The Rasputin and her pilot -- Close Air Support

[saronsen]

Summary: The Pilot (and only the Pilot) is capable of accepting requests for air support from the Rasputins interior console.

Benefits: The Pilot Officer is no longer just a shuttlebot and can now make decisions, and add to the firepower the marines have.

Details: Squad Leaders and Specialists can now request air support from the Rasputin, using target painters. Target painters are activateable to give 50% increased sight range to mark targets further away.

The support requests are as follows, from lightest to heaviest firepower.

Strafing Run - A target area (7x7 disc) is peppered by the Rasputins turrets for several seconds, dealing enough damage to kill even Mature T1 xenomorphs if they're in the location for too long. Ten minute cooldown.

Rocket Barrage - Eight Zeus rockets are fired in a large area at random around the painted area hitting in rapid succession one after another. Each has a 4x4 explosion radius. They deal more damage than a standard grenade, but do not stun xenomorphs. Six uses.

Rocket Bombardment - Four Banshee rockets are fired in a location around the painted area, impacting nearly simultaneously. They have a 5x5 explosion radius, and are capable of putting younger xenomorphs into critical state if they are struck, and stunning others. Two uses.

Armor Strike - Two 120mm Mk.88 SGW anti-tank missiles are fired, and will track the painted target with some accuracy, and detonate in a 4x4 radius. If the target is moving quickly, they are likely to miss, or graze the target with the outer blast. If the target is big and slow, the missiles will impact very close to them, and may critically wound, or even kill young, larger xenomorphs such as Boilers or Ravagers on direct hits. Stuns xenomorphs. Two uses.

FIRE EVERYTHING - The Rasputin unloads its entire remaining arsenal in one pass, applying a normal strafing run, all six salvos of Zeus rockets, and both salvos of Banshee rockets. If there is no ammunition left, it'll simply call another Strafing Run. The SGW missiles require a proper lock on, and cannot be fired on a moments notice, and thus are not part of this option.

The Rasputin has to take twice as long to refuel from its strafing run as compared to a normal shuttle to and from the Sulaco, but it only takes 12 seconds after launch to successfully complete its attack.




Implementation: idk lol

[Sargeantmuffinman]

This....actually seems, just nearly, and extremely impossible to code.

Maybe.

[saronsen]

I figured as much, honestly.

But a man can dream.

Perhaps in a manner similar to spawning asteroids in vanilla SS13, it just spawns invisible grenades, and detonates them on a 1 second fuse?

[YungCuz]

I sorta imagine this maybe working but it might be impossible to code for all i know.

[Sargeantmuffinman]

[Kyrac]

+1, could possibly try doing an orbital beacon sort of deal, maybe like a specific flare. Have the Rasputin have an option that responds to it like: Air Support, > Weapon. It could then lift off, go on a 60 second travel, 30 second fire support delay, then return to the hangar. It seems pretty possible to me.

If explosions can occur around an orbital beacon via Railgun, this seems very well possible.

And possibly the cave systems are off limits to the CAS flare?

Not to mention a possible cooldown on weaponry? Or even a mechanism that can be used to load boxes / ammunition?

Trying to support this suggestion a bit.

[saronsen]

I understand. Loading up on ammo might actually work a lot better than just a built in charge system. And like I said, target painter. Like you can right click > Acid, you Right click > Paint with it.

And the Rasputin is loaded up to its teeth with weaponry, or at least the class of shuttle is. So why not?

[ParadoxalObserver]

As much as I'd like the Rasputin to be more than just a shuttle and the PO to have more to do. When the PO, currently, isn't even able to take proper control of the Rasputin I don't see how this could be a thing. And even then, I think this might be a bit excessive with the 'strafing run' which seems like the weakest already so easily taking care of mature T1s. So sadly, -1. ;c

[saronsen]

Taking care of mature T1s if theyre just standing still in it.

A pounce and you're already at the edge of the radius. It'd be clearly telegraphed by the sounds of engines and possibly a distant machine gun sound. So no napping in the middle of xenofort if you want to be prepared for it.

[Jroinc1]

-1. This seems absurdly OP, as an unlimited orbital beacon.

[saronsen]

Did you even read it?

Everything besides the strafing run is limited. And the strafing run is only capable of killing T1s if they just sit and chill in it the entire duration.

Bruh.

[Renomaki]

It would be nice if the dropship's guns were useful for more than just defending her front from the odd runner or two.

A shame it would take an awful lot of testing and coding to make it a reality, though.. It might seem easy in your mind, but unless you got your hand on the code, you'd see how difficult it really is to make such things work, let alone fairly.

[Jroinc1]

Did you even read it?

Everything besides the strafing run is limited. And the strafing run is only capable of killing T1s if they just sit and chill in it the entire duration.

Bruh.

I did read it. The unlimited 7 by 7 field of fire is very strong, and the additional explosive runs... yeah. The stunning ones would be the worst.

[saronsen]

7x7 for a handful of seconds, once every ten minutes?

A single RGrenade is more powerful. This is just area denial.

[ParadoxalObserver]

7x7 for a handful of seconds, once every ten minutes?

A single RGrenade is more powerful. This is just area denial.

Research grenades have to be made. This is apparently something the Rasputin would get from the start. Secondly, grenades have a clear warning. You can hear them being popped, and they have a large exclamation mark after thrown. The Rasputin is a loud vehicle that you can hear from very far away, so xenos for quite a distance would hear the noise and have almost no clue where that 7x7 is going to land. And if you need an orbital beacon to use it, then the question becomes; why not just use an orbital strike instead?

[YungCuz]

Research grenades have to be made. This is apparently something the Rasputin would get from the start. Secondly, grenades have a clear warning. You can hear them being popped, and they have a large exclamation mark after thrown. The Rasputin is a loud vehicle that you can hear from very far away, so xenos for quite a distance would hear the noise and have almost no clue where that 7x7 is going to land. And if you need an orbital beacon to use it, then the question becomes; why not just use an orbital strike instead?

See OB's are useful its just Xenos meta the hell out of it and just avoid it even though they shouldn't know what it does so technically CAS with the Rasputin would be great since they wouldn't know where its firing.

[saronsen]

Research grenades have to be made.

You can literally make ten of them before the end of briefing and hand them out to the marines as they shuffle for their first landing.

How is that relevant at all?

[Tristan63]

This doesn't seem balanced, however a good idea nonetheless.
Add ejection seat for pilot maybe?

[ParadoxalObserver]

You can literally make ten of them before the end of briefing and hand them out to the marines as they shuffle for their first landing.

How is that relevant at all?

Question; why is research rushing off to make marines grenades before going down on the Rasputin? Pretty sure that's meta and I haven't see it happen once.

And one thing is to have a limited supply of grenades that has a clear warning and thrower. Not to mention requiring drops be organized or have marines go up to pick up grenades and distribute. And hell, marines actually have to be at the danger location to throw said grenades putting themselves at risk Another is to have what you've made the Rasputin in which is a literal reaper in the sky which has difficult to locate attack; requires no input (or barely any) to get further attacks; and requires xenos to try and make dire pushes at the Rasputin to take it out of commission as it's attacking them out of danger or be under the risk of having it just slowly ruin them. It's really unbalanced.

See OB's are useful its just Xenos meta the hell out of it and just avoid it even though they shouldn't know what it does so technically CAS with the Rasputin would be great since they wouldn't know where its firing.

Eh. We marines also meta are fair share and if it's that much of an issue then make the orbital strike warning an announcement (which xenos currently can't read) so they don't start running when they hear beeping (which would be removed). I don't think we need to add such a huge feature to the Rasputin when it and the Pilot have other priorities and I don't even see how this would be properly implemented.

This doesn't seem balanced, however a good idea nonetheless.
Add ejection seat for pilot maybe?

>Xenos being able to fire on the Rasputin
>Rasputin being able to crash
>Ejection

That sounds like quite the workload to implement alongside just making the Rasputin able to perform these drive-bys not to mention the Xenos would be shooting down their best way onto the Sulaco.

[ShortTemperedLeprechaun]

I honestly like it. Coders on the other hand? They'll hate you for eternity if this is accepted.

[Recounted]

+1
Would say that you should only have about 3 of these to choose from to prevent the xeno being salty and calling for nerf (jk)

[TopHatPenguin]

I personally think it should be able to drop a few flares/chem lights (which wouldn't last as long as normal flares) over X area to light it up and help marines prepare for an advance or defence.

[LordLoko]

This is how I picture the pilot using the rasp to bomb shit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeuwW5A5Azs

[qDan]

I neva code smthing in Byond, but Im totally sure you can simulate such operations by doing next:

1) Give pilot possibility to choose location from context menu - planet surface or orbit.
2) Teleport ship with pilot in to the void (any space near Sulaco or just another screen)
3) Activate remote camera so pilot would be able to 'ghost' across the map or so, maybe via massive number of invisible cams all over the place, maybe via nods of the classic SS13 maps, which were provided by engineer and medical sensors (honestly no idea how to deal with this part, maybe its not possible at all). otherwise just let pilot have same functions as Sulacos bridge provide in temrs of spehs artillery, but instead of manual install of beacon give troops some kind of launcher to throw laser marks\special flares\so on.
4) Bound code that was used to make Sulacos space artillery to additional terminal in Rasputins cabin and then split positions in terminal for different types of shots (few shots, many shots, small burst or continuous fire, etc) thus simulating different types of weapons.
5) Place recharge timer for guns or just limit laser marks quantity to the equal number of arty beacons with possibility to order\create more.
6) GIT GUT

BTW: +1

[Kerek]

I would love to give this a +1 BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT this would be so hard on coders you wouldn't understand, even as little as I know right now, I know this would be so fucking complicated that it wouldnt really make sense for it to be used. Final opinion -1