SUGGESTION: AEON T2 Shield Generator Fix
-
Aeon T2 shields are great as they are. They're small but they have great HP and they're cheap to run only made better my adjacency bonuses.
-
-
@Nomander said in SUGGESTION: AEON T2 Shield Generator Fix:
I don't think being unable to upgrade the shield is a huge drawback
The inability to upgrade the shield is a huge disadvantage in the late game, because it requires a lot of micromanagement and there is not always time to manually destroy the T2 shield and build a T3 shield instead, since this takes time, which gives the opponent a significant advantage.
Also, rebuilding can be hindered by other units that can take the empty space when the shield is destroyed, which also affects the effectiveness of the game.I do not see any excuses why the shield cannot be upgraded, maybe the developers did not have enough time to add this functionality or forgot.
In the late stages of the game, the T2 shield does not provide any advantages, the radius is too small and the HP of the T2 shield does not play such a big role anymore.
-
@ZetRoy said in SUGGESTION: AEON T2 Shield Generator Fix:
I do not see any excuses why the shield cannot be upgraded, maybe the developers did not have enough time to add this functionality or forgot.
As far as I remember the current state is "we agree to add it as long as someone makes the upgrade animation."
Nobody has made the upgrade animation.
-
@Deribus said in SUGGESTION: AEON T2 Shield Generator Fix:
@ZetRoy said in SUGGESTION: AEON T2 Shield Generator Fix:
I do not see any excuses why the shield cannot be upgraded, maybe the developers did not have enough time to add this functionality or forgot.
As far as I remember the current state is "we agree to add it as long as someone makes the upgrade animation."
Nobody has made the upgrade animation.
While this is not what Hyperiox is suggesting, I will comment on this specific point people have mentioned: I have made this observation in another post almost 2 years ago; in that the BrewLan Mod by Balthazar has the option to upgrade the Aeon T2 shield to the T3, including the animation for the upgrade.
-
Hello, I could also create the animation if desired.
-
I just checked using the FAF version and BrewLAN's animation is the same as the build animation. Basically the shield just builds the upgrade under itself, it doesn't transition into the upgraded form like other upgrade animations.
-
The T2 shield deviates too much from its basic form compared to the T3 shield. I'll create a mod for this function, but the T2 shield needs to visually incorporate the T3 elements to provide a suitable assembly animation. When it's finished, I'll post pictures of the assembly here and possibly upload a mod just for this function so everyone can test it out and see how it works. Regards, Saver
-
When I last looked at it the panels at the top just needed to be duplicated in the T2 shield to become the T3 shield, and some panels needed to somehow appear at the bottom of the T2 shield to create the base of the T3 shield. Anyway, I look forward to it.
-
@Nomander
Hello, here's my first attempt. I have to admit, the two additional wings take some getting used to, but unfortunately, given the shape for the later T3, I couldn't think of a better way. Here are some pictures for comparison. first normal
mod version 
Unfortunately, I still have a small bug in the animation. This is triggered by the rotation movement script. How does it manifest itself? Quite simply, the ball in the center starts rotating incorrectly at a certain angle. I'm still looking for an update for the script. So far, that's the status. PS: For those interested in testing, the mod is on FAF
# AEON T2 to T3 Shield -
a small update for AI support ^^
-
One more small point: I moved the wings a bit further apart in T2 mode. I think it looks a bit better that way.
I'm still tinkering with the script, but if anyone wants to help me, I'd be happy to hear it. The current problem is that the script, when moving in T2 mode, affects the movement to T3. I need an add-on that stops the orb's rotation in the middle. As a precaution, I've already integrated this movement into the new animation. -
--- UpgradingState = State(AShieldStructureUnit.UpgradingState) {
--- Main = function(self)
--- AShieldStructureUnit.UpgradingState.Main(self)
--- self.OrbManip1:SetTargetSpeed(0)
--- self.OrbManip2:SetTargetSpeed(0)
--- self.OrbManip1:SetSpinDown(true)
--- self.OrbManip2:SetSpinDown(true)
--- end,
--- }, -
Hello everyone, I have now uploaded the latest update of the mod # AEON T2 to T3 Shield. I had to solve the problem with the orb egging in a different way, as I thought. But I am satisfied with the result. The animation and the structure now correspond to other T3 shields. But who am I. If you like this function, you are welcome to test it and give a little feedback here. I wish you a lot of fun with it and hope to have come close to the purpose. Greetings SAVER
-
Here's a (very compressed) video of @Saver's modded animation, just for visibility. -
That's better, thanks
-
Personally I don't like the 4 "petal" T2 shield generator model. Would it be possible to have an additional set of petals come out of the first?
-
@Deribus said in SUGGESTION: AEON T2 Shield Generator Fix:
Personally I don't like the 4 "petal" T2 shield generator model. Would it be possible to have an additional set of petals come out of the first?
Other structures (looking at you, factories) hide 'additional' mesh information for the upgrade underground. You can't do that here for things that are up in the sky.
The current shield generator:
The new shield generator, next to its upgraded counterpart.
I feel like it having two 'petals' at the top is important for the silhouette (looking at hq rework discussions, I learned). But based on how animations work, you can't scale them into existence or something like that. All you have is rotation and translation.
Top petals
Direction 1
About the top petals. Move the top petals on top of each other. Then hide the bones
Arm_03andArm_01recursively. That way it looks like the original model:
Then the first thing you do when you start upgrading is unhide the petals and move them to the right position. This way the time it 'overlaps' is minimal. And the original base model looks the same.
Now, this type of upgrade animation where we 'duplicate' the mesh is unusual. I don't think any other structure does this. It may feel out of place because of it.
Direction 2
This is based on how the animation of the Seraphim shields work. We could create a 'puddle' at the core of the base of the shield to create the new shield. Somehow, seraphim units manage to apply the build shader to only the upgraded parts. I'm not sure how that happens, but if we can reproduce that then we can re-use the build shader for the Aeon unit to scale the new 'top part' from small to large. Just like we do with regular structures.
This direction requires additional investigation.
Bottom petals
Move the bottom petals underground. During the animation you can make them move up from the ground. And as they do that, they start pushing the structure 'up' as they get into position. Hiding mesh below the ground is applied by a lot of animations of structures. The benefit is that the base of the model is then essentially unchanged to the original model, until you start upgrading of course.
With all of that said, thank you for your time on this. You took the extra step. Not only did you make the animation, you also took the time and effort to make it compatible with AIs.
-
@Jip @Deribus :Thank you for your feedback and constructive suggestions.
I will gladly continue my efforts to create a more suitable approach in the basic form. To make sure which version is more popular with most people, I will present the other versions in the mod as a new unit. If we decide on a favorite, I will remove the other versions from the mod. If you also want to work on the mod, I will gladly give you my approval. However, please do not fill the mod vault with unnecessary variants. Maybe you can integrate a new model, similar to my approach, as a new unit in the existing mod.
PS: Other ideas are welcome
-
This thread is an incredible example of how the community can work together to solve problems and make FAF better. Well done everyone involved with a special shout out to Saver for bringing it home.
