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Help w/ Unit Attack involving Projs and Proj. Groups

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:42 am
by Rama
Looking for some help with a unit attack. I'm trying to make a unit that has an area-of-effect dmg attack with the unit being the epicenter of the attack. The idea is for the unit to propel projectiles in all directions in the event it is surrounded, sort of like when the cannon ball explodes on Landing At Whitefalls.

Current sequence of the attack:

1. Projectile
initiates attack, is promoted to a PG

2. Projectile Group
initiates a Projectile, causes mesh effect

3. Projectile
causes area of effect dmg, "Immediately Detonates" flag checked, Detonation tags as follows:
Detonation
Tag: Projectile Group (cannon pieces for example)
Normal Freq: 1.000
Media Freq: 1.000
Velocity: 0.200 (velocity has been tried from 2.000 to 0.200 with no effect)

With current setup I get my mesh effect and area-of-effect dmg, but any projectiles that are supposed to appear in last sequence simply fall straight to the ground in a heap at unit's feet, instead of spraying outward like shrapnel.

I've tried several approaches, but can't seem to get this to work. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 5:24 am
by lank
in the damage sub-dialogue window, what are the properties? it should not have "instantaneous" checked, velocity/speed should be nonzero and damage to velocity should be nonzero.

hope that helps.

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:08 am
by Zeph
look at how the wight special attack is made and duplicate the tags. Then link it back up together, change the names and the effects/damages

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 3:32 pm
by Gleep
If the initial proj has no velocity then I don't think the projectile group will either. The wight prob has a random range in the proj group to cause the spread.

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 4:56 pm
by haravikk
Projectile Groups have no effect on projectile speed, the only projectile position setting they have is Z position, aligning them at different heights at the group's centre. The key things to check (in your projectile) are:
  • Velocity - may need to be quite high depending on the shrapnel you are using, cannon balls are 2.0 for direct line movement, for arcing 'pieces' a lower velocity such as 0.6 is good
  • Class - this should be Explosive Object
  • Damage
    • Instantaneous - should be off, as lank notes this can stop it working, it isn't that useful anyway
    • Damage to velocity - should be set, this will depend on:
    • Rate of expansion - if this is fairly low high, then damage to velocity may only be applied once, meaning it won't have much effect. If you lower this it will spread more slow, but will hit the debris more thus increasing its speed. Alternatively you can put damage to velocity way up if you need the fast rate of expansion
    • Type - I'm not sure if damage type affects expansion rate, but if you're using an unconventional one then it could be to blame.

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:07 am
by Rama
Got it working, thx all for the help. :D

In Projectiles, under Sequences if you do not have a sequence selected for "Flight" then any PG activated on detonation of the Projectile will not fly. Doesn't seem to matter what sequence I chose as I long as I chose one; it just wouldn't work if you left it "No Sequence".

Also, it appears the only thing that affects the velocity of projectiles made on detonation is the Velocity tag under Detonations. (well, the inertia of the proj. will also affect it)