Super Car Pool Power

[Writh]

I will admit I've only looked back about five pages and didn't see this discussed. There is the off chance this topic maybe taboo on the forums and if so I sincerely apologize.

 

I want to suggest a Super Car pool power set.

The Super Car powerset grants one access to a Super Car and its associated features. While outside you can mount up in your Super Car and hit the road. While driving your super car you have access to 2 abilities; Turbo Charge and Front Mounted Guns. If it is possible, while in your car you can invite a friend nearby into the vehicle allowing you to drive them around.

 

Let's get on to the powerset:

 

Level 4 - Super Scan - "Using a built in personal scanner you send data on your target to your Super Car who then exposes their weaknesses." This ability mechanically would be an enemy debuff  -tohit  -resistance

 

Level 4 - Oil Slick - "Your super car deploys an oil slick missile to the target location." This one works like other oil slick abilities.

 

Level 4 - Super Car - "Summon your Super Car and hit the road." This ability, when used outdoors, replaces the player character with their Super Car. The Super Car confers a +spd +def bonus. If possible, a Super Car user should be able to invite 1 passenger. While in your Super Car you have access to 2 abilities:

        -Turbo Charge : "Put the pedal to the metal" +spd +jmp

        -Front Mounted Guns: Fires a cone of damage in front of the car

       (While indoors "Super Car" becomes RC Bomber: "Take control of an miniature replica of your Super Car that is armed with a bomb. While using this ability your character is left vulnerable controlling the RC Bomber.)

 

Level 14 - Field Kit - "No Super Car is complete with an emergency medical field kit." This would be a Res/Heal

 

Level 20 - Full Ordinance - "Your Super Car locks onto the target and fires everything too that location." Big AOE.

 

I figure, one of the major problems with a Super Car power set is you can't take the car into an indoor mission. So I worked to design most of the abilities to be something your car could theoretically launch into the building from outside or in the case of Super Scan, your just communicating with its computer. 

Optimally, we would be able to design our Super Car's looks, like our hero, but if that is an obstacle that prevents this from being considered maybe give us a few Super Cars to choose from when we pick the ability. This Super Car format could even translate to Motorcycles (Don't wanna leave all our Ghostriders hoofin it.) I do hope you will consider my proposal and I invite any suggestions that may help make Super Cars(Bikes) a viable option for the game.

 

Letting my imagination get the better of me, imagine if this happened and lead to each faction getting a new enemy type to terrorize the roads. I could see the Trolls riding around in a Monster Truck Jeep with a few dudes hanging off like 40k Orkboys lol.

[arcane]

Just the most recent one. Responses cover many of the reasons why vehicles wouldn’t work in this game.

 

 

[Psyonico]

Yeah, cars come up fairly regularly.  I suspect there are a lot of technical hurdles that would need to be overcome for this to work.

 

 Your set seems extremely overpowered though, 3 AoEs *and* a heal in a travel power seems pretty unlikely.

[Writh]

21 hours ago, Psyonico said:

Yeah, cars come up fairly regularly.  I suspect there are a lot of technical hurdles that would need to be overcome for this to work.

 

 Your set seems extremely overpowered though, 3 AoEs *and* a heal in a travel power seems pretty unlikely.

There is only 1 AOE that does damage:

2 debuff (Oil Slick, Super Scan)

1 heal (Field Kit)

1 direct damage (RC Bomber "Only works inside missions")

1 AOE (Full Ordinance)

I realize explaining that won't change the fact they can't do it but I figured I should clarify, lest you have folks thinking I was asking for something I was not.

[Psyonico]

If oil slick “works like other oil slick abilities.” as you suggested, then it is a damaging attack if it can be ignited, that is what I meant.  and

 

”Front Mounted Guns: Fires a cone of damage in front of the car” is an AoE.

 

also, I assumed that RC Bomber would be an AoE by your description.

[Super Atom]

On 5/13/2025 at 9:15 AM, arcane said:

why vehicles wouldn’t work in this game.

 

This is basically every flying mount in any other mmo. Model replace with a flier or a sky skiff and vehicles are done in coh.

ground vehicles might look silly though. 🤷‍♀️

[Snarky]

Make it happen…

[Writh]

20 hours ago, Super Atom said:

 

This is basically every flying mount in any other mmo. Model replace with a flier or a sky skiff and vehicles are done in coh.

ground vehicles might look silly though. 🤷‍♀️

Exactly, it is just a model swap that makes it so your other abilities go inactive while it is running and may or may not be able to jump (Something that already exists ingame). I'm really curious as to the supposed technical limitations to implementing something that, save for the model of a Super Car, is already in the game in various forms. It's not like they have to make an car engine out of code to get this to work. Just a model and adjusting some existing parameters (The whole can't jump and abilities are off while this is on).

So far I got one reply that says "there are reasons" but gave none. So I'm really curious to know if there is an actual given reason. If anyone reading this knows where a reason is given by the staff I'd love to read it, please link. 

[Writh]

21 hours ago, Psyonico said:

If oil slick “works like other oil slick abilities.” as you suggested, then it is a damaging attack if it can be ignited, that is what I meant.  and

 

”Front Mounted Guns: Fires a cone of damage in front of the car” is an AoE.

 

also, I assumed that RC Bomber would be an AoE by your description.

Cone and AOE are not consider the same. I specified cone and AOE on abilities with those effects and intentionally omitted specification from single target abilities. Not to mention, you don't have access to both RC bomber and Front Mounted Guns at the same time. As I noted in the original pitch, "RC Bomber" is only available in missions, when you don't have access to "Super Car" (don't want players Blues Brothersing through missions lol but giving them a mini version of the car as an attack brings it indoors in a since)

[arcane]

1 hour ago, Writh said:

 

So far I got one reply that says "there are reasons" but gave none. So I'm really curious to know if there is an actual given reason. If anyone reading this knows where a reason is given by the staff I'd love to read it, please link. 

I linked you a thread that contained reasons.

[Writh]

50 minutes ago, arcane said:

I linked you a thread that contained reasons.

Sorry about that, new to using the forums. I thought that was just a weird signature lol. Thanks I'll check it out now!

 

Edit: So someone thinks they remember in a live dev interview that the devs mentioned movement: strafing and characters turning 360 in place. Not gonna lie, that is a pretty weak reason not to include Super Cars. Especially since there are measures that can be taken like, disabling strafe and making it so that while you can turn the camera 360 it won't spin the model. They say that the dev feels like restricting these things would defeat the point of travel powers but I argue anyone who is picking a car over flight, teleporting, superspeed, etc kinda have an idea of what they are getting into and want these things. These reasons also hold up even less when applied to the concept of a "Steed" (be it bike or beast) since those things can spin 360 in place largely and can pull off a form of strafing.

Thanks for the link

Edited Thursday at 03:39 PM by Writh

[Aracknight]

I dont think this works as a power pool, but the idea of a super car (or other vehicle, nemesis horse, etc) sliding up to take you somewhere via the long range/team teleport powers (especially the ones that cross zones) is something i could get down on.

[arcane]

2 hours ago, Writh said:

Sorry about that, new to using the forums. I thought that was just a weird signature lol. Thanks I'll check it out now!

 

Edit: So someone thinks they remember in a live dev interview that the devs mentioned movement: strafing and characters turning 360 in place. Not gonna lie, that is a pretty weak reason not to include Super Cars. Especially since there are measures that can be taken like, disabling strafe and making it so that while you can turn the camera 360 it won't spin the model. They say that the dev feels like restricting these things would defeat the point of travel powers but I argue anyone who is picking a car over flight, teleporting, superspeed, etc kinda have an idea of what they are getting into and want these things. These reasons also hold up even less when applied to the concept of a "Steed" (be it bike or beast) since those things can spin 360 in place largely and can pull off a form of strafing.

Thanks for the link

Yeah idk I’d say that changing the mechanics of how characters move in the game is a pretty dramatic change, but perhaps a dev can tell us that it is not - I wouldn’t know.

[Super Atom]

2 hours ago, Writh said:

Sorry about that, new to using the forums. I thought that was just a weird signature lol. Thanks I'll check it out now!

 

Edit: So someone thinks they remember in a live dev interview that the devs mentioned movement: strafing and characters turning 360 in place. Not gonna lie, that is a pretty weak reason not to include Super Cars. Especially since there are measures that can be taken like, disabling strafe and making it so that while you can turn the camera 360 it won't spin the model. They say that the dev feels like restricting these things would defeat the point of travel powers but I argue anyone who is picking a car over flight, teleporting, superspeed, etc kinda have an idea of what they are getting into and want these things. These reasons also hold up even less when applied to the concept of a "Steed" (be it bike or beast) since those things can spin 360 in place largely and can pull off a form of strafing.

Thanks for the link

 

A flying vehicle in coh already exists, the rocket board is quite literally a flying mount. Model swapping it to anything else is easy enough. A car is different, they could absolutely do a model swap that makes it so you can't jump and has weird movement changes but the game wasn't designed for a car. The layouts don't actually go places half the time and there is no direct route to large chunks of the game for a car and you really wouldn't want it used in doors. It's completely impractical for real use. At best, you'd be able to move around in the car for show. It'd never make sense as a power pool ability though, it'd need to be a temp power to excuse this game not being setup for its use as a real travel power.

[Jacke]

On 5/14/2025 at 8:42 PM, Snarky said:

Make it happen…

 

Snarky, I see your bid and I raise.

 

Edited yesterday at 01:38 PM by Jacke

[TheMoneyMaker]

On 5/13/2025 at 10:05 AM, Writh said:

I will admit I've only looked back about five pages and didn't see this discussed. There is the off chance this topic maybe taboo on the forums and if so I sincerely apologize.

 

I want to suggest a Super Car pool power set.

The Super Car powerset grants one access to a Super Car and its associated features. While outside you can mount up in your Super Car and hit the road. While driving your super car you have access to 2 abilities; Turbo Charge and Front Mounted Guns. If it is possible, while in your car you can invite a friend nearby into the vehicle allowing you to drive them around.

 

Let's get on to the powerset:

 

Level 4 - Super Scan - "Using a built in personal scanner you send data on your target to your Super Car who then exposes their weaknesses." This ability mechanically would be an enemy debuff  -tohit  -resistance

 

Level 4 - Oil Slick - "Your super car deploys an oil slick missile to the target location." This one works like other oil slick abilities.

 

Level 4 - Super Car - "Summon your Super Car and hit the road." This ability, when used outdoors, replaces the player character with their Super Car. The Super Car confers a +spd +def bonus. If possible, a Super Car user should be able to invite 1 passenger. While in your Super Car you have access to 2 abilities:

        -Turbo Charge : "Put the pedal to the metal" +spd +jmp

        -Front Mounted Guns: Fires a cone of damage in front of the car

       (While indoors "Super Car" becomes RC Bomber: "Take control of an miniature replica of your Super Car that is armed with a bomb. While using this ability your character is left vulnerable controlling the RC Bomber.)

 

Level 14 - Field Kit - "No Super Car is complete with an emergency medical field kit." This would be a Res/Heal

 

Level 20 - Full Ordinance - "Your Super Car locks onto the target and fires everything too that location." Big AOE.

 

I figure, one of the major problems with a Super Car power set is you can't take the car into an indoor mission. So I worked to design most of the abilities to be something your car could theoretically launch into the building from outside or in the case of Super Scan, your just communicating with its computer. 

Optimally, we would be able to design our Super Car's looks, like our hero, but if that is an obstacle that prevents this from being considered maybe give us a few Super Cars to choose from when we pick the ability. This Super Car format could even translate to Motorcycles (Don't wanna leave all our Ghostriders hoofin it.) I do hope you will consider my proposal and I invite any suggestions that may help make Super Cars(Bikes) a viable option for the game.

 

Letting my imagination get the better of me, imagine if this happened and lead to each faction getting a new enemy type to terrorize the roads. I could see the Trolls riding around in a Monster Truck Jeep with a few dudes hanging off like 40k Orkboys lol.

One of the primary difficulties is movement. There's definitely a standard that the old and new developers maintain regarding whether or not something looks good, and replacing the player with a ground vehicle to simulate four-wheeled travel has issues. For one, regardless of what you look like, you're going to still be a player with the same player controls, meaning you can strafe left and right or move in other ways (like spinning without and directional movement). There's other things to consider, as well, such as allowing other travel powers, like super speed and super jump could be your turbo boost and flight just gives you a flying car image, but let's start with a basic animation issue.

 

Vehicles we have currently in the game are on semi-random set paths and generally only go where there's a flat surface: roads. Even in RWZ, there are tanks roaming around and those should be all-terrain and easily ability to traverse some of the rubble in theory, but in practice, orienting the vehicle so that it adheres to the surface and doesn't clip would be an issue. Your standard humanoid player model tends to stand upright at all times regardless of the incline of a surface.....so a slanted floor on an indoor map doesn't affect how you stand or move. Running up or down a hill? Same thing, no change. Would this work for a car? The car maintaining its perfectly horizontal position going down a hill might look cool though its back end is going to be buried in the hill, while traveling up the hill the front of the car is going to be buried in the hill. It would take some coding to orient the vehicle properly to the current surface you're on, and since there's nothing like that already in the game (aside from things on predetermined paths), it would be a lot of effort to get that working. On top of that, there's the challenge of how does one tackle transitioning between those angled surfaces? Just jump right to the correct angle of the current surface? It would make the vehicle seem kind of glitchy when traveling over bumpy surfaces. So that would be the next thing to worry about coding in: differentiating between larger inclines or just hitting bumps. What about  riding the edge of a surface where there's a drop off? Does the car have weight to tip it when two wheels go off the surface? As a humanoid player, your model has a center point from where you are standing, and sometimes you can stand on the edge of something and leave one of your feet just hanging in the air like it's perched on an invisible object. This is a small enough issue with a person whom one could say is balancing their weight on the other foot for the moment, but if a vehicle maintains it player-based center point, it's probably going to have a larger area of potential overhang where surfaces drop away. More code to figure out when the vehicle should tip and cause the player to fall over the side.

 

I'm not a programmer, but I'm guessing there's a lot more to worry about than just these issues, and a lot more coding necessary. The point is, while turning the player into a vehicle sounds like something that would be easy enough, there's probably a lot more work to it than just swapping out a visual model. The reason flight-based travel powers like the void skiff, magic carpet, and rocket board are a thing is that they get to ignore all of that surface detection stuff by just staying above it.