Air support

Started by Christian, October 13, 2013, 05:31:51 PM

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Gazz

#15
Quote from: TynanIf there are larger arty bombardments they'll be of the heavier, low-tech, WW2-era type. That is, powerful, but so inaccurate that they basically fall on the map randomly.
Just a word on the accuracy of "merely" WW2 artillery. Something on the heavier side like 5.5" or 155mm but no extremely large calibers.

For a range of 1-8 km (which should cover the game map =) the probable error was some 0.5 - 1.0 % of the range.
So with an FO (forward observer) and at 2000m you could hit a target +/- 10 or 20 meters.
With a 155mm shell, that is very close.

That's not "falling on the map randomly". =)

Of course, that doesn't cover errors like a certain artillery officer calculating my route march in basic training... and being 5 km off. Oh well. Marching builds character I hear.


Quote from: TynanIndeed. And it solves one of the pseudo-degenerate strategies I've seen: turtling behind a wall of turrets. This is less attractive if they can mortar you. This could be even more interesting if the mortar emits shot-blocking smoke, EMP bursts, poison or tear gas, glue spray, and so on.
The turtling player will have mortars too. Lots. That only leads to WW1 trench warfare and attrition.
The one with the better fortress wins and we know who that will be...


Quote from: TynanCould also have interesting interactions with an ammo system. Mortars fire infrequently enough that it's feasible for players to count and manage individual shells.
That only adds micromanagement. That's a chore in my book. Not interesting.

A much more interesting interaction there would be forward observers!
Blind shelling is inaccurate. Can be embellished to make sense ingame.

Forward observers add a very important balancing element there... a vulnerability.
You have to get a guy within visual range without getting killed and/or detected. That might prove tricky but more importantly - it can keep artillery from being a first order optimal strategy because artillery isn't the only unit you need.
If you turtle, you are dead meat if the enemy gets an FO in range and starts a walking barrage.

Without a fog of war system that might be tricky but not impossible.
There could just be 2 separate ways of ordering a fire mission.
  • Order the mortar unit to hit a target.
    Very inaccurate.
  • Order the FO to "attack" a target with his artillery targeting computer "weapon".
    Much more accurate but highly dependent on the range between FO and target.
    Like... you're moving a target circle around the map and it grows with distance. Quickly. Sometimes you won't find good cover close enough... so it may end up a sucky day in a FO's life.
With sight range being longer than (regular) weapon range, you'd have to use mobile units to do something about it.
Your own unguided artillery fire wouldn't be a great help.

British

Interesting details, but RimWorld is *not* a simulator, so don't expect too much in terms of real-like likeness.
Anything integrated to the game is to support the story and has a fun gameplay (or at least not an exaggerated one).

Spike

Personally, I think combat as it is now seems like a good model.  Unless the backstory is changed, keep in mind that these are crashed starship passengers being hit by the occasional raider.  You're not going to get a full merc unit dropping in with tanks and arty to take out a handful of shipwreck victims scrabbling to survive.  Nor for that matter should those shipwrecked folks be able to pop up turrets like they do now...

I could see some tweaking - make turrets harder to get or build, for example, to tone down the turret turtle defense.  But then the raiders should be cut back so you don't have increasing numbers with every attack.  Fix the "problem" by tuning the game, and tying in other areas that aren't developed yet, like Research and any kind of manufacturing system, not by adding unnecessary complexity.

While I understand that there will be changes from now to release, I chose to back a survival/colony building game, not a wargame.  That kind of chage should, imo, be a later mod or separate game using the base engine.