Last week’s update mentioned that the patch with the interceptor was right around the corner. At the time we sincerely thought that was the case but supporting game pads and joysticks ended up being a deeper rabbit hole than we had initially anticipated and it took all week to get the new code stable. Fortunately it’s now finished and we’ve begun doing the integration work for the new interceptor mockup which is quite exciting. Due to its maneuverability we expect there won’t be nearly as many people accidentally liquefying themselves by flying into mountains at speeds of 2 km/s like there was when we introduced the corvette.
An interceptor with a prototype of external missile pods
Speaking of the corvette our second iteration is coming along nicely. We’ve reduced its length from 115m to ~82m which will make it a bit easier to fly. We’re also redesigning its cockpit to increase visibility. As the largest non-capital ship in the game the corvette will perform a role similar to a modern tank. With heavy armor and heavy weaponry including independently targeting turrets it will make its presence known in a battlescape.
The corvette is the only non-capital ship with turrets
This week we’ve also put some significant work into updating the game launcher and web backend as we get ready to begin internal testing of our new installation/patching system. Our goal is to have it ready in time for the patch after next. At the moment updates to the game are coming once every few weeks. We’d like to significantly increase the frequency of our updates and this new patching system will be essential for reducing the size of your downloads as well as the amount of money we’re paying for bandwidth. It’s also part of the foundation for what we hope will one day become a Software Development Kit (SDK) for modders.
Last but not least we have a new render, shown above, of the completed prototype of our NPC hauler. To refresh everyone’s memory haulers will be spawned at factories every couple of minutes to deliver raw materials to the nearest base/space station. If the hauler successfully makes it then those raw materials are turned into credits evenly distributed among the members of that team for purchasing better ships and weapons. Therefore each team will have supply lines that can be disrupted by enemy forces either temporarily by destroying individual haulers or more permanently by destroying factories.
Yay, gameplay news! Can’t wait to test the new corvette and interceptor. Very interesting about supply lines; if the factories are separate to bases, I assume you’ll have to think very carefully about how to distribute both and how to stop factories being too easy to destroy (easy win)?
Ha. Armor the external pods. You know how to solve problems.
Also I see turrets there.
I think (hope) Flavien has sorted Atmospheric flight out long ago and the problem is just gone next update so we can finaly compare (and fly, with more fun) all the ships in atmo again.
Hmm, this brings up the game scale to me, specifically in terms of equipment. Will the turrets be that size or will might they increase? What i mean is that in World of Warcraft one of the things they did right was to make shoulder armor big enough to be quite visible and it is one of the defining characteristics of how your character looks. Now with spaceships, specifically those with turrets, i think it would be good if the turrets were visually a tad bigger to make them more pronounced. To underline that the corvette is about its turrets as one of its main characteristics and a major point in its visual style. When players are flying they pay attention to, mostly, the engines and the turrets.
Warcraft’s shoulder pads are ridiculous. Additionally, if the turrets are destructible, having them larger doesn’t make any sense, as you’d want them as small as possible so they don’t get destroyed.
Personally, I don’t have an issue with smaller guns on a bigger ship, it makes the truly bigger guns look more impressive.
Yes, this is why there are automated BB guns on Apache helicopters and pea-launchers on naval destroyers so that the turrets don’t get destroyed. Oh, wait…
Sarcasm aside, I understand your point of view: having weapons bigger in size just because it looks cooler doesn’t really bring sense. However, if the corvette is supposed to do a lot more damage than the interceptor, then a size increase on the weapons seems logical. Especially if the higlighted turrets are the only damage source, as it looks like from the prototype (missiles excluded).
Then again, there’s been a lot of arguement on different topics on how and why more damage output from a “space gun” doesn’t necessarly corrolate with bigger size. Nonetheless, for the sake of gameplay at least, it could be considered.
Do you work on a destroyer? I happen to, in case you were curious. Your point is moot, as our gun is comparatively closer to the proposed corvette’s than the ones you propose. Our “pea shooter” only fires 5" diameter shells (127mm, for the metric folks) on a ship over 500 feet long.
You’ll notice that it’s not actually all that big. Furthermore, the Apache is more analogous to a fighter or interceptor, in terms of scale: the weapons will naturally be considerably larger related to the platform. The corvette is what, 2-4x the size of those ships? A weapon that is relatively similar on the corvette will be 2-4x the actual size of the weapons on the interceptors/fighters.
Indeed! I’m glad it’s getting a slight remodel though, the cockpit view was a little too boxy with not much sense of the rest of the ship for my liking, so I hope it’s tweaked a little!
Maybe the visibility forward got better. But from the model it looks way worse in all other directions. But we’ll see next update I guess.
I don’t like the castration of the model. It’s a big diversion from the concept, which generally serve to give ships their special look. I don’t know how much of that will remain once it’s all detailed out.
I’ll happily test the interceptor when it will be around