Artillery idea (with concept image)

SGOniell · 2013-11-16, 01:00 PM

Hey guys, been lurking for a while,. Got out of playing for a few months and I'm back, so I'm back here too. I know everyone's been talking about artillery at some point or another, but I thought I'd give it a shot. First, the idea, second, the crappy photos I edited. I don't own photoshop and had to work in paint, so I did some very simple editing of existing photos. Anyway, to the idea!

Idea: So, I fully believe we should have artillery, that it should be indirect fire only, and that it needs to deploy. My thought on deployment was that we modify the sunderer model and use it as a self-propelled artillery vehicle. The deploy animations already exist, so it'd just be a matter of modifying the geometry a little, as well as creating the necessary animations and UI for an artillery system. Having decided on the sundy as the platform, I looked at what we could use for the gun. Now, does everyone know of those big guns inside of tech plants? Well, a model already exists for those, so you'd only have to modify the geometry a little bit to fit it to a modified sunderer. Change the scale, get rid of the enormous base, and slap it on.

Photos:
Sunderer:

Tech plant Cannon:

My poorly edited combination of the two:

Yes, I realize it looks bad right now, I wasn't capable of doing something cool to the top of the sunderer to make it look better. This just gives you a general idea of what I'm thinking.

Oracen · 2013-11-17, 06:48 AM

I think you'd want the arty on another platform, or you'll hit the same balance dramas the ESF has. Slap too many features on the one class/platform and it becomes a nightmare to balance. As it is, we have a fair few issues with mass killing with no retaliation, and looking at the history of the game says that a vehicle like this will be abused. Perhaps tying those guns to tech plants/amp station ownership?

SGOniell · 2013-11-17, 10:59 AM

Are you thinking of keeping the AMS at the same time regarding the abuse? I was thinking more of stripping that entirely for the cannon, so you'd only be able to use it as artillery. Perhaps I wasn't clear enough

Feyyore · 2014-01-10, 09:10 PM

Originally Posted by Oracen

I think you'd want the arty on another platform, or you'll hit the same balance dramas the ESF has. Slap too many features on the one class/platform and it becomes a nightmare to balance. As it is, we have a fair few issues with mass killing with no retaliation, and looking at the history of the game says that a vehicle like this will be abused. Perhaps tying those guns to tech plants/amp station ownership?

In PS1 the Skyguard was it's own vehical.

AuntLou · 2013-12-16, 03:11 PM

Not the first or last time someone has brought up artillery. First problem is you can't kill what you can't render in Planetside 2. So the artillery could hit outside of the range of everything currently out there(MBTs, Libs, ESFs, Lightnings, rockets, turrets etc.). If that's the case then whats the point?

Second anything that adds "WFT how did I just die?" situations is bad for the game.

Louey

blampoet · 2013-12-17, 06:25 AM

dev's have said this isn't happening in the last AMA reddit
(they dont want any more "OHK WTF did this come from?" moments)

Otis Spunks · 2014-01-10, 02:58 AM

I made this to try and get and idea for what you were thinking, Is this it? I'm still working on it and adding in detail, however I am still a bit confused as to how this vehicle would operate? Does it use a map UI to select targets that are spotted by allies? or is it just like shooting a tank where you try and arch to your target?

Hyncharas · 2014-01-10, 03:35 AM

A much simpler solution would simply be an artillery platform empires would need to capture just like small outpost towers, with 15-second recharges between firing cycles...

If the cannon's barrel could also only target forces no less than 1KM away, it would be useful as a staging platform when attacking a nearby base; then forces would be required to defend it from enemy assault in order to keep it.

SGOniell · 2014-02-11, 06:22 PM

Originally Posted by Otis Spunks

I made this to try and get and idea for what you were thinking, Is this it? I'm still working on it and adding in detail, however I am still a bit confused as to how this vehicle would operate? Does it use a map UI to select targets that are spotted by allies? or is it just like shooting a tank where you try and arch to your target?

Wow, impressive render. That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. How it operates would have to be tested. There are a few options.

Also, apologies for the delay in response, been busy.

VaderShake · 2014-03-07, 11:41 AM

The best Arty system I have played with in an FPS is still the BF1942 spotter system ensuring cooperation and also leaving some wiggle room for enemies to move before being shelled more than once. Also friendly fire was a high price to pay for a poor shot.

I do laugh at the "WTF why did I die" issue people have with this game, it's war on a larger scale than any other games, why does it matter so much to know whether the guy in front of you killed you, a sniper, an aircraft, a tank, a friendly, a mine, a bouncing betty, road kill, etc....??? what does it really matter, your dead respawn and kill the threat...and keep going. If someone is cheating well that's different.

GNN · 2014-06-24, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by VaderShake

The best Arty system I have played with in an FPS is still the BF1942 spotter system ensuring cooperation and also leaving some wiggle room for enemies to move before being shelled more than once. Also friendly fire was a high price to pay for a poor shot.

I do laugh at the "WTF why did I die" issue people have with this game, it's war on a larger scale than any other games, why does it matter so much to know whether the guy in front of you killed you, a sniper, an aircraft, a tank, a friendly, a mine, a bouncing betty, road kill, etc....??? what does it really matter, your dead respawn and kill the threat...and keep going. If someone is cheating well that's different.

Great ideas. 0) give artillery AoE but only wounding damage so it takes 3-4 hits to kill 1) make it so artillery must be stationary to fire 2) nerf the range a bit so they arent striking from ridiculous distances 3) artillery can only see painted targets 4) let them target from an overview map so theyre really vulnerable to being snuck up on 5) have artillery make an audible noise 5 secs before it hits so people in the targeted area can scatter. 6) firing artillery assets are obvious and should show on the map.

DviddLeff · 2014-03-12, 03:48 PM

Nice concept - when it deploys I imagine it would stick that up in the air and go to town.

DviddLeff · 2014-04-26, 04:36 AM

Here is my take:

TheOneNothing · 2014-07-15, 12:33 AM

I think a better idea, rather than mobile artillery, would instead to allow the existing Artillery pieces in Tech Plants to be fired a long distance, this would help balance out a spam of artillery and keep it from being OP, as well as giving the Tech Plant even more tactical importance. Of course, if this were to happen, perhaps MBT Acquisition should be moved to Amp Stations to keep the different facilities from being too unbalanced in importance.

nurizeko · 2014-08-21, 07:05 AM

Cool ideas for artillery!

The main issue is we wouldn't know how well it fits into the game unless it was actually tried. It'd either be a perfect fit or a disaster.

I definitely think that to make up for it's range and indirect fire, it should be relatively weak (not reaping the enemy, more as a suppressant) and vulnerable.

I recall the PS1 Flail not being anything especially terrifying.