Only thing I'd change about the tanks in empires is the speed and the retarded rate at which turrets rotate. I say rotate, they don't even do that - they just instantly point wherever you want it to.
I definitely was not thinking of full implementation when I posted this, just when you see someone sticking out of the turret I said to myself: Shouldn't you be the one manning the gun? When you have a unit in Red Orchestra, tank combat is amazing, because your COs force you to work together, instead of pubbing where people do as you said... in most cases. I mean this feature was somewhat implemented, when you go to customize your weapon groups you can see "Seat Position: Driver", but it never allows anything else. Now that is a good idea, it could make the feature I mentioned in my above quote even better.
If I have to be forced to do something it's because I don't enjoy doing it, and if I don't enjoy a game I turn it off.
In the world of Empires, tanks are now so hot damn good, that a single peasant can control it. This isnt a traditional tank. I don't see the problem at all.
please note: empires is in an alternate universe that have pseudo-humans on biological steroids and nanite crack. Fuck realism.
Make tanks heavier. Not flipable with jeeps. That would be a step into the realism direction, without taking away any fun of playing tanks.
you cant just make tanks heavier, if you do you could not be able to drive up hills and if you increase engine power too much you have racemachines or self propelling helicopters
^WANT There have been a few threads about this. Personally the best would be a rotation limitation where it tracks your cursor a la UT3. However, people have protested on grounds of coding time and that there are more important things in life to fix first. Still, keep that idea around. It should make it to the top of the queue eventually.
I asked the devs about this a long time ago, it is a limitation of the engine: In order to keep jeeps from pushing, you have to increase weight. This keeps the tanks from going up hills. To get the tank up the hill, you have to increase horsepower, allowing the jeeps to push the tanks around.
If this is fixed I guarantee that it will make tanks a lot more balanced. If that isn't important well what is? oh yeah - See sawing the balance of everything until version 3.
Priorities in my mind: 1) GUI 2) Vehicle construction GUI 3) Tech tree layout and GUI 4) Netcode 5) less stupid framework for balance 6) actual balance 7) eye candy Sorry, this falls under category 5 in my list.
Wait. They implemented engines on a per chassis system. That is, the engine that goes into a Jeep doesn't have to be the same as the on that goes into a Heavy. So, can't we just make the tank versions more powerful and cost more res? That way tanks can get up hills due to their extra torque in the engine to compensate for their extra bulk, but they are less likely to flip.
Source as far as I know doesn't handle torque very well. You can't really have high torque low speed motion in the physics system. You can have it in things like func_rotatings in hammer, which have infinite torque, but they can't be physically simulated because of the old 'unstoppable force immovable object' problem of what happens when the infinite torque finite velocity (and therefore infinite mass) object gets pushed by something or comes into contact with the ground. So you can either have something which has ridiculous speed and good torque, or something which has poor torque and normal speed. So you could have heavy tanks going up hills, but they'd take off when they hit the top.
Alright, forced is too strong a word. Let's say: "In Red Orchestra Virtual Military Units, your Commanders allow you to learn and work as a tank team together in one vehicle, a chance you would not otherwise have pubbing." Trust me, it can be loads of fun. lol but how? It is not training that I argue, but rather that it is physically impossible for a 4-limbed individual to control both a turret and drive at the same time, think about it. Well keep in mind that even in science fiction, scientific rules still apply. In fact, if scientific rules did not apply, you could call it fantasy! This has already been partially implemented. When you go to edit your weapon groups, you will see "Seat Position: Driver", where the ability to have more than one seat with weapons comes into play. NO! SCREW YOU! I LOVE MY NUCLEAR JEEPS! lol jk, but really, I was on the server with Keef or someone and (God who was it?) flipped a tank over with a jeep and it died almost instantly, classic. ---- Also, a moderator might want to split this topic or someone make a new post, because since zenarion's post this thread has gone off topic.
I know, I've done it. The point is that it will probably be absolutely terrible, therefore it's a stupid idea.
As for how the fuck a single guy controls a tank, its obviously some kind of direct to brain interface or something. Far more efficient than packing several people in a tank, making them co-operate and requiring them to be completely motionless in order to do anything, while being shouted at by some prick calling himself a tank commander. Realistic tanks would suck. Do not want. :< I like my empires fast paced and fun.
I'd say they have some sort of device they use with their left hand with buttons on it, one for forward and one for backward, two for turning. Then maybe some extras for stuff like horns and handbrake. Maybe their right hand has some kind of optical tracking device with more buttons to control the turret and weapons. Yeah, that would be cool.
or maybe the tank pilots itself, almost as if by magic and before they go into war, some soldiers do massive amounts of a substance that users say makes them feel like they're watching the action, but they're thankful, because they become gods on the battlefield, almost as if they're commanding the fight
