Craft armory

[kkmic]

Traditionally, all the items that are brought into battle and are not equipped by the soldiers are piled up on one specific craft tile.

How about having items that are present in the craft be available to all soldiers in the craft, regardless of their location?

Does this makes sense? Is it "natural"? Pros? Cons?

[moriarty]

is that even possible within the battlescape? you mean that as long as a soldier is inside the transport craft, he can access the items stored there? would the items still appear in the battlescape as "lying on the ground"? what would happen if you threw something into the craft?
also, this might be exploited for an "instant grenade relay": a soldier at the back arms a grenade and drops it, another one at the front picks it up and throws it at the enemy...

I think it makes sense to have the items at a specific location.

we might discuss having separate locations for different kinds of items, so there would be a "rifle rack", a "pistols drawer" and a "grenade pile", for example, but that would probably be too complicated, because the items need some kind of identifier to tell the game where they belong.

simply putting them all at that one spot is probably the easiest way.

[kkmic]

Technically, the items are visible on the battlescape, can be dropped or thrown as usual, it's just that when opening the inventory, all the items that are on the craft's floor are shown, not only those found on the tile that the soldier sits on.

Yes, the grenade relay might be a small exploit (as there are many others  in the game).

[moriarty]

if it's technically possible, I think it would make sense, kind of. the transport craft would become a kind of "equip zone".

perhaps it would be better, though, to reduce this "equip zone" to a smaller area of the craft? maybe we could have a 2x3 area with marked tiles where this behavior takes place? we might even think about adding a graphical representation (like gun racks or locker-like "doors") to the sides of the transport craft.

you know, this could even be turned into a very useful "support tank" mechanic... imagine an HWP without weapons but with very heavy armor. the HWP is higher than usual and can be used as cover, and the tiles immediately adjacent to it are "equip zones", with the tank carrying up to xy weight units of stuff.

is that possible, though? or would that require a lot of additional code?

[Danny]

I think the craft pick up tile should stay as is.

Though a Tank with storage capacity would be nice, like a super strong "pack mule" soldier... ^^

[bladum]

what about APC ?

Tank that stores soldier that is somehow "stunned" and move it so safe place somewhere

[moriarty]

while it would be technically possible (a stunned soldier is just an item for in-game purposes), I think we should forbid that

there have been several people suggesting APCs and vehicles that can be used in the battlefield... I think that is way beyond the capabilities of the game engine, though. the only thing that comes close is the "Mudranger", a replacement for the Skyranger that looks like an APC (but of course it doesn't move on the battlefield).

[luke83]

while it would be technically possible (a stunned soldier is just an item for in-game purposes), I think we should forbid that

there have been several people suggesting APCs and vehicles that can be used in the battlefield... I think that is way beyond the capabilities of the game engine, though. the only thing that comes close is the "Mudranger", a replacement for the Skyranger that looks like an APC (but of course it doesn't move on the battlefield).

It would be good if we could activate the turret on the Mudranger , that would be a interesting feature.

[moriarty]

using specialized craft weapons in the battlescape would be very nice

I'd like to see a grenade launcher that can be equipped as a craft weapon which is useless in air-to-air combat, but can be used in the battlescape instead - you'd have to choose if you want the craft to act as an air fighter or perhaps use that extra battlescape firepower. the lightning comes to mind - I've never used it in a dogfight, but if it had a grenade launcher in the battlescape, now that would be nice...

[Danny]

the lightning comes to mind - I've never used it in a dogfight, but if it had a grenade launcher in the battlescape, now that would be nice...

You never used the lightning in an aerial dogfight?! o_0

Its awesome! A lightning with plasma cannon and the cautious attack downs smaller UFO's without much risk of blowing up the elerium... ^^
Its a self sustaining attack vehicle versus small craft, cost about 25 elerium per interception but you usually gain 50 elerium from the UFO powercore... =3

Great for smaller bases only having/needing one hangar.

[moriarty]

...downs smaller UFO's without much risk of blowing up the elerium...

wish it were so, but the actual chance of power sources exploding is completely independent of the amount of damage inflicted, the weapon used or the mode of attack. it's completely random. I'm trying to change that, but that's how it is

and I admit I was exaggerating, I do use the lightning for dogfights, but usually I let the avengers do that and rarely build lightnings at all

[Danny]

wish it were so, but the actual chance of power sources exploding is completely independent of the amount of damage inflicted, the weapon used or the mode of attack. it's completely random. I'm trying to change that, but that's how it is

In the original I could clearly notice a difference... :\

[moriarty]

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=UFO_Crash_Recovery

[...]When UFOs crash land (except the Small Scout, which has no engine), there is a 75% chance that its Power Source(s) will explode[...]

sorry, it was the same in the original. I used to think that, too, but clearly it was just wishful thinking. as are a lot of things in the original: they are random (although, for most things, weighted random decisions), so they appear more complex than they truly are.

[Align]

Yep, confirmation bias at work.

[Danny]

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=UFO_Crash_Recovery


sorry, it was the same in the original. I used to think that, too, but clearly it was just wishful thinking. as are a lot of things in the original: they are random (although, for most things, weighted random decisions), so they appear more complex than they truly are.

F-ing HFIL!!!

I guess I got lucky when I tested that...