Wilhammer Posted September 24, 2001 Share Posted September 24, 2001 I have a theory, and pardon me if it has been identified before. I do not recall. A friend of mine is concerned that I can shoot through a building to get his units. He argues that would not be possible in reality, and he is right. Sure we have the chance of shooting through a window, but is shooting through a window modeled? I say No. My theory of terrain LOS blockage in CM: Terrain has a percentage value for cover from weapons fire. It would seem that the same holds true for LOS density into terrain. Based on my observations, terrain is rated for its LOS blockage by a percent blocker that increases with depth. Let's say that 100% is clear LOS, and as you penetrate some terrain with a rating of 10% reduction for every meter of penetration, at 10 meters into it, LOS is blocked completely. It is a nice approximation, but it is not correct, for at the edges of terrain, the unexpected; real world solid objects are, in CM effect, translucent. Lets say our hypothetical terrain is a building, and you are tracing LOS through a corner. If the distance along this LOS line does not reach the 10 meters (or whatever the value is) to guarantee 100% blockage, you can, in game terms, see through corners! The end result is that a building, though drawn as a square, is in fact a "fuzzy" distorted octagon. This is where the window argument falls down, for it is rare for buildings to have windows in the corners, they tend to be a few meters from the corners for structural and aesthetic reasons. The same holds true for all terrain. It also explains why you can see through wheat fields near corners, it density rating is something like 1.25% per meter, so that it is not opaque until about 80 meters. Get the picture? It is not Greek Realism, it is modern impressionism. BTW, objects have another visual rating; spotability. I am not sure how it works in detail, but its effect is that certain terrain is more spottable than others. This is why we can see the foxholes in the trees, and buildings far away in the fog or dark, and not the troops. [ 09-24-2001: Message edited by: Wilhammer ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaka Posted September 24, 2001 Share Posted September 24, 2001 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wilhammer: ..if it has been identified before... A friend of mine is concerned that I can shoot through a building to get his units. He argues that would not be possible in reality, and he is right. Sure... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Regarding shooting through buildings... In CM there are, (so far as I know) 2 known diferent situations where shooting through buildings is possible (AP HE C and small arms fire)... 1- There is a small delay between the shot calculations done by the program and the actually video representation on the screen. So, when the shot calculation was made there was a "real" LOS, but when the video representation comes the moving target and/or shooter are no longer in the same position, so there can be strange situations (such shooting through buildings/hills and so on). This problem can be maximized if the target and/or shooter are moving at great speeds and distant from each other. 2- A known bug, there are some positions where you can put an AFV so near the building that there are some LOS errors, like being able to see/fire through that building... This can be best managed within the deployment turn, nevertheless be warned, this is considered cheating ( I know, some times it happens, TacAI reaction movement) hope it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilhammer Posted September 24, 2001 Author Share Posted September 24, 2001 "1- There is a small delay between the shot calculations done by the program and the actually video representation on the screen." =============== Sounds like a bug to me... I have seen this happen, all in relation to slopes, not terrain obstacles. "2- A known bug, there are some positions where you can put an AFV so near the building that there are some LOS errors, like being able to see/fire through that building... This can be best managed within the deployment turn, nevertheless be warned, this is considered cheating ( I know, some times it happens, TacAI reaction movement)" =========== This seems to support my "Octagon" theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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