TNTStickyBomb is placed too far away from buildings and applies secondary damage most of the time

[xezon]

• Perhaps related to Units take different amounts of explosion damage from different angles #954

TNTStickyBomb applies different amount of damages depending on count and timing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmqaU-HF9uU

Object TNTStickyBomb
  ;This determines how long the bomb lives before it explodes (via SlowDeathBehavior)
  Behavior = LifetimeUpdate ModuleTag_02
    MinLifetime = 10000   ; min lifetime in msec
    MaxLifetime = 10000   ; max lifetime in msec
  End

  Behavior = SlowDeathBehavior ModuleTag_04
    DestructionDelay    = 1
    FX                  = INITIAL WeaponFX_TNTStickyBombDetonation
    Weapon              = FINAL   TNTDetonationWeapon
  End

  Body = HighlanderBody ModuleTag_NewBody
    MaxHealth = 1.0
    InitialHealth = 1.0
  End

  ...
End

Weapon TNTDetonationWeapon ;Created by tankhunters
  PrimaryDamage = 500.0
  PrimaryDamageRadius = 10.0
  SecondaryDamage = 150.0
  SecondaryDamageRadius = 50.0
  AttackRange = 5.0
  DamageType = EXPLOSION
  DeathType = EXPLODED
  WeaponSpeed = 99999.0
  ProjectileObject = NONE
  RadiusDamageAffects = SELF ALLIES ENEMIES NEUTRALS
  DelayBetweenShots = 0                   ; time between shots, msec
  ClipSize = 1                        ; how many shots in a Clip (0 == infinite)
  ClipReloadTime = 0               ; how long to reload a Clip, msec
  AutoReloadsClip = No
  FireSound = BombTruckDefaultBombDetonation
End

[xezon]

After some testing it appears to require at least 3 2 sticky bombs, 2 of which need to explode in same frame.

Adding NOT_SIMILAR flag to weapon RadiusDamageAffects does not fix it.

[xezon]

Setting

  Body = HighlanderBody ModuleTag_NewBody
    MaxHealth = 100000.0
    InitialHealth = 100000.0
  End

Does not fix it.

[xezon]

  Body = ActiveBody ModuleTag_NewBody
    MaxHealth = 100000.0
    InitialHealth = 100000.0
  End

Does not fix it.

[xezon]

Removing SELF from RadiusDamageAffects of TNTDetonationWeapon will make it apply no damage at all.

[xezon]

I have no more ideas. Needs debugging in Thyme I think.

[commy2]

FireWeaponWhenDeadBehavior instead of SlowDeathBehavior:Weapon?

[xezon]

  Behavior = SlowDeathBehavior ModuleTag_04
    DestructionDelay    = 0
    FX                  = INITIAL WeaponFX_TNTStickyBombDetonation
  End

  Behavior = FireWeaponWhenDeadBehavior ModuleTag_05
    DeathWeapon = TNTDetonationWeapon
    StartsActive  = Yes
  End

  Body = HighlanderBody ModuleTag_NewBody
    MaxHealth = 1.0
    InitialHealth = 1.0
  End

Does not fix it.

[xezon]

GoldFish:

If the main damage area of the tnt is on the hitbox of the building it will lost max damage. if it is a bit to far away it will only do the area of effect damage. Best way to pull it off is to learn the hitboxes of some of the buildings like the airfield barracks and warfactory since these have extra big hitboxes at the side you get your units from.

[xezon]

What appears to help here is reducing the StartAbilityRange. I see consistent damages on Oil Derricks now.

  Behavior = SpecialAbilityUpdate ModuleTag_08
    SpecialPowerTemplate = SpecialAbilityTankHunterTNTAttack
    StartAbilityRange = 0 ;5.0
    PreparationTime = 0
    SpecialObject = TNTStickyBomb
    MaxSpecialObjects = 8
    SpecialObjectsPersistWhenOwnerDies = Yes
    SpecialObjectsPersistent = Yes
    UniqueSpecialObjectTargets = Yes
    FleeRangeAfterCompletion = 100.0
  End

generals.2023-10-08.10-45-06-10.mp4

[xezon]

I suspect a StartAbilityRange is necessary to have a safe range towards a vehicle so that the TNT bomb can be placed before the instigator is crushed by the vehicle.

Decreasing StartAbilityRange to 2.5 does not fix it.

Decreasing AttackRange to 0 in TNTDetonationWeapon changes nothing.

StartAbilityRange = 0 needs testing against vehicles.

[xezon]

StartAbilityRange = 1.0 still does not make it work reliably on the white bunker, testing on Tournament Desert (2). It really needs to be 0 for the best effect.

I tested StartAbilityRange = 1.0 against vehicle crush from AI, and it still worked.

generals.2023-10-08.11-45-04-88.mp4

[xezon]

I suspect that there already is a hardcoded min range of 10 for Start Ability Range, and value of StartAbilityRange setting is added on top. This would explain why 10+5 and 10+1 is not enough to reliably apply primary damage with radius of 10 to buildings.

Perhaps primary damage radius needs raising to above 10 to make it really reliably, since floating math is a bitch.

[xezon]

I found a place where StartAbilityRange = 0 is not enough, but PrimaryDamageRadius = 11 will fix it. SO looks like we need to raise PrimaryDamageRadius a bit as well to make it work reliably.

[MTKing4]

StartAbilityRange = 1.0 still does not make it work reliably on the white bunker, testing on Tournament Desert (2). It really needs to be 0 for the best effect.

I tested StartAbilityRange = 1.0 against vehicle crush from AI, and it still worked.

generals.2023-10-08.11-45-04-88.mp4

You should keep in mind that the AI uses a Crush attack of sort, instead of clicking behind the unit (a feature that i kept yelling to add it for players) which i believe causes the vehicle to slow down before Crushing the unit and stops, which would theoretically give your unit more time to successfully place the bomb before dying, one should test vs a regularly moving unit

[xezon]

I suspect it stops moving because the enemy was crushed. Test can be repeated by having more than one guy near enemy AI, then it likely continues driving.

[MTKing4]

I found a place where StartAbilityRange = 0 is not enough, but PrimaryDamageRadius = 11 will fix it. SO looks like we need to raise PrimaryDamageRadius a bit as well to make it work reliably.

That sounds like a decent solution, but i fear that reducing the ability range will cause tank hunters to miss placing TNTs vs passing by units due to needing to be closer, where they would have successfully placed it in 1.04 due to the bigger range (and killed that unit)

In essence you would be nerfing TNTs vs Units and buffing them vs buildings, which is a bad trade, TNTing Units is far more valuable as 1 TNT can kill most units.

[MTKing4]

I suspect it stops moving because the enemy was crushed. Test can be repeated by having more than one guy near enemy AI, then it likely continues driving.

Or just give the enemy unit a waypoint path and see if you can place the bomb, i can do that IF i get freetime anytime soon.