cargo trucks

[davidlallen]

This thread is mostly to get feedback about a new unit type, but it is also a new unit request.

Jabie has suggested finding unique items in the ruins, which would give a culture or happiness benefit. Jabie and several others have suggested that the missile silo should give other units besides ICBMs. I have an idea to address both of these, even though they don't appear related.

For unique items, I have described a little bit in this post.

For silo units, the vanilla game contains guided missiles and tacnukes. I have set it up so that the silo generates 2/3 guided missiles (no fallout!), 1/6 tacnukes and 1/6 ICBM. This causes a small problem which the game automatically fixes, but it offers an interesting opportunity. Guided missiles and tacnukes must be based in a city. Normally you build them in a city so this does not matter. At the end of each turn, the game apparently does a validity check and moves my newly created missiles to the nearest city. There is also a rebase button to move the missiles to another city, say one which is near to your combat border.

Why should you get to move the missile for free ?? I ask myself. Wouldn't it be nice if you had to move it in a defenseless truck, and somebody could capture it?

Both the rebasing idea and the unique item idea rely on a new unit, the Cargo Truck. When you rebase a missile, or find a unique item, it generates a cargo truck. Then you convoy the truck where you want it to go and use a new action button similar to the "resettle" button for refugees. The cargo truck is destroyed, and the missile is rebased (or the unique item is put into a shrine).

I have coded the part where the trucks appear for the unique items. I can easily code resettling these trucks. I have not looked into the rebasing code, maybe I will be able to get that to work or maybe not.

My cargo trucks are pretty lame. There is an old unit for a WWII truck called the ZIS-5B which I dug out of one of the WWII mods, I forget which one. I stuck a skin on top to create the five varieties of trucks. Here is a picture showing the truck holding a happiness-generating artifact and the truck holding a cruise missiile.

Regarding art, we have a really cool tanker with engine. For the guided missile, I can easily imagine taking the guided missile model, lying it on its side and putting two wheels on it, and then replacing the tank part of the fuel truck with that. Same thing for the tacnuke. But I am not sure what the other trucks could look like, for happiness, culture, and food.

Any feedback on the proposed gameplay?
Any thoughts on what the other trucks should look like?
Any thoughts on what the shrines should look like?

 

[Refar]

I like the idea of relics.

I am not sure with those missile trucks. In my one game most of the depots, silos were safe - either because being deep enought in my land, or because i guarded them. I also sent unguarded Fuel Trucks per goto all the time, and did not lost a single one.

So if the risk actually loosing a missile in transit is very low, the net gain of the feature would be increased micromanagement.

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Perhaps giving the silos fort property, so the missiles can stay there, and freese the missiole for - say 3 turns - would be a solution - in a silo near boarder it might get caught in that time - if the silo is unguarded of course.

 

[Refar]

PS.: Another idea - i had it playing my game and it is relevant here, as it would increase the danger of transit loss...

I was thinking about limiting the cultural expansion of a city to the BFC (2 Rings).

The rationale behind this is: Postapocalyptic survivors surely have more pressing needs than culture, and it is hard to secure long boarders, so it is more likely there will be "islands" of safety in the wastelands, rather than really coherent territories...

It would also force for even more carefull settling - as ressources outside the BFC not only could not be worked, but also could not be connected...

And in the conjunction with the subject at hand - gaps in the own territory coudl increas the danger of transit loses.

 

[davidlallen]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't think a fort property would help; the cruise missile and tacnuke only have a range of four. So you have to rebase them to use them offensively. In your game that you posted, you did have a mostly connected territory. In my games I usually raze smaller enemy cities and only keep the big ones. So I usually have mostly disconnected territory. That's because I never build up much economy first, so I can't afford many cities. I think moving the missiles up to the front lines would be a "fun" risk.

Before investing in unit art for the missile trucks, let me get the gameplay working. If it isn't fun, I'll throw it away.

 

[Refar]

I am thinking of more or less the same art for misslie trucks and those relics trucks at first - a open platform truck - then we can put what ever prop we might want to transport on it, or cover the platform with something, if we dont have any idea, what to transport.

If we keep the idea of those land moving missiles, i might do a scud or something like this later - have some it on my wishlist for a while now, and even a few half done meshes, but allways kept it on backburner.

 

[davidlallen]

I am thinking of more or less the same art for misslie trucks and those relics trucks at first - a open platform truck - then we can put what ever prop we might want to transport on it, or cover the platform with something, if we dont have any idea, what to transport.

That is similar to what I was thinking. The ZIS-5B truck looks like it could be modified to turn into a platform. In case you want to look, and you don't see it among any WWII mods you have, I put a zipfile at this link.

 

[Refar]

I presume we could make this one platform... The question is more, do we want too ? It looks too old even to pass as Fallout-Retro-Style.

I have a Russian Ural Military Truck somewhere or i could produce the American counterpart of it (M-some number - don't rmember) if you prefer.

 

[davidlallen]

I presume we could make this one platform... The question is more, do we want too ? It looks too old even to pass as Fallout-Retro-Style.

I have a Russian Ural Military Truck somewhere or i could produce the American counterpart of it (M-some number - don't rmember) if you prefer.

I suggested the ZIS because it is easy, not because I particularly like it. Anything you prefer will be better as a platform. I still don't know quite what to put on it. Also I don't want to introduce too many projects, we still have the cavalry guy "out there". The cataphract just looks silly.

 

[Refar]

You could try using Persian Immortal instead of Cataphract - he wields a spear as well, his clothes are more or less timeless - desert nomad look. The headdress could be different, but i think definitely fits better than Cataphract. You can also use the brown texture from my horse on him, or the texture from any other horse in the game, if you don't like his horses color.

I will also most likely base the survivor horseman upon him, but can't promise to have it done in time for 0.6

Spoiler :

 

[davidlallen]

You could try using Persian Immortal instead of Cataphract

That is definitely less silly, thanks.