Sentry Gun

[moriarty]

just an "idea thread" for now:

- "sentry gun" could be an xcom unit with 0 energy, making it immobile (that works, doesn't it?) but capable of turning and shooting

- main use: xcom base defense

- are there spawn points in the xcom base that could be "abused" for sentry guns? (doesn't make sense to have sentry guns in the upper floor areas; having them in the hangars and lift would be unfair to the aliens; are there spawns points that are specific to "lower floor, not near alien entry point"?

- could also be deployed by "grenade"-type object? 3x3 item, very heavy, "explosion" spawns "sentry gun" unit.

- (what happens if a "grenade" spawns a unit on a tile already occupied by a unit???)

- fixed weapon: conventional auto cannon, later: laser, plasma

- perhaps include some kind of "self destruct" function? just in case somebody blocks his/her own way with a sentry gun and is then unable to finish a mission? or do we leave that to darwinism? you can always kill the sentry gun by shooting it...


does anybody have some graphics for a tripod-mounted gun?

[pmprog]

This came up ages ago when I asked the ability to spawn "temporary" units inside battlescape for my UAV. Though it must have been in the IRC chat, because I can't find any references in my thread

So the ability to "deploy" sentry guns is doable. Maybe if you get a Special Ability of "Unable to Move" added to the engine, that'll just make things easier. I wanted a "Can't open doors" one for my UAV, but real life took over rather rapidly, and I didn't even get to complete my UAV mod, I didn't chase it up.

Alternatively, you could give it 0 TU's, and give it a weapon that takes 0 TUs to fire... This would mean it's limited in it's direction, but that'd be a nice restriction IMO.

[Camalex97]

maybe give it a 100% chance to hit and high reaction with low health for early models (maybe upgrade it to alloy later?)  and only be able to use it for reaction and give it high reaction chance and all that good stuff. maybe give some versions a shield/like thing on front too for holding choke points? and maybe also allow it for use in all missions as it could be used for holding a secure extraction point for alien bases right?

[kharille]

Yeah, and xcom will have to use special weapons to take out these hardened defences....  Should be an interesting gameplay element.

Reminds me of rebelstar raiders, the moonbase mission...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJ8UolWCCU

[Warboy1982]

give it 0 energy, it can't move, but it can turn and fire.

[moriarty]

cool, so that should work, eh?

btw, how would I go about making a grenade type item spawn a unit? I can't find anything in the ruleset reference, and I don't think it has been done before, or has it?

[Camalex97]

just an "idea thread" for now:

- (what happens if a "grenade" spawns a unit on a tile already occupied by a unit???)

If i recall correctly they just overlap until one unit moves off of the tile in which case it couldn't return (from what i remember from a glitch in the vanilla.)

[Agm76]

I thought about something similar too.
Maybe another add-on spot for weapons on landing craft, where you can equip researched Mods.
Night mission you can equip the vehicle with line of sight night vision or flare launcher.
Sentry Gun.
Grenade/smoke launcher.
Psi blocker.
Built in Motion tracker.
Nothing overpowering, just something to increase variety and fun without spoiling the balance.

[Camalex97]

I thought about something similar too.
Maybe another add-on spot for weapons on landing craft, where you can equip researched Mods.
Night mission you can equip the vehicle with line of sight night vision or flare launcher.
Sentry Gun.
Grenade/smoke launcher.
Psi blocker.
Built in Motion tracker.
Nothing overpowering, just something to increase variety and fun without spoiling the balance.

I don't know if the motion tracker and psi blocker would be possible without incredibly huge edits in the code

[kharille]

Was reading about this....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentry_gun

https://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150715-killer-robots-the-soldiers-that-never-sleep

Maybe a base improvement with blaster launchers installed...  Would it be wise to let them shoot down corridors?  Maybe an inexpensive base deterrent?

[nadir-1648]

I don't know if the motion tracker and psi blocker would be possible without incredibly huge edits in the code

Sure. The motion tracker would be a 0-energy unit with a motion scanner instead of a weapon (assuming that'll work), and a psi-blocker would be an unarmed unit with a psi-strength of 0. Wait... can psi be used on HWPs at all?

If I've completely misunderstood HWPs please disregard the above 

Maybe a base improvement with blaster launchers installed...  Would it be wise to let them shoot down corridors?  Maybe an inexpensive base deterrent?

Eek, I'm torn here. My kaboom-loving side says YES YES MOAR BOMBS but the side that likes a challenge says no. Blaster Bombs are game breakers as is, I think, so giving free BBs that aren't MC-susceptible or really with any sort of downside...? That's... Mm.

But on the other hand: NUKE EVERYTHING 

[Dioxine]

Psi does work on HWPs. That's why they're usually given Psi Str of 100. But I think a 100/100 psi soldier can still MC them if he's very close...

HWP Sentry guns would work, you can control their placement to a degree, but the condition is, you need to have specially prepared RMPs for all X-Com base maps (add Spawn = 10, Small to all places where you want the sentry guns to be spawned, since HWP units are spawned before soldiers. Also make sure that the sentry guns have the lowest listorder so they'd be placed before all other HWPs. So it IS possible, but would require major tinkering and wouldn't be compatible with many mods.

[nadir-1648]

I think sentry guns would work pretty well in alien bases, if they have high reactions and quick snap shots. The problem is getting them to spawn in ambush spots, but when it works out right it could be downright evil if they lock down a particularly important passage. Payback for the Base Defence Turkey Shoot, I says. 

[kharille]

Alien bases...  that's a good idea.  Thinking of Indiana Jones but yeah, trapped corridors where you have to neutralize everything slowly.  Pity the aliens don't use mines.

[nadir-1648]

Wonder how much of an AI overhaul that would take... And if it would break X-Com-placed mines. Maybe a modification to invert weapon attractiveness to make them avoid certain items?