Modular Power Armor

Game Talk The Drawing Board
1

A slightly different idea concerning power armor:
Instead of different power armors with fixed stats we have diffenrent types of power armor frames which can be modded using a system similar to gun modification, here an example:

{
    "type" : "ARMOR",
    "id" : "power_armor_basic_mod",
    "category" : "armor",
    "name" : "basic modular power armor",
    "description" : "A Power Armor Frame. It comes with 2 UPS slots.",
    "weight" : 10000,
    "environmental_protection" : 0,
    "color" : "light_gray",
    "symbol" : "[",
    "material" : ["steel"],
    "covers" : ["TORSO", "ARMS", "HANDS", "LEGS", "FEET"],
    "price" : 5000000,
    "volume" : 100,
    "to_hit" : 1,
    "power_armor" : true,
    "storage" : 20,
    "warmth" : 90,
    "encumbrance" : 20,
    "bashing" : 1,
    "flags" : ["WATERPROOF", "STURDY", "ELECTRIC_IMMUNE"],
    "use_action": {
        "type": "ups_based_armor",
        "activate_msg": "Your power armor engages."
    },
    "coverage" : 100,
    "material_thickness" : 5,
	"valid_mod_locations": [["Armor",2],[ "Back", 2 ],[ "Torso", 2],[ "Arms", 1 ],[ "Hands", 1 ], [ "Legs", 1 ]]
},
    {
    "type" : "ARMOR",
    "id" : "power_armor_heavy_mod",
    "category" : "armor",
    "name" : "heavy modular power armor",
    "description" : "An improved modular Power Armor Frame, providing shoulder mounts. It comes with 2 UPS slots.",
    "weight" : 11000,
    "environmental_protection" : 0,
    "color" : "light_gray",
    "symbol" : "[",
    "material" : ["steel"],
    "covers" : ["TORSO", "ARMS", "HANDS", "LEGS", "FEET"],
    "price" : 7500000,
    "volume" : 100,
    "to_hit" : 1,
    "power_armor" : true,
    "storage" : 20,
    "warmth" : 90,
    "encumbrance" : 40,
    "bashing" : 1,
    "flags" : ["WATERPROOF", "STURDY", "ELECTRIC_IMMUNE"],
    "use_action": {
        "type": "ups_based_armor",
        "activate_msg": "Your power armor engages."
    },
    "coverage" : 100,
    "material_thickness" : 5,
	"valid_mod_locations": [["Armor",2],[ "Back", 2 ],[ "Torso", 2],[ "Arms", 1 ],[ "Hands", 1 ], [ "Legs", 1 ], ["Shoulder"],2]
}

this could then be modified using things like different types of armor plates,

{
“id”: “PA_Mod_steel_plates”,
“type”: “armor_mod”,
“name”: “Power armor steel plates”,
“description”: “A set of steel plates ready to be mounted on a power armor.”,
“weight”: 4000,
“volume”: 40,
“price”: 100000,
“cutting”: 2,
“to_hit”: -3,
“material”: [ “steel” ],
“symbol”: “:”,
“color”: “light_gray”,
“location”: “Armor”,
“mod_targets”: [ “armor” ],
“material_thickness”: 2
"encumbrance_modifier" : 20,
},
{
“id”: “PA_Mod_superalloy_plates”,
“type”: “armor_mod”,
“name”: “Power armor superalloy plates”,
“description”: “A set of superalloy plates ready to be mounted on a power armor.”,
“weight”: 3000,
“volume”: 40,
“price”: 300000,
“cutting”: 2,
“to_hit”: -3,
“material”: [ “superalloy” ],
“symbol”: “:”,
“color”: “light_gray”,
“location”: “Armor”,
“mod_targets”: [ “armor” ],
“material_thickness”: 3
"encumbrance_modifier" : 20,
},
{
“id”: “PA_Mod_milcomp_plates”,
“type”: “armor_mod”,
“name”: “Power armor military composite plates”,
“description”: “A set of military composite plates ready to be mounted on a power armor.”,
“weight”: 3000,
“volume”: 40,
“price”: 500000,
“cutting”: 2,
“to_hit”: -3,
“material”: [ “hardsteel”, “ceramic” ],
“symbol”: “:”,
“color”: “light_gray”,
“location”: “Armor”,
“mod_targets”: [ “armor” ],
“material_thickness”: 3
"encumbrance_modifier" : 10,
},

or maybe special armor components, maybe made out of CBMs, which could emulate their effect when activated while wearing the power armor,
or completly unique items like a shoulder mounted cannon.

If the same would be done with the helmets, they could be modded with sight modification: nightvision, IR, targeting systems.

Sadly this cannot be done with json modding alone as such i would like some feedback if anyone would volunteer to make the necessary code changes.

Could probably be done by copying and modifying the “gunmod” implementation, as such a list what the gunmod encompasses could be sufficient

with regards
MFH

2

[quote=“Manfromheaven, post:1, topic:11697”][spoiler]A slightly different idea concerning power armor:
Instead of different power armors with fixed stats we have diffenrent types of power armor frames which can be modded using a system similar to gun modification, here an example:

{
    "type" : "ARMOR",
    "id" : "power_armor_basic_mod",
    "category" : "armor",
    "name" : "basic modular power armor",
    "description" : "A Power Armor Frame. It comes with 2 UPS slots.",
    "weight" : 10000,
    "environmental_protection" : 0,
    "color" : "light_gray",
    "symbol" : "[",
    "material" : ["steel"],
    "covers" : ["TORSO", "ARMS", "HANDS", "LEGS", "FEET"],
    "price" : 5000000,
    "volume" : 100,
    "to_hit" : 1,
    "power_armor" : true,
    "storage" : 20,
    "warmth" : 90,
    "encumbrance" : 20,
    "bashing" : 1,
    "flags" : ["WATERPROOF", "STURDY", "ELECTRIC_IMMUNE"],
    "use_action": {
        "type": "ups_based_armor",
        "activate_msg": "Your power armor engages."
    },
    "coverage" : 100,
    "material_thickness" : 5,
	"valid_mod_locations": [["Armor",2],[ "Back", 2 ],[ "Torso", 2],[ "Arms", 1 ],[ "Hands", 1 ], [ "Legs", 1 ]]
},
    {
    "type" : "ARMOR",
    "id" : "power_armor_heavy_mod",
    "category" : "armor",
    "name" : "heavy modular power armor",
    "description" : "An improved modular Power Armor Frame, providing shoulder mounts. It comes with 2 UPS slots.",
    "weight" : 11000,
    "environmental_protection" : 0,
    "color" : "light_gray",
    "symbol" : "[",
    "material" : ["steel"],
    "covers" : ["TORSO", "ARMS", "HANDS", "LEGS", "FEET"],
    "price" : 7500000,
    "volume" : 100,
    "to_hit" : 1,
    "power_armor" : true,
    "storage" : 20,
    "warmth" : 90,
    "encumbrance" : 40,
    "bashing" : 1,
    "flags" : ["WATERPROOF", "STURDY", "ELECTRIC_IMMUNE"],
    "use_action": {
        "type": "ups_based_armor",
        "activate_msg": "Your power armor engages."
    },
    "coverage" : 100,
    "material_thickness" : 5,
	"valid_mod_locations": [["Armor",2],[ "Back", 2 ],[ "Torso", 2],[ "Arms", 1 ],[ "Hands", 1 ], [ "Legs", 1 ], ["Shoulder"],2]
}

this could then be modified using things like different types of armor plates,

{
“id”: “PA_Mod_steel_plates”,
“type”: “armor_mod”,
“name”: “Power armor steel plates”,
“description”: “A set of steel plates ready to be mounted on a power armor.”,
“weight”: 4000,
“volume”: 40,
“price”: 100000,
“cutting”: 2,
“to_hit”: -3,
“material”: [ “steel” ],
“symbol”: “:”,
“color”: “light_gray”,
“location”: “Armor”,
“mod_targets”: [ “armor” ],
“material_thickness”: 2
"encumbrance_modifier" : 20,
},
{
“id”: “PA_Mod_superalloy_plates”,
“type”: “armor_mod”,
“name”: “Power armor superalloy plates”,
“description”: “A set of superalloy plates ready to be mounted on a power armor.”,
“weight”: 3000,
“volume”: 40,
“price”: 300000,
“cutting”: 2,
“to_hit”: -3,
“material”: [ “superalloy” ],
“symbol”: “:”,
“color”: “light_gray”,
“location”: “Armor”,
“mod_targets”: [ “armor” ],
“material_thickness”: 3
"encumbrance_modifier" : 20,
},
{
“id”: “PA_Mod_milcomp_plates”,
“type”: “armor_mod”,
“name”: “Power armor military composite plates”,
“description”: “A set of military composite plates ready to be mounted on a power armor.”,
“weight”: 3000,
“volume”: 40,
“price”: 500000,
“cutting”: 2,
“to_hit”: -3,
“material”: [ “hardsteel”, “ceramic” ],
“symbol”: “:”,
“color”: “light_gray”,
“location”: “Armor”,
“mod_targets”: [ “armor” ],
“material_thickness”: 3
"encumbrance_modifier" : 10,
},

or maybe special armor components, maybe made out of CBMs, which could emulate their effect when activated while wearing the power armor,
or completly unique items like a shoulder mounted cannon.

If the same would be done with the helmets, they could be modded with sight modification: nightvision, IR, targeting systems.

Sadly this cannot be done with json modding alone as such i would like some feedback if anyone would volunteer to make the necessary code changes.

Could probably be done by copying and modifying the “gunmod” implementation, as such a list what the gunmod encompasses could be sufficient

with regards
MFH[/spoiler][/quote]

So basically Fallout 4?

3

I love the hell out of Fallout 4, but they play REALLY fast and loose with what is and is not reasonable for the player to make/build.

If someone does the code we could support this, but it wouldn’t make it into the base game.

One thing I AM thinking of stealing from them is the fusion cores, it’s a bit silly that our power armor runs off of a glorified car battery.

4

Power armor that feels more like a vehicle would be nice as well.

5

All for Mechanized Gundams

6

I’d honestly like to see them get something similar to the vehicle menu. Where the base power armor is the ‘frame’ and additional components can be swapped on and off. (Like heavier plating, hauling frame, etc.) All of which couldn’t be crafted by the player. It would be great if power armor COULDN’T move when it runs out of juice (It’s right in the name) And even better if some of these add on components were weapons incapable of being fired otherwise.

Of course all of this would be wasted without something strong enough to make power armor anything but the wrecking ball it currently is.

7

This is a great point independent of the thread topic, now that we have several varieties, only some, possibly the lightest, should be moveable by person-power. Or possibly do a strength check so supermutants… er I mean mutants who happen to be really strong… can move around in un-powered heavy varieties.

8

Got bored in class, made power armor based on the vehicle system

[ { "type" : "vehicle_part", "id" : "PABasicFrame", "name" : "Basic PA Frame", "symbol" : "H", "color" : "gray", "broken_symbol" : "#", "broken_color" : "red", "durability" : 400, "item" : "xlframe", "difficulty" : 1, "location" : "structure", "flags" : ["MOUNTABLE", "INITIAL_PART", "SEAT", "BOARDABLE", "SEATBELT"], "breaks_into" : "ig_vp_frame" }, { "type" : "vehicle_part", "id" : "PABasicChest", "name" : "Basic PA Chest", "symbol" : "H", "color" : "gray", "broken_symbol" : "#", "broken_color" : "red", "durability" : 400, "item" : "xlframe", "difficulty" : 1, "location" : "center", "flags" : [""], "breaks_into": "ig_vp_frame" }, { "type" : "vehicle_part", "id" : "PABasicArms", "name" : "Basic PA Arms", "symbol" : "H", "color" : "gray", "broken_symbol" : "#", "broken_color" : "red", "durability" : 400, "item" : "xlframe", "difficulty" : 1, "location" : "pa_center", "flags" : [""], "breaks_into": "ig_vp_frame" }, { "type" : "vehicle_part", "id" : "PABasicLegs", "name" : "Basic PA Legs", "symbol" : "H", "color" : "gray", "broken_symbol" : "#", "broken_color" : "red", "durability" : 400, "wheel_width" : 200, "item" : "xlframe", "difficulty" : 1, "location" : "under", "flags" : ["WHEEL", "STABLE", "STEERABLE", "NO_JACK"], "breaks_into": "ig_vp_frame" }, { "type" : "vehicle_part", "id" : "PAEngine", "name" : "PA Engine", "symbol" : "H", "color" : "gray", "broken_symbol" : "#", "broken_color" : "red", "durability" : 400, "epower" : -10, "power" : 100, "fuel_type" : "battery", "item" : "xlframe", "difficulty" : 1, "size": 200, "location" : "engine_block", "flags" : ["ENGINE", "FUEL_TANK", "CONTROLS", "CTRL_ELECTRONIC"], "breaks_into": "ig_vp_frame" } ]

The “frame” of the armor would act as the base for everything else, as well as being the “seat” of the vehicle.
The chest just gives more stuff to put on it. Doesn’t do anything functionally (yet?)
The arms are the same, no use yet. Not sure if you should attach arms as a pair, or individually.
Legs are the “wheels” of the vehicle. Only problem being that single space wheels don’t seem to work. Same deal with the pair or individual argument.
The engine acts as such, along with being a fuel tank (thanks to blaze for the idea). It also acts as the controls to the armor, because you shouldn’t be able to control just a frame.

Of course, there’s no real way to prevent other vehicle parts from being added.
And being just a very rough outline, some of it (like the items stuffs built from) are just placeholders.

9

“STABLE” Similar to WHEEL, but if the vehicle is only a 1x1 section, this single wheel counts as enough wheels.

10

You could make weapon arms, blade arms deal damage but have a range of 1 (melee), gun arms fire their guns, flamethrower arms, or throwing arms that have higher damage and use “thrown” ammunition type (only throwing axe/knife have this though).

So something with a chest gun, pilebunker arm, and gatling arm?

The one thing I might find to be an issue is that a tile needs to be surrounded by 4 “in” tiles to be consider inside.

11

[quote=“pisskop, post:9, topic:11697”]https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/blob/f212b13027ca12b852bc6742917f06b6bf5e08ef/doc/JSON_FLAGS.md

“STABLE” Similar to WHEEL, but if the vehicle is only a 1x1 section, this single wheel counts as enough wheels.[/quote]

Thats the thing though. Even with the “stable” flag (which it has) it doesn’t move for some reason. It has no “safe speed” and no “acceleration” values. Has a “top speed” of 80mph though.

Using the vehicle system as it is right now is an issue. If we can make a clone of it which expands 1 tile into several to separate the parts out into different tiles. That way each section/tile can have armor, damage/health, attachable mods, etc.
Of course, the helmet can have any number of attachments. Ex. flashlight, night/IR vision, etc.

We must also consider how inventory management will function with it.

12

I like the idea, especially if i can use vehicle-only weapons on my power armor

13

Maybe if instead of being a vehicle ‘vehicle’ power armor could be stowable? Like a one tile folding vehicle. I know that you can’t add vehicle parts to the folding bikes you make via recipe. Maybe that’s the right approach?

14

Would really love the ability to make power armor from scrap using a craftable exo-skeleton as a base. Would be cool to go from S.T.A.L.K.E.R exo-skeletons to Fallout 4 power armor.

If it was entry level at 5 Electronics, 5 Mechanics and 3 Computers would be lovely :P.

15

[quote=“ChJees, post:14, topic:11697”]Would really love the ability to make power armor from scrap using a craftable exo-skeleton as a base. Would be cool to go from S.T.A.L.K.E.R exo-skeletons to Fallout 4 power armor.

If it was entry level at 5 Electronics, 5 Mechanics and 3 Computers would be lovely :P.[/quote]

Double that and you are in (entry = 10/10/6)

PS. There IS someone who created an (Iron Man) exoskeleton on his own (with arduino for control), here’s him showing us how to do it: