Spring RTS Engine

Once a unit reaches a certain veteran status, it would be nice if the unit could be overhauled to another unittype automatically. Two tags could be necessary in the unit's FBI, veteranexp and veteranmorph, in order to setup this change. Instead of morphing the unit within the existing unit definition it could simply be swapped out to a different unit.

Imagine, a peewee gets to level 10 and morphs into a zeus, who then reaches level 10 and morphs into a maverick, who then reaches level 10 to morph into a... you get the idea.

That would only need one FBI tag.

This is more or less doable without these tags - just hide the old model in the script once it 'morphs' and show all the new unit's model bits, then lock down old weapons, unlock new ones, set health to whatever you want, and you've got it.

This would make it easier, yeah, but you can pretty much do exactly what you're talking about with a single unit and some scripting magic.

OR!!!

We could get support for unit create and morph via script.

+ 2^256

I find the idea of morphing within one's own single monolithic unit to be a needlessly complex kludge. A simple threshold for the morph, veteranexp, and simple target change for that threshold, veteranmorph, offers a simple and clean process flow.

Yeah, I don't need 5600 poly alien warriors running around...

Snipawolf wrote:Yeah, I don't need 5600 poly alien warriors running around...

It doesnt render polygons in hidden parts >_>

But having so many peices - hidden or not - runing around DOES lag.

So, the answer is that this is possible now but an ugly hack at the best, and that we could have a more graceful way to do this if someone implemented it.

Yeah, I want evolving aliens! I want three stages of aliens without my already said problem, I want them to grow bigger without screwing the collision and footpad! I want Spring better than Warcraft III, in every way!

If morphing one kind of unit into another is ever coded, I sure hope it can be commanded at will by a script command, and is not hardcoded to only happen when gaining XP. Veterancy is only one of many reason you'd want to morph a unit.

I agree. I'm just not sure how we can do this without creating some other problems... like inheriting properties (such as, say, the hitpoints lost).

Argh wrote:I agree. I'm just not sure how we can do this without creating some other problems... like inheriting properties (such as, say, the hitpoints lost).

By percentage, maybe?

zwzsg wrote:Veterancy is only one of many reason you'd want to morph a unit.

Could you offer us some other examples of other events that would be good for use as morphing triggers?

On/Off... after firing X numbers of shots... after a predetermined amount of time... a random amount of time... when crossing certain types of terrain... etc.

To help with an upgrades system...

If a feature has a general purpose and a specific purpose implementation suggested NEVER ask what you'd use the cases not covered by the specific case for because somebody WILL want to use them.

Could e.g. use it to make a factory fly after building stuff because currently a factory can't fly due to nasty hardcoded stuff.

after a predetermined amount of time...

Damnit, I said a while ago everytime I thought something up, someone would blurt it out on the site!

IT HAPPENS! I thought of Aliens being able to evolve due to their time in the field. It would have been interesting (Ohh, look, I have an alien farm )

Oh well, kinda cheap, so I guess I'll make 'em go by experience.

Nothing personal, just some kinda conspiracy goin' around

Could you offer us some other examples of other events that would be good for use as morphing triggers?

A kbot turning into a boat when passing shore. A kbot that turn into a plane when running fast enough. A jetpack infantry taking off and landing with the on/off button. A factory turning into a mobile vehicle and then into an immobile factory back again. A building that when built morph all your peewee around the map into super-peewees. A thingy that makes it so that when you mass 100 peewees, one of them morph into a peewee god, as tall and powerful as a guardian of steggu. A true submarine turning into a true surface ship when sufacing. Jedi apprentice that morph into jedi knight then jedi master over time (actually over a combination of time and experience would be best.) A mega unit that morph into a suprise smaller but meaner unit when about to die, like endlevel bosses in arcade game. A starcraft siege tank. A unit that can morph at will from and to a slow but all terrain legged spider or a fast but needs flat ground wheeled truck. A submarine secretly hiding on the sea floor that, tada, rise and turn into a mighty spaceship!

So basically:
- Internal timer
- What other units are present
- Speed
- Terrain type
- on/off button
- wants to fire weapon X
- Health
- and many more...
- plus all the combinations!

That is an excellent list, zwzsg, but if you were trying to program those how would you do it in one definition?