Hard Light Productions Forums
Hosted Projects - Non-FreeSpace => MechCommander OmniTech => Topic started by: Starman01 on March 18, 2011, 10:47:30 am
-
Hey there,
since a game like Mechcommander is also based a lot around the complexity of the maps, I thought about starting a thread here, where you all can post wishes about assets, that you would like to see on the map and that is currently not inside our object portfolio.
So, let the wishing begin :)
-
One thing that occurs to me when looking at the building options is a distinct lack of reinforced concrete-esque heavy-duty buildings, in the same vein as the Hardened Resource Building, but with diverse functions. Military installations are often partially sunk into the ground, or even completely buried into mountainsides, but most buildings don't lend themselves to being used as entrances in such a fashion, ex; this mech hangar is pretending to be a base entrance (http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o247/Arcalane/fauxmountainbase.png).
No, that's not an actual map (nor will it be, I don't have the patience for such things!) just a demonstration.
For ideas, a good start might be looking at images of WW2 bunkers. Really sturdy stuff designed to survive being shelled/bombed/etc. to hell and back again.
-
More dropship buildings(Overlord)? Perhaps including some that can shoot back?
If the dropships were modified turrets, perhaps there could be also be large APU vehicle 'buildings' that, if destroyed, would shut down the dropship's ability to fire back(just like turret generators), rendering them vulnerable.
On a similar note, turret-control 'vehicles', like occasionally seen in MW4. They don't move(and thus would still be 'buildings'), but would be smaller and easier to hide than standard turret control buildings.
Just some thoughts.
-
Good call about the military entrances. A few can be done, depending from the terrain (on mountains it's easy as you show with the mechhangar), subterrean will be difficult.
Dropship are in planning. Besides the Union I have shown, I will do a new Overlord and a new leopard (if finally someone could help me with texturing that damn thing :) ). And all will shoot you (the current version also do), there are already Overlords and Leopards ingame btw.
Regarding the mobile turret ctrl, lookie here :)
http://omnitech.hard-light.net/team/starman/pics/mtctrl01.jpg
Turret is already ingame, vehicle will follow (but only as static entity, I don't think a moving variant will be necessary)
-
Yeah, I can see ramps going down into the ground being a no-go due to the terrain engine, but large elevators (fully enclosed, open-air with reinforced bulkhead/doors shut, or with the lift at the top) should be viable, as well as buildings that extend into the terrain on purpose.
-
Well, if I create the building big enough, and place it in a little Lower, maybe a subterrean entry could be simulated.
-
(http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc384/KarlPav/Untitled-29.jpg)
-
More residential! Big houses, small houses, farm houses!
-
How about adding in the buildings from MCG? LIke add in the comp vault and such. Need more capturable buildings. Also hope you can get weapon salvage into the game like in MGC that would be great.
-
Also hope you can get weapon salvage into the game like in MGC that would be great.
This is planned, comes together with new logistic inventory. Also I agree with Karl, much more civilian houses are needed. Here we could also copy MCG
@Karl : Where is that image from, also from MCG ? The groundtexture looks like MC2
-
It is MC2 I made this model this evening, meant to be the dome from MC1
-
i know this is about buildings but off topic, how about getting those sports cars in and blow them up +)
-
Great model Karl :)
And yes, a few more vehicle probs will be nice :) Can be done easily
-
Hmmmmmmm building wise, how about getting the component vault in, Pop up Artillery turrets maybe.
-
No PopupArtillery :) I don't like the idea of having those heavy weapons be simply taken up and down :) I aslo don't like the other popup stuff either.
Which compontent house you mean ? the one with the parked truck ? Thought about that one too.
-
Popup weaponry is kinda stupid, but I would love to see some proper Turret housings instead of just having a giant missile launcher or autocannon sticking out of the ground. Maybe create a larger set of walls with turret bases built into them?
-
thought of some vehciles id like to see in J Edgar and Stryker.
-
Well, I have created new models for all turrets, and one for each type (including artillery).
Technically, it should be possible to create a turret on a wall seqment, Actually worth a try :)
-
What Stryker ? It's not in the wiki
-
this is from the thing itself aka mc 1
STRIKER
Cost: 10200
Weight: 35 tons
Type: long-range fire support vehicle
Speed: 15 m/s
Armor: light
Equipment: 5 LRM Packs
Engage as it is a Saracen, but keeps in mind that the Striker can fire over
walls tanks to its LRM Packs.
-
Well, I'm at least a little canon whore :) And this sounds a little like the "hunter" that is already ingame. Maybe it's the same ?
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Hunter_%28Combat_Vehicle%29
-
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Striker_%28Combat_Vehicle%29
It's this, but in MC1 it was purely LRM racks. It served the same purpose there that the Hunter does in MC2, so putting it in isn't necessary I think.
-
Ah, that one. No wonder I couldn't find it, I should switch to the next page if there is one :) I cannot remember how it looked in MC1, it's been ages since I played that. But honestly, that stricker model looks really sweet, though it's wheels make it more a street vehicle than a all terrain one like the hunter with it's track.s
Anyway, I keep that in the back of my hand :)
-
Striker @ sarna.net (http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Striker_%28Combat_Vehicle%29)
Looks like a fast-moving variant of the LRM truck. Better at harassment or hit and run support strikes.
Ed: This is what I get for not checking page numbers.
Also, it will be necessary for the MC1 campaign recreations assuming it appears as an enemy, at least if the developers of such are going for maximum accuracy. Yes, you could replace all the Strikers with LRM Trucks or Hunters, but that's not the point of an accurate reproduction. The same goes for the retracting artillery for the expansion campaign.
-
Might not be possible due to poly count or coding issues but some things i'd like to see,
• More extravagant buildings that arnt simply box shaped.
• More detailed building remains, something that actually resembles the remains of a collapsed building.
• Larger Mech hangars containing powered down mechs/vehicles.
- You'd be able to capture the building making any and all the mechs, vehicles as well as componants housed inside would be available for salvage.
- If ignored long enough the enemies will mobilise the more powerful base defender mechs housed inside. Perhaps destroying mechwarrior barracks located near the hangar could prevent the mechs being powered up.
- Destroying the hanger would cause a massive explosion. (Its mechs, weapons and ordanence so naturally it'd make one heck of a bang.
• Static guard towers (I forget the name of them, the gaint defence outposts from MW4:BK that house gauss rifles, LBX cannons, Missiles and Lasers. I guess its like a immobile concrete dropship in a way).
• Im sure Calliope turrets would be on the to-do list already but i'll mention them incase it's slipped anyones mind.
Ive got dozens more ideas but i'm sure most of them have come up in other forums or brainstorming sessions already.
EDIT: Little bit off topic but how many polys on average are being used to design the new mechs you guys are creating?
-
• More extravagant buildings that arnt simply box shaped.
In the end, most of the buildings will get a makeover (take a look out our image gallery in moddb) :)
http://www.moddb.com/mods/mechcommander-omnitech
• More detailed building remains, something that actually resembles the remains of a collapsed building.
technically included in the point above
• Larger Mech hangars containing powered down mechs/vehicles.
- You'd be able to capture the building making any and all the mechs, vehicles as well as componants housed inside would be available for salvage.
- If ignored long enough the enemies will mobilise the more powerful base defender mechs housed inside. Perhaps destroying mechwarrior barracks located near the hangar could prevent the mechs being powered up.
- Destroying the hanger would cause a massive explosion. (Its mechs, weapons and ordanence so naturally it'd make one heck of a bang.
Nice idea, but I'm not sure it's possible that easy. Some of that, is done over the mission editor anyway. Realistic Scale buildings are difficult though. There is already a mechhangar included, and a newer more highpoly version will follow. But due to the scale of the camera, battlefield and surrounding, some buildings are only half the size they "should" have. I.E. the Mechhangar, and the upcoming dropship should be twice as big / heigh as currently, but that will bring them out of scale for the camera and the other stuff imo.
• Static guard towers (I forget the name of them, the gaint defence outposts from MW4:BK that house gauss rifles, LBX cannons, Missiles and Lasers. I guess its like a immobile concrete dropship in a way).
Hm, might be worth thinking about it, sort of a fortress.
• Im sure Calliope turrets would be on the to-do list already but i'll mention them incase it's slipped anyones mind.
Already ingame and working. For a image, check moddb :)
Ive got dozens more ideas but i'm sure most of them have come up in other forums or brainstorming sessions already.
Then let them hear us, that's the reason for this thread :)
EDIT: Little bit off topic but how many polys on average are being used to design the new mechs you guys are creating?
[/color]
There is not really a rule to be honest. It's more dependend on size, and also how often the model will appear. I.e. I will allow myself to spend 3000 polygons on the overlord battleship, because it will be used only spare on the battlefield, so the performance drop wont be problem. Stuff that is more often used, or two small to show the poly detail will receive less polies. Mechs will be around 1k to 2K polies, vehicles / turrets around 1K and mid sized buildings also as a rough route to take. And even with these values, most details will only be visible on close in zoom, which makes correct lod models necessary
-
• Static guard towers (I forget the name of them, the gaint defence outposts from MW4:BK that house gauss rifles, LBX cannons, Missiles and Lasers. I guess its like a immobile concrete dropship in a way).
Hm, might be worth thinking about it, sort of a fortress.
it's called a "strong point defence", and please don't make them like they were mw4 bk, but mw4 mercs one was a complete wuss
-
Got any pictures of it ? Most certainly i will make my own interpretation of it anyway :)
-
a quick search didn't turn up any pictures, but if you have the free release of Mercs, Starman, the Strongpoint Defenses are the large structures that make up the second defensive line on Tharkad-Overlord.
-
a quick search didn't turn up any pictures, but if you have the free release of Mercs, Starman, the Strongpoint Defenses are the large structures that make up the second defensive line on Tharkad-Overlord.
something like this http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8718/spdqj.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/8718/spdqj.jpg) :D
-
Cipher got it. I said a "quick" search :P
-
i had the game :P
-
Impressive work thus far on the new/remodeled works. The new turrets looks great as does the dropship. Many ideas stemmed at improving or tweaking current models so that helps cut down on many ideads since its pretty much already planned.
I didnt think it'd be easy if at all possible to have mech hangars work the way I wished to see them, the idea stemmed from the first mission of Exodus, MW4:V opening movie and capturable objects in general.
In terms of scale most buildings are roughly the right size though some could be a little bigger (at least in my eyes since mechs tend to be on average 8-10m tall). The current hangar would only have to be enlarged a smal amount if at all, you could probably house 1-4 mechs inside it currently though it might be a little cramped. (Thats if the idea ever went ahead).
As for the most dropships, after a quick skim over wiki most only carry a lance of mechs (4) at most so they wouldnt need to be enlarged all that much. But thats up to you guys and the current limitations of the game and not me, i'm just a sucker for getting things are close to realistic as they possibly can be.
Several other ideas I have all stem towards urban fighting.
• Larger sky scraper-esque buildings designed to inhibit your view.
• Building remains that extend beyond the structures original base.
• Possible fog or dust storms either static or emitting from destroying a large building and lingering for several moments. (taken from the new MW trailer, I'd imagine its probably not possible to add but I can dream).
• I'd love to see the parking structures from the MW4 games made too (i have a weird soft spot for them).
• Static (abandoned) vehicles. (scattered around they could help feel like te city has been evacuated as well as add to obstructions to get around).
Those ideas all combine to make urban warfare possibly something to dread or love (depending how you like to play). The large buildings are going to impede your view making any combat among them more chaotic, it would also promote tactical planning if you can bring down a building that'll block streets off creating choke points or road blocks forcing either you or the enemy to go another route (possibly through a well placed mine field laid on a city street). Destroying a building could also be used to cover an escape sending up a plume of dust preventing LOS for any in or around the dust cloud.
• I'd like to also see more mining/construction type buildings and static vehicles. (The need for resources in the battletech world must be staggering).
• Although not really a land feature or building, I'd love to see a battleship introduced for coastal/island style maps. Something nasty that bombards you from long range with longtoms, railguns and thunderbolts. (Would naturally exist only in the deep non transversable water so close range mechs are just going to get used for target practice against it). Aiming more towards thinking about what weapons your going to arm your mech team with here. I knew a lot of people that just equiped their teams for purely brawler type battles and many that only equiped long range weapons. (though long range is pretty much a hindrence now with faster short range mechs swarming you and preventing you from fighting back effectively).
• If the game is set to a specific grid system that wont allow this, simple ignore it. (clearly I dont play around in editor very much). I'd like to see structures that can be placed at an angle other than 90'. Like 45' base walls or buildings that naturally sit on a slieght angle compared to the rest to break away from the perfect symetry currently in game. Same goes for roads, paths etc.
• To touch on the 'strong point defence' outposts, I just thought they would add more the strategic aspect of the game. Are you going to take a lance of heavy mechs with artillery support and face the S.P.Ds as you storm the front of a base? or take lighter mechs and sneak around the defences all together? I'm a sucker for strategic gameplay which is what made me think of them as a possible add.
-
A lot of good points. However, a few of these are also only possible with extensive coding (dust clouds etc.).. Regarding Dropships, the problem is, that the Union carries 12 mechs, and the overlord 36. I modelled them for fun, so that simply the number of mechs fit into the body. That makes them already too big for the game, and for realistic size, they must be at least twice as big because they need to house engines, crew and other stuff. Take a look into the editor, and load the current overlord model. I will make the union this size. And the overlord will be already bigger, that certainly as much as I can go :)
(http://omnitech.hard-light.net/team/starman/pics/union2.gif)
(http://omnitech.hard-light.net/team/starman/pics/union.gif)
-
I'm planning on making the MW4: Vengeance campaign for MCO. The requests made by Boundless could be useful for most of the missions for the campaign. I was also wondering if the Osiris (or Stiletto) could be added in later relaeses...
-
It sure will. Since I already made the low poly version you know from DSC, it will not so hard (for me, i just have to model it, Karl has the big work bringing it ingame :lol: )
-
Very good point about the size of those dropships, I completely forgot to take into account which models had already been added in game.
I had a feeling dust (as well as some of the my other ideas) wouldnt be possible, but this being a wish list so I added it anyways.
-
• Building remains that extend beyond the structures original base.
Just a case of making a different model for the 'destroyed' building as I understand it.
~~
• Static (abandoned) vehicles. (scattered around they could help feel like te city has been evacuated as well as add to obstructions to get around).
Those ideas all combine to make urban warfare possibly something to dread or love (depending how you like to play). The large buildings are going to impede your view making any combat among them more chaotic, it would also promote tactical planning if you can bring down a building that'll block streets off creating choke points or road blocks forcing either you or the enemy to go another route (possibly through a well placed mine field laid on a city street). Destroying a building could also be used to cover an escape sending up a plume of dust preventing LOS for any in or around the dust cloud.
More civilian vehicles would probably help, yes. All we have right now are jeeps, armoured cars, dune buggies, ambulances, and various trucks. There's little in the way of other normal vehicles. Perhaps if it was possible to use team-colours on prop vehicles and have some that are offset/parked along the edge of the road, a lot of time and effort could be saved instead of needing to make lots of different props with different textures. Could also be useful for other props that don't need to be under AI control or considered hostile, but would be better team-coloured (APCs, fuel trucks, etc.) for thematic/appearance reasons.
~~
• If the game is set to a specific grid system that wont allow this, simple ignore it. (clearly I dont play around in editor very much). I'd like to see structures that can be placed at an angle other than 90'. Like 45' base walls or buildings that naturally sit on a slieght angle compared to the rest to break away from the perfect symetry currently in game. Same goes for roads, paths etc.
Almost all objects can be rotated through 45° degree intervals, the only exception being base walls (diagonal variants exist) and road/path/runway overlays. I believe the roads thing is being worked on but don't quote me on that.
~~
Finally... do you have to keep setting a custom colour for your posts? It blends in a bit too much compared to the usual white, and almost blurs together for me.
-
In one of the MW4 expansions, there was this fantastically massive building-thing that was targetable - apparently called a 'Strong Point Defense' or something like that. I found out the hard way that it was packing a gauss rifle.
I know we have gauss rifle turrets already...but strong point defenses would be pretty cool to implement. Never mind the fun we could have with extra-large turrets or something of that nature. Quad Gauss Rifle turrets? Maybe something with racks and racks of pulse lasers? LRM launchers to rival vultures and catapults?
Turrets, to me, always seemed a little bit like a gimmick. Let's face it, even in groups, the deadlier variations of turrets (like gauss and long toms) are only moderately dangerous to heavy or assault mechs.