HALO Jumps...

[CMDR J-Wolfe]

From Wikipedia:

"High-altitude military parachuting, or military free fall (MFF), is a method of delivering military personnel, military equipment, and other military supplies from a transport aircraft at a high altitude via free-fall parachute insertion. Two techniques are used: HALO (high altitude – low opening, often called a HALO jump) and HAHO (high altitude – high opening).

In the HALO technique, the parachutist opens the parachute at a low altitude after free-falling for a period of time, while in the HAHO technique, the parachutist opens the parachute at a high altitude just a few seconds after jumping from the aircraft.

Although HALO techniques were first developed in the 1960s for military use, in recent years HALO parachute designs have been more widely used in non-military applications, including as a form of skydiving.[1][2]"

I'd like to see this put into the game. With a thruster pack and added parachute, this would be an awesome way to get planetside from your ship. You add the ability to jump while inside your srv as well, and use the thrusters to soften/ direct the landing.

Should ship interiors be implemented, we could have a lift to go to the cargo area or disembark ramp to physically jump from the ship.

Just a thought. Wanted something like that since playing MGS 3 back 20 years ago lol

 

[Riverside]

Wanted something like this since the SRV was introduced, and a skyhook like they used in The Dark Knight for getting back into the ship

 

[CMDR J-Wolfe]

Wanted something like this since the SRV was introduced, and a skyhook like they used in The Dark Knight for getting back into the ship

Skyhook would be amazing and amusing lol

 

[metatheurgist]

Just a thought. How do you expect the chute to work with no (or thin) air.

 

[Riverside]

Just a thought. How do you expect the chute to work with no (or thin) air.

Both suits & SRVs have thrusters that can help slow your descent (check your control mapping to see if you have upthrust assigned to a button or key). It's a really handy feature, I use the up-thrust a lot. Give it a try

Parachutes work in atmosphere by creating a lot of drag to slow your descent. It wouldn't work in a vacuum but thrusters don't require an atmosphere to push against so they could be used instead (as mentioned it's an existing feature that's been in the game for a long time).

HALO stands for High Altitude Low Opening which I think is self explanatory once the basic concept of how a parachute works in an atmosphere is understood, and on an airless world thrusters would provide a braking effect to achieve a similar result. Not strictly speaking HALO (because you are not opening a parachute) but if you give just a little more thought to how the process might work I'm sure you can see how it would work using thusters instead.

If you have any other questions about atmospheric drag (or how thrust works) try typing your question here.

 

[metatheurgist]

Both suits & SRVs have thrusters that can help slow your descent (check your control mapping to see if you have upthrust assigned to a button or key). It's a really handy feature, I use the up-thrust a lot. Give it a try

Parachutes work in atmosphere by creating a lot of drag to slow your descent. It wouldn't work in a vacuum but thrusters don't require an atmosphere to push against so they could be used instead (as mentioned it's an existing feature that's been in the game for a long time).

HALO stands for High Altitude Low Opening which I think is self explanatory once the basic concept of how a parachute works in an atmosphere is understood, and on an airless world thrusters would provide a braking effect to achieve a similar result. Not strictly speaking HALO (because you are not opening a parachute) but if you give just a little more thought to how the process might work I'm sure you can see how it would work using thusters instead.

If you have any other questions about atmospheric drag (or how thrust works) try typing your question here.

I'm not disputing the technique, I'm questioning the OP's idea for chutes in no atmo conditions. I do use the thruster during the dropship deployment, the Dom's thrusters wouldn't stop a heavy fart; it barely works on normal G worlds as it is.

The O in open stands for chute opening, not your sphincter.

 

[Val Sylvana]

You can try this out by stepping onto a geyser.

 

[CMDR J-Wolfe]

I'm not disputing the technique, I'm questioning the OP's idea for chutes in no atmo conditions. I do use the thruster during the dropship deployment, the Dom's thrusters wouldn't stop a heavy fart; it barely works on normal G worlds as it is.

The O in open stands for chute opening, not your sphincter.

While I have no idea if landable Earth-like planets will ever be a thing, I still think that this would be a cool idea. Parachute, no parachute, whatever.

 

[Fizzatron]

Both suits & SRVs have thrusters that can help slow your descent (check your control mapping to see if you have upthrust assigned to a button or key). It's a really handy feature, I use the up-thrust a lot. Give it a try

Parachutes work in atmosphere by creating a lot of drag to slow your descent. It wouldn't work in a vacuum but thrusters don't require an atmosphere to push against so they could be used instead (as mentioned it's an existing feature that's been in the game for a long time).

HALO stands for High Altitude Low Opening which I think is self explanatory once the basic concept of how a parachute works in an atmosphere is understood, and on an airless world thrusters would provide a braking effect to achieve a similar result. Not strictly speaking HALO (because you are not opening a parachute) but if you give just a little more thought to how the process might work I'm sure you can see how it would work using thusters instead.

If you have any other questions about atmospheric drag (or how thrust works) try typing your question here.

Do you think that using thruster with a vector that is aimed at the ground to provide artificial air resistance, to enable a parachute in a vacuum, would achieve the desired result?

 

[Riverside]

Do you think that using thruster with a vector that is aimed at the ground to provide artificial air resistance, to enable a parachute in a vacuum, would achieve the desired result?

How strong the thrusters are & local gravity etc would be important considerations of course, I've done lots of controlled descents & stuff in the scarab srv. In a vacuum the parachute wouldn't be needed but if you want to research further the last link I provided is probably as good a place as any to look for research on the effect of thrust vectoring on parachutes in a vacuum if you think that's worthwhile.

 

[Fizzatron]

How strong the thrusters are & local gravity etc would be important considerations of course, I've done lots of controlled descents & stuff in the scarab srv. In a vacuum the parachute wouldn't be needed but if you want to research further the last link I provided is probably as good a place as any to look for research on the effect of thrust vectoring on parachutes in a vacuum if you think that's worthwhile.

Very helpful, thanks!

 

[Insanerobert]

I like the idea of thrusters for quick insertion on the surface of the planets, it will give some interesting mechanics and should allow for easier access to bases with clandestine missions, like Assassinations, Covert theft etc. if implemented well.

You approach the base with restricted access and instead of choosing the 'Land to base' or "Request access to land" you could ask the ship for a "Quick-drop approach", flies overhead, drops you in the base's perimeter before alarms goes out and flies out (this option could also ask for an autopilot being fitted on the ship, like the auto-dock computer, but a more advanced version). The same thrusters could be used also for a quick pick-up, since they could be used as a jet-pack.

As for the suit thrusters themselves, they could be limited only to Dominator suits for all G-aspect planets to allow for these "quick drop" and "quick pick-up" maneuvers, or alternatively be included as a suit upgrade for a "stealth build" (if thrusters can be considered stealthy or not) or "quick-combat build". Or perhaps just give up on the "thrusters" idea and go full bonkers with a jetpack design, in zero/low atmoshpere, they'll be pretty silent and the technology is rooted in real-life designs.

It may not have worked for the military on Earth due to limited fuel, but for our purpose in-game they're ideal for alternative combat engagements and the limited fuel/battery would also limit the players from abusing the jetpacks and fly like space birds to orbital altitudes.

 

[CMDR J-Wolfe]

I like the detailed thought put into this! However, the ship you're flying already has some sort of auto-pilot. You can land, dismiss your ship and it will fly out on it's own. I somewhat agree with limiting the drop ability to a specific suit, but how then do you keep THAT suit from being OP? And what about the Maverick? It is arguably more needed for a drop ability as it is designed for breaking into things with it's cutter and is really useful for sneaking around bases. I think, ultimately, all suits should just have the jetpack upgrade inherently.

You could add the option to initiate the HALT (High Altitude Low Thruster) option at certain heights, say at the bottom of orbital flight or whatever. At lower heights, it would be more traditional skydiving. At a certain height, the option would open up to deploy in an SRV mid-air. After deploying, the ship flies away and leaves to your business until recalled.

As always, these are just my opinions. Opinions can be scary, but only if you think they are. If you don't, then opinions are harmless creatures that have no bearing on your life whatsoever. Up to you if you wanna have a panic attack over random peoples random words on random forums. However, keep in mind that my opinions have a strong hunger for microwave burritos. This makes my opinions stink and could prove deadly to your enjoyment if you take things too seriously.

Fly safe Commanders!

O7

 

[Insanerobert]

I like the detailed thought put into this! However, the ship you're flying already has some sort of auto-pilot. You can land, dismiss your ship and it will fly out on it's own. I somewhat agree with limiting the drop ability to a specific suit, but how then do you keep THAT suit from being OP? And what about the Maverick? It is arguably more needed for a drop ability as it is designed for breaking into things with it's cutter and is really useful for sneaking around bases. I think, ultimately, all suits should just have the jetpack upgrade inherently.

You could add the option to initiate the HALT (High Altitude Low Thruster) option at certain heights, say at the bottom of orbital flight or whatever. At lower heights, it would be more traditional skydiving. At a certain height, the option would open up to deploy in an SRV mid-air. After deploying, the ship flies away and leaves to your business until recalled.

To answer 3 questions:

• 1: On-board autopilot: this could encourage for a dropship build and a needed use for an autopilot upgrade, the same as how Advanced Docking Computer comes with additional benefits to Standard Docking Computer (but with more benefits). I would love to see an in-game a build specifically tailored for dropship and gunship surface/planetary missions (A.K.A. HALO/CRYSIS/ALIEN MARINES style) and this module would allow you only for covert insertions, you could still do this in the old fashioned way by walking inside the base after you landed safely further away. The Droship Computer would allow for quick covert insertions and pick-ups ONLY if you keep the covert status and not raise any alarms.
• 2: Maverick suit issue: this could be solved by making the thusters/jetpack mechanic as universal upgrade for all suits, for a specific cost in materials (big enough to not be too easily accessible, but cheap enough to not be a pain in the a** like a Tier V suit upgrade). Perhaps without this upgrade you could still drop off your ship on Low-G planets, but if you attempt it in higher-G planetary surfaces then you'll receive damage, thus encouraging you to make an effort for this upgrade if you need it - otherwise, we go back to the old-fashioned landing on the planet's surface or using an SRV and lose any stealth benefits (you don't need stealth in combat-intense POIs anyway).

- 3: How not to become OP as a feature: the dropping and pick-up procedure should be energy-intense for the suit, so perhaps we can limit these features with specific requirements. For example shielding becomes unavailable to reroute maximum energy for thrusting, so it becomes unavailable by internal suit systems during insertion/pick-up until you safely arrived on surface/inside the ship. This way, you make sure the mechanic comes with a risk and won't allow any player with a jetpack to get an unfair advantage over the traditional surface drop point, where you're already capable to go in guns blazing and shields up. Or we can go an extra mile and will not allow using guns either during the maneuver, since you must control your jetpack with some specific controls built around your arms (like a joystick and a throttle lever).

As always, these are just my opinions. Opinions can be scary, but only if you think they are. If you don't, then opinions are harmless creatures that have no bearing on your life whatsoever. Up to you if you wanna have a panic attack over random peoples random words on random forums. However, keep in mind that my opinions have a strong hunger for microwave burritos. This makes my opinions stink and could prove deadly to your enjoyment if you take things too seriously.

Fly safe Commanders!

O7

There's no reason to get scared, the forums should be the place where opinions and ideas are thrown out and - if they're good, they'll stick around and perhaps even reach the game development - if they're bad, they'll get forgotten in the vastness of the Internet, like those space debris from failed launches while learning how to get them in orbit, but with each failure we learned how to succeed.

 

[CMDR J-Wolfe]

I like the Dropship build idea. But to make it more viable, I'd say you would need to add even more modules to contribute to this build. A drop hanger or the like, a new SRV or maybe some upgrade for it. Maybe you could buy a module to fit supply crates into your ship. This would allow you to drop a resupply unit into the AO. These supplies could be module based or maybe a separate purchase, perhaps even used like Multi-Op limpets where you could choose the loadout before dropping. This way you can outfit for Exploration or Combat or so on. Could open new mission types as well. Such-and-such settlement needs meds/ food/ ammo/ etc. go and drop off what they need. Maybe a combat zone needs a resupply. You could even do this to support your side of the conflict before dropping in yourself.

I despise having to grind. I know that's no-one's fault but my own but I also know beyond all doubt that I am not the only one who wants LESS grind. So forcing skydiving and the like to be an engineered thing is just the worst. I know that it'll be locked away somehow behind some ridiculous requirement, but I as far as my own fantasy goes jumping from your ship and landing safely on the planet should be a readily available to all without engineering.

As for the way I usually end my posts, I've encountered too many snowflakes online. People are hyper-sensitive these days and can't understand the difference between those who disagree with them but are still good people and people coming into their home and beating them with their own shoe. So I add some humorous nothing as an ending piece to help elicit a laugh, rather than a violent outburst that helps no-one, sours the discussion, and can even ruin the proposed suggestion because it's now embedded with a bunch of controversy. Plus I enjoy coming up with new ways to describe non-tangible things in a dumb and made-up situation.

As always, these are just my opinions. My opinions may have the strange desire to beat people up with their shoes but I won't allow that. My opinions are pretty chill most days and only want to share their flaming hot cheetos with you and play some computer games. My opinions are in no way actually real beings that can do anything whatsoever to you in anyway and should therefore not be taken seriously.

Fly safe Commanders!

O7

 

[Insanerobert]

I like the Dropship build idea. But to make it more viable, I'd say you would need to add even more modules to contribute to this build. A drop hanger or the like, a new SRV or maybe some upgrade for it. Maybe you could buy a module to fit supply crates into your ship. This would allow you to drop a resupply unit into the AO. These supplies could be module based or maybe a separate purchase, perhaps even used like Multi-Op limpets where you could choose the loadout before dropping. This way you can outfit for Exploration or Combat or so on. Could open new mission types as well. Such-and-such settlement needs meds/ food/ ammo/ etc. go and drop off what they need. Maybe a combat zone needs a resupply. You could even do this to support your side of the conflict before dropping in yourself.

For this idea, I think we need a different post on the forum. But I think this build would be ideal for unguided rockets combined with lasers/multicannons, if the damage made by rockets to surface targets/ground troops is buffed up a bit!

See you in space, commander!
o7