Bomber Thread

Maybe it didn't delete the text, it just renamed it, lol.

Very, very cool. I love the idea of the limited guidance, just enough to get it on track.

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Oops, you're right it was just renamed!

I would have preferred an aim and undock method as Shane originally suggested but, that didn't work for several reasons:

You can't use a cargo pod because it's position is not updated on the server when it is docked to your ship. When you undock it, it black magically appears back at where you docked it before it starts to drift. []

Thats why we have to use a sim thats created dynamically on the Server as the keybind is pressed. Unfortunatly, the MP server app has static geometry so you can't just "aim" a newly created sim at a target with Sim.PointAt(...); and then give it a specified forward velocity.

Thats why limited guidence via AI is necessary. To make it harder, the angular acceleration (pitch and yaw)) is set very low and the Ai only has a few seconds time to get it straight if your ship is moving at a steep angle to the target.
It will definatly still take a good deal of skill to get your approach, distance and speed right so the bomb gets close enough to the target to do any damage. (especially in a combat situation)

Whew! Bomber pilots are going to have to concentrate very intensly on what they are doing while they are lining up the shot. But, watching the bomb go in, waiting in suspense, and then seeing the blast is so much fun, I'm sure they'll do it [^]

Fighters can shoot the bomb too (need several hits though). At 8km explosion radius they usually end up blowing up with it (self sacrifice anyone?) [xx(]

Iwar2 Multiplayer Fan Site

Whew! Bomber pilots are going to have to concentrate very intensly on what they are doing while they are lining up the shot. But, watching the bomb go in, waiting in suspense, and then seeing the blast is so much fun, I'm sure they'll do it

MajorTom, you may have just achieved something that has eluded computer game designers for centuries: How to let a non-fighter pilot player actually enjoy playing a combat oriented game, with all the excitement of being in combat without actually being invloved in a "dogfight."

I have wished for a game that does this for years. I love flying spaceships, and I love the thrill of a combat environment, but I don't love fighters and I don't love trading. I've just never been interested the whole dogfighting scenario. I've always bought every space sim I could find, only to be dissapointed that the only thing you can do is fly fighters (or, more rediculously, fly non-fighters into dogfights). If we could provide a few more playable support craft, this mod may be the first space-sim ever to appeal to everyone!

If we don't follow that path with this game, would you all be interested in working on a new MP mod that does. We could base it in the I-War universe and so use all the original ships and such (adding new ones as necessary), but code in new ship functionality to allow more of a variety of roles in the MP game. Instead of just a straight up fighter vs. fighter game it could be more of a larger scale battle (or whatever), with all kinds of roles to be filled. Each time you start a new game you could choose to fly fighters, bombers, transports, repair/recovery vehicles, capital ships, etc. Each would be balanced to contribute to the whole effort. Anybody interested in doing this after the SW mod?

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Glad you gentlemen like the idea. For Epic I'd set up a balance; the more payload a projectile carries, the less room for instrumentation/propulsion-tracking/etc. systems. So, at one end of the curve you had super-agile dog-fighting missiles which did not do too much damage (but were a sure thing). At the other end of the scale were bombs; difficult to use but horrendously powerful.

Glad to see one idea come to reality. Looks great, MT! Thanks guys.

<font size="1"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font color="black">"Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march; it was a stampede-- without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the rout of Civilisation... of the massacre of Mankind."
--H. G. Wells The War Of The Worlds</font id="black"></font id="Book Antiqua"> </font id="size1">

I hope you're right!

I hope there are enough good team player type "wingmen" out there to support players who think like you and keep your six clear. Thats going to be the issue on a bomber roll. Apparently, most like to dogfight in deathmatches. When it gets to tactics many say "this is too complicated". Maybe though, some will learn to enjoy this type of teamplay if we evangelise enough in the open forums.

The key gameplay and map design issue will be to "keep it simple" for the more simply structured guys while arranging the environment to automaticly develop a situation where guys like you can play and enjoy the game too.

Anyhow, You can try it out tommorow!

The B-Wing is in the game now with 3 of the new bombs on board.(After 3 you have to go back to base and reload)
(btw the B-Wing docks very well)
If you run the game with around 6 bots, you'll have an idea what it's like as a bomber pilot in combat
Of course bots are really dumb and won't recognize the threat you propose to thier base, so they might get too occupied with themselves. But still, you'll get an idea what it's like.

I'll upload a new version tomorrow, it'll also have the switchable cockpit for the turret in it.


Iwar2 Multiplayer Fan Site

Apparently, most like to dogfight in deathmatches.

For space-sims you might be right, but overall, I think I would disagree (there's that word again [}]). Straight up, free-for-all FPS Deathmatches were all the rage until the coop-teamplay games came out. Those skyrocketed, and plenty of people were willing to be medics, or whatever other support roles were needed. I think the need to cooperate to achieve a goal is beginning to become more appealing to people than just running around with the trigger button held down. We are, after all, social creatures.

I guess a more immediate problem is: Can the bots be programmed to fly like they should? Will a bot in a bomber understand what to do? If you can get the bots to fly as needed for the various roles and have working bot replacement, then we can create many, more mission-styled scenarios for multiple players.

Actually, that gets me thinking. Could you explain the basics of the current MP game types to me? Since I don't play MP much I get a little ahead of myself when I say things.

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