Drop Pods?

Drop Pods?

Discuss game development here, from a distinct game project to an accessible third-party mutator, down to the interaction and design of individual units if you like.

Moderator: Moderators

If Drop Pods are not possible in spring, would you like to have them?

Yes
20
77%
We can live without them, but good if there in
4
15%
No, but let it be if there in
2
8%
 
Total votes: 26

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Abokasee
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Joined: 03 Nov 2006, 21:51

Drop Pods?

Post by Abokasee »

Are Drop Pods possible? If so how, and what kind of problems would there be?
Saktoth
Zero-K Developer
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Joined: 28 Nov 2006, 13:22

Post by Saktoth »

Drop pods? In what capacity? A Dawn Of Waresque construction animation? Perfectly possible.

In some other capacity? Its probably luable.

Are you thinking of making a mod that includes them?
Warlord Zsinj
Imperial Winter Developer
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Joined: 24 Aug 2004, 08:59

Post by Warlord Zsinj »

SWS has drop pods currently working in a number of different ways.

You might have seen me accidentally let that cat slip out of the bag a few weeks ago in this shot here:

Image

That is done with reasonably complicated LUA, which we'd ideally like to keep mum about until we've released our mod.

We have another 'drop-in' system for factories, but that is mostly just complex build-anim scripts for eyecandy.

It really all depends on what drop pod method you are thinking about.
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Pressure Line
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Joined: 21 May 2007, 02:09

Post by Pressure Line »

also, what mod are we talking about?

imo drop pods have no real place in TA mod. but could work well in others
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KDR_11k
Game Developer
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Joined: 25 Jun 2006, 08:44

Post by KDR_11k »

Basically just spawn a drop pod unit that has a crashing animation, opens and then spawns the contents (or load the contents into the drop pod and unload if you want to do it that way...).
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Abokasee
Posts: 222
Joined: 03 Nov 2006, 21:51

Post by Abokasee »

Im thinking it in the way of unit/group of units being deployed once the drop pod lands, so yes like dawn of war,
Pressure Line wrote:also, what mod are we talking about?

imo drop pods have no real place in TA mod. but could work well in others
What do you mean? there has been all sorts of crazy stuff trying to be added to TA in the past, plus TA is set thousend of years in the future, so big hairy monkeys... arse... to that, then again it would **** up BA, they'd be like a unstopable air drop, unless they could be shot at, and even If so n00bs be trying to drop pod comms all the time
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Snipawolf
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Joined: 12 Dec 2005, 01:49

Post by Snipawolf »

I've already made one kind and plan on having others.

It's fairly easy...
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REVENGE
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Joined: 24 Aug 2006, 06:13

Post by REVENGE »

Pressure Line wrote:also, what mod are we talking about?

imo drop pods have no real place in TA mod. but could work well in others
R u crazy?

Flash drops

AK drops

Gaeter drops

Peewee drops

Atlas bombing enemy coms

Deployable repair and rez only nanotowers that can reclaim themselves when they're done

Krogs

etc...
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Peet
Malcontent
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Joined: 27 Feb 2006, 22:04

Post by Peet »

Would be fairly simple with some zwzsg-style transportation.
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Zpock
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Joined: 16 Sep 2004, 23:20

Post by Zpock »

You can do this after learning LUA for maybe 1-2 days. If you wait until we have some more LUA guides it would take a few hours.
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Pressure Line
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Joined: 21 May 2007, 02:09

Post by Pressure Line »

Abokasee wrote:to that, then again it would **** up BA, they'd be like a unstopable air drop, unless they could be shot at, and even If so n00bs be trying to drop pod comms all the time
i believe that was my point.

possible to? yes. a good idea to? probably not.

the balancing would be unbelievably complex.
Saktoth
Zero-K Developer
Posts: 2665
Joined: 28 Nov 2006, 13:22

Post by Saktoth »

In DoW, the 'drop pods' in most cases are nothing more than a build animation (Though i think terminators can teleport in or drop into the middle of the battlefield or something? I forget, perhaps im thinking tabletop).

Thats trivially easy and can be done using .cob/.bos, just have every unit have its own pod in the model, when the unit is almost completed have the pod fly down from the sky, hit the ground, spawn some impact fx and then burst open. Hide the pieces (probably make them explode or sink into the ground, rather than just disappear) and you are done. If you want the unit to 'drop anywhere', just give it its own constructor turret (Orbital com centre or whatever) that can build in whatever sort of range you want to give the pods (infinite if you like).

Might be more elegant with lua but you can have full functionality with .cob/.bos. It wouldnt really fit TA mods though as their whole point is everything is made by the commander through nanolathe- thats like the primary premise of the fiction.
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Neddie
Community Lead
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Post by Neddie »

Terminators and the Chaos equivalent are sent into the field via Deep Strike, which is essentially a unit drop. Also, anybody seen the Terran Demo Video for Starcraft II? Ghosts can call drop pods of Marines.
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KDR_11k
Game Developer
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Post by KDR_11k »

In DoW there's the orbital uplink or what it's called that you can load any infantry (except terminators which are teleported by the barracks IIRC) and mechs into and then move them with a drop pod to any spot you have LOS to.
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Neddie
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Post by Neddie »

KDR_11k wrote:In DoW there's the orbital uplink or what it's called that you can load any infantry (except terminators which are teleported by the barracks IIRC) and mechs into and then move them with a drop pod to any spot you have LOS to.
I wondered why the Orbital Uplink seemed so... well, not worth the wait. I was doin' it wrong!
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theHive
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Post by theHive »

KDR_11k wrote:In DoW there's the orbital uplink or what it's called that you can load any infantry (except terminators which are teleported by the barracks IIRC) and mechs into and then move them with a drop pod to any spot you have LOS to.
You could put terminators in an Orbital Relay, IIRC. I find it more fun drop-podding them than teleporting them, for no particular reason.
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Decimator
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Joined: 24 Jul 2005, 04:15

Post by Decimator »

It would be interesting to try in spring with a drop pod that does damage when it lands. It always annoyed me in DOW that you can't drop a drop pod on top of infantry.
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KDR_11k
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Post by KDR_11k »

To be fair, if the infantry inside can survive the landing the infantry under it can probably, too.
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BlackLiger
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Joined: 05 Oct 2004, 21:58

Post by BlackLiger »

KDR_11k wrote:To be fair, if the infantry inside can survive the landing the infantry under it can probably, too.
Nope. Crash harnesses and foam padding inside the pod. The infantry outside are basicly being hit by a large balistic shot (approximately the size of a C47 main body and about half as long.) coming in at a MINIMUM of the terminal velocity of gravity for that planet, and potentially still accelerating at minimum 9.81meters per second (No planet in WH40k has less gravity than earth. It's an interesting bit of fluff)
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KDR_11k
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Post by KDR_11k »

Remember that their decelleration cannot happen any slower than their body travels the entire length of the pod. Terminal velocity for that pod is probably pretty high
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