Small suggestion for the upcoming version.

Sean Mirrsen · Post by **Sean Mirrsen** » 27 May 2006, 18:56

I don't know if this has been brought up before by people other than myself, but I'm pretty sure that this is still in effect. Missiles and other selfpropelled projectiles are having a range problem, they always have a burn time that is calculated from their range and speed, disregarding the flighttime set in the weapon file. This makes short-acqusition but long-range missiles impossible. I'd like flighttime (the "ttl" variable in the source) to be taken from the weapon file, not calculated. If it's already that way, then pardon me, I'll search for errors on my side.

SwiftSpear · Post by **SwiftSpear** » 28 May 2006, 05:22

How did caydr get the mercuries working in AA?

Pxtl · Post by **Pxtl** » 28 May 2006, 18:05

SwiftSpear wrote:How did caydr get the mercuries working in AA?

Mercuries are long-ranged. I think he's saying that the problem is that the flight-time of missiles is calculated based on (a) range and (b) speed - the idea being that the missile is intended to run out of fuel just outside of their max range (which, with the Mercury, is really far).

He wants to override that behaviour and make units that have short range (so they only shoot at units that are nearby) but long flighttime (so that the missile will chase that unit a long way - much longer than the range - before running out of fuel).

Sean Mirrsen · Post by **Sean Mirrsen** » 28 May 2006, 20:37

Yes, that is correct. I want to make a unit that shoots autonomous "drones" that would chase their target for a long long time, much further away than the weapon "range" itself.

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 28 May 2006, 23:39

Sounds good.

Soulless1 · Post by **Soulless1** » 29 May 2006, 01:46

why should the flighttime be hardcoded to be equal to the time to max range anyway?

OTA had missiles that continued to track after the motor had run out - they could still turn but the smoke trail stopped and they became subject to gravity - 'twas pretty cool looking.

Surely it would be better to simply allow the flighttime to be set by the modder?

smoth · Post by **smoth** » 29 May 2006, 03:08

Hmm, like starcraft carrierS?

That woud rawk!

Sean Mirrsen · Post by **Sean Mirrsen** » 29 May 2006, 15:22

Heh, yes, only the "drones" obviously aren't shooting, they're just playing "bomb tag". :) A more interesting version of this would be a "sly" bomb that is actually a bit slower than its target. Technically, it is useless, but it packs a lot more punch, and if the target airplane returns to base... boom, minus one enemy repair pad.

Actually, now that I think of this..... how about groundbounce/noexplode being applied to the missiles as well? Think guided ball lightnings - they seek the target, hit it, pass through it, turn around, hit it again, and again, and again. They may be doing little damage per pass, but if they keep at it long enough, they will eventually destroy it. This, in turn, leads to another suggestion - add "reacquisition" to missiles. That means that if the target no longer exists (be it destroyed by the missile itself or something else), the missile will seek another target within a certain range - possibly ANY target, disregarding IFF.

Another thought appeared as I was writing this - how about "targetbounce"? I know you're planning something like laser deflectors, why not add an option for projectiles to behave like that upon hitting _anything_? Applied to the said ball lightning, it would make it bounce around the target, instead of passing through it..

Ok, enough crazy ideas for now.

Spring RTS Engine

Small suggestion for the upcoming version.

Small suggestion for the upcoming version.