This should address some of Mjr. Whoopass questions:
Fighter Velocity
Regarding the speed dynamics; at the moment I would say that the setup feels quite balanced and realistic while still providing the WC experience. All the fighters are specced according to the known stats and their speed attributes are all relative, so an Excalibur squadron (500kps) can keep pace with an Arrow squadron (520kbps) over short to intermediate range (say 10-15km) although over a longer run the Arrows will begin to put some distance between the Excaliburs, whereas over a ~20km route, some Arrows will catchup to and surpass some Thunderbolts (380kbps) even if the Thuds had a decent head start.
Capship Velocity
The capships are also specced at speeds relative to each other and their class type, with destroyers being the fastest, followed by frigates and scout transports, then carriers and cruisers. I know that cruisers are detailed as moving in the 150kps range (max speed) in the WC3/WC4 manuals, but for balance reasons due to their significant firepower and prescence in the mod, their speed was reduced at a early stage in development.
At the moment, the capship speed stats don't reflect accurate metrics (cruisers currently show as having a speed rating of 60 instead of 150), but the in-game metrics are superficial I suspect (need to check with Aaron) with the underlying script attribute actually effecting the ship speed. So the capships are all relative at the moment, but quite a bit slower than the fighters. I believe Aaron mentioned that during his earlier testing, setting the capships to faster speeds detrimentally affected gameplay with them traversing the maps too quickly. Saying this though, I'm sure all of these attributes can and will be tweaked as further testing progresses and after a wider test/release is available.
Fighter Combat
I would also say that fighter combat is also fairly realistic, even at this untweaked stage. The scenes from the gameplay preview probably distort this slightly, as I setup the scenario with a limited UBW force (1x Durango, 1x Cruiser and a couple of fighter wings) versus a fairly overwhelming Confed force to show off the different gameplay facets, so when the fighters engaged they were going in with a 3:1 advantage and a more top-heavy mix of craft, so many of the UBW craft were destroyed in the first salvo or missile launch.
More evenly matched engagements tend to last a fair bit longer, indeed one Arrow squadron could be chasing an enemy scout squadron around the map for 5-10 minutes before eliminating them, assuming they don't turn and engage (the A.I. still needs work!
). I should be uploading some more videos hopefully this week focusing on specific actions, such a Longbow torpedo run, capship combat, attacking capship systems (engines, bridge, etc), capship combat with close fighter support, etc so I'll try and showcase some more evenly fought engagements.
Shield Issues
The capships are also in a somewhat intermediatary state, as Aaron is trying to implement a shield system similar to that seen in WC4, but the process is quite involved with a number of issues depending on the method, such as causing lag, having to design new meshes, conflicts with various weapons, etc. At the moment, all of the capships do not have shields, but their hull strength reflects their combined WC hull and shield strength, so torpodoes affect minimal damage.
If the shield system can be implemented, then torpedoes will be very powerful as per the games, with a Longbow squadron able to destroy most capships in a single payload, assuming their torps aren't shot down and the Longbows get close enough. If a shield system can't be implemented then the torpodoes and capship hull strength will be adjusted accordingly to give a realistic dynamic. At this stage these attributes are still in flux while work on a shield fix continues and I will put a short disclaimer in the gameplay videos to highlight this.
Capship AMGs & Sound Fx/Music
The larger capships turrets are AMG's and will fire yellow bursts as per the games. Once Aaron has the fx and sound for them they will be integrated into the mod. Hopefully we should be able to adjust the particle speeds independently to get the WC feel for AMGs and dual-lasers.
The music was overlayed during editing, but the intention is to integrate it in to the mod as (hopefully dynamic - i.e. victory tune when enemy capship destroyed, etc) gameplay music, as well as other WC voices and sounds.
Cheers,
Bryn
