I want to know more about community opinions concerning vehicle handling, in particular, jeep handling. So I have a few questions: What makes a vehicle handle well? Both a jeep and a general Empires vehicle. What are some examples of Empires vehicles that handle well and what are examples of vehicles that do not handle well? What makes a vehicle fun? From all of the traits that you described for the above answer, which is the least important for the vehicle to be fun? Which is the most important? If you had to pick between a jeep that drives well normally and a jeep that drifts around corners, what would you pick? Why? Should vehicles be able to flip upside down? If so, under what circumstances should this be allowed to happen? For example, if another vehicle rams it. Or if the driver turns too sharply. Or if the driver rams another vehicle. Should vehicles (all vehicles or jeeps specifically) be able to take damage when they hit obstacles? About how much damage (as a percentage of total) is the right amount? Given the vast possibilities of handling script configurations, would you be open to copies of chassis configured in very different ways? Perhaps differing in cost? For example, a jeep with superior handling might cost more. Why does Empires need jeeps? What purpose do jeeps serve? What's the best way to distribute vehicle handling testing? Perhaps through a listen server with someone constantly tweaking the scripts as you play for a few hours? Or temporary testing a major pub server like EPIC/VIPER for days/weeks at a time? Or semi-permanent testing on the production version of Empires for a week or two at a time?
BE Heavy tank handles pretty well, probably the best. AFV & LT are pretty decent, even though you can't turn flexibly like tanks. Vehicle grants mobility and the ability of killing everything. Before I go through the rest, I am quite curious. Why are you throwing these questions?
I want jeeps to go like this. You can really see what I want at the first hairpin turn. For more examples here is this and that. And while I think empires would be 1000% percent better if tanks also handled like that, plus just be hilarious, What trickster keeps saying about tanks handling smooth and easy would be what empire needs. Like tight controls I guess.
Mario Kart them up, baby! Also flip when drifting at too harsh an angle, but make them able to be melee'd upright again, considering they're a bit flimsy.
Remove jeeps. A vehicle which costs 30-50 resources and dies in 1-hit (Grenadier RPG/Mortar) by having reactive armor on or being slighty damaged by any tiny impact isn't worth driving, I actually might have to tell people that it is a bad idea to go with a jeep. Might aswell spend those resources on buildings (refs/armories/turrets) or on tanks (with or without wages) to give the team a chance instead. You can't make a jeep good which has been stomped on for years just by making it handle better, it is like saying "Look, your car is still going to wreck at any moment now but hey, atleast you got better handling!". End its suffering and remove it before you invent the most convenient suicide-bomber vehicle.
Empires 2014 Edition: We remove everything! No jeeps, no scout rifle, no commander, no research no heavies. Don't be sad, this way everyone will be happy!
It sounds like your ideal jeep costs a lot more than 50 res, can survive more than one hit from a gren and doesn't get damaged by running into shit. Does that sound right? Who uses this kind of jeep (perhaps a single scout, a team of engies, etc)? What do they accomplish with the jeep? There's really no wrong answer. If you're very dissatisfied with the current jeeps, then you have more of an incentive to explain yourself thoroughly. I think I see where you're going with that. What other qualities should a good jeep have? Would that affect your answers? I think somebody needs to git on mah lvl...
1. Something that can slide around a bit, that jumps and bumps and slides. Something with high maneuverability with some degree of skill needed to use it at its best. It shouldn't take much skill to go in a straight line and do fairly wide turns, but they should be able to do thinks like bootleg turns, 180's and almost 90 degrees. BE Mediums and AFVs handle well. NF LT have the best handling in the game, hands down. Jeeps are okay, NF Mediums and Heavies are shit. APCs in general are okay. No comment on BE heavies. I'm disregarding that mediums and heavies can turn on the spot because that's less handling and more functionality. 2. Being able to do the aforementioned turns without sliding out *too* easily. 3. Drifting (For the record, drifting is normal behavior for most vehicles, though not nearly as easy as it is in Empires). It provides more flexibility with what you can do with the vehicle. 4. No comment, I believe that's beyond the scope of this. 5. No comment, I don't really care. The fact that you're not moving tends to be punishment enough for me. 6. As a knowledgeable player, yes. As a developer, no (More work for me, you see). As a theoretical new player, hell no. Shit'd get so confusing so fast. 7. Jeeps serve to quickly move players around in relatively safe areas. That means behind friendly or enemy lines, but not through a battlefield. Mobility is an important part of the game, and jeeps make mobility much more accessible to most players. 8. No preference. The first way doesn't reach a wide audience, the second way leads to inconsistency across the servers and the third way requires a strict rapid-release cycle.
Did you try this out? I bet you didn't. I did yesterday and it is confirmed that a jeep with reactive armor (RPG/Mortar weakness) dies in 1 hit. Also when it's slighty damaged, with other armors, by ANY kind of impact it dies to 1 hit. NF jeep is the same. I am amazed you guys want the jeep to be like a sportscar in Empiresmod. Out of all my expectations with this "lets make Empiresmod a serious game" attitude, this is the only thing that doesn't make sense. I want the jeep to become something which can cause mischief like the APC without the ability to respawn nor have an equipable weapon. But as of now the jeep is a bloody waste of time and a weight for the vehicle limit. You can almost never survive any contact with a decent enemy player in urban terrain. Not to mention mid/end-game situations where jeeps are just basicly fucked. edit: If jeeps only matter for transport to safe locations, I would rather go with a light-tank or atleast an APC which both are more expensive, yes, but they are both more relevent to helping out in the battlefield afterwards.
The jeep has been apart of the game since the battlefield mod. It is apart of the games history and it has various uses if applied correctly. I use a jeep when im going around harassing refs, or driving out to repair one. So if I get shot outside of the vehicle, its a jeep I lost not a apc or tank.
Which one of those traits is the most important trait? Which is the least important? BE Mediums and AFVs handle well. NF LT have the best handling in the game, hands down. Jeeps are okay, NF Mediums and Heavies are shit. APCs in general are okay. No comment on BE heavies. I'm disregarding that mediums and heavies can turn on the spot because that's less handling and more functionality. What exactly is the scope of "this"? lolwut. Bro, do you even scripts? Why would you ever put Reactive on a jeep? It only hurts you. I want both. After playing BFH, I fell in love with the dichotomy of a fast, cheap, unarmored motorcycle and a slower but more armored patrol car. I feel like we're missing that 4-seat slightly-armored vehicle that fits right between the current jeep and the APC. I'm talking like 2 plates of armor at most. Specifically, what are these "uses"? Also, can the current jeep be made any better suited for these tasks?
Maneuverability is the most important aspect, closely followed by speed. Everything else is secondary to those to considerations. I'm assuming the scope is vehicle usage with a focus on vehicle handling. Flipping vehicles gets into a whole lot of other issues involving the how and why. Ramming, falling and mining are all important to keep in mind as possible "hows", with the "whys" being more intricate. Implementation is easy. Balance is not.
To start with, it is faster than an apc by default. And it is cheaper to get a bunch of dudes inside a clown car and go kill FN, because unlike an apc its not a giant thing of noise. You can hide behind stuff with a smaller shaped vehicle especially the BE one since its a rectangle that glued to the ground. I already listed uses, its a cheap alternative to going somewhere and nothing of value is lost if the vehicle is lost. I watched freak get a bunch of tards into a nf jeep and capture a com after his 5 minutes of ghosting. It works if applied correctly, I don't understand why I need to explain something that has a whole history of being useful if not trolling purposes. Not to mention that trickster is a nazi and jeeps will never be removed, so complaining about them is pointless. I miss nuke jeeps, suicide bombing has never been as much fun in other games as it was in empires where a jeep caused mushroom clouds.
Another "how" would be turning too sharply. Its accompanying "why" is a particular configuration of handling. I call that within the "scope". :p :p :p :p :p
The question "Should vehicles flip when turning too sharply" is a different question from "Should vehicles flip". The former is perfectly within the scope of this thread, while the latter expands well beyond it.
by adjusting the springs to make them weaker as well as in some cases removing the countertorquefactor you can get vehicles to tip heavily on high speed turns and in some cases flip over.
