Idea for Realistic UAV's

[Hunt3r]

Why not just have a camera with zoom fitted on the default BF2 UAV object? Like the Tornado or attack helo gunner seat cameras.

[Sniperdog]

You don't need python you can set the object to auto-rotate upon entry.

Very true but if you only used autorotate upon entry the UAV would stop in the sky when you aren't in the vehicle. You need it to be rotating at all times. (which can be done with python)

[quote=""'[R-DEV"]OkitaMakoto;1179538']Every map having a different main base location and elevation would seriously hinder this idea, at least how I understand it...

You'd need a unique "apc" for each map to have the correct enter location and map size rotation, etc[/quote]

Making custom UAV's for each map would have to be done but it would be as simple as taking the x/y/z coordinate of the UAV trailer and the size of the map (l) and doing rad (x^2+z^2) to come up with the length of the APC, tan^-1(x/z) to come up with the rotational orientation, x/y/z for positioning and l*k for the length of the barrel where k is some constant between 0 and .5 that decides the flight path of the UAV. Anyone who has mapped with a .con and knows basic trig will understand that . Making an apc for a map would just be done by substituting those few values into the .tweak for the UAV and the gpo file for the map.

[quote="BloodBane611""]A little ironic that we're suggesting manning the unmanned vehicle to make it work realistically.

I think that having an actual commander flown UAV would be a mistake, but its an idea. However, having the commander dead for flying a UAV is just foolish, so if that can't be dealt with its really not workable. Plus, the commander needs to be able to command while flying the UAV, but without flying himself into the ground. This doesn't seem likely to be possible either, unless there is some way of locking the UAV to an altitude that I don't know about. Manual control will inevitably end up with a lot of comms splattered on the ground. Also, the whole UAV concept would have to be different, as I don't think you can control the amount of fuel a plane has, or how long a plane can exist in the world.
[/quote]

This solves the first two problems you mentioned.

1. The commander would not die when the vehicle gets shot down * provided he is not so stupid that he doesnt get out of the vehicle during the 10 seconds where it would say "Get out of the vehicle or you will die" (In which case I don't know if I would want him as a commander in the first place >.>)

2. Altitude is locked and the plane is flying on autopilot making the job very easy and allowing the commander to easily press caps lock to move to the command screen and do his thing without worrying about the UAV


Finally with regards to your comment on fuel and service time...

UAVs at the Forefront of Future Warfare - - Air Force Technology

"The Reaper MQ-9, also known as Predator B, was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems in the US and is the first hunter-killer type that has a long endurance of 30 hours."

"Global Hawk has a range of 14,000nm with an endurance of 42 hours."

"Heron is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV that has been developed by IAI. It has an endurance of up to 52 hours at an altitude of 35,000ft."

UAV's are built to be able to stay up in the air for a very long time... The length of a PR round can very from 30 minutes - 3 hours typically so I don't think modern UAV's would have any issue with staying up in the air for the whole length of the round.

I don't think so.

Typical CAS >.>