Martellus

I was just reading a magazine and came across an advertisement for these 1/10 rc tanks with battle system being developed, toting a range of 250+ yards (2,500 in scale):

http://www.battletrax.co.uk/tiger.php

I wasn't interested in the models themselves due to size and cost, but that got me interested in what they were using for a battle system. No way IR could range that far, and if it did, it would just be flashlight tag. I assumed lasers or projectiles (like paintball bbs), but it seems they went a way I had not considered.

From the info on their website (sparse it is) and the info in the advertisement, each tank has a GPS unit inside, and keeps track of the way it is facing. When you press the fire button, the tank considers what way it is facing, and where the turret is facing relative to compute a line to hit other tanks (that I assume are linked to each other somehow). What I like, is how using this allows you to get the facing of other tanks relative to your fire angle, allowing for taking angle, armor, and the gun being fired into account. However, I can see some problems relatively quickly with this:

Does it take elevation of the relative tanks and gun angle into account? Trajectories? How?

How does it take the cover from existing terrain and placed buildings into account?

Will shots "lag" as they get GPS info? (This is relatively minor worry)

Unsurprisingly, all the in development models are german tanks. :/

R|M|D Photography

This was discussed on here a while back and the general consensus seemed to be that it was cool in theory, but would only be cool if all the other tanks you battle with were to have it. Which just isn't going to happen.

Martellus

Of course, its just an interesting take on RC combat. I like to keep my mind open to progression, and it has interesting advantages over the other methods.