Whilst experimenting with mechs I accidentally discovered that mechs can move around without legs. Not only can they move around they might be faster than if they used legs as they hug the ground. This made me realize that wheeled vehicles are not only possible but they could fit into the game nicely. I made a mock up of a wheeled vehicle using a mech computer set to west controls and a bust rotator to simulate front wheel steering.
https://github.com/tsunamayo/Starship-EVO/assets/112352428/5db0774b-ee3f-4740-8c3e-f6da6784bf92
Controlling a wheeled vehicle using the west controls feels natural. Much more natural than the way we control hovercrafts. This also got me thinking that hovercrafts should adopt the east style controls and be able to strafe in all directions. Maybe even add the gimble effect to weapons hardpoints so we don't have use turrets to get pin point accuracy. The overall change should play similarly to the way hover tanks work in a game like Battlezone. Heres a video to show you what I mean.
https://youtu.be/j5qBd_S66RA?si=jroC0tforU9dhPtZ&t=818
In terms of game balance. Wheeled vehicles should be the first vehicles that players construct and should excel at fuel efficiency and carrying capacity. The idea is that even into late game the wheeled vehicle should be used as a ground mining/hauling vessel since its can hold significantly more items than a hovercraft without being weighted down. Hovercrafts main advantage with the new control scheme would be maneuverability so they are better at combat and scouting. If players want to use them as ground cargo vessels then they will need to invest quite a bit of power into larger hover pods.
Whilst experimenting with mechs I accidentally discovered that mechs can move around without legs. Not only can they move around they might be faster than if they used legs as they hug the ground. This made me realize that wheeled vehicles are not only possible but they could fit into the game nicely. I made a mock up of a wheeled vehicle using a mech computer set to west controls and a bust rotator to simulate front wheel steering. https://github.com/tsunamayo/Starship-EVO/assets/112352428/5db0774b-ee3f-4740-8c3e-f6da6784bf92
Controlling a wheeled vehicle using the west controls feels natural. Much more natural than the way we control hovercrafts. This also got me thinking that hovercrafts should adopt the east style controls and be able to strafe in all directions. Maybe even add the gimble effect to weapons hardpoints so we don't have use turrets to get pin point accuracy. The overall change should play similarly to the way hover tanks work in a game like Battlezone. Heres a video to show you what I mean. https://youtu.be/j5qBd_S66RA?si=jroC0tforU9dhPtZ&t=818
In terms of game balance. Wheeled vehicles should be the first vehicles that players construct and should excel at fuel efficiency and carrying capacity. The idea is that even into late game the wheeled vehicle should be used as a ground mining/hauling vessel since its can hold significantly more items than a hovercraft without being weighted down. Hovercrafts main advantage with the new control scheme would be maneuverability so they are better at combat and scouting. If players want to use them as ground cargo vessels then they will need to invest quite a bit of power into larger hover pods.