NF heavy tank sponson guns - proposed controls.

I've heard talk of the NF heavy being fitted with sponson guns, two smaller guns on either side of the tank, and I've also heard suggestions that these would be controlled by one player per turret, so three in all.

Now I don't know whether this is actually planned, but if it is, I propose making all the guns be under the control of the driver.

Basically, you make the guns aim at where the driver is aiming, but if a gun can't, because the body is in the way, it doesn't fire.

This basically means that the driver can fire both guns if aiming more or less directly forward or backwards, and one gun if aiming to the left or right.

This gives the NF some much needed firepower in any situation, and also a slight firepower advantage if aiming forwards.

To resolve the issue of different cannon speeds, simply hook both sponson guns up to secondary fire, and your MG/missiles up to a different weapon number. That way you can fire your sponsons with one button, and your main cannon with another, assuming you make both sponsons the same weapon, you should be fine.

I think this is better than the one player per gun option, because you're never going to get three people into one tank, two of which only have 180 degrees of aim, a limited weapon, and have to rely on the driver to keep them alive and give them shots.

Pros:

Makes sponson guns more practical.
Makes your team able to field more effective tanks.
Makes it more fun for the players who would be gunners.

Cons:

Requires more coding to make it work.

Alternatives:

Can't think of any, other than using the other system which sucks.

 

i 100% agree with this, if it's possible. My major concern with thsoe sponsoons has always been where the HECK are you gonna get people to control them?!

 

i don't really agree with this suggestion :/ I see where your coming from, but i don't agree with it.
whats the point of adding the guns if its all controlled by one person? You may aswell give the heavy tank a few slots in that case. And I think you will get 3 people in one tank, because games do have that kind of teamwork (there's always engineers playing as a team and help repair your tank behind frontlines.

BUT

People would want thier own tank, so this would mean that you'd only use this when your low on money. But that brings up the question, if your team is low on money, then why buy a heavy tank? It would just be a bullet magnet.

 

I agree completely. Unless the lag between driver and passenger is fixed, your aim will always be jerking around randomly, the same way it does if you have a gren in the top of a BE apc. Does anyone else have a problem shooting straight when the driver is moving the mg turret, even just a little?

I think when there is a lag between the last known driver command and the server, it extrapolates the movement, and causes these weird jumps. So unless the driver and passenger have both really low pings, it'll be laggy I think.

 

Whats better, 1 tank with 3 people, or 3 tanks?

I can't imagine a situation where 1 tank would be better then 3, other then really low resources. But then NF is probably better off with lights anyways.

 

The whole point of those two additional cannons is to allow 2 players to support the driver, not to give the driver more firepower. It's DonMegel's idea, so take it to him.

 

i second that. if u want machine guns just get them in the customize options...

 

You add them to give the tank more firepower and the BE tank already has two main cannons.

If you want other people to support tanks, give them a way to do it which will be effective, like a coaxial machinegun which is easier to use against infantry trying to ambush your tank than the tank MG and which also has a better field of view, not a half assed cannon which they can only use half the time and would be hell to hit anything with.

Firing cannons in empires with any accuracy requires coordination with your speed and direction, and I don't see that as feasible without being in the same room as and possibly in a mind-meld with your driver.

 

Haha, either that or make the NF heavy tank as slow as tanks were during WWI...

oh god...maps get a lot bigger don't they?

 

Thats because of the turret not the vehical. It will be more like firing from the jeep.

 

lmao imagine XD

and make the NF like King Tigers, where they break down every 10mins and have to be rebuilt

 

Only Krenzo can correct me in this, but I think the coding basis for multiple gunners is already in place (in the weapon assignment menu), all that needs to be done are actual models and camera views.

 

if side guns were controlled by the driver then you'd get problems arising from one gun being a lot lower than the other when aiming. I'd say bang up the armour level and drop the speed, let a fully manned NF heavy be have a chance against 3 BE meds - if it can corner them or if they forget to retreat...

 

No you wouldn't, as I said, you simply bind the side guns to a different button to the main gun, and adjust your aim when using them.

 

You could have an 'option'..

If there's no one in the seat of the gun, then the driver controls it, but if someone gets in then they control the gun.. just a though..

 

Well I was thinking of suggesting that both be implemented with an option to choose between them, but I expected to be laughed off because that would require too much effort.

 

What's wrong with the driver just switching to a different seat if he wants to use a side-mounted gun?

As it is, the driver's vertical aiming is restricted by the turret, which would make it unsuitable to give control of guns side-mounted guns to the driver. If you look at the NF heavy tank, you'll see the sponsons are already there (albeit nonfunctional), and there's no way they could be fired to the front or rear of the tank, or even remotely synchronous with the turret. Machine guns would be too difficult to apply against infantry effectively, and single slot cannons wouldn't be worth the extra heat of firing them.

Having additional weapons there would be best in the hands of someone who can aim and fire independantly of the driver, and probably on a different heat subsystem. Or just as a protected firing port.

 

Because you park up to use a gun and you die.

And I suggest you simply mount the guns further out from the tank to make them aim forwards.

And I already explained why having one person to operate what is essentially half a medium tank's worth of firepower is a waste of space, especially when it is much harder to use than your own tank and you have to share health with someone else.

 

Apologies for my previous comment. My head was still bordering on the idea that they'd be machine guns (for anti-infantry use), not cannons or missiles.

If you're suggesting two 2-slot cannons on the side that jut out, I'd go for that. If we had lasers, this could be the Empires version of the Predator tank. *evilhappyface* One-slot cannons just wouldn't be worth it; they make too much heat for too little damage.

 

I did actually get the idea for this while watching a predator tank blow up some orks in DoW.