Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

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.

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FLOZi
MC: Legacy & Spring 1944 Developer
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Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 01:14

Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by FLOZi »

...That you are reasonably sure are possible.

I'll start us off:
  • Cluster weapons - I intend to make Thunder LRM for MCL but didn't get around to it yet
  • Occluding smokescreens - Like s44 smoke screens but you can't see enemy units on the other side of it, rather than only hiding units 'inside' it. Prettu sure I can do this with a modification of MCL sector-LOS.
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ThinkSome
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by ThinkSome »

Hmm, aren't the ussr bombers using cluster munitions in s44? I see a lot of small explosions

I'll continue:
  • host non-spring games on the spring lobby.
  • show terrain coverage of cannons (when in a valley they cannot shoot into the neaby valley even though it is within their range)
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Silentwings
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by Silentwings »

Several different water levels e.g. sea and mountain lake on same map.

Multiplayer missions (maybe someone has done it already in ZK?).

Mobile factories e.g. ships that manufacture smaller ships/seaplanes (again, perhaps exist?).

Lua implementation of defaultexplosions=1.

Game mode where players do not know who each other is (for e.g. FFA).

Add 1v1 ladder+matchmaker to lua lobby.

Drag and drop unit packs for game devs.

Ingame unit defs editor (for devs).

I'll stop there...
Google_Frog
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by Google_Frog »

FLOZi wrote:Cluster weapons - I intend to make Thunder LRM for MCL but didn't get around to it yet
I am highly confident that this is possible. I have done some work with projectiles, these gadgets may get you halfway there:
FLOZi wrote:[*]Occluding smokescreens - Like s44 smoke screens but you can't see enemy units on the other side of it, rather than only hiding units 'inside' it. Prettu sure I can do this with a modification of MCL sector-LOS.[/list]
I've barely looked into LOS. Can you set masks on terrain? Can you change the effective 'height' of the terrain occlusion? Does MCL have a reimplementation of LOS?
Mobile factories e.g. ships that manufacture smaller ships/seaplanes (again, perhaps exist?).
THIS (KDR_11k's unfortunately named space game) factories that can be built on the mothership (I may be recalling incorrectly though). I'd do it with two units, movectrl and some shuffling of commands between units.
Game mode where players do not know who each other is (for e.g. FFA).
I want this too but the engine makes it very difficult. The engine tooltip includes player name so locking luaUI does not work. I don't think you can trust people to not type /tooltip (and to not disable a widget that blocks /tooltip).

A related cool thing is a game more about information warfare. This requires some engine changes though (or a reimplementation of radar...) because I would want unidentified radar dots that don't give out allyTeamID or teamID.
Add 1v1 ladder+matchmaker to lua lobby.
Done.

Here is a bit of a list:
  • A game where your commander is the only unit you directly control and have sight around. All other orders and intel is handled by interceptable messages.
  • A unit that always moves in a 3D-straight line towards its destination. It achieves this by terraforming the land in front of it while it moves.
  • Movetype transforming units (air/land, sub/sea, sub/air etc..). I think lua can set movetype now.
  • Repulsion shields that work against all projectile types and have balanced energy cost between the types.
  • Lups area shields with the nice aLOS behaviour of engine shield rendering.
  • Polished save/load support.
gajop
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by gajop »

Silentwings wrote: Drag and drop unit packs for game devs.
I'm curious what this is?
Silentwings wrote: Ingame unit defs editor (for devs).
Could be added to SB pretty easily I think, if you can achieve what you want by just modifying the UnitDefs table

My list:
- Proper mod support, where games can load a list of mods.
- Maps with animated/custom materials (like lava) rendered on the heightmap
- Ingame node-based shader editor
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Silentwings
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by Silentwings »

@gajop:
Q1. A simple way for a dev to grab a pack of ready made units (defs, models, scripts, textures, associated cegs, etc) and add them into a game, TAU style. Easy in principle, but needs some infra and work.
Q2. UnitDefs table is protected and read-only, and iirc it's not the engines master copy anyway. Engine changes would be needed. This idea would once have been possible via raw file access from lua and an /editdefs command, but editdefs no longer works; I guess it was much needed in the olden days, to avoid constant reloading, when mod deving meant copious *A rebalancing via text editors, but afaik these days /editdefs is a no-op.
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Forboding Angel
Evolution RTS Developer
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by Forboding Angel »

That could be done via an include *shruggie*
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FLOZi
MC: Legacy & Spring 1944 Developer
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Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 01:14

Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by FLOZi »

Google_Frog wrote:
FLOZi wrote:Cluster weapons - I intend to make Thunder LRM for MCL but didn't get around to it yet
I am highly confident that this is possible. I have done some work with projectiles, these gadgets may get you halfway there:
I know for sure it is, just didn't get around to it yet. RE: ThinkSome and S44 PTAB bomblets, not quite what I meant. I mean one single weapon breaking into multiple weapons after launch, the PTAB are just a burst fire weapon.
I've barely looked into LOS. Can you set masks on terrain? Can you change the effective 'height' of the terrain occlusion? Does MCL have a reimplementation of LOS?
Can't set LOS mask on terrain, only on units. MCL does some voodoo for sector-restricted LOS with some vector maths and a beam weapon for ray checks vs. terrain.
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zwzsg
Kernel Panic Co-Developer
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Joined: 16 Nov 2004, 13:08

Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by zwzsg »

There's been a few forays, but imo we just sratched the surface of what's possible wrt procgen map and dynamic maps.
NeverLoseGuy
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by NeverLoseGuy »

Firing a projectile that becomes a self-building construction upon impact?
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FLOZi
MC: Legacy & Spring 1944 Developer
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Joined: 29 Apr 2005, 01:14

Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by FLOZi »

Pretty easy, and on the todo list for MCL, though the 'self building construction' are just mines.
gajop
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Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by gajop »

I'd say ZK's Wolverines already do that.
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AF
AI Developer
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Joined: 14 Sep 2004, 11:32

Re: Cool Stuff Nobody Did Yet?

Post by AF »

ThinkSome wrote:Hmm, aren't the ussr bombers using cluster munitions in s44? I see a lot of small explosions

I'll continue:
  • host non-spring games on the spring lobby.
  • show terrain coverage of cannons (when in a valley they cannot shoot into the neaby valley even though it is within their range)
AFLobby had Glest and primitive TA3D + OTA support, so it's been done, it just wasn't particularly popular
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