ROT

Flag:	ROT
File(s):	rules(md).ini
Values:	Unsigned integers: All non-negative whole numbers from 0 to either 32767, 2147483647 or 4294967295.
Default:	?
Applicable to:	TechnoTypes: AircraftTypes, BuildingTypes, InfantryTypes and VehicleTypes, Projectiles

On Infantry/Vehicle/Aircraft/Building Types

Determines the Rate Of Turn of this object and/or its turret, if applicable. Bigger number = faster turn.

On Projectiles

A non-zero value means this projectile can home-in on its target. A value of 0 disables homing behavior and leaves the projectile to fly straight. Note that this method of straight flight is buggy in TS and ever since.

ROT=1

ROT 1 appears to be a special case:

• A projectile with a ROT of 1 will follow what appears to be a straight line to its target (seen on the Cyborg Commando in Tiberian Sun). Actually, at extended ranges and low speeds, even projectiles with ROT=1 will adjust their trajectory to accomodate for changes in the target's position, but this is not usually visible. However, projectiles with ROT=1 will have no height deviation from their firing point, unlike missiles with higher ROT, which will fly upwards to hit the target in an arc.
• On aircraft, a weapon with a projectile with an ROT of 1 will cause the aircraft to fire the weapon in a strafing pattern of single projectiles (ignoring Burst on everything but the first shot) until either the weapon has been fired five times, the target was destroyed, or the unit aborts its attack mission. It will repeat this for every point of Ammo the aircraft carries. This is consistent with the common firing pattern of Bomber aircraft.
• Setting ROT to 1 appears to make the projectile default to a high acceleration, meaning that it will be fired at a low speed and accelerate as it moves towards its target, though modifying the Acceleration tag can prevent this in order to generate a smoother flight.
  • Projectiles with an ROT of 1 are known to act strangely when fired at certain angles or distances. They will sometimes "overshoot" their target and fly on past the map boundaries, but re-enter the map later, hitting their target. Other unusual behaviour has been observed regarding flight characteristics, especially when an ROT of 1 is coupled with AA=yes or Inaccurate=yes / FlakScatter=yes, though this might hold true for all projectiles with a ROT greater than 0 and Inaccurate or FlakScatter (needs testing). The most obscure effects are obtained by firing an inaccurate / flakscattering projectile with an ROT of 1 from aircraft, which will give an extreme form of the "Circling Missile bug".

Notes

• Setting a predefined flight path (via Arcing=yes / Lobber=yes and similar) will make the game ignore any ROT set on the projectile; the flight path determined by the former two tags takes precedence.

This needs testing

The following section contains information that has not been personally confirmed by the revision's author; readers are encouraged to test it themselves and update the section accordingly.

• setting Ranged=yes forces the projectile to respect the weapon's Range setting, meaning it can only follow a target so long as the target is within the weapon's range from the location it was fired from. Reaching the limits of this range will cause the projectile to detonate. If "Ranged=" is set to "no", the projectile will follow its target indefinitely until it is either triggered to detonate (by hitting the target, Proxy fuse or maybe some other trigger mechanic that can be coded) or is destroyed (say by Firestorm) or the the target is destroyed by other means, which will cause the projectile to instantly detonate (which is true for any homing projectile).