Range Units Above Walls and Fortress?

[Hazardoz]

[English Version]: a very nice idea is to add a option to put archers above walls and fortress to defend it.

[spanish Version]: Seria genial tener una opcion para colocar a los Arqueros en las Murallas y Fortalezas para defenderlas de los atakes enemigos.

If you dont understand the english version, you can use google translate in the spanish version.

[memmaker650]

(Spanish) Si, es una idea que siempre eche de menos cuando juegue al AoE y que me gustaría mucho ver en 0 ad. Que gusto ver españoles comentando en este foro. ¿De donde sois? Yo de Zaragoza, España.

(English) Totally agree with the idea.

[Yves]

Units on walls would indeed be cool, but it's currently out of scope for part 1.

http://trac.wildfire...ayFeatureStatus

As far as I know the reasons are increased complexity for pathfinding and because it wouldn't add very much to the basic gameplay.

However you can still garrison units in the fortress or in towers.

[historic_bruno]

The simple case would be something like adding prop points to existing wall models such that a unit would move "onto" the wall. There's currently no mechanism in the engine for doing that, as far as I know, props have to be defined in the actors. The complex case would involve pathfinding, a different pathfinder than normal unit movement, so that a unit would walk along a predefined path, up a staircase or in a door, and out along the wall itself. In both cases the unit would need to be able to interact with the world and also be targeted by enemy units, so it adds a lot more complexity for a mostly visual aspect.

[majapahit]

The simple case would be something like adding prop points to existing wall models such that a unit would move "onto" the wall. There's currently no mechanism in the engine for doing that, as far as I know, props have to be defined in the actors. The complex case would involve pathfinding, a different pathfinder than normal unit movement, so that a unit would walk along a predefined path, up a staircase or in a door, and out along the wall itself. In both cases the unit would need to be able to interact with the world and also be targeted by enemy units, so it adds a lot more complexity for a mostly visual aspect.

Is it possible to make the wall behaves like a hill (creates higher surface than the ground), and required stairs so non mounted units can walk through the ramp to man the wall?

Edited June 19, 2012 by majapahit

[zoot]

Is it possible to make the wall behaves like a hill (creates higher surface than the ground), and required stairs so non mounted units can walk through the ramp to man the wall?

I think there would still be an issue with maneuverability in the minimal space on the wall.

[luziferius]

I think there would still be an issue with maneuverability in the minimal space on the wall.

only when units obstruct each other, when they can go through each other it might not be a problem

[wrod]

Maybe like athens and their ships the walls train units like oil dumpers and archers/javelinist and like making the top of the wall a surface and that where the units would spawn

[Brazorf]

A proposal for a simplified solution: walls could be garrisoned by archers, like other structures. User selects an archer, player orders him to garrison a wall segment, archer approaches it, then wall he appears on the wall. When wall is destroyed, archer also dies; when archer is killed, he falls from the wall and disappears. The solution would be simplified because:

- archers cannot walk on the walls, their position would be fixed (they are "part" of the wall)

- this feature would be restricted only to a unit type (archer)

- need for additional animations is limited, because all animations for archer already exist. Only "enter" (archer climbing a stair) and "exit" (archer falling) animations could be made, but they are not so necessary at a first phase of implementation.

A second, harder, possibility:

- archers garrison the entire wall, not only a segment

- climbing and falling are only animations

- a separate (flat) heightmap is created, corresponding to the entire wall, on which archers can walk. Connections between terrain heightmap and this one are not necessary: they would be limited to garrisoning/ungarrisoning aminations.