons for self defending against scouting enemy units.

Core:
- 2 flamethrowers, power like 2 Pyros
- 4 missile lunchers, swarm type, lunch all 4 at one time than longer time to reload, its against lonely fighter or scout plane.
- 4 long repairs turrets, like nanotowers.

- cost and stats will be like Goliath but more energy cost (usage) and buildtime.
- i also thinking about self repairing ability

Arm: (not yet fully designed)
- 2 paralyzers, like spider, i think this will be fun paralyze and capture enemy unit :)
- 4 repair turrets, longer range then Core unit
- ? missile or flak canons...
- this will have self repairing ability

- it will be more weaker than core support.

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Q:
1. What you think about idea of this units?
2. Is have good weaponary or too much?

I want make it normal unit, not superunit !!!

And i dont have names for this things jet :), try invent some names!
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Here is Render and Wire of Core unit, any sugestions about design? it has 1258 tris:
img69.imageshack.us/my.php?image=testrender9pp.png img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=testrenderwire5gr.png

(i want place here thumbniles but some restriction is here for new users ... just copy and paste links)

i try import it to Upspring but there is problem with Smooth Groups, each group must be in one obj? or what, i try export it to .obj and .3ds but didnt work.

Thanx.

[Zoombie]

I don't think it should have any weapons. It should just be a repairing, wall building, earthworking platform, just to add to the stratagy.

[AF]

If ti had weapons people would just build lots of these support units to support each other as an offencive weapon.

[Argh]

Um, these units, as proposed, sound horribly over-powered. Making units that don't have any real weaknesses and can build, repair, reclaim and capture... is kind've lame. Who'd build anything else, when they could just build an army of these and put them on Patrol with Roam, and have them all mutually heal each other? Basically, this is just a very bad idea.

[Zoombie]

Thats why I said: Drop the guns and make it a combat engineer or something.

[j5mello]

tbh "repair units" don't really work since all the basic nanolathe functions are stuck together. If the devs could (eventually) seperate then true repair units would be possible.

As to the units themselves meh could care less as its hard to implement single third party units in spring compared to OTA

[krychle]

tbh "repair units" don't really work since all the basic nanolathe functions are stuck together. If the devs could (eventually) seperate then true repair units would be possible.

the carriers can repair 2 figters at one time, and this my idea can't be realized?

[krychle]

explanation of my idea, how to use this things:

img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tacticalusage7al.gif

(* copy and paste again ...)

(* anyone can disable this for me? or how many post i need to write??? ... Your post is denied. To prevent spam, new users are not allowed to post messages that includes hyperlinks.)
you know the vehicles hasn't good mobility ...

it they dont have weapons you can still create big group and have realy big repair power, but this dont solve problem about weapons, they can still repair each other, you only get less usability of it in battle ...

the rocket lunchers is against one plane, too long reload time for power offensive/defensive unit against planes, ... it will take 10 (maybe 30 if needed) or more seconds to reload

its like this: you can build defensive perrimerer with 5 plasmas and you newer past behind it ... same with AA or any well guarded areas ...

if will be serious problem with the wapons i will remove it, but i think still no big reason...

if you wanna destroy it you will need bigger and more powerfull group of units to kill it, not small spamming group or alone unit, or big defending buildings like annihilator or berta ...

i planing make frst two repair turrets fully commanded by player and in automatic mode (no player orders) will have this order of command:
1. Repair
2. Capture
3. help building
4. Reclaim

2 back repair turrets will be fully automatic have this order of commands:
1. Repair
2. Help building
3. Capture
4. Reclaim

if you force attack command it will attack by flames, repair turred do its work ...

i dont know anything about scripting but hope this ides will work :)

it will have big energy usage when repairing, bigger if capturing ...

[Andreask]

We definately need a cloaked capture units with decent armor.

Teh sexieness.

[krychle]

We definately need a cloaked capture units with decent armor.

Teh sexieness.

hmm good idea, maybe kbot, but it will uncloack when start capturing,then here will be no time to finish capture i think ...

[krychle]

i also can make some hints, how create good looking model
i need post hyperlinks for this!

and one question about this, s3o use reference of same multiple objets to one or save them like different mesh? can it be mirrored? i use lot of duplicity in models and textures, to keep it in good detail

also, it will be good to have some restrictions for textures and models, i saw some for old TA in past.

how big can textures be, how many faces (tris) can model have... etc...

[krychle]

the smoothing problem i have ...



i try export it to obj, 3ds, i also try to separate polys that are in one group, but nothing ...

isn't it only upspring problem? will spring show it propertly? i opened flea an it seems the upspring can do smoothing in groups...

edit: i find solution. upspring will smooth only faces wich are connected together on uvmap...

[Das Bruce]

It should look fine once yo u have a texture on it, unless you want it to look like the nanoblobs 'commander' thing.

[Vassago]

Well, breaking up the UV's isn't a good solution, though.

I can deal with a crappy looking model in UpSpring, but I would like to know if SPRING itself supports smoothing groups and/or hard/soft/weighted edges.

[krychle]

Well, breaking up the UV's isn't a good solution, though.

I can deal with a crappy looking model in UpSpring, but I would like to know if SPRING itself supports smoothing groups and/or hard/soft/weighted edges.

I know this, is little disadvantage not supporting smoothing groups, i finished unwraping of this model, i fixed it by dividing polys, i hope spring will display it propertly.

If you anybody can fast test smoothing groups in Spring will be good, i learn now how to create model for spring, i don't know things about scripting and and little about .fbi. This will take more time for me yet, and i dont have time for this, becouse i must do another work.

There is my UV map, texture and model screenshot from MAX:
- fast draw for example of texture usage on model, you can easy se it.



its example for beginners, what can they do with texture mapping:

1. Stretching at bottom, look at the green dots.
2. Polygons overlaping at side faces on orange object, the bigger part of faces wich are oriented inside is not visible, then you can use this part of texture.
3. mirroring and dupliciting, i divided the chasis object to more faces, than i can repeat this part of texture more times. If i have one face i can't do it, than i will must use bigger part of texture. Its good compromis between number of faces and texture detail. You can see this on top and side of chasis, on missile luncher, etc.
- the flame turret is cylinder, i used same texture part on each face of cylinder.

ps.: if you do lot of mirroring or dupliciting, how i did, you can't aply some shadows effect direct on texture, like bottom of flame turret is darker than top.

There is also example of smoothing problem, i divided faces from each other at orange object, you can see it at bottom left in texture. This will bring little problem with texture drawing, some bad connected texturing will come. (oh, my english, sorry)

[j5mello]

krychle just to let u know the whole airrepair pad system only works on aircraft.

Also im pretty sure u can't have only half the nano points be user controllable nor can u priortize their... target.

I like ur idea i just don't think its that feasible right now (at least the way u have it set up)

[krychle]

krychle just to let u know the whole airrepair pad system only works on aircraft.

Also im pretty sure u can't have only half the nano points be user controllable nor can u priortize their... target.

I like ur idea i just don't think its that feasible right now (at least the way u have it set up)

thanks, good to know, i'll try it. if it dosn't work i will ask to support this feature.

[Decimator]

Don't bother asking, code it yourself. The actual developers already have plenty to do, so the community needs to write patches for this sort of thing.

[krychle]

Don't bother asking, code it yourself. The actual developers already have plenty to do, so the community needs to write patches for this sort of thing.

ok, but it will be more to know, and some new tags to fbi i think :), i looking in spring source code on GUI and ui, but here is no comments. i can do some programing in cpp, but no much

i think it will be some expand of existing attack commanding of multiple targets for repairing, allow to have more than one repair, build target. i dont know why peoples do same features only for one thing and don't do it abstractly for anything :) i hope you know what i'm talking about :)

i will start new thread for this...