Soft collision for friendlies

[Xyntech]

I'm not sure how hard or resource intensive it would be, but I would like to see something that's a decent cross between the real life idea of inching your way through a crowd of friendlies and the in game compromise of clipping through them. Something even slightly more realistic seeming than TF2.

I imagine a one dimensional line running down the middle of a player model, where it is extremely hard to pass. From that center point, it get's gradually easier to pass by them, so that when you try to run into a friendly, you sort of slide around them more than walking right through them. The further you are from each others centers, the faster you move through them.

Passing through a thick crowd would still be possible, but it would be a lot harder the tighter they are clustered, but never impossible. You could also never stop moving while clipped inside a friendly, because as long as you are standing still, you would get pushed outside of their area. Obviously that pushing radius should be small, so your arm or gun or part of your foot may still be clipping into them, but no torso clipping, so you can't just have a ton of guys all sharing the same tiny spot.

[acosmo]

i dunno about you guys but i do NOT want soft collision. imagine being an anchored max going at full auto and some noob clips through you into your bullets and gives you a tk?

solid collisions reinforce a sense of teamwork and give reasons to organize units tactically in CQC situations.

[Erikson]

Originally Posted by acosmo

i dunno about you guys but i do NOT want soft collision. imagine being an anchored max going at full auto and some noob clips through you into your bullets and gives you a tk?

solid collisions reinforce a sense of teamwork and give reasons to organize units tactically in CQC situations.

That's a very good point. This can be mostly avoided depending on the amount of force applied to the soft collision. The amount of force should be a function of how close the players' centers are to each other while passing through, and direction of motion. So you are always deflected out of each other's line of fire.

Another concern is who gets bumped. I would find it annoying to be jostled around while trying to aim. Though it's somewhat realistic for this distraction to occur. It should go without saying that a planted MAX shouldn't move.

Also, no clipping through enemies. Period.

[GTGD]

Bad idea, and here's why:

Fire deci round at a MAX, infantry steps through MAX to take the shot, retreats as you get obliterated.

OR

Shooting bullets at infantry, MAX steps through to block, infantry comes back through to kill you.

I think the inconvenience of people blocking you isn't too big of a deal compared to this kind of balance. Sorry guys, you can't all wallhump a corner at the same time. Deal with it. Also, it makes the game feel weird when things aren't solid.

[Bitmap]

Explain why you think a MAX stepping up to take a bullet meant for his softie teammate (or vice versa) to be a bad thing. I think that would be a valid and realistic tactic not to mention promoting teamwork in mixed squads.

[Shogun]

the tactic is valid, but not if the max steps THROUGH the teammate to catch the bullet. that seems like exploiting and not like tactics

[Khellendros]

Originally Posted by Shogun

the tactic is valid, but not if the max steps THROUGH the teammate to catch the bullet. that seems like exploiting and not like tactics

well, if it's implemented like Xyntech said, where players aren't clipping through one another, but rather sliding past, that should be less of an issue. The two players should always be pushed away from one another while sliding past, kind of like how you and another person move to the sides of a narrow hallway to squeeze past. The splash from the deci should still hit the max.

They could also make it so that soft collision does not block aoe attacks, so decis and grenades still damage a crowd.

[Bitmap]

That sounds reasonable. A "squeeze past" mechanic is really all that's needed and shouldn't pose a problem exploit-wise.

I agree that AOE damage like a grenade should still hit the group in that case but bullet hits would depend of who's the first one in it's path (unless they make penetration rounds or somesuch)

[Justaman]

Originally Posted by Bitmap

This sounds like a good idea.

As far as a stacking exploit goes, soft colision of the type I'm talking about would cause the stacked soldiers to repel each other somewhat. It would be like trying to keep like poles of a magnet near each other in this respect, making it very hard if not impossible to pull off for any length of time.

With respect to vehicles, hard collision will likely be neccessary to prevent other issues (not being able to enter a vehicle due to a smaller model being inside a larger one, etc)

Ahh, that sounds perfect. Also, having enough of the slow effect (maybe even make players point their guns strait up as if facing a wall) will deter players, because of their suddenly, new found, weakness to explosive things thrown in your direction. XD

[Marth Koopa]

I do not want this garbage in PlanetSide 2. It makes the game feel too casual

[deltase]

It reminds me of TF2, in which you couldn't stuck your team mates. It sounds really good and i'd like it to be implemented.

[Justaman]

Originally Posted by Marth Koopa

I do not want this garbage in PlanetSide 2. It makes the game feel too casual

How does this make it "casual"? Please enlighten me. Explain how you came to this conclusion.

Me thinks you just enjoy the concept of being able to block the path of team mates.

In real life, having 4 guys stand shoulder to shoulder in a hallway will only ever stop you from getting past them if they actually try and push you away (such as an enemy would). You can still slip past their shoulders if they let you (such as an ally would), plenty of room.

Realism means casual.

[Xyntech]

I certainly don't want to see anyone coming through another players chest. Temporarily seeing someones arm sticking through someone else as they slide past wouldn't bother me nearly as much though.

The player who has most recently moved should always be the one who gets pushed away as well, or both get pushed equally if they were both moving when they partially clipped into each other.

Maybe things like locked down TR MAXes could have an increased radius and impact, where you could still squeeze through a row of them, but only right in between the middle of them, and that you moved agonizingly slowly while inching past them.

Originally Posted by Justaman

In real life, having 4 guys stand shoulder to shoulder in a hallway will only ever stop you from getting past them if they actually try and push you away (such as an enemy would). You can still slip past their shoulders if they let you (such as an ally would), plenty of room.

Obviously an advanced system could actually show your character pushing their way through, but we're not even getting vehicle animations, so I think the resources are better spent elsewhere for now.

As long as the system does a good job of mimicking the advantages and disadvantages of slipping through a friendly crowd, I think it will be good enough.

Clipping straight through someone is just a terrible, cheap ass solution, especially in a game like this. I'd probably take impassable friendlies over unchecked clipping through allies.

[Marth Koopa]

Originally Posted by Justaman

Me thinks you just enjoy the concept of being able to block the path of team mates.

I dislike the idea of being able to walk through people as if they're ghosts. It ruins the immersion.

How about this situation:

Someone is shooting at an enemy, they backpedal and walk through you. Now they're shooting you in the head and now you're dead.

GG soft collision.

[SKYeXile]

Originally Posted by Marth Koopa

I dislike the idea of being able to walk through people as if they're ghosts. It ruins the immersion.

How about this situation:

Someone is shooting at an enemy, they backpedal and walk through you. Now they're shooting you in the head and now you're dead.

GG soft collision.

you deserve to die then for not getting out of the way of somebody retreating.

you're one of those guys who stands in a tower doorway and keeps trying to run into the splatmax fire as people try to escape it arnt you? blocking everybody inside.