Regression: Some vessels cannot reload their mounted guns
Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2019 8:07 pm
Most vessels cannot reload their mounted guns in the current development branch. I am attaching a screenshot of a "Progeny" which proves that it cannot reload the "Razor" and the "MiniDriver" even though both weapons are almost out of ammo:
Currently the amount of ammunition that can be reloaded for a mounted gun is determined in the same way as the maximum amount of missiles that can be loaded in a missile slot. First the volume which the ammunition requires is caluclated - (ammount of bullets) x (volume per bullet). If the volume is less than the available volume of the mount slot on which the gun is mounted then the ammunition is added, otherwise not.
One issue with the current method is the game play factor. Some volume capacities are so high that one can carry a ridiculous amount of ammunition, e.g., the initial Llama can carry up to 30000 rounds for the IonBurster. This amount nearly eliminates the need to save ammunition when engaging enemies. At this point ammunition may just as well be considered unlimited, which is detrimental to the game play experience.
A bigger issue is on the technical side. When reloading a mounted gun there are three values that must be consistent:
- the volume per bullet
- the overall volume capacity of the mount slot
- the initial amount of ammunition when the gun is purchased
The information required is spread out over three different files:
- Assets-Production/weapon_list.xml
- Assets-Production/units/vessels.csv
- Assets-Production/units/weapons.csv
A change in any of those files might lead to inconsistent behaviour with regard to ammunition capacity. E.g., the Llama which the player has at the beginning of a campaign can load up to 30000 rounds for the IonBurster in its first two slots, yet only 6000 rounds its 3rd and 4th slots. The initial amount of rounds after purchasing an IonBurster, however, is 10000 rounds. This means, if the IonBurster is mounted in the 3rd or 4th slot then it cannot be reloaded until it falls under 6000 rounds. After that it can only be reloaded up to a maximum of 6000 rounds. This is inconsistent. If a vessel does not have a volume entry in a mount then the gun cannot be reloaded at all.
A less error prone approach is to only consider the max ammo limit for each gun defined in Assets-Production/units/weapons.csv, regardless on which vessel it is mounted. Only for missiles will the volume capacity of a missile slot retain its current behaviour.
Since the volume capacity for gun-mounts has been removed for most ships in Assets-Production I think this is the direction that development was intended to go before it came to a halt.
I am making a pull-request with the needed changes to achieve the proposed behaviour:
- Missile capacity will remain based on the volume capacity of the missile slot
- Gun capacity will be determined solely based on the gun type, i.e., the entry corresponding entry in Assets-Production/units/weapons.csv
Please let me know if I missed something or if there are objections for my proposal.
The few vessels that can reload their guns cannot do it consistently. I will try to explain the problem as best I can.Currently the amount of ammunition that can be reloaded for a mounted gun is determined in the same way as the maximum amount of missiles that can be loaded in a missile slot. First the volume which the ammunition requires is caluclated - (ammount of bullets) x (volume per bullet). If the volume is less than the available volume of the mount slot on which the gun is mounted then the ammunition is added, otherwise not.
One issue with the current method is the game play factor. Some volume capacities are so high that one can carry a ridiculous amount of ammunition, e.g., the initial Llama can carry up to 30000 rounds for the IonBurster. This amount nearly eliminates the need to save ammunition when engaging enemies. At this point ammunition may just as well be considered unlimited, which is detrimental to the game play experience.
A bigger issue is on the technical side. When reloading a mounted gun there are three values that must be consistent:
- the volume per bullet
- the overall volume capacity of the mount slot
- the initial amount of ammunition when the gun is purchased
The information required is spread out over three different files:
- Assets-Production/weapon_list.xml
- Assets-Production/units/vessels.csv
- Assets-Production/units/weapons.csv
A change in any of those files might lead to inconsistent behaviour with regard to ammunition capacity. E.g., the Llama which the player has at the beginning of a campaign can load up to 30000 rounds for the IonBurster in its first two slots, yet only 6000 rounds its 3rd and 4th slots. The initial amount of rounds after purchasing an IonBurster, however, is 10000 rounds. This means, if the IonBurster is mounted in the 3rd or 4th slot then it cannot be reloaded until it falls under 6000 rounds. After that it can only be reloaded up to a maximum of 6000 rounds. This is inconsistent. If a vessel does not have a volume entry in a mount then the gun cannot be reloaded at all.
A less error prone approach is to only consider the max ammo limit for each gun defined in Assets-Production/units/weapons.csv, regardless on which vessel it is mounted. Only for missiles will the volume capacity of a missile slot retain its current behaviour.
Since the volume capacity for gun-mounts has been removed for most ships in Assets-Production I think this is the direction that development was intended to go before it came to a halt.
I am making a pull-request with the needed changes to achieve the proposed behaviour:
- Missile capacity will remain based on the volume capacity of the missile slot
- Gun capacity will be determined solely based on the gun type, i.e., the entry corresponding entry in Assets-Production/units/weapons.csv
Please let me know if I missed something or if there are objections for my proposal.