Paradrops

[DCoder]

Paradrop code can be modified to be a lot more flexible, I'm just not sure what should be considered a priority - custom parachutes, drop speeds, dropping units, multiple cargo types per plane, different cargo per side/country... So I'm asking for your opinions. The Proposal of radical alteration of Paradrop code might give you some ideas. I don't even know how to focus - e.g. should parachute anims be per-unit, per-sw, or something... Don't forget that all that will require new INI flags and I shudder to think what the more creative among you will come up with. Nonetheless, opinions are requested!

[MRMIdAS]

I'd like each country to have their own customisable paradrop, (however you want to implement this is up to you)

But I'd like it like this:

[British]
ParadropUnits=E1,Snipe
ParadropNumber=5,1
PlaneNumber=1

SO, UNITS is the units dropped (be they tank or otherwise), NUMBER is how many (in order) and PLANE NUMBER is how many planes they come out of. (to increase/decrease the chance of the planes getting shot down)

[Marshall]

I suggest the following.

[NewSuperweapon]
Type=NewParadrop
Paradrop.Plane=PDPLANE
Paradrop.Units=E1,MTNK
Paradrop.Num=6,2
Paradrop.Americans.Plane=DSHP
Paradrop.Americans.Units=E1,MTNK,GHOST
Paradrop.Americans.Num=8,2,1

...and so forth for all other countries.
If "Paradrop.[Country]." is not present then it falls back to the basic "Paradrop."

To make side-specific (as opposed to country-specific) paradrops, the modder would have to enter every country but that's just tough.

This discussion also gave me an idea (which I will go and raise an Issue for now) which could be particularly useful for paradrops - SW.RequiredHouses and SW.ForbiddenHouses.

[TheMan]

I think DCoders ideas are very good and I hope to se them.

[DCoder]

Not everyone wants a single plane packed to the brim, and that goes against the original logic... I can't think of a way to enumerate multiple planes and contents short of Paradrop.Country.Plane1Units = , Paradrop.Country.Plane2Units = and so on, with Paradrop.Country.PlaneCount ... but that would be a real bitch to code and a lot of memory taken up. Though I'm pretty sure I can get rid of the two separate lists for units and counts internally, that still leaves

Code:

        countries  planes   units
Vector<   Vector<  Vector<  TechnoTypeClass*> > >

, which is rather crazy.

What about the suggestion in the issue I linked to, where you just define taskforces/teams to invoke instead of enumerating each plane, e.g. Country.Taskforces = a, b, c, d ; ? That would reduce internal storage to

Code:

       countries  teams
Vector<  Vector<  TeamTypeClass *> >

which is reasonably simpler. Though getting that to work will prove hard still...

[4StarGeneral]

I say go with teamtypes, because its the most flexible system. You could even have them chrono in (not that that's paradrop logic, but hey). So what if you have to change some existing stuff, its a far better system, granted you have to know how to work teamtypes, but its not that hard to learn to do. Also, I'd say do ParachuteAnims per unit, just incase someone wants to use a different one for vehicles and whatnot.

[~Guest~]

rami the guest writes:

could look like this
"ParaDropPlaneUnit=ADROP,SDROP,YDROP"
"ParachuteAnim=APRCHT,SPRCHT,YPRCHT"

maybe not that big customisation but shouldn´t be too hard to realise, since it makes sidespecific planes and parachutes

[Marshall]

Would it not be easier to specify ParachuteAnim= on the unit rather than the SW?

[Nikademis Von Hisson]

ok, does this mean that you can give each country their own paradrop? And if so what do you attach this to?? Or is this a thought still in process??

[mt.]

ok, does this mean that you can give each country their own paradrop? And if so what do you attach this to?? Or is this a thought still in process??

LOL. Already done I bielive, in original RP and NP, and probably implmented already.

Nonetheless, opinions are requested!

As for the custom parachutes, I've been struck by an idea:

Giving each unit a Parachute= tag, much would work much like a Weapon=

It would specify speed, direction (locomotor), image, and expireanim (when its at ground), as well as tags for effects only. Perhaps it could even have a health this way.
These would allow for a lot of customizability, as you can simply add allowed tags and logic onto it.

As for sides and superweapons, give a tag on the [country] like DefaultParachute= , and on the [superweapon] a possible override Parachute=

To simplify:

1. [General] GeneralParachute= (Normal Parachute).

2. [ONECOUNTRY] DefaultParachute= (Default for all units of that country).

3. [Unit] Parachute= (Unit specific Parachute).

4. [Superweapon or plane] OverrideParachute= (Overrides all the parachutes of the units it parachutes out).

Each one will be overrided by the one below, this is a very sensible way IMO, and allows for max customization.

[~Guest~]

I hope its ok to bump but something I thought about is The ParadropRadius= control for each different paradrop.

Another thing is maybe doing something like
ParadropPlaneUnit1=E2,E1,HTNK
ParadropPlaneNum1=4,2,3
ParadropPlaneTotal=1