Bunkers Possible?

[REVENGE]

I think bunkers might be possible right? I mean, just make a unit that can load/unload and place a unit within a cagelike model and still allow it to fire through? Or wait a minute, if you have a unit within another unit's hit sphere, will that inside unit attempting to fire cause a hit against the bunker unit?

Actually, a lazy way of doing this I suppose would be to have a platform load a unit on the top of it, away from its hit sphere. Then, for the bunker part, use a smart plasma shield...

[Argh]

Ok... here's where bunkers are, in Spring, right now:


1. You can make a building that is a Transport. No problems.

2. However, there are a lot of problems after that:

A. You cannot tell units to "get into that bunker". Instead, you have to select the bunker, and then the bunker has to place the units inside itself.

B. Once in the bunker, units may fire, but nothing can limit their fire-arcs, other than the units' own code. So, you cannot prevent units that can fire upwards, for example, from firing "through the ceiling" of your bunkers, unless every unit that can be put into a bunker can also only fire on very flat arcs at ground targets.

C. Unless AvoidFriendly and HitFriendly are both 0, then the units will, very likely, not fire.

D. When the bunker dies, all units inside die. Which is realistic, but needs to be part of the design.

E. You cannot select a given unit and remove it from the bunker.



... in short, there are a lot've things about implementing this in Spring that are hacky workarounds. I've looked at this issue many times, and frankly, I still don't see a satisfactory way of handling all of it.

In StarCraft, they did things a little more simply. Once units were in the Bunker, they were able to fire out as normal, and for all intents and purposes, their LOS was entirely un-affected by the Bunker- if you flew an aircraft directly above a bunker, it could still shoot at the aircraft- unrealistic, but simple and effective.

With Spring... I think it would be possible to make Units that could be Mounted (as opposed to Transported). A unit that was Mounted could then inherit certain limitations from the Unit, for example:

MountedPosition1=NamedPointOnS3oModel;
MountedPosition1MaxAngleDif=30;
MountedPosition1MainDir=0 0 1;

These things would make it possible to have weapons show from appropriate positions on the "bunker", and have limited fire-arcs, so that bunkers would be more realistic.

[Warlord Zsinj]

For the moment, I would say the biggest problem is probably the lack of a direct-load movement order for units.

[LathanStanley]

why not make a bunker, that can produce its "OWN" infantry, that can't leave the bunker, that shoot out??

it'd be fun, interesting, and well the infantry could die from incoming fire while the bunker lives...

just make the bunker like walls or something..

would that be possible??

I mean seriously, the ability to put tanks in a bunker, seems a bit strange to me..

[KDR_11k]

Of course it's possible but AFAIK it causes lag.

[Warlord Zsinj]

zwzsg made a bunker that automatically loads any infantry around it when set to "on", and puts it on the model, which will then fire appropriately, too. I don't remember whether fire-arcs worked.

Of course, it was standard zwzsg-scripting heavy, but it worked in TA. I wonder how transferrable it would be to Spring...

[REVENGE]

zwzsg made a bunker that automatically loads any infantry around it when set to "on", and puts it on the model, which will then fire appropriately, too. I don't remember whether fire-arcs worked.

Of course, it was standard zwzsg-scripting heavy, but it worked in TA. I wonder how transferrable it would be to Spring...

Sounds like some MAD SKILLZ to me. Well, I was just thinking of something like an open topped platform. Units will be loaded onto the platform, which will have a collision sphere "underneath" the unit. The "bunker" part will just be a smart plasma shield.

[Archangel of Death]

You intend for the bunker itself to be virtually indestructable?

[REVENGE]

Of course not. Once the shield is blown, shots will hit the unit on the platform I guess. Then, either unit dies first, then platform, one or the other.

[Lemm1w1nkz]

I just make a half circle out of dragon teeth and tell a couple tanks to hold position inside of it.