A few suggestions Options

[Bittah Commander]

Here's just a few requests/suggestions...

• A superweapons allowed multiplayer option (checkbox).
• A superweapon launch anim.
• Air strikes (possibly you could adapt the Hunter Seeker's logic for this).
• EMPulseSparkles= moved from [AudioVisual] to the (EMP) weapon or warhead (this way the visual effect an EMP weapon has on a vehicle can differ per weapon).
• Sticky anims (warhead animations that stick to units, just like the EMP sparkles). It might be useful to know that when you add Next= to EMP_FX01 (the default EMP sparkle anim), the animation specified after Next= will stick to the unit when it moves.
• the Shockwave from Ion Cannon to be made optional (so it can either be disabled for the Ion Cannon or be assigned to other weapons).
• Dogfights
• The possiblity for units to pick multiple (possibly have a definable limit) firepower or armor power-ups, just like in Sole Survivor (it's already possible with speed upgrades I believe). Currently when a unit that already picked up a firepower upgrade or armor upgrade picks up another crate which is supposed to contain a firepower or armor upgrade, it'll be a money crate instead (even if money crates are turned off).
• ROF power-ups (also like in Sole Survivor).
• The option for stealth crates to be temporary (so units that pick up a stealth crate will uncloak again after a certain amount of time). If reversing the effects of a stealth crate is not possible, maybe have a stealth crate attach an invisible sticky anim to the unit which after a certain amount of time (set via a number of invisible frames and framerate) jumps to another invisible sticky anim with 1 frame (via Next=) which deals 1 damage point, then jumps to another invisible sticky anim with 1 frame which heals 1 damage point and constantly keeps looping these 2 single frame anims.
  I believe animations can't heal units however, which brings me to my next point...
• Animations that can heal units (like weapons or particle systems can).
• The ability to select a target for a hunter seeker (like you would do with any other super weapon). This would for example allow modders to modify the hunter seeker into a missile which can be shot down for (or just a plain hunter seeker which attacks the target you want it to attack). I'd suggest the possibility for normal missiles to be shot down... But I doubt there's even a point in bothering

[Bittah Commander]

Well, here's another suggestion...

Move SmallVisceroid= from [General] to InfantryClass so the unit the infantry will turn into when it dies on tiberium can be definable per infantry. Possibly even add a flag like Next= or Zombie= or even DiesInto= (first 2 make more sense though IMO) to define what the infantry will turn into when it dies of anything other than tiberium.
In addition to that, a flag like VehicleClass.MergesInto would also be useful, so you can specify what any specific unit can merge into (if anything) and possibly even add a VehicleClass.SplitsInto flag.

The way I imagine this'd work is that after a certain interval (the interval would be definable by SplitsAfter=X seconds) after the creation of the unit, the unit will split into 2 other units (or it will just turn into 2 of itself if it has itself specified after SplitsInto=). Possibly (although not necessarily) this could also be forced (if it's player controllable that is) by deploying it, but the idea is really that if for example an certain infantry dies on tiberium or normally, it could turn into a unit (this unit is simply be created by the AI or a player or have been placed on the map in advance or have been sent in as a reinforcement in singleplayer) which divides itself into 2 other units after a little while. If it has itself specified after SplitsInto=, it'll just multiply into 2 of itself and those 2 also multiply into 2 after a while, etc. etc. So after a while the map will be crawling with them and the player quickly has to destroy them before they overrun him.

[Machine]

Actually I would love the tag "DiesInto=", as I wanted to have something like that for Nod's Cyborg Commando. Which is, currently, a vehicle in RoO, and would spawn a second stage in the form of an infantry (and a third when badly damaged).
IMO it's a great tag, if you want to do RPG like boss battles. Though it would be better, if you could make a tag "Crew=", accept any type of unit, infantry, vehicles, aircraft, buildings (you could replicate reckoners that way), and also work for every type of unit. And a crew escape percentage tag, which would accomplishes basically the same.

[Lin Kuei Ominae]

How about the keys

UnitType.YellowSpeedPenalty=[Float]
UnitType.RedSpeedPenalty=[Float]
Used to reduce the speed of a unit by this factor when in yellow/red health state (0.x means decrease; 1.x means increase)
UnitType.YellowROTPenalty=[Float]
UnitType.RedROTPenalty=[Float]
Used to reduce the rate of turn of a unit by this factor when in yellow/red health state
UnitType.YellowROFPenalty=[Float]
UnitType.RedROFPenalty=[Float]
Used to reduce the rate of fire of a unit by this factor when in yellow/red health state

UnitType.YellowAccuracyPenalty=[Float]
UnitType.RedAccuracyPenalty=[Float]
Used to raise the inaccuracy of a unit by this factor when in yellow/red health state (measured in cells like BallisticScatter)
Accurate units become inaccurate this way too.

UnitType.OperationalLevel=0-100%
Used to disable aircraft to take off at a certain health percentage or disable units to deploy or to fire their weapons
An aircraft which is shot into this level during flight will search for the next free cell and land there. (maybe even add a lurching effect to its movement)
Instead you could also try to use the aircraft crashing feature, so that an aircraft which is shot into this level will start the crashing anim, but right before it impacts it tests if the impact-cell is free. If it's free it stops the crashing and lands there instead.

This post has been edited by Lin Kuei Ominae: Aug 14 2009, 08:15 PM