Piloting

[JollyGreenGiant]

Those of you that have used piloting, what do you think about the idea of changing it up a bit?  Instead of "pilot north", "pilot west", etc. what if the commands were more like

pilot forward - starts the wagon moving in the direction it's currently headed.
pilot <direction> - attempts to turn the wagon to face <direction>
pilot faster - speeds the wagon up on its current course, makes it harder to change directions.
pilot slower - slows the wagon down, makes it easier to turn
pilot stop - stops the wagon entirely

Basically, once you do the "pilot forward" command, the wagon starts moving in the direction you indicate, slowly at first, automatically covering ground until it meets an obstacle (can't go any further that direction), falls, or is stopped by a pilot command.  Maybe a couple of different speeds could be indicated for the wagon, slow, normal, and fast, to give players time to react to constant changes in direction, or to just head one direction at a good clip.

Anyone like this better than the way piloting currently works?

[Larrath]

Linkdeath and lag can make this severely problematic, however I would like to have wagons face a direction and make their pilot need to turn them around - it will make ambushing wagons easier, and in a realistic way.

[Marauder Moe]

Though the current system of failure for piloting doesn't make that much sense, I don't like your proposal any better.  It'd make it much more likely someone would pilot off a the Shield Wall or into the Sea of Silt.  Not to mention the issue of someone losing link while piloting...

Sorry, I have to give a thumbs down on this one.

[ashyom]

Hiya,
I'm glad that someone's given this thought.  I think right now we'd say no to this idea because this requires that the wagon somehow keeps track of what direction it's going in.  While this is possible via code, stuff can happen that will mess it up, like crashes, for example.  

My best suggestion is to just rp it as driving forward/back/left/right.  

I think we also discussed implementing speed (much like run/walk), among other features, at some point, but right now the wagons need a revamp before that'll happen.  And they're unfortunately fairly low on the list of code priorities.
-Ashyom

[mansa]

I've played around in a mud called Hatijar, that had a pilotting system like that.  You set in motion, and then just let it run for you.

I created a pirate ship, and made a one-world square, with each exit linking back up to the same square.  And I set two ships in motion, and tried to get each one to crash into each other and sink.  It did.

But that was Hatijar.  Not Armageddon.


...


The wagon code is bugged.  At the last APM in Atlanta, we talked about a new wagon code, and what we would want with it.  But nothing's come up with that.  ...In fact, thinking of previous APMs, the one four years ago, we talked about trying to have weapons taken into affect when you're trying to subdue someone, so that it's not an automatic success once your skills are high....

[JollyGreenGiant]

Ooh.  I didn't think about the pilot going linkdead.  That would indeed be bad.  Back to the drawing board, perhaps.