PlanetSide Universe - View Single Post - Creative/Odd Mods for Vehicles
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This is the last VIP post in this thread.   Old 2012-04-20, 06:25 PM   [Ignore Me] #9
Malorn
Contributor
PlanetSide 2
Game Designer
 
Re: Creative/Odd Mods for Vehicles


Here's a few ideas...

Drop Pod Launcher (utility slot)
Allows driver and gunners to "eject" from a ground vehicle by firing off a drop-pod. It's like the APC ability in BF2142 if you played that. This could be especially cool on the Sunderer, but could also be used by other vehicles as a driver safety mechanism. User can guide the drop pod down to allow scaling of walls and other forms of ground-based deployment.

Pneumatic Booster (performance slot)
Grants the vehicle a "jump" ability that allows it to hurdle obstacles and small gaps depending on speed. This would be cool on an ATV or lightning, might have some comedy use on a Sundy or tank (or it might be ATV/Lightning only).

Stealth Plating (defensive slot)
Prevents the vehicle from showing up on minimaps and reduces the range at which it can be spotted. Also slows down lock acquisition by 50%. Your basic radar-inhibiting stealth of the Planetside Era. Makes lock-on weaponry take longer to acquire target (giving the vehicle more time to escape the lock). Reduces spotting potential and helps remove it from radar tracking. This is for the vehicle that wants to limit attention or combat heavy lock-on weaponry use. Aircraft might find this particularly useful. This upgrade comes at the cost of lowering armor by a fair amount for balance purposes.

Adaptive Camo (defensive slot)
Grants a slow-timed cloaking effect on the vehicle but only when it is not moving or firing. Moving or firing quickly cancels the effect. Idea is that the vehicle stops and it starts cloaking over a period of 5-10 seconds like a chameleon adapting to the surroundings. The idea is that this could be useful for ATVs if used by an infiltrator so he can park his ATV and it will hide itself, or if the infiltrator is being tracked/chased he can stop behind a tree and the vehicle will start cloaking (driver included). It could also be used by tanks if the tank is used as artillery. This form of camo gives off a stronger thermal signature and decreases armor slightly.

Target Painter (weapon slot)
Keeps target spotted while painted and makes all guided weapon systems 100% more effective. This would make lock-on weaponry acquire the lock twice as fast. It also makes the target have a mild glow effect that draws attention. Seems like a lot but you are giving up an active weapon for this ability and it's purely support. The target painter emits a faint light (colored by empire for easy IFF detection) towards the target. (Cyan, Red, and Yellow are the light colors for colorblind-friendly faction distinction - cyan seems to be a new prominent VS color)

Darklight Pulse (utility slot)
Grants "darklight pulse" ability that sends out a wave of darklight that will short out all cloaking devices in the pulse radius for a short time. The Darklight pulse is is more effective and has a longer range the less natural light exists. So at night it has a larger radius and disables for longer. On the darkest of nights it is at its peak effectiveness. Least-effective during mid-day. Idea is that it is a way to counter heavy cloaker use or nighttime cloaker use. But of course you give up other utility options like EMP, smoke, ec.

Motion Sensor (utility slot)
Projects a motion sensor around the vehicle that auto-spots all nearby enemies that move in range, including cloaked enemies (it doesn't reveal them, it just shows them up on the minimap). The spotting effect persists as long as there is movement. It also emits an audible sound when triggered (like the motion sensors of PS1).

Thermal Spotlight (utility slot)
Adds a bright floodlight spotlight that emits a bright thermal signature to the vehicle's weapon systems. This light can be toggled by the gunners individually and it both illuminates an area while simultaneously causing temporary blindness to anyone using thermal imaging directly in the beam and for a few seconds after the beam ceases. The thermal spotlight is intended to be part of night balance and is a tradeoff and possible counter to thermal imaging. The downside to it is that quite obviously it draws attention to the vehicle, and it shows up clearly to long-range thermal sights. The upside is that it illuminates the area for all nearby friendlies and can serve as a counter to thermal vision.

Thermal Imaging (utility slot)
Grants the driver and gunners a toggle for thermal imaging for the purpose of nightvision. Vehicles and infantry give off thermal signatures (unless they have reduced/eliminated that signature through other upgrades) allowing them to be easily spotted at night. Thermal imaging has a downside - during the daytime it cannot be used and will cause temporary blindness if used. Additionally it has a vulnerability to thermal spotlights which overwhelm the sensor and have the same effect as daytime use.

Thermal Camo (defensive slot)
Grants the vehicle protection against thermal imaging. It will not be illuminated by a Thermal Image. It has a downside of weakening the vehicle armor slightly as the reflective coating compromises structural plating.

Thermal Flare (utility slot)
Launches a bright flare that illuminates the area for a moderate time and causes minor reduction (not full blindness) to thermal imaging. The flare has a short recharge time. This is meant to illuminate the area like flares are used in war.

Combat Bulldozer (performance slot)
This is a structural change in the vehicle that makes it better at plowing into things which has a number of effects. First, it increases front armor moderately with a front plow. Second, it it reduces acceleration of the vehicle noticably, the turning slightly, but does not reduce top speed. And third it increases the mass of the vehicle for the purpose of collisions by 50%. This is an upgrade that can help turn a vehicle into a battering ram. It makes it slower to get going but gives it a little bit more sturdiness in terms of armor and makes it much better at plowing through barriers or other vehicles. This is an upgrade a sunderer might want to get for maximum crashing potential. It's an upgrade a tank may want to get for the purpose of clearing fortifications or other barriers (I assume a vehicle can crash into them to destroy them). In conjunction with a mine-guard this upgrade could turn a vehicle into a fortification-clearing beast.

I'm sure I'll come up with more later.
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Last edited by Malorn; 2012-04-20 at 06:33 PM.
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