Is it possible that CM COULD add a vehicle or not (Discussion)

[Jonesome]

Never say never. A year ago I’d have never thought they’d add CAS, motion trackers, or squad cameras, but here we are with all these cool toys. They’ve got everything from the movies except the M577 APC.

[Drownie]

Are you asking for Marines Buff?
This is CM, the developers only work for xeno buffs.

[Mystery_Man21333]

If I remember correctly wasn't the Normandy once a drop pod on the old solace?It brought marines up and down but wasn't like a dropship and any xenon on board were usually almost killed instantly.

[misto]

there already are vehicles in game! havent you seen the power loaders and the cargo train things?

any vehicles larger than 1tile big would be a nuisance because the maps are riddled with tiny hallways and doorways

the only feasible ground vehicles i can envision would be like a small atv for scouting (but the maps arent even all that big, so no big deal there) or a militarized exosuit as seen in avp:extinction and a couple other aliens properties http://www.avpgalaxy.net/games/avp-extinction/marines/ (scroll down)

[Jonesome]

any vehicles larger than 1tile big would be a nuisance because the maps are riddled with tiny hallways and doorways

I think any vehicle addition would need a redesign of the maps to accommodate. Big Red already has a pretty big road network (and these colonies were designed for vehicles to move through after all) but LV would definitely need a revamp.

The biggest issue I could see with a vehicle would be turning it... how exactly do you make something that’s 6x9 tiles long turn sideways round a corner and not look janky. Would be a challenge.

a militarized exosuit as seen in avp:extinction and a couple other aliens properties http://www.avpgalaxy.net/games/avp-extinction/marines/ (scroll down)

Ah yes, they had these in AVP2 as well! I believe it was called Alice. It had a rail gun, incinerator, and missiles.

[Drownie]

there already are vehicles in game! havent you seen the power loaders and the cargo train things?

any vehicles larger than 1tile big would be a nuisance because the maps are riddled with tiny hallways and doorways

the only feasible ground vehicles i can envision would be like a small atv for scouting (but the maps arent even all that big, so no big deal there) or a militarized exosuit as seen in avp:extinction and a couple other aliens properties http://www.avpgalaxy.net/games/avp-extinction/marines/ (scroll down)

Not really, big vehicles could work in maps like Big Red (Solaris), Ice Colony or LV-624 ( If you move the tank via DS-2 )
I think the only map who big vehicles can't move is the Prison.

[Artouris]

I'm just going to waltz in here and talk about the experience I had with actually making a vehicle for a server.

First of all its completely doable. However doable and pretty or well functioning are two different things to be said. Now movement for a vehicle is handled pretty well inherently the way byond works and how mechs would smooth move. However making the shape be anything other than a box will inherently create super funky situations. This is due to the fact you all of a sudden liable to have marines or xenos kind of magically get stuck under the vehicle if it makes a turn. At least in a box (lets go with 3x3) when you turn the vehicle nothing gets longer or shorter.
Next is the issue of it being rather functional. Byond does really weird things when you have something bigger than it should be occasionally. I ran into this because you could only enter the vehicle from one direction. I'm pretty sure I fixed it, but I think it was a rather stupid work around. But if you ever wanted the thing to blast through walls or something (and I can't say for sure) but I don't think it'd do all the tiles in front of it. By what I mean is if its 3 wide, and it rams a wall that's to the south, it would only damage the leftmost wall. That's just a quirk with how byond works again. So I haven't tested that personally since I stopped the project before getting into that. Also there's the issue of sight when your vehicle is anything bigger than 3x3, since you're going to have to do view range shenanigans to make it really sensible to drive.

So is it worth it? Probably not. It really depends on what you're going for, but CM as it is is probably better off without it. I mean I would personally enjoy having a vehicle in. But its not even just make size and design, alot would need to change since people will make it integral to their strategies. Also because it'd be hard to not involve it with any strategy on some level since its a bloody APC with miniguns and phased plasma cannons on top.

Also since I'm a bloody tease, here's a picture of the only M577 APC to have ever actually "driven". (Was fully functional and actually occupied a 3x3 space)

[Mac]

You APC tease.

[Jroinc1]

Pretty.

[SylasTG]

I'm still for having actual drop pods be a thing aboard the Almayer, not only would it be useful to break a Xeno Siege it also adds more depth to the Marine side and more RP roles to play.

[Jonesome]

Drop pods would be cool, I do kind of miss the cozy little Sulaco pod.

I don’t know if they’re really canon though, I can’t recall reading about them in the extended media. I know Predators have drop pods for insertion, but that’s about it. Sounds more Starship Troopers.

[SylasTG]

That's true, you don't see much of it in the lore but that's not to say it "isn't" canon. Drop Pods are a relatively simple vehicle to master, especially if we're on the tech level we're at now, lore wise. If only for the added RP it would bring and the strategy behind it, I think this would be awesome to see.

Now, whether or not the Dev Team feels like it's worth their time is something else.

[SecretStamos (Joshuu)]

Drop pods are canon actually, there's an entry for them in the technical manual.

We haven't really looked at them yet though since implementation might be a little tough

[Nubs]

the only vehicle we would really need is some sort of ambulance that can ferry 1-3 wounded marines from the battlefield.

[Hastati]

the only vehicle we would really need is some sort of ambulance that can ferry 1-3 wounded marines from the battlefield.

That wouldn't be a technical issue at all, just a gameplay one. You'd just use the cargo tugs and reskin them.