pygmypiranha
Vice Admiral
Well, because they know we are so pumped about it they are spending all their time working on it
Strategic Commander Design Document
- Thread starter TFCommander
- Start date
Well, because they know we are so pumped about it they are spending all their time working on it
TFCommander
Spaceman
Yes we are very busy 
But I promise we'll post some updated screenshots and the full FAQ next week A guy at work is toying around with our code to see if he can fit his 3D engine into it so we could possibly be looking at a 3D Tactical Combat module ala Homeworld.
But I promise we'll post some updated screenshots and the full FAQ next week A guy at work is toying around with our code to see if he can fit his 3D engine into it so we could possibly be looking at a 3D Tactical Combat module ala Homeworld.
pygmypiranha
Vice Admiral
Originally posted by TFCommander
Yes we are very busy
Allow me to gasp for air and then kel over from excitement. I think this is possibly the next step in the Wing Commander series. Break out the can of WHOOPASS!
TFCommander
Spaceman
After mucho grande conversation with the guy at work, we've decided to integrate SC with his 3D game engine... both of which require alot of revamping, since we'd have to have the 3D engine generate missions from variables passed from the fleet encounter in Strategic engine... ie ships, formation, supply level, damage, system terrain, experience, fighter mission AI, Admiral bonuses, etc etc etc....
We will still be keeping the straight stats/strat based system for people who want to skip the tactical module.
Battles in the tactical module will be in Real Time and have a time limit of 1 day before returning to the strategic module, then back into the tactical module in the next turn.
The plus side of all this being, it'll be really really sweet. The maps themselves will roughly be 10x the size of homeworld maps and will have planetary bodies and stellar terrain that you can hide in. I'll briefly explain how this works... Let's say during an engagement, your task force is mauled, so you move the ships into an asteroid field, you then have the option of setting all ships to Passive/Silent Running mode, this reduces the chance of the enemy Scout/Patrol AI of detecting you while you make repairs (based on current supply level)
Scouting/Patrolling works like this, we're fudging the science of how sensors work (the movie/games/novels did it). On the Strategic map, you will be able to see where the enemy fleet is in a system (we're calling this "We know the general location of the fleet"). Once a tactical battle is initiated, the radar screen will show the last known position (starting) of the enemy ships on the map. This is where you have to send out fighter patrols to try and scout out enemy ships.
The minus side to all of this is, this will take a lot longer to do... especially since none of us do any 3D modelling, so if u guys wanna help out, give us a shout, we're looking for very low poly high-detail-textured models (We want biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig battles)
We will still be keeping the straight stats/strat based system for people who want to skip the tactical module.
Battles in the tactical module will be in Real Time and have a time limit of 1 day before returning to the strategic module, then back into the tactical module in the next turn.
The plus side of all this being, it'll be really really sweet. The maps themselves will roughly be 10x the size of homeworld maps and will have planetary bodies and stellar terrain that you can hide in. I'll briefly explain how this works... Let's say during an engagement, your task force is mauled, so you move the ships into an asteroid field, you then have the option of setting all ships to Passive/Silent Running mode, this reduces the chance of the enemy Scout/Patrol AI of detecting you while you make repairs (based on current supply level)
Scouting/Patrolling works like this, we're fudging the science of how sensors work (the movie/games/novels did it). On the Strategic map, you will be able to see where the enemy fleet is in a system (we're calling this "We know the general location of the fleet"). Once a tactical battle is initiated, the radar screen will show the last known position (starting) of the enemy ships on the map. This is where you have to send out fighter patrols to try and scout out enemy ships.
The minus side to all of this is, this will take a lot longer to do... especially since none of us do any 3D modelling, so if u guys wanna help out, give us a shout, we're looking for very low poly high-detail-textured models (We want biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig battles)
pygmypiranha
Vice Admiral
Now this is just getting better with every post that he does.
TFCommander
Spaceman
Here's a sneakpeek at what we're upto....quite alot has changed since our first screenie... the strategic engine has changed inorder to better facilitate the tactical engine instead of our initial 2D Tactical combat module we had planned.... if you look at the strategic map section I captured... the strategic module is a bit more simplified now... each system has a number of jumppoints (max 5... I know I know, we won't be able to reproduce the map exactly now), planets (max 3), with a number of fixed objects (asteroid belt, gas giant, star) each jumppoint/planet can have upto 3 Fleets/Fighter Groups defending it, this directly corresponds with where your ships will be when the tactical module is engaged. According to our screenshot, if an enemy fleet enters the system (tactical module engages whenever a hostile fleet enters a friendly system), there will be a fighter group around Rigel 1, a fighter group around Rigel 2, a fighter group defending the Rigel - Arcturus jump point and a Fleet inbetween the planets and jumppoint. This makes it extremely easy for us to pass positional values from the strategic engine into the tactical module to generate a mission.
Strategic Movement - Going from one system to another will involve moving from the Jumppoint to Midsystem to the Planets to Midsystem to Jumppoint. Each move taking 1 day.
Strategic Movement - Going from one system to another will involve moving from the Jumppoint to Midsystem to the Planets to Midsystem to Jumppoint. Each move taking 1 day.