11 replies to this topic

[ImperialKnight]

I'd like to see a module that drops smoke on a large area. This will allow brawlers to charge and close in on LRMs and snipers without getting pounded all the way in and dying even before getting into brawling range.

[Kalimaster]

What about an alternative module to artillery where smoke rounds are dropped instead of blast effect?

[Hornviech]

I already suggested it but it should be Hot smoke to Dis-Dur-Tonleiter Heat sensors

[Clint Steel]

Since some smoke doesn't show up on lower graphics settings I wonder how negatively it impacts performance on weaker machines. Like the idea though, would be cool for a scout mech to drop smoke as he ran away, covering his escape a little.

[Exilyth]

Artillery in the TT could use a variety of munitions, among them smoke and flare shells: http://www.sarna.net...llery_Munitions

Flares would be good for lighting up enemies on night maps.

[Anyone00]

Yeah as others have suggested Smoke Shells: 3 barrages for 4,000 c-bills in one consumable slot (independent of the timer on other consumables).
There would still need to be a better way to communicate in pug matches.

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

This topic has been brought up quite a few times before, and as always it was something that PGI was or is looking into. But there is also the kick that adding volumetric smoke has on lower end systems, sometimes dragging the frame rates down very low, depending on the amount of smoke rendered.

But if you are looking for a method to deliver these types of rounds at distance;
- There is a specialized LRM smoke round that's targeted at a ground location and not Mech's.
- There is the Arrow IV missile system that can fire Smoke as one of it's warheads.
- There is a warhead for SRM's that fires smoke.
- And there is always 'off-board' arty that can be called for smoke.

Now for close defensive smoke,
- I'd like to see some form of rear facing pod/pods that can be equipped on the Mech's that fires a very fast smoke screen behind the Mech.
- Used for leaving an area quickly and under cover, or when being chased.
- this smoke is 'multi-spectral', meaning that thermal, TAG lasers, or targeting devices can not 'see' through it.
(sudden loss of sight lock on, missile lock, streak lock) - NARC would probably override this.
[This would be exactly like the smoke canisters that modern tanks use for close protection and obscuring a targets view for a few seconds, you could still shoot through it but your not sure if the target is still there.]
- These pods are very small and can only be mounted on the rear of Mech's, if you needed it in front of you you'd need to fire it and back through it.
- Scouts and lights would probably be the prime candidate for this device, as they most likely would be leaving spotting locations 'in a hurry', and want some form of cover from view.

Now these ideas are all nice and dandy, but we are still at the stage of game development that lowering frame rates on players machines is very costly. Where is the trade off between what we would like to see and how it actually plays in the game.
- There was a recent post by Karl which stated that PGI already has 4k model and terrain resolution graphics ready.
(we're currently only using 1k resolution.)
- If the coding can be employed for SLI and take some of the load off the CPU, we may start to see "better eye candy' within the game. Hopefully that also means that player created smoke can be looked at again.
(and not something that can just be 'turned off' for lower end machines or 'Competition play'.)

Just some idea's,
9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 20 June 2014 - 01:20 AM.

[Exilyth]

9erRed, on 20 June 2014 - 01:16 AM, said:

- I'd like to see some form of rear facing pod/pods that can be equipped on the Mech's that fires a very fast smoke screen behind the Mech.

I just remembered http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Chaff_Pod - while not giving off smoke, they cause a similar effect.

[Nikolaus117]

Smoke would me nice as a cheap module!

[9erRed]

Greetings all,

The Chaff pod is interesting, but sadly not available till 3069. (currently timeline is 3052)

- We may see some additions in detail level and eye candy if PGI adopts a similar code route that Star Citizen has with the Cryengine. Coding certain elements to be 'handed to the GPU' for display, this is not a normal task that is done as the CPU is the primary component that handles particles and items like 'smoke'. But the option is there and can fully use the Dx11 code enhancements.
- If the time is taken by the engineers, in the code, the artists and animators gain a significant and easer method to bring quite a bit more detail to the environment and gameplay. Without effecting the FPS or slowing down the CPU. (graphics card dependent)

Just some info,
9erRed

Edited by 9erRed, 28 March 2015 - 08:58 AM.

[Generic Internetter]

I like the idea, although due to technical limitations, I don't think we'll see it happen.

1. As another poster already said, lower graphics settings render smoke very poorly or not at all. This is a problem in many FPS games, and usually a controversial topic among online gaming communities - Some of them even try to brand low-graphics users as 'hackers'.

The controversy is irrelevant; The technical limitation of low-end graphics is the issue. If they force all settings to render smoke, then low-end grapics players are cut off from playing.

2. You can still see targets through smoke, using the indicators (the red triangles) and lock-on frames (the boxes around the selected taret) - Think about the caldera in Caustic Valley. So really, smoke wouldn't change that much at all unless you make smoke block targeting the same way that buildings and rocks do.

Then comes the problem: Map features are static, and line of sight is checked using a static hitbox map with raycasts and/or line-of-sight volumes. In Valve's Source engine, these hitboxes/volumes are called LeafVis (or is it VisLeaf?), and I'm sure any engine (including this engine) use the same technique.
Processing real-time dynamic line-of-sight is a nightmare of raycasts and hitboxes. If the engine isn't already set up to do this, it would require a massive re-work of the engine from the inside out.

If they did it, they cool! That would make smoke work, plus hiding behind dynamic objects (EG: Dire Wolves) would cut off line-of-sight like buildings do.

I love the idea, but I'm not holding my breath due to technical limitations. (Engine limitations... and lung limitations!)

Edited by Generic Internetter, 18 January 2016 - 11:21 AM.

[Archer Magnus]

Smoke consumable would be great.