Patrol Helicopter is done! - Rust

The fact that there is textures made for the inside of the chopper makes we very curious as to it's purpose/use in the game...

[QUOTE=oryg1n;43521096]From what I've heard about this thing, that it flies around and randomly kills people, it sounds like a horrible idea. People are dying left and right to players as it is, why do we need an AI helicopter to do it also? What's the benefit of this? Is it's sole purpose to frustrate players?[/QUOTE] Sounds to me like a possible replacement for zombies.

yeah it will have MG and it will shoot rockets i guess maybe if you shot it down you can loot its weapons

[QUOTE=Omega Man;43521555]Will someone please tell me what the hell is the point of this!? GARRY! FOR GOD SAKES! We are supposed to be in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where civilization has collapsed but there are damn air drops and attack helicopters zooming around!? Why don't they rescue us!?[/QUOTE] Stop pretending like you know the storyline of the game. Facepunch knows what they're doing.

[QUOTE=Exre;43520931][url]https://trello.com/c/dLsvdp2M/131-patrol-helicopter[/url][/QUOTE] its been done for over a month

[QUOTE=Unemphatic;43522490]its been done for over a month[/QUOTE] well yeah but guns weren't they only finished them today

Would be great if someone who starts the game, that for about an hour he's under "security".If somebody kills him in his start time, the helicopter comes and kill the dumb fuck who killed the starter. I'm curious how this thing will work.

why do so much work on the interior if we are not gona be able to get inside it use your heads peeps this will either be something we can get in and fly or something we can at least shoot down other wise why the hell is there a interior its just extra polys for no reason as we would never be able to see the inside from below when its flying

I think helicopter is used to shoot-down powerful players with high buildings/lot of items. Maybe helicopter can destroy pilars, foundations & ceilings with his rockets, who knows... If helicopter can do that then servers won't need to wipe every time when server reachs 50.000 structures or more.

[QUOTE=BFG9000;43522382]Yes, this NPC should specifically target people with Kevlar and heavy weapons, and maybe have a loudspeaker that tells the "Insurgents" to "Drop your weapons and armor!" [editline]13th January 2014[/editline] Oh yeah? What about people who don't have metal houses?[/QUOTE] Another idea is to have the heli attracted to mass gunfire and explosions.

Make it have supplies and have a gun. Then have it fly around and make it so people have a chance to shoot it down and get supplies like an airdrop. But I kind of don't like the helicopter idea overall having guns. Idk how I feel about this.

[QUOTE=oryg1n;43521096]From what I've heard about this thing, that it flies around and randomly kills people, it sounds like a horrible idea. People are dying left and right to players as it is, why do we need an AI helicopter to do it also? What's the benefit of this? Is it's sole purpose to frustrate players?[/QUOTE] If the heli is indeed going to hunt players, it's possible it will hunt 'rich' players. You'll see on Trello they're concerned about balance and are looking for a way to mitigate against the problem of rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. As well, they do plan on removing zombies, making the PvE even that much more trivial--even new spawns don't need much to make the current PvE trivial outside of perhaps major rad zones which are easily avoided. I definitely agree that the PvE and survival aspect of the game needs to be stepped up in some way--I'm not sure if a player hunter helicopter is the best way to accomplish this, but it could be interesting. However, if this heli will be hunting players, I'd expect to be able to shoot it down too, and then scavenge and salvage loot from the crash site. Guns, ammo, medkits, metal, bandages, gun mods, rations, rad pills, gunpowder as loot would make sense.

[QUOTE=Mr. Mayhem;43522897] However, if this heli will be hunting players, I'd expect to be able to shoot it down too, and then scavenge and salvage loot from the crash site. Guns, ammo, medkits, metal, bandages, gun mods, rations, rad pills, gunpowder as loot would make sense.[/QUOTE] Fuck no 1. Why would a hunter chopper come with supplies like gunpowder, metal, and non attached gun mods? Pills, rations, guns, medkits etch would make sense, but still, that's a lot of supplies for a combat heli. 2.Who has the resources to shoot down a helicopter? The Kevlar-wearing bandits. Although, I think supplies could work if we could make it a bit harder to get them. For example, NPC soldiers and pilots would certainly force players to think twice about the effort it takes to harvest a heli.

My other idea would be to make the helicopter patrol around and shooting people with torches or flashlights in the dark. Once someone shoots it down, make it so people can get key parts like rotor assembly, etc, and no I'm not copying this from DayZ. Make these parts not be able to be researched either. Then with the parts and some extra metal and maybe low-grade fuel (a major resource) be able to fix it up or build a whole new one that is used for transportation and has a spot light. Then others can shoot it down obviously to get the pilot and passenger's supplies.

[QUOTE=BFG9000;43523036]Fuck no 1. Why would a hunter chopper come with supplies like gunpowder, metal, and non attached gun mods? Pills, rations, guns, medkits etch would make sense, but still, that's a lot of supplies for a combat heli. 2.Who has the resources to shoot down a helicopter? The Kevlar-wearing bandits. Although, I think supplies could work if we could make it a bit harder to get them. For example, NPC soldiers and pilots would certainly force players to think twice about the effort it takes to harvest a heli.[/QUOTE] 1. It's shooting guns. It isn't a huge stretch that there might be gunpowder to be salvaged. Surely this isn't a difficult idea to wrap your head around. Those were just ideas about what could be inside, anyway. 2. Helicopters are not immune to bullets.

[QUOTE=Mr. Mayhem;43523140]1. It's shooting guns. It isn't a huge stretch that there might be gunpowder to be salvaged. Surely this isn't a difficult idea to wrap your head around. Those were just ideas about what could be inside, anyway. 2. Helicopters are not immune to bullets.[/QUOTE] You still have to take into account that a helicopter that probably comes from a first world military is not going to have any un-packed gunpowder on board for no reason. Ammo by itself will suffice. I know helis aren't immune to bullets but the people that have the most powerful bullets are always the ones with m4s and Kevlar. Thus they have the highest chance of getting those resources and that is something we don't want.

[QUOTE=mike10019314;43522759]Another idea is to have the heli attracted to mass gunfire and explosions.[/QUOTE] well i could see it as a part of a whole, like insted of haveing zombies you have some para military grp what would roam around the map in grps and have a base you can attack. the helicopter would then move out to a arear where a player might have engaged a patrol and from there it would search and destroy and player it find, and it would do that for 10-15 mins.

Yeah PMCs would be a logical replacement for zombies, too

Nobody said this is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. And even if they did, who's to say there aren't powerful militaries in control of the world? You joined the game [b]during an alpha[/b]. You knew when you signed up that major things were going to change and that most of the story was up in the air. What part of that led you to believe there wouldn't be changes and that the story was already set in stone? For all you know, you're a survivor of a science experiment gone horribly wrong, or you've been framed for some terrible event, or who knows what, and there are bounties on all our heads because we're the only ones who know what happened. Or maybe this is a meta-ARG for HL3. Rads, decimated population, strange portals (aurora borealis?) floating through the sky, and that weird thing up on the side near the top of the mountain in the far northeast corner. Really makes you wonder.

I'd like to see the helicopter hunt down the mass murderers of the server. Levels the playing field.

[QUOTE=Maximum Over;43523304]Nobody said this is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. And even if they did, who's to say there aren't powerful militaries in control of the world? You joined the game [b]during an alpha[/b]. You knew when you signed up that major things were going to change and that most of the story was up in the air. What part of that led you to believe there wouldn't be changes and that the story was already set in stone? For all you know, you're a survivor of a science experiment gone horribly wrong, or you've been framed for some terrible event, or who knows what, and there are bounties on all our heads because we're the only ones who know what happened. Or maybe this is a meta-ARG for HL3. Rads, decimated population, strange portals (aurora borealis?) floating through the sky, and that weird thing up on the side near the top of the mountain in the far northeast corner. Really makes you wonder.[/QUOTE] I wasn't being sarcastic [editline]13th January 2014[/editline] Oh, just had a thought It could be made part of the backstory that the supply drops aren't for players, but for the soldiers, so that would mean the PMCs would ALSO be headed for supply drops, which certainly makes a challenge rather than simply waltzing in and taking the stuff.

Read the news. Zombies will be gone very soon. Bears and wolves are dealing not enough damage to be considered threads. Therefore there would be no environmental (NPC) threat left. At this point I honestly think [B][I]we need that heli to shoot at players[/I][/B].

well i think heli won't be common as zombies so we still need new threats

[QUOTE=bcksht;43523566]Read the news. Zombies will be gone very soon. Bears and wolves are dealing not enough damage to be considered threads. Therefore there would be no environmental (NPC) threat left. At this point I honestly think [B][I]we need that heli to shoot at players[/I][/B].[/QUOTE] It should only target superfortified locations and people who seem to pose a threat Rock-toters already have trouble with wolves, bears, and wild dogs. I don't see much point in having them be targets of some theoretical military group.

[QUOTE=bcksht;43523566]Read the news. Zombies will be gone very soon.[/QUOTE] Where are you getting this info? In fact, the latest news post says that they may NOT remove zombies. I am sure if zombies are removed there will be some threat(s) to take their place. The wilderness itself should be enough of a threat to even experienced players and I think an attack heli is heading in the right direction.

[QUOTE=Sievers808;43523659]Where are you getting this info? In fact, the latest news post says that they may NOT remove zombies. I am sure if zombies are removed there will be some threat(s) to take their place. The wilderness itself should be enough of a threat to even experienced players and I think an attack heli is heading in the right direction.[/QUOTE] Here is the source [url]https://trello.com/c/aPg2Nwj3/130-remove-zombies[/url]

If anything I would like to see the helicopter as something that guards an encampment off the main chunks of the map. This will get the big fish out of the pond so to speak leaving the smaller guys a little more elbow room and providing more for the bigger guys to do other then collect trophy m4s and bolt actions form some poor guys wooden house. Cuz really that is the main problem. There is nothing for a dominant group to do other then raid people trying to build up.

[QUOTE=KingBubbles;43523696]Here is the source [url]https://trello.com/c/aPg2Nwj3/130-remove-zombies[/url][/QUOTE] Yes, I'm aware of the Trello, that card has been in there for a long time. However there's nothing that says it is happening soon and even the homepage says that it may not happen at all. [QUOTE] We don’t know whether we’re actually going to have to replace them further down the line. It’s not something we want to rush into. [/QUOTE] Obviously this isn't really definitive one way or another, but I don't know if "very soon" is the best thing to assume.

[QUOTE=Sievers808;43523659]Where are you getting this info? In fact, the latest news post says that they may NOT remove zombies. I am sure if zombies are removed there will be some threat(s) to take their place. The wilderness itself should be enough of a threat to even experienced players and I think an attack heli is heading in the right direction.[/QUOTE] Zombies were supposed to be removed before the game was ever released on Steam, but they didn't get it done in time. Don't you read the news updates? [url]http://playrust.com/status-report-001/[/url] Just scroll down to "Removing Zombies." [editline]13th January 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Maximum Over;43523304]that weird thing up on the side near the top of the mountain in the far northeast corner. Really makes you wonder.[/QUOTE] The far northeast corner... I don't think I've been there. Time for an adventure!

I personally think the Heli should attack all indiscriminately, but given a choice of multiple targets in the vicinity always chooses the highest threat (the guy with the most firepower - guns, bullets, etc). Players are also given a chance to shoot down the helicopter. Not by themselves - it could take a massive group effort to shoot the thing down. Maybe if it's starting to get damaged, it flies away to another location on the map, targetting players there. Imagine the helicopter slowly gathering damage as it is shot by players over the course of its flight over the map, until the final bullet and the thing spins out of control, crashing down below... Then perhaps it might have a few supplies, perhaps the same yield as a radzone chest (not as much as an airdrop, but I like the idea of the thing being lootable). I think they should also add bandit mobs. Bandits are equipped with random guns. If they spot you, you've got a gunfight on your hands. That should occupy those kevlar guys, especially if they really work on the AI for the bandits (make them take cover, throw grenades, etc rather than just stand there and get shot). Or even, going with the Attack Heli idea, squads of military personnel? That opens the door for them being super strong AIs (fully military gear, fully modern or potentially even advanced weapons, etc). They should have a yield of goods (making them attractive option for high-level players looking to amass resources), but not too high so they don't accelerate the rich-get-richer situation. Maybe even have both. Military squads which are tough to kill for well-equipped players, and ragtag bandits which can easily be killed for low-level players.