[Question] Shoulder/mounted weapons

[Reactor]

We have seen tons of weapons centered or hold in hands. We have also seen lots of hand weapons, including jackbomb and hand grenade. And here comes the question?

What about weapons which are hold elsewhere?

Many games offer enemies whose hands are empty - their slingshot is on their shoulders, for example. This is something which I was looking for years ago, before the development of Quake 4. Me an' the otherz were discussin' that some weaponz sounded a little bit childish...like the Hyperblaster. Others are OK, but are overused no doubt. For example, every 2nd game has a chaingun in it. It was very cool in, like, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, but come on...that was more than 20 years ago now. Chaingun is BORING, let's face it, even if some developers "cleverly" disguise it as "minigun".

We were looking for alternatives for these weapons, and here came the idea : CANNONS. This was our idea to replace this out-of-date armory, for example, instead of chainguns, there should be Gattling cannons - we have seen such good stuff in the Battlefield-series, aboard the airplanes for example. They're not chainguns, but their fire rate and firepower should be equally effective. Plus, their muzzle and gunblast sound is supercool. And then, there came the other cannons we have planned to have - Neutron cannon, photon cannon, even ion cannon, each using different kind of ammunition.

The main concept behind the cannons would be that they're carried and fired from the shoulders (the side or the upper right-left sections of the screen). At Realm667, I have seen an adequate example for such weapon, the Deviator Launcher. While it's graphically possible to create weapons which are fired from shoulders, I am not sure whether or not it's possible to program weapons to work that way. Sure all weapons aim at the center of the screen, but the launch point of the projectile must be programmed to either side of the screen,where your weapon is seen. Is it possible to create such weapons?

I'd like to show you some examples. I've seen a pretty cool missile launcher at the Sardaukar troopers in Dune 2. The other two screenshots are from Airborne Hero - a TERRIBLY bad game indeed, but at least these ideas were fine. I like the concept of parallelized dual cannons.

[XutaWoo]

That's what the offset_xy parameter is for, yes.

[Reactor]

It's that simple? Just position it in the offset xy_parameter?

How about dual cannons, like that anti-aircraft gun in Airborne Hero? Do they require something special?

[XutaWoo]

Why would they? It's not like you can't call two A_FireCustomMissiles in the same tic.

[Onslaught Six]

Me an' the otherz were discussin' that some weaponz sounded a little bit childish...like the Hyperblaster.

Don't see what's so childish about it.

Others are OK, but are overused no doubt. For example, every 2nd game has a chaingun in it. It was very cool in, like, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, but come on...that was more than 20 years ago now. Chaingun is BORING, let's face it, even if some developers "cleverly" disguise it as "minigun".

I respectfully disagree.

for example, instead of chainguns, there should be Gattling cannons

I fail to see the difference.

[Ryan Cordell]

One has a lame name, the other doesn't.

[Reactor]

Well, to answer the questions, Hyperblaster really sounds childish, at least for such little weapon. Usually, children's toy guns bought at the town fair bears such names as "Hyperblaster". You know...those which make funny noises when you push the trigger. But that's just my impression

I didn't say chaingun should be boring for everyone, but it's extremely overused in many FPS games, just like shotgun. If you choose 10 FPS games, at least 8 has a chaingun in it. And why is Gatling cannon different?
Well it's pretty easy - look at Battlefield 1942, namely at the mounted weaponry of armored vehicles (regardless Allies and Axis side). They are not chainguns, they don't even look like one, but their firepower is equal. Plus, Gattling cannons and other cannons are usually mounted or carried on shoulder, not operated from hand, like the common chaingun, this is why I asked whether or not it's possible to implement a weapon in ZDoom which appears at the side or upper regions of the screen.

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

Well, to answer the questions, Hyperblaster really sounds childish, at least for such little weapon. Usually, children's toy guns bought at the town fair bears such names as "Hyperblaster". You know...those which make funny noises when you push the trigger. But that's just my impression

I didn't say chaingun should be boring for everyone, but it's extremely overused in many FPS games, just like shotgun. If you choose 10 FPS games, at least 8 has a chaingun in it. And why is Gatling cannon different?
Well it's pretty easy - look at Battlefield 1942, namely at the mounted weaponry of armored vehicles (regardless Allies and Axis side). They are not chainguns, they don't even look like one, but their firepower is equal. Plus, Gattling cannons and other cannons are usually mounted or carried on shoulder, not operated from hand, like the common chaingun, this is why I asked whether or not it's possible to implement a weapon in ZDoom which appears at the side or upper regions of the screen.

8 Chainguns in each 10 FPS games?
I think you don't really understand what a Chaingun is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaingun



Distinction from Gatling guns
A chain gun has a single barrel while a Gatling gun has several rotating barrels. It is a common error to refer to Gatling guns as chain guns, particularly in connection with entertainment such as video games (notably the popular first-person shooter Doom).

[Reactor]

Well, that's just what I said. A Gatling gun is not a chaingun, but it can provide the same firepower pretty easily

I'm perfectly aware what a chaingun is, and yes, I still say it is a little bit over-used. Basically, every second FPS has a chaingun in it (or a minigun for that matter). I don't say chainguns are crappy, but I would gladly use something else instead. The idea of double AA guns from Airborne Hero look quite neat.

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

Ah, ok, I got it now.
But what's wrong with it? hand-welded Miniguns are awesome. Always have been.

[Reactor]

Nothing is wrong with them, it's just...too overused However, I'm a total dumba$$ at programming, so I wasn't sure about whether or not I could implement shoulder-fired or mounted weapons, like, those cannons I was yappin' 'bout.

[Sergeant_Mark_IV]

Actualy a shoulder-monted weapon concept is totaly useless if you use it in a weapon that's not a big anti-armor gun, like a Rocket Launcher.

[Reactor]

That's the point. The cannons I was mentioned are quite big, and even ones which aren't supposed to raze a whole city off the map in one blast, should be carried on the shoulder. It wasn't mentioned for small weapons alrighty - like a pistol for example - yet it can be much more realistic (and it also looks cool nevertheless) to have a weapon carried on the shoulder, mainly because its structure won't allow you to fire it from hand, or because its ammunition supply is located in your back, like flamethrowers or the Tesla Gun seen in Return to castle Wolfenstein.

[Onslaught Six]

Wouldn't a shoulder-mounted weapon destroy your eardrums?

[NeuralStunner]

Wouldn't a shoulder-mounted weapon destroy your eardrums?

Not if you wear proper ear protection, and the gasses are vented as directly away from you as possible. Look up a video of a LAWS rocket to see what I mean.