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Author Topic: trajectory  (Read 3396 times)

valcon

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trajectory
« on: March 14, 2008, 05:29:00 am »
I recently fired off my first catapult round and noticed that my catapult fired in a distinctly un-catapult-like way.  If anything, it's more like a rock-gun.  The catapult fires the rock out on a flat plane, never leaving the original z-level, the height remaining exactly the same.  While this is convenient for watching the shot, one can assume that a z level is not terribly high (what, 10, 15 feet?) the catapult isn't exactly flinging the stone so much as shooting it straight out.

The same could be said of arrows shot from bows (certainly not crossbows), but I'm not sure if this is intentional or just that the semi-recent advent of the  3d system hasn't been expanded onto projectile weapons much further than shooting in a straight line.

Are there any plans to allow catapults to fire in an arch?

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Footkerchief

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Re: trajectory
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2008, 05:56:00 am »
Yeah, projectiles haven't gotten a 3D overhaul yet.  There's all kinds of wacky behavior when firing from one z-level to another, like ammunition that's supposed to be destroyed on impact falling to the ground intact.
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valcon

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Re: trajectory
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2008, 12:54:00 pm »
Aye, I'd kinda figured, just wasn't sure how accepted the "rock gun" catapult was generally ... I kinda like it :P  I just imagine it as a ballista that fires really big round bolts with no tips!
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numerobis

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Re: trajectory
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2008, 04:04:00 pm »
quote:
Originally posted by valcon:
<STRONG>The same could be said of arrows shot from bows (certainly not crossbows)</STRONG>

Bows and crossbows can shoot in straight lines in 3-space; catapults and ballistae shoot in straight lines in the plane.  The latter is on the todo list to fix.  It wouldn't be hard to get parabolic trajectories, either.

And then there's the weird behaviour of ammo.

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toast

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Re: trajectory
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2008, 02:17:00 pm »
it certainly is odd, but keep in mind that it was common strategy to fire cannons low to the ground, to make the cannon ball skip along the surface of the ground, to take out as many soldiers as possible. Back then, they were all lined up just like the goblins.

Of course, those were cannons, not catapults. Still though.

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