Naval combat

[Mechanical Man]

In a project I'm currently making, I though that after all land based missions, I could do also some on the sea. But I would like to offer something more interesting, not that just plain sea where all you do is mass ships. Naval combat in games is quite boring part of the most RTS out there, so there is no wonder many RTS games ditch this feature. As land combat already features some changes comparing to standard warcraft, I would like to hear some ideas what should I do with naval combat to make it more enjoyable. I wouldn't like to make too complex systems which take ages to debug and incompatible with AI. So far I have some thoughts of boarding (however not displaying units fighting) and slower ship turning. Anyone else have nice ideas?

 

[Just_Spectating]

you could make the ships Really big with actual units on deck, which you control

or just as a battle feature.

 

[Mechanical Man]

hm, but I don't think is possible to make a unit which moves to be walkable.

 

[Bloodlust__]

you could always make the area on the ship a seperate area and just store the units there or something like that

 

[Gyrosphinx]

cannons firing from where the cannons actually are on the ships

 

[Just_Spectating]

elevators can move

 

[Mechanical Man]

cannons firing from where the cannons actually are on the ships

There won't be cannon ships (at least not planned yet). Also that would require custom models with limited usefulness

elevators can move

Aren't they doodads?



I was also thinking about making sea more "rich", so it won't be just water water, but maybe some "traps" and non sailable waters.

 

[Just_Spectating]

you can have a whirlpool with a Lowered Cyclone

 

[Gyrosphinx]

There won't be cannon ships (at least not planned yet). Also that would require custom models with limited usefulness

Then change them for ballistas

 

[Mechanical Man]

Thats the same as carrying troops, I already explained that problem.

 

[BlinkBoy]

the big problem of Navy AI is making the units land at a correct location to attack. Wc3 lacks pathing functions. I made a pathing system which saves in 8 arrays the map's path, perhaps you could use it. Also talk with Strategy Master from WC3C about this, he is the one who made the biggest progress in navy AI.

 

[Trillium]

What 'bout making sea currents? they'll make ships move slower/faster, maybe even affect turn rate. also, ships won't be able to stand in one point.
If your ships are goinna be able to fire missiles (of any kind), then you can make it so ships fire only from sides and only in straight lines, so it will be vital to adjust your ship's position, keeping in mind the currents.
Also, the ship's speed, reaction to orders, life regeneration (limited - like repairing right away, in combat) can depend on amount of crew left. Enemy attacks can destroy crew (crew=mana)
Some ships may also have Ram ability (like charge). this should depend on currents too...

Well, maybe to complex, but thats my 2 cent =))

 

[Mechanical Man]

Instead of sea current I thought more about wind affecting speed, although about ships not standing nothing to do about, because all ships have anchors. I thought about storms, which slows and damage your ship. Of course some combat will occur in shallow water, which means a lot reefs where your ship can be trapped. My main goal is to make them more realistic, ships are much more massive, harder to kill and more cumbersome to maneuver.

The scenario will be also about land combat, although I will focus mostly on naval combat to make more variation in our campaign series. This means it must be somehow compatible with land combat, which includes transportations etc, however the ships will be much more powerful than land units.