Advanced attack features

[howlingflute]

1. Imagine all the other parabolas
2. Take the union of them all
3. Make a function that describes the border of the region, f(y)=x. I bet it might be a simple polynomial too, or a hyperbola.

It is indeed a paraboloid. Actually the envelope is desciribed by g^2*r^2=v_0^4-2*g*v_0^2*z where g is earths acceleration, v_0 is the initial speed of the projectile, z is the height, and r is the horizontal distance from the firing position. But I really don't see the need for extremely realistic physics in the game. I do think that projectiles should be stopped by walls. I think quantum states patch is pretty cool. Always wanted some splash damage.

Edited February 18, 2012 by howlingflute

[Sonarpulse]

Just a Parabola (looking at in 2D)? Great! Then this should be really easy to implement without much performance penalty. I think it's an important because 1) warfare of 0 a.d.'s era was EXTREMELY tied to elevation: 2) it is a easy, consistent, and the most logical way to give garrisoned archers a bonus.

[Pedro Falcão]

Guys, i'd note that archers' equations are very different, since while the catapults relied on the weight of the projectile and the strenght of the throwing equipment, while archers (long-bowmen above all) relied on the aerodynamic of the arrows and the elasticity of the bow (the bow is what's elastic, the string just has to withstand the pressure applied), and while catapults have a crushing attack, archers have a piercing attack. This means the angles involved in the equations are different: archers rather fired with a max angle of 50°, while catapults fired with a max and a minimum degree that varied with the type of catapult. So, we need to watch out for the degrees of the shots, uh?

[Sonarpulse]

The parabola paths I mentioned are calculated ignoring air resistance, so you have a valid point about the aerodynamics of an arrow. However those equations are only concerned with the "initial velocity", so differences between bows and catapults do not matter. "Crushing attack" vs "piercing attack" may effect what initial angles are practical, but not the paths of each given initial angle.

(Also I think you can fire straight up and an arrow will still fall arrowhead first due to wind resistance. And if that's true, how would archers fire at people on walls at closer ranges?. For the record: On level ground 45° gives the longest range, so a restriction of no more than 50° wouldn't matter for calculating ranges.)