Using a corner as cover

[Maxmimus]

Okay one of the big problems for me at the moment is that you can position your Xenonaught on the corner of a building and he will not be able to fire around it.

Corners cant really be used as cover as you cant fire at anything at less than a 45 degree angle assuming the soldier is facing towards north (0 degrees).

Hopefully you understand what I mean, i was wondering if there is any chance of this changing or if it is, as i suspect, a limitation of the engine.

In this regard it would really suck, it is actually restricting strategic movement and placement by its LOS calculations.

I cant use the edge of a building as cover, since i cannot return fire without stepping out from the building and risking reaction fire.

Could a "cheat LOS" be patched around this, mabye even (looks up the gods) a small animation of the soldier leaning around the corner to fire the shot (otherwise you might get a weird looking clipping issue).

[Gauddlike]

http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/136-Cover-at-corners?

Same topic from 2011.

http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/2828-Three-basic-graphical-features?

And from 2012.

Nothing has really changed from those arguments as far as I can tell so I don't really want to repeat them, feel free to have a read back though and see what you think.

[StellarRat]

I guess I don't have a problem with the corners. If your soldier is behind one he's safe, if he sticks his body out (moves away from the corner) to fire then he's not. I suppose one could argue for partial cover, but I really don't think it is worth the trouble. Mechanically, it seems complicated to code this both in the UI and how it works internally. Is he exposed, partly exposed, or completely hidden? Did he fire?

Also, using a corner for cover could affect your accuracy in some cases. I've seen plenty of video where the guy is essentially just sticking the rifle around the corner and firing nearly blind.

[erutan]

I recall reading about design decisions in EU12 - because characters could lean out of full cover and fire, full cover was deceptively easy to get hit in. The idea being because your character had situational awareness of what was happening, they were peaking their head out, getting a shot in, etc, and all that was abstracted due to the turn based nature of things. Otherwise, you are basically just firing blind.

You can think of Xenonauts full cover as being akin to "hunker down" in EU12, and half cover being more normal "cover".

[Maxmimus]

Thanks Gauddlike for the links.

I should have known this issue had been hashed over before. Anyway, well i guess that's the way its going to be, in the end I can just accept that aspect of gameplay because that's just how this game works.

For anyone reading this who was wondering about this like me. Check out this link by Gauddlike first page cleared it up for me, although instinctively my thoughts on this mirror Gudadantza, highlighted.

http://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/forums/showthread.php/2828-Three-basic-graphical-features?highlight=lean+corner

Gauddlike Post

-The extra sprites required to animate a small position change would make it very unlikely to happen.

If by watching corners you mean being able to lean around them to fire without putting themselves in danger that has already been ruled out.

It was thought to limit risk without adding enough to balance it out.

Gudadantza post

-Yes, that was what I mean.

Ok, It is a shame to hear that. My point of view is that the implementation of flexible and intuitive actions like looking around a corner create immersion and realism in a game like this. But the design choosings are inevitable.

MaxCaine post

-The nature of a turn-based system works against such a system as you propose. In a real-time game, a squaddie poking his head arond a corner takes a specific amount of time, in which time the opponent can respond simultaneously. But in a turn-based system, the degree of response is necessarily limited to a (possibly small) percent chance for a reaction. Too little risk, for too much reward.