Implement variable transport speeds

Basilisk3 commented 4 days ago

Implement transports moving at different speeds depending on how many and which types of units they have loaded. Closes #6186.

Description of the proposed changes

Each Tech 1 unit decreases the transport's MaxAirspeed by 0.15
Each Tech 2 unit decreases the transport's MaxAirspeed by 0.3
Each Tech 3 unit decreases the transport's MaxAirspeed by 0.6
ACUs decrease the transport's MaxAirspeed by 1

Stat changes:

Transport MaxAirspeed: 10 --> 10.75 (Tech 1 Transports) MaxAirspeed: 13.5 --> 14.5 (Tech 2 Transports) MaxAirspeed: 15 --> 17.5 (The Continental)

Land units UnitWeight: 0.15 (Tech 1 land units) UnitWeight: 0.3 (Tech 2 land units) UnitWeight: 0.6 (Tech 3 land units) UnitWeight: 1 (ACUs and SACUs) UnitWeight: 1 (Tech 4 land units for compatibility with survival maps)

The UnitWeight stat can be tweaked for each unit individually, though I did not do it here for consistency reasons. For example, you can make LABs lighter than tanks. The UnitWeight stat has also been made visible in the UI in the additional unit details displayed when Show Armament Detail in Build Menu is enabled.

Additional context

As Jip already pointed out, the change introduces a new balance knob.
Enables more teamplay, as getting an empty transport to your teammates is faster.
The changes would introduce a new choice for the player, allowing him to decide between a swift and less damaging drop or a slower but more damaging one.
Nerfs arty drops, specifically Seraphim transports fully loaded with Zthuees, in an intuitive way. As Seraphim has the highest capacity transports (and the strongest Tech 1 Artillery), I regard this as a positive.

Checklist

[x] ~~Populate the UnitWeight blueprint field of all land units~~ (alternative approach via blueprints-units.lua)
[x] Changes are annotated, including comments where useful
[x] Changes are documented in the changelog for the next game version

Basilisk3 commented 4 days ago

@EvildrewFAF This is my own implementation of this idea. You are obviously free to do whatever you want with it. Since your implementation is more detailed, overriding this would be the easiest solution to keep your mod compatible. Alternatively you could build your own implementation on top of this one.

@Garanas @lL1l1 If you have time, please consider giving this a review. I would be very thankful if someone could populate the UnitWeight stat with a script, so I do not have to do it manually.

Garanas commented 3 days ago

Are you referring to this blueprint value: https://github.com/FAForever/fa/pull/6279

lL1l1 commented 3 days ago

Also the stat should be added to blueprints-units.lua's post-processing for mod compatibility.

Basilisk3 commented 3 days ago

Also the stat should be added to blueprints-units.lua's post-processing for mod compatibility.

Done. Thanks for reviewing.

Basilisk3 commented 2 days ago

Are you referring to this blueprint value: #6279

The UnitWeight stat is now populated via blueprints-units.lua. We could also populate the field in the blueprints themselves to make the stat more visible.

Garanas commented 1 day ago

Are you referring to this blueprint value: #6279

The UnitWeight stat is now populated via blueprints-units.lua. We could also populate the field in the blueprints themselves to make the stat more visible.

I'll look into it for you 👍

FAForever / fa