Tankers, here is a taste of what the future may* hold

[8thJinx]

Big asterisk:  This still needs to get approved by the big guy, so it might not happen.  But, this IS being worked on, and the folks in the office have been gracious and have been providing me with guidance.

[JunkyII]

could you put that on some actual terain then post what it looks like? I think Hitech might worry it looks bad graphically against the terrain....very unnatural but I like where your head is at...they got rid of berms before in the past but ended up re adding them, not sure why they have left again other then they eat up peoples systems.

[Dundee]

could you put that on some actual terain then post what it looks like? I think Hitech might worry it looks bad graphically against the terrain....very unnatural but I like where your head is at...they got rid of berms before in the past but ended up re adding them, not sure why they have left again other then they eat up peoples systems.

I can think of one reason they took them out.....

[8thJinx]

It does look unnatural in the Object Editor grid.  But in a terrain, it takes the color of the terrain.  I'm working on one bug, and when I get it fixed I'll post an image of it on the terrain with my tank behind it.

There is a limit to the number of objects you can place in a terrain.  I think it's 30,000 or 40,000.  I think that count includes bridges, bases, towns, roads, etc.  So they can't be put everywhere.  And this will be tested like crazy before it gets anywhere near a terrain.  And again, there's no guarantee it gets approved.  But, I put 40 of these in a terrain in a valley, and my frame rate didn't go down as a I flew through it.  So I have a little bit of hope.

 

[TDeacon]

What is it?  Is this an attempt to recreate the "berms" which were in AH2? 

If so, I guess that is a plus, but even better would be the ability to use hull-down / turret-down tactics on hills, which is largely absent in the AH3 the terrain I've seen so far.  It has something to do with most of the AH3 hills being so gradual, while AH2 terrain had more "edges" to the terrain.  For hull-down tactics, you need to be able to change exposure with a very short forward / reverse movement, rather than a 1000 yard forward / reverse movement.  Real-world terrain and hills do allow this. 

MH

[8thJinx]

If so, I guess that is a plus, but even better would be the ability to use hull-down / turret-down tactics on hills, which is largely absent in the AH3 the terrain I've seen so far. 
MH

To be fair, hull-down is a post WW2 thing, but I already tested it in the TE for AH3 and it works great for M-18's and Panthers.  It's simply a matter of building that detail into the land.  Not difficult at all, and can be done without a special shape like a berm.

Best way to do it is import a terrain into L3DT, build a spikey peak into your spawn area or at the edge of the spawn, and use the avalanche tool to create the sharp lumps.  Then bring that back into the TE and do a little smoothing.  You end up with really low hills 200-600 yards wide.  Add some of the sparse tree terrain textures, and a flat plain in front of it, and it's fantastic tanking territory.   

[TDeacon]

To be fair, hull-down is a post WW2 thing, but I already tested it in the TE for AH3 and it works great for M-18's and Panthers.  It's simply a matter of building that detail into the land.  Not difficult at all, and can be done without a special shape like a berm.

Best way to do it is import a terrain into L3DT, build a spikey peak into your spawn area or at the edge of the spawn, and use the avalanche tool to create the sharp lumps.  Then bring that back into the TE and do a little smoothing.  You end up with really low hills 200-600 yards wide.  Add some of the sparse tree terrain textures, and a flat plain in front of it, and it's fantastic tanking territory.

Don't forget if the "sharp lump" is too sharp, the gun depression will be insufficient. 

[Mano]

good work

 

[8thJinx]

This is the rolling hill thing I was talking about.

[bustr]

If you make all of your towns easily dominated by tanks, you will recreate the problems perceived or real that buzzsaw has for your air combat "customers". There is a mental bias period you go through building terrains if you are either pro GV, pro air combat, or don't want your fields stolen behind you by teams of greifers avoiding combat. Terrains are a grand compromise for all of Hitech's paying customers. 

[captain1ma]

after you get it the way you like it, give it to me and ill add it to a couple of my terrains for the AVA. We can test drive them, for tank nights!!
....which by the way is tonight at 8pm EST

[Lusche]

after you get it the way you like it, give it to me and ill add it to a couple of my terrains for the AVA. We can test drive them, for tank nights!!
....which by the way is tonight at 8pm EST

Shameless plug!     

[captain1ma]

absolutely!!! 

[8thJinx]

after you get it the way you like it, give it to me and ill add it to a couple of my terrains for the AVA. We can test drive them, for tank nights!!
....which by the way is tonight at 8pm EST

Will do!

[JunkyII]

I can think of one reason they took them out.....

Why? Because I was one of the first posts to get berms back in AH2...