Turret Computers for upcoming AI changes

[Sven_The_Slayer]

I was watching over the Q & A videos the other night and they mentioned that there was plans to phase out the Bobby AI in favor of the new Dave NPCs. This got me thinking though as to what the best way to handle turrets would be. Having to fill every turret on a large ship with NPCs might be a nightmare so it might be a good idea to have a Turret computer that can be linked to and control turret docking modules.

These turret computers would link all turrets assigned to that computer and they would track a single target instead of acting all as individual ai turrets. Multiple computers could be set up to defined sectors on larger ships to make sure they have sufficient turret coverage without requiring a ton on extra NPCs. Additionally the computers can be controled by players as well as being selected by the pilot on the hotbar.

 

[CyberTao]

I do quite like this o -o

 

[CleanRabbit]

How would the viewport be implemented for this system? Say, you\'ve got 6 turrets dotted around a ship, where would the viewport be? The Controller? The ship core? Or would you cycle between turrets until you find what you want to shoot at? Or would you link in a Cockpit too so you\'ve got a fixed viewport to fire from? Too many unknowns to make it a solid concept at the moment.

Taking your idea back a step, the concept of linking ONE turret to ONE controller is great - it\'s basically a remote control for your turret that puts you in the turret\'s core and allows you to rotate and fire at will. With a little extra coding, the Bobby/Dave AI could take over the turret once a player jumps out of the controller.

Expanding this concept to hook multiple turrets to one controller gets a little too messy in my opinion.

~CR~