Getting Aircraft

just warning: equasions, ramblings and shit follow.

i've been thinking about this a lot, i don't know how practical it is, but i've been thinking of a way to adjust our existing vehicles to use as aircraft so that we can get around the aircraft collision bug.

anyway, here's what i was thinking, after i came out of my maths exam:

Gravity on aircraft = G(1-F(v)) where F(v) is some function of the velocity, between 0 and 1. the aircraft would also have 100% air control enabled like a spectator, but would not be able to strafe, and the front of the aircraft would have a seperate crosshair to the one you use, and the aircraft's crosshair (which indicates the front of the plane) would chase yours.

also, the aircraft's crosshair (and yours) would be limited to the Y axis, X axis movement of the mouse would Roll the plane. in order to turn you would need to bank.

if you then added another force, air resistance, which would be some other function of velocity, then you would be able to give the aircraft a top speed without the aircraft just accelleration to mach 100.

how the aircraft would work would be like being in spectator mode; when you're above a certain speed you fly around as though there is no gravity; that would simulate the thrust from the wings. because you wouldn't be able to raise/lower the nose of the aircraft instantly, you would only be able to turn by banking the aircraft and moving in smooth circles. and you wouldn't be able to hover in the vehicle or your velocity would go back to 0 and gravity would come back.

i don't know exactly how it would work but if those sorts of equasions, like making the gravity on the aircraft a function of it's velocity, were possible, then we could have aircraft ready pretty quickly, and aircraft that didn't crash the game all the time because they would basically be our current vehicles.

 

IMO we should get a good working ground version done. Aircraft will require so much more balance testing new weapons. I mean its pretty much an entirely new game. It would be like adding tanks to CS

 

There are going to be lots of changes to the current system before teh blimbs are activated.

 

I think that we could touch up the current infantry/tank system for years, i can think of a dozen things off the top of my head that i'd change (walls not stopping enemy buildings building nearby, etc)

but if we want this mod to be really popular again we should be thinking about aircraft; that's what's going to bring the public in massively.

 

He has a point, you really CAN work on infantry/tanks for dozens of years without a problem. By then empires will have been ported 10 more times to the newest engine, or rebuild from scratch on another engine, and probably lost its playerbase.

But aircraft will only attract so many more players if it's done right, and if it's balanced from the first (public) release. This is a huge project. An improved infantry/tank system (+ OB port) will also attract new people, though less, but it has a much shorter ETA.

It's sad to say but what would help empires most is steady progress so that things continue to improve, for which you'll need lots of experienced coders. I'm sure the current people working on empires are a million times better then i am, but i'm afraid they're not as good as krenzo was (though i hope i'm wrong), and even krenzo just started as not much more than an "amateur".

On the good side, empires is NOT losing players at the moment. In fact, 4 months ago i wouldn't see 90+ players on a tuesday late afternoon (which is just past noon in america).

OT: it's an interesting idea, though i'm not familiar with the colission bug so i can't give an opinion on the matter.

 

I tend to take this view, although we really would have to get vehicles working in the OB code first ~

 

Why is this thread here? There are already flyable aircraft.