I have a idea that I wanted to run by you guys (and girls if there are any) that I think might be fun. Rather than relying solely on the developers to create fun things for us to do, there's no reason we can't create some of our own. I have this thing that I've been doing for a while now that started as a way to clean up all the blocks that built around my base to keep the frame rate up. I built a helicopter specifically for the task with block magnet underneath to fly blocks back and forth to an SCU. I have found that this is not only fun, but is also a great way to develop your piloting skills and test new builds. While doing this today, it occurred to me that it would make a cool sporting event. There would be a set number of blocks and distance to SCU, and the first to get their blocks in (elapsed time-number of trips is irrelevant) wins. Everyone could use the same save, either the heli supplied in the save, or your own as long as it has the same magnet and just one of course. When you feel you are putting down a run capable of beating the current record, record your run and post it. The video itself will be timekeeper. When coop comes we can then go head to head. I think more people would get interested in heli's if they see their capabilities, and racing always pushes designs forward too. I made a vid that will give you an idea of what i'm talking about, though I wasn't trying to do it fast at the time. The idea came later. Anyone down for a little friendly competition?
Right on, I appreciate your response. I need to work out the details (distance, number of blocks, etc.) and upload a save. It really is more fun than it seems it would be. I hope a few more people will come on board. It's not like it's a big commitment to try it. I just find it a little odd that there is such a large community for this game, with no sort of competition. Everyone goes off and plays on their own, then returns here to talk about it. Let's at least try to have some fun. I'm open to suggestion on the rules/details of this if anyone sees a better way to go with it. Heck, if someone has a better idea let's hear it and maybe we'll make it happen.
Oh, and while i'm thinking about it, if anyone watched that video I posted, did you happen to notice there are two what I'm pretty sure are new, bugs surfaced in there. There were a couple of blocks that unaffected by any interaction, and twice I picked blocks that totally killed all control of the heli forcing me hit the beam and release them to regain control. I also had an issue earlier today a few times where hitting "W" induced a back flip (not on the vid unfortunately), and it happened with three different techs.
Well, this isn't exactly going as planned. Using the R&D chamber is out. Every tine you return for more blocks they are all gone. I don't really understand what's going on. I have built god only knows how many projects in there, sometimes leaving hundreds of stray blocks lying everywhere. and now when I intentionally do it they disappear. Unless it's some kind of optimization they have added to deal with frame rate issues. Has anyone heard of any such thing being mentioned?
Is there any allied techs nearby the stray blocks? I guess all blocks are open to being cleared from the world if there's no allied techs around it. One workaround could be build a big tech made up of copious amounts of the stray blocks with the connection between the main cab and the other parts being the explosive bolts only. So everytime you wanna spawn in a huge amount of stray blocks, Press X when controlling said tech.
So, there needs to be an allied tech in the vicinity for them to stay? Has it always been this way and I just never noticed it, or is it a fairly new thing?
I be interested. So..... I just need to find a few helis and "learn" how to fly them. As a question, you could also use a medium sized drone right?(They are essentially helicopters, other that tilting to move forwards.)
I have noticed it in campaign, but not in R&D, and i've only been playing since 0.8.1 I think. Sure, I don't see why not. And if you are in need of a heli, here is a one of my favorites.
I have been working on this project a little bit, and decided to post a practice save for anyone who wants to play around with it. This is an R&D save using the yellow markers that usually outline the enemy turrets, as guide markers. There is a stack of 50 blocks at the starting line with a cab atop them. Removing the cab, and setting it aside will release the blocks and start the run. All the blocks must make ti to the SCU at the far end to end the run. I also added five example helicopters of various types that you can choose from if need them. One of which (the first HE chopper) is a non-gyro chopper for those of you that prefer them. A large "Mag Loader" tech is near by in case you decide to clean up loose blocks, and start over for any reason, as well as a "Land Speeder". if you want take a look around first, just hop in the speeder, and Obi Wan, R2, and Señor Luke will take you anywhere you need to go.
Well I think it's time to pronounce this this one as being DOA, being that there are 0 views. LOL Farewell little project, we tried.
I'm just seeing this thread, sorry. Huh, zero views on what? You could do a series of, say, 3 different challenges. Or a single challenge save with multiple sections. A helicopter/VTOL triathlon, or whatever. @Rockfarmer ran an VTOL Challenge, almost 2 years back, here. A kind of assault course. Transporting block debris would make an interesting extra section to that kind of things. Lots of possibilities for redesigning courses, etc. At least half the fun would be, I think, people making their own flying techs for it. And you could try to make it in a Creative save (or campaign, even), to open it up to people without R&D. (Potentially using save file editing to add enemies/neutrals.) If you have an anchored tech close by (less than ~100m), I think the loose blocks should stay put... Did they still disappear? (Maybe different in R&D if so....?) Suggestion: you could have the collected blocks be fed into a scrapper, to feed a Fabricator that's trying to make something, such that participants are sure to collect a set number of blocks while having an excess available.
Goid stuff, Im in. Actually we had something like that before, although, in a non-organised manner. Some guy posted savegame with challenge tech to defeat and we took turns to wreck it in a time-trial way.
In the save I posted I placed small anchored techs at each of the markers to hopefully cure the problem. Leave it to Zero to include crafting in there somehow.
I just got around to checking out that link. And it appears that I have once again managed to get excited about what I thought was an "original" idea, and find that not only has it already been done by someone else, but in far superior fashion as well. So to @Rockfarmer I would just like to state for the record, that this was not an attempted theft, but just a standard noob stupidity case. I keep forgetting that this game, and community were around for years before I came along, and my knowledge of events only goes back 3 months. That, and my almost legendary ability to discover new and "original" ways to continually embarrass myself.
Rooster, go for it! I wholeheartedly support the idea, because it was so rewarding to organize and run - it even earned me a "VTOL Captain" badge here on the forums And using the block magnet would most definitely make for a different challenge. Also, dont forget that when I did the challenge, R&D had to be reset all the time - you now have the option to share savegames, so you can build much more intricate challenges now. These kinds of challenges are great - we even had a combat challenge with @Jaime, where we could submit techs that Payload then loaded in with AI to fight different bots, so we could see how they performed when not in player control. Go for it! regards, Rockfarmer
Thanks @Rockfarmer , I appreciate the the kind words. I was about to throw in the towel on this thing, but after the input from you, and @ZeroGravitas , I now have renewed enthusiasm for the project. So I guess I had better get to work on it then. If you, or anyone else would like to contribute their ideas, or even add to the save I posted (and will be updating), you're more than welcome. I realize you probably don't feel like opening that "can of worms" a second time, but you do have the one thing I don't have. And that's "The power of hindsight", so I had to ask .
You are right, I'm not really into opening the "can of worms" right now - I'm more than happy just to sit back and let people who have the motivation do the work. I really want to see Terratech succeed and develop into the game I was hoping for, but for now I'm probably better off sitting on the sidelines, lest i be a grumpy old fart! My primary reason for doing the challenge back in the day was to find a viable, usable flying tech to use in your day-to-day game. I built the challenge gate, because I wanted the tech to be nimble and maneuverable. I set up the start/landing location, because I wanted the tech to be controllable and precise. I set the requirement to kill the first 5 sentry towers to make sure the tech could fight. So my 'hindsight advice' would be to ask yourself what kind of tech are you trying to find the best version of? Base the challenges on your requirements. What in-game problems are you trying to solve? Harvester? Fighter? Cleaning up blocks after a fight? Finding mineral nodes, mining them and bring resourses back? Then design the challenges to fit that. Best of luck!
