Sign me up for the test monkey position.

Well, while I'm dying to know how feasible this may be,

I've convinced two of my friends to help me figure out a model for this.
One was an M.E. major, but couldn't continue 'cause of some technical-bureaucracy happenings with the school,
The other is a Math & Physics double major at UC Berkely, graduating next year.
And I myself am a junior-year M.E. major.

My Berkely friend will be in town for a month, so we're gonna try to get something going between now and then.

Oh hells ya!

I call the explosive rocket target, and dibs on the homing interceptors!
I'll lose my limbs, and then shatter the rest of my remaining parts!

And does this allow for AI deliveries?

I nah mean can't nah mean figure nah mean out nah mean why nah mean you nah mean keep nah mean saying nah mean. A slang word for "No" and the word "mean" can't be put together like that in any form of English. (Not that there's any more than one form, but...)

On-topic:
Cool idea, unfortunately unlikely to be implemented.
Basic formula is simple enough.
s - Seconds
v - velocity
h - starting height
Imperial system: -16s^2+vs+h
Metric system: -4.9s^2+vs+h
If you graph that with s = x; entire thing = y, it comes out to be a neat parabola that would pretty much exactly graph our rocket's path.
That is, of course, in scenes with regular Earth-ish gravity.
This is one of the main problems with this implementation.
Not all of the scenes have Earth-ish gravity.

If this got implemented... MAN! That would be great!

Imagine all the fun...

This will never get implemented.

Hate to burst your bubble.

This is such an absurdly niche usage that it is entirely not worth the extra coding effort it would require. Data, at least, will never implement it.

Now with Lua, should we ever get access to key bindings, it would be quite possible to have a self-guiding parabolic trajectory craft. The main problem I see is target designation.

So, if you do decide to do it yourself: good on you, congratulations on putting in the effort. However, waiting for Data to put it in will get you absolutely nowhere. Data seems somehow recalcitrant about putting in features that would make modder's lives easier without making his job any harder; we've been waiting for weapons with custom wounds since at least Build 9. And that's just one example.

I feel sorry for that little trooper

You'll get over it when he goes boom.

Well even if I can't get it implemented in any sort of timely manner (since I know nothing of Lua), I am still determined on creating the models that would allow for this kind of operation in this game. So far I have come up with some rough equations for velocity, momentum, and how much / how long to apply the stabilizing thruster to get the desired change of angle-per-second, and at the moment I'm starting to implement the height(s) and distance as well as the target's motion into it all.

So on that note, I have a few questions pertaining to one thing in particular: how close are the game's physics modeled to real physics?
F = ma ?
Is the cross-product utilized in creating moments (rotations) for bodies with mass?

Also, is a Rocket MKI/MKII considered as having its center of mass located right in the middle? Or do each of its components (thruster, legs, container) have individual masses?

Is momentum taken into account?

It'd make it easier if I knew whether or not corners were cut in the physics models to make the programming easier.

In anything other than a self-professed physics simulation, you can assume yes.
In CC's case, I'm almost certain the center of gravity is the SpriteOffset. I don't think gravity is the same either, since what we consider 1g in scenes is 19.82.
Also, you don't really have to do complicated math to intercept a projectile (in CC, that is). You can have the interception rocket fly up until it has a straight-line path to the target, then dive right in. Basically, one of BipFlip's homing missiles with a little better AI.

I'm not worried about what the value of gravity is, I'm doing it all symbolically so that it should work out under any circumstance. The cause for the math is that this isn't for a projectile but for one of the craft; since it has a constant thrust which has velocity components varying over time, which are also influenced by its momentum, equations for projectile motion don't apply to this problem.

I'd like to check out BipFlip's homing missile, but I can't get anything to come up in searches for it.

It was just a gun that shot an unseen AHuman which used default, basic AHuman AI to aim in the direction of enemies and used a device that used negative recoil to propel itself towards an enemy target. It didn't account for trajectories or anything, it just angled itself and propelled, in practice. The missile's gun device made up the entirety of the missile's appearance.
I'll pm you about showing you an example of this method.


And Grif is probably right about official implementation of this concept. It's cool, but so specialized and complex that it's not worth the effort, for the purposes of the game.

If you guys will be trying it with Lua in the future, I wish you best of luck with your attempted simulated rocket science.
(Which, ironically, the person that likely won't be doing it, Data, has some considerable experience with)

'k then.
1. One Meter is 20 Pixels (As defined in the Settings.ini)

2. The rocket is 37 pixels wide and 100 pixels tall (or 1.85 meters wide and 5 meters tall)

3. It's center of Mass is -18 by -63 pixels (or 0.9 by 3.15 meters)

4. It weighs 860.0005 Kilograms (If 1 mass = 1 Kilogram)

5. The Main Thruster's particles weigh 9 kilograms each
and are being propelled out at 18 velocity units
and are emitted 83.3 times Per Second. You'll have to do
the math on that one.

6. The side thrusters are 52 pixels (2.6 meters) above the
center of mass. The particles weigh 2 kilograms each and
are being propelled out at 18 Velocity Units and 41.6 times
a second. Again, you do the math.

Assuming Data has an extremely physically accurate engine, and 1 Mass is 1 Kilogram.

Also, the rocket mass has all the attachables taken into account since I know they add mass.

Have fun with your physics

EDIT: And we do have access to key bindings. Just look at
the Melon Racer scene, or Lord Tim's Cabbage Puncher.

And I remember Tim saying something about a function that could detect how high the terrain is....

And this is all for Rocket MK1

Hey Data wasn't exactly accurate with a lot of his physics in relation to the real world so I doubt a lot of that applies.

I agree with Grif, it's unlikely it will ever be first party stuff, but Data is planning all sorts of stuff, and here's my idea.

you have a gun. it shoots a sticky (sticks to everything. like actors) beacon.

then either
A) a rocket spawns in the sky and slams into the beacon
B) a custom craft, which has some nice Lua pinned to it (if beacon exists, go to beacon. Else, end Lua [and behave like a normal craft]) that is ordered, slamming into the beacon when it arrives
C) using some magic code, your next craft ordered, whatever it is, slams into the beacon.


This method of couse recquires the ability to stick things to Actors and Craft, and Lua (preferably not just for the scene).

you could practice your code by making a custom mission, where it is exactly the same as skirmish with exceptions to a beacon gun and special craft. Sort of like that working portal gun beta scene floating around.

Just a thought.

Offtopic: wow, that physics stuff is really cool, I'm keen to learn that.