Infantry firing from behind cover?

[thatguy96]

I don't know if its as all feasible in a game like this, but would it be possible in the future to add the ability to for certain infantry units to fire small arms from within certain vehicles or fortifications?

I would think that if it could it would have already have been done, but I thought I'd ask anyhow.

[PlasmaKrab]

Good point, I would really like to see that, it would f.e. add something to mechanized combat to have the carried infantry firing on the move from their APC hatches...

On the other hand, modelling that accurately would require adding several variables, wouldn't it? Both for vehicles and fortifications/buildings, you would have to set in some extent which weapons can be fired outside (say, no hard-launch LAW/RPGs from inside that building, no squad MGs from this APC...), and in what extent the troops have to stand out to fire (there again, are the weapons fired from firing ports, behind armored hatches, standing on top of the roof?) in order to know how vulnerable they would be.
Besides, that would require (as the "hard-launch LAW/RPG" points out) an additional weapon detail level not needed apart from that, and furthermore, you would have to add some command (possibly a helicopter-like switch) to force your troops in/out and the whole lot of information implied by all this (which unit can fire what from where etc.).
I have no idea how the game is actually coded, but from the few I have reflected on this subject, I guess that it would be very, very hard to do at all.

Come to think of it, except if you specifically require a firing-port operation, all the fighting that has to be done standing uncovered to the waist on top of your APC/bunker can be dealt with by quickly dismounting/reloading your infantry units, can't it?

[thatguy96]

I thought of a number of the issues you said as I was writing this. That it would be hard to prevent certain weapons from being used. I just thought it would give certain vehicles another factor in an ambush, say if you bumped right up against a hidden infantry unit moving too fast. Firing from within the vehicle or on top or whatever would model the ability to get some more guns on the new target with a faster response and greater cover than infantry being chased from vehicles.

It was just a question, I can see serious issues preventing this feature within the SP code.