Should pilots exist in the game

[stevenjackson]

I've seen some mention of pilots as a new personel type.

Is this a serious consideration or idle fancy?  I'm curious to see what people's views are.

Steve

[Winter]

It has been part of our design plan almost since the beginning. Until recently we didn't have the models, but now we do, so the only thing holding us back is the lack of code for pilots to influence aircraft stats.

And for them to replace medics in the interface.

Regards,
Winter

[Darkpriest667]

yes pilots should exist....

the #1 complaint of any air force or navy officer when they lose an aircraft is the cost and time it takes to train a pilot.. and not necessarily good ones... good pilots are even harder and more expensive (more training less men(women) capable of doing the job that well)


Replacing the equipment is the easy part.

[stevenjackson]

Winter

Is there any documentation on what kind of influence is intended for pilots on aircraft?

I have just modified the code to remove medics from the game as per the discussion on the forum and was wondering what to do with the medic employee type.

Steve

[Winter]

Winter

Is there any documentation on what kind of influence is intended for pilots on aircraft?

I have just modified the code to remove medics from the game as per the discussion on the forum and was wondering what to do with the medic employee type.

Steve

By all means, replace medics with pilots! I would be extremely happy if you did. I don't believe there's anything specific written up yet, but I'll be glad to provide you with any information you need.

Pilots' individual skills should reflect and influence most aircraft stats (Speed, Manoeuvre, Range, Targeting, ECM) on any aircraft to which they're assigned. Rookie pilots shouldn't make a vast difference in how an aircraft performs, but elite pilots certainly should. Another, possibly hidden stat would be Survivability, which governs the chance of a pilot living through being shot down. We already have some research topics drawn up for new equipment and aircraft upgrades to improve Survivability.

I'm not sure whether or not we should display hard stats on pilots' effectiveness on modifying aircraft. However, given that their influence might be a little subtle at fist, I wouldn't object to displaying hard stat bonuses on the aircraft.

Regards,
Winter

[BTAxis]

Mind you, a lot of the stuff you mentioned isn't actually implemented yet.

Also, how about a simple in-game representation, like a 0-100 bar? The pilot would effectively have one "skill" that would affect all the things you said (possibly even negatively, if below a certain value). Since pilots aren't the focus of the game, I think that would be appropriate. They shouldn't be as complex as soldiers.

[Winter]

Mind you, a lot of the stuff you mentioned isn't actually implemented yet.

Also, how about a simple in-game representation, like a 0-100 bar? The pilot would effectively have one "skill" that would affect all the things you said (possibly even negatively, if below a certain value). Since pilots aren't the focus of the game, I think that would be appropriate. They shouldn't be as complex as soldiers.

They should have fewer skills, I agree, but making it one bar would make it pretty pointless. You wouldn't be able to optimise layouts for particular pilot and aircraft combinations, etc. etc. That kills a fair chunk of the gameplay for pilots.

Regards,
Winter

[BTAxis]

In my opinion the pilots are too minor a game element to warrant such in-depth micromanagement. It would be enough to have just one skill - which would, of course improve with served time and survived engagements. That way it becomes a matter of which craft you put your veteran pilots in and which ones you man with rookies. A simple choice, but just about right for this part of the game.

[Winter]

In my opinion the pilots are too minor a game element to warrant such in-depth micromanagement. It would be enough to have just one skill - which would, of course improve with served time and survived engagements. That way it becomes a matter of which craft you put your veteran pilots in and which ones you man with rookies. A simple choice, but just about right for this part of the game.

I couldn't disagree with you more, but we'll have to discuss it tomorrow. I'm off to bed now!

Regards,
Winter

[TrashMan]

Hmmm...a pilot could have the following skills:

EVASION (increased missile defense)
DOGFIGHTING (influences close-range combat performance)
SURVIVAL or CRASHLANDING(chance to survive crash, increases the number of components you can salvage when the craft goes down)

[stevenjackson]

Often pilots are only certified to fly certain types of aircraft dependng on their training.

Maybe there could be some way to incorporate this without being too anoying for the player.

Steve

[BTAxis]

I think that's impossible. It certainly is if the player is me.

[stevenjackson]

To start with i think we would need to add the mechanics of hiring a pilot and getting them on and off aircraft before adding any modifiers.

This may require new screens and such.

Also we probably want to require an aircraft have a pilot before it takes off.

Btaxis found the pilots models, i just need to get it into a md2 format to be used.

Steve

[stevenjackson]

We also need someone to create a new rank image for pilots.
At the moment i'm still using the medics image.

Steve

[stevenjackson]

Another issue is how to assign the pilot to the aircraft.
The easiest way seems to be to reuse the "assign soldier" functionality, but this seems overly cumbersome since we will be only assigning one pilot per aircraft.

So what do people think, whats the best way to assign the pilots?
I'm not very good at the UI stuff in c.  So if someone is able to design such functionality i can make it work in the code.

Steve