Tanks.

[[JR]Hussar]

Just wondering what tanks and vehicles are going to be incorporated.

One tank that I think would be fantastic for combined arms map would be the Churchill....not sure how hard it is to make models, though I estimate it's probably very difficult and time consuming. But if you guys are in this for the long haul, you may as well cover as much as possible because I'm looking at it and so far it just oozes potential!

Do we have any idea when this game will be released? The models look sublime...completely blown away xD

 

[Sir Apple]

No worries, we do plan to include such tanks. The first release you'll find will be somewhat light with the amount of vehicles, but we definitely have a lot of tanks we want to include throughout following releases

As for a release date we like to say "when its done". A boring answer but we don't want to commit to a release time quite yet.

 

[General Naga]

We've structured the game development into a series of "Chapters". The first chapter is called Overlord and is focused on the British/Germans in the immediate aftermath of D-Day right up to the end of the Normandy campaign around the time the Falaise Pocket was closed.

Future chapters will build upon Overlord introducing more advanced features, new vehicles, weapons and maybe nations. The advantage with this method is it means we can release the game faster and in manageable chunks as the task of making the game is enormous

I've always liked the Churchill and as you say it's the perfect support tank for British infantry. Definitely one for the list

 

[[JR]Hussar]

That's a great idea to release in Chapters, in fact, I was just showing my brother this game (unlike me who would be able to play it on medium low, he will be able to blitz it on max as he has a massive gaming computer, the lucky blighter) and I read that it would start off as infantry, but even so I think it will be fantastic.

I don't think the "When it's done" answer is a boring one, it's a sensible one; as people get all over devs when announced deadlines are missed and at the end of the day, you need to spend the time it takes to make the game the best in the LONG RUN.....something people often overlook.

I love the Churchill personally, my Grandfather Commanded one in Europe, having had a Crusader in Africa, he loved the Churchill to bits, and he even managed to get a hold of 2 M1 Carbines and a box of ammunition (swapped with a luger with some American Paratroopers) to give him a better chance of protecting himself against the Panzerfaust teams in the Bocage....long story short, that Churchill took so many AT hits and a few from other tanks too, but brought him out the other side in 1 piece....so I essentially owe my existence to the Churchill!

 

[General Naga]

They were certainly a great design and piece of engineering. Nice to hear from a gamer with a positive approach to indie games

We should really start a thread for people to share they're relatives war stories. After all we all have some we've heard which would otherwise go untold.

 

[swatty]

oh yeah tanks would be nice
But tanks are also a challenge for mappers to think about. I think it is a bit hard for an mapper to find a really good layout that fits tanks and infantry on a single map. Because for infantry tanks can be very frustrating and AT infantry for tanks too Such maps need special areas with advantages for infantry like cities and for tanks wide open areas like fields.
You already thought about how the player can drive the tanks. Can a single player drive the whole thing alone or does he need a driver, gunner etc. ?

regards

 

[[JR]Hussar]

If you were going to persue tanks (which I think would make this game complete) then I think a Red Orchestra/ Darkest Hour approach would be required to best serve this game and the experience as a whole from a gamers perspective.

It means that tanks have up to 3 positions (Driver, Gunner and Commander) with the player being able to switch between the positions if single tanking, but a format which actually makes team tanking a rewarding, efficient, effective and all round worthwhile experience.

I am from a tank clan on that game called the Jolly Rodgers and we would be happy/ honoured to help advise on tanks, we are all watching this game VERY closely as the next step for our clan as it would provide a similar atmosphere to what we've got now, but with more detail, better graphics and the potential to incorporate other goodies too!

 

[General Naga]

Plenty of goodies

Just to clarify - are you suggesting that one player can perform all three roles by switching seats or allowing one player to do all three from the same seat but suffers a penalty/disadadvantage for not working with other players?

 

[MajorHoward]

yeah otherwise it would be like playing BF3 on consoles

 

[General Naga]

yeah otherwise it would be like playing BF3 on consoles

Which option do you mean? Not owning BF3 (yes I know shock horror) or a console - could you elaborate for me?

 

[[JR]Hussar]

Plenty of goodies

Just to clarify - are you suggesting that one player can perform all three roles by switching seats or allowing one player to do all three from the same seat but suffers a penalty/disadadvantage for not working with other players?

A player can change positions in a tank on DH, there are usually 3 (Driver, bow machine gunner and Gunner/Commander)

So to give you an example, I can hop in a firefly (which has no bow machine gun due to that area being used to store ammunition) and I can drive somewhere and then switch into the gunner's position, choose my ammo type and set a range and then I can roll the middle mouse up once to access the commanders cupola vision blocks or periscope if it has one and then if I roll the mouse up again I can open the hatch to get a better view and one more roll of the middle mouse and I have access to binos which obviously make spotting distant targets easier....I can however be shot when standing up through the hatch, so that's the trade off (many games make it hard/ impossible to kill people in this position).

On the one hand what you get is slightly less mobile warfare when compared to FH2 but a much more intense and realistic feel. After all, tanks rarely fired on the move during WW2 owing to a lack of gun stabilization and lack of fire controls which could lase and lock onto a target (as seen in the likes of Challenger 2).

However, those willing to use a little team work and hop in a tank together will make that fighting platform more effective and therefore those people (providing they work together and communicate) will enjoy an advantage over people who are going lone wolf. I would advise against a BF2 PR style tanking, whereby you can enter as driver but cannot access the gunner's seat unless team tanking as sometimes there may not be enough people in a server or the people on may not enjoy utilising such assets...it was always one of the things that really wound me up about that game.

I think Darkest Hour has quite a few good characteristics that you might like to consider incorporating into your game. If you have any question or would like to find out more about DH you can reach me here but my clan members on • User Control Panel • Login you should pop along, there is a fair bit of talk going on within our clan about traction wars and it's potential!

If you have Red Orchestra 1 then DH is free to download, feel free to hop into game some time on our [JR] Tank and combined arms server; you'd certainly be most welcome!

 

[[JR]Hussar]

Ah yes, the other thing is that a while ago DH was changed so that the engine didn't automatically turn off when the driver's seat was vacated.

The idea was that some tanks in WW2 (like the Tiger) required the engine to be running in order to use power controls in the turret, with the engine off it was down to manual controls for the gunner. Admittedly in DH it was made universal, and that annoyed me slightly as it took away from realism (I think it was done to make it fairer on the Germans, as most allied tanks had a battery which operated the turret whilst the engine was off....but hey they never balanced it for allies because the Germans had better armour and firepower! lol)

Of course the bonus of this feature is that you are able to turn the engine off and sit silently, whereas if your engine is running you can be heard (provided there isn't too much going on around, in which case those sounds will likely drown out your idling engine) but the other plus was that an engine shutting down or starting up actually makes a fair amount of noise in tanks, so before, every time you swapped to gunner's position you made your position very clear with the whining stop and then the wailing as you changed back to change positions once more. Due to the games sound layout, all the sounds you hear are actually happening on the battlefield and therefore people knew to direct their own armour towards your rough location.

One thing that cannot (or maybe just isn't) done on DH is the famous "Cherry", the glowing metal around the hole left by an AP round, incorporating that would be a fantastic idea, and perhaps mapping areas on a tank whereby they are more or less likely to catch fire and/ or explode; Iron front does this QUITE well, the mapping of areas but I'm not sure how hard it is for you to do. It is however another suggestion which I feel would add to the visuals you guys are putting out.

I suppose it's little attention to details like that mixed with sound and visuals which really top off a game like this!

 

[MrT]

Hello Found this mod recently, I mainly come from DOD and like that style and small-medium maps.. seeing this about tanks worries.
I really like a bit of vehicles and some larger maps, but not always and ONLY wast open maps.
Will a DOD player at least somewhat feel at home in this mod?

 

[brrr]

Hello Found this mod recently, I mainly come from DOD and like that style and small-medium maps.. seeing this about tanks worries.
I really like a bit of vehicles and some larger maps, but not always and ONLY wast open maps.
Will a DOD player at least somewhat feel at home in this mod?

Sure you will feel at home with this game. We have many smaller scale infantry only maps in development alongside the much larger vehicle based ones, so no need to worry .

 

[Maniche]

And we're a standalone game so.

Maniche

 

[MrT]

Ah that sounds good thanks .

 

[CanadianSquirrel]

I thought about a tank, probably wasn't used in OVERLORD chapter but still: The Flammpanzer 38t. it's some sort of Hetzer 38t tank but with a flamethrower.

 

[General Naga]

That would be a modified one of these?



It's an interesting concept and should make hiding just about anywhere a risky business. Only 50 or so were made though so it could be tricky to find battles other than the Battle of the Bulge where they were deployed.

 

[CanadianSquirrel]

Also, i thought about another tank, this one's probably not even a challenge, the Centaur, basically it's a Cromwell, with less Engine Power, it has a short 95mm howitzer gun, World of Tankers call it the *Derp* but yeah, it's super efficient against infantry, i think it'd be a great addition to the game

 

[General Naga]

No Meteor (Merlin) engine? That the best part of the Cromwell though - it sounds like a Spitfire

This is an interesting variation. I'm hoping that visually at least underneath the equipment the hull/tracks/turret are identical which would make this pretty easy to implement. Equally though it's possible all those dimensions are a little off because of the thinner armour. One for the watch list