Hello, it's Jonathan again, Lead Writer for ExtroForge, here to bring you another article from the mind of Lead Developer Jeff, about Auto Turrets and how fire missions work.
"So....there you are, up on a hill - far away from the enemy command post...which is safely ensconced in voxel walls.
You've got an Auto Turret up there...but there is no enemy moving about for it to target...the command post appears to be abandoned.
You switch into zoom mode and scope the situation out.
While in zoom mode you pick a seemingly weak point on the structure and activate a fire mission request. Once activated, you will see a rotating target reticule projected on the surface of whatever you are attempting to "paint". It will spin faster and faster until it gets a 'lock' and then will turn green (and stop spinning). That means that the request has been sent, and rounds will be en-route to the target area.
After you have sent the request, the nearest Auto Turret picks up on the request. It then lets loose three to five Wowitzer rounds, which are sent in 4 barrages (each in slightly different position in order to cover the general area with explosive hell).
Fire mission in action
If you move while trying to get a lock, it will disengage and you will have to start over. This prevents you from trying to generate a fire mission on the run or while falling from the drop ship. You also can't "paint" a moving target because of this.
The range of the fire mission request is about 300 meters (the responding turret can be Kilometers away though) from the requester's position. If you are too far away from the target area, you will not see the request reticule. This forces you to get fairly close to the target you want to "paint".
The request will ignore everything that might block the path EXCEPT the terrain. This means you can safely place a turret you intend to use for fire missions hidden away in a grove of trees - or even in a covered bunker. It will aim 'through' anything in projectile path (hitting walls/obstacles with launched projectile as appropriate). If a terrain obstacle is in the way, it will switch to 'high arc' and reign down death from above."
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