driving mode interface

Discuss the future of Warzone 2100 with us.
elio
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driving mode interface

Post by elio »

here a first mock-up of the driving interface.

would be cool :P
  • the more damage the more red
  • ability to change tank to switch fastly in busy situations. select a bunch of units and go in driving mode. just clicking on the icon or on the unit on the minimap will switch to that tank.
  • ability to do stuff like managing research / production / design without exiting driving mode
  • you can only steer one weapon at a time but you can set 'fire-at-will' 'return-fire' 'no-fire' for the other weapons (for stealth missions :P)
  • on the minimap: green are selected units, blue are friendly units, red are enemy units, the minimap shows only a small area of the map
i would suggest that the stats of a manually driven vehicle is significantly better than an 'automated' vehicle

do you have any suggestions? ideas? i'm thinking of when driving a commander, extended functionality will be provided, such as call in assigned vtol's (uuu i would love to make groups of the assigned units, so press 1 to call in the first group and 2 the second and so on..) then multiple targets would be cool too..
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interface-driving.jpeg
gerard_
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by gerard_ »

Hehe, awesome. The "Reloading 2s" doesn't look too nice, just a progress bar like we already have would look better I think. If only showing part of the map I would use the entire circle instead of a smaller square in it.

This makes me think of Dungeon Keeper, which had the nice possibility to possess your creatures. This was great as you could take one, level it up, and use it to invade the enemy base.

In order for the drive mode to get full potential I think we need some very expensive and very strong bodies, and also some expensive and stronger weapons. That way you could build one supertank to be the spearhead of an invasion.
A training facility like a shooting range would also be cool, where your units could slowly get experience without actually engaging the enemy. That way you could secretly build and train an army to surprise your enemy. This training facility could be a factory which produces hostile droids, with a weapon that does no damage. You could position your droids around it and make them gain experience.
Tiberian
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Tiberian »

liking those graphics elio :P

this reminds me of the Battlezone games, which i always enjoyed.

but, it would probably lead to warzone becoming a shooter as much as an RTS, and although that may seem like a good thing, there may be players who prefer playing without it, so, perhaps there could be a multiplayer option to disable it?
elio
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by elio »

gerard_ wrote:Hehe, awesome. The "Reloading 2s" doesn't look too nice, just a progress bar like we already have would look better I think. If only showing part of the map I would use the entire circle instead of a smaller square in it.
it isn't necessary too, there's a big round showing the progress (yellow)
This makes me think of Dungeon Keeper, which had the nice possibility to possess your creatures. This was great as you could take one, level it up, and use it to invade the enemy base.
yes, and it was necessary to use that possession spell because you couldn't move units around like in other rts, that was nasty..do you know you can also possess chickens? but mainly i loved the traps, they were awesome ;D "the gas trap.. - a breathtaking experience"
In order for the drive mode to get full potential I think we need some very expensive and very strong bodies, and also some expensive and stronger weapons. That way you could build one supertank to be the spearhead of an invasion.
A training facility like a shooting range would also be cool, where your units could slowly get experience without actually engaging the enemy. That way you could secretly build and train an army to surprise your enemy. This training facility could be a factory which produces hostile droids, with a weapon that does no damage. You could position your droids around it and make them gain experience.
nice idea, so experience will be more important in mp
NewTiberian wrote: but, it would probably lead to warzone becoming a shooter as much as an RTS, and although that may seem like a good thing, there may be players who prefer playing without it, so, perhaps there could be a multiplayer option to disable it?
should'nt be a problem

regards
elio

PS: we could make a new game-mode xD fps in warzone.. transport gives out units (you choose which units you want, some people are more focused on artillery or vtols etc...) and you can lead your force to victory in capture the flag or whatever ;D
Deus Siddis
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Deus Siddis »

elio wrote:here a first mock-up of the driving interface.

would be cool :P
  • the more damage the more red
  • ability to change tank to switch fastly in busy situations. select a bunch of units and go in driving mode. just clicking on the icon or on the unit on the minimap will switch to that tank.
  • ability to do stuff like managing research / production / design without exiting driving mode
  • you can only steer one weapon at a time but you can set 'fire-at-will' 'return-fire' 'no-fire' for the other weapons (for stealth missions :P)
  • on the minimap: green are selected units, blue are friendly units, red are enemy units, the minimap shows only a small area of the map
Awesome work elio, I would love this implementation. Even in the psx version we never had direct hands-on manual control of the driven-vehicle's turret and weapon firing, though we desired it greatly.

Damn, I want this feature so bad I can taste it. :twisted:
i would suggest that the stats of a manually driven vehicle is significantly better than an 'automated' vehicle
If skillful and intelligent maneuvering and aiming on the part of the player can noticeably reduce the number of hits he takes and increase the number he gives out, then that is all the advantage that is needed. Especially on small maps, low power games, away missions or with higher tech units.
do you have any suggestions? ideas?
3rd-person-view support, definitely. It makes driving vehicles, especially turreted ones, so much easier, because you can see your craft's dimensions relative to the obstacles and incoming ordnance around you, as well as how your turret is oriented relative to your vehicle (if only the Spring folks would consider this for their 1st-person-view-only drive mode). There's a reason why so many shooters automatically switch to 3rd person when you get in a vehicle (same thing with melee weapons in fact).
Tiberian
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Tiberian »

elio wrote: PS: we could make a new game-mode xD fps in warzone.. transport gives out units (you choose which units you want, some people are more focused on artillery or vtols etc...) and you can lead your force to victory in capture the flag or whatever ;D
that'd be awesome :D

(imagine using an 8p map for that single player capture the flag :P)
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psychopompos
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by psychopompos »

elio wrote: i would suggest that the stats of a manually driven vehicle is significantly better than an 'automated' vehicle
i strongly suggest, no.
that in combo with the player directly controlling the vehicle would be too over powering.
Thyranim
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Thyranim »

The "stats" are (indirect) automatically better than an 'automated' vehicle, because of the ability of human-thinking and switching targets etc etc etc

but the stats should not be really direct be improved!
i agree in this point with psychopompos...
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Mysteryem
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Mysteryem »

What sort of time/version do you think that the driver mode will be implemented or fully useable. It's shift D whilst in debug mode at the moment but it's hard to use.
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elio
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by elio »

i've really no idea
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whippersnapper
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by whippersnapper »

PS: we could make a new game-mode xD fps in warzone.. transport gives out units (you choose which units you want, some people are more focused on artillery or vtols etc...) and you can lead your force to victory in capture the flag or whatever ;D
More than one way to do this but you can make the transition seamless from RTS to FPS by integrating waypoint support into
PFAStar or HPA+ such that map makers would add that to their tasking design in the map making phase (your editor would have to support that as well, natch. Also - these "waypoints" should not be confused with "rallypoints" used ingame...& implementing LOD is a consideration too)..

No doubt from my experience that it is a viscerally awesome game play mechanic. :ninja:

Regards, whipper :cool:
Last edited by whippersnapper on 01 Feb 2009, 19:14, edited 1 time in total.
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Hav
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Hav »

ojapierdole...
nice work ;)
DT-170x
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by DT-170x »

I thought the playstation of warzone 2100 use this feature.

I do like the idea of this feature. :)
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by Makary »

this will be look like the planetary battle in the Space Rangers 2: Rise of the dominators?
Image
If so, I like this idea very much.
doom3r
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Re: driving mode interface

Post by doom3r »

I thought the playstation of warzone 2100 use this feature.

I do like the idea of this feature.
exactly, and about an year and a half ago i decided to ask the developers if they could put that in pc version too.
this will be look like the planetary battle in the Space Rangers 2: Rise of the dominators?
I never heard of this game, but judjing from the screenshot i would say yes
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