The First Transport Is Away
#1
Posted 27 June 2009 - 08:01 PM
While working on units late in the development of v1.1, it became increasingly apparent that we had yet to find the perfect formula to balance the needs of carriers and independent starfighters; at that point, however, it was too late to change anything. Shortly after the release, we decided to put the question to the fans in a poll to let you decide our next course of action. I'm here today to report that the vote has been counted and the changes have been implemented!
For complements, this means a reduction by half of build costs and times across the board, making carriers more pragmatic of an option. We've furthermore normalized the bias that used to exist in favor of smaller carriers by allowing all complements to reach half of their upgrade potential when the carrier is fully upgraded and scaling everything accordingly in between, meaning corvettes will no longer always have better starfighters than capitals.
In an interesting twist made possible by the new tech trees, complement upgrade level is now also offset by a modifier equal to the difference of level between carrier and complement, so newer-model carriers that happen to have older complements will get an upgrade bonus to their starfighters - possibly even surpassing the halfway mark at the final upgrade. The reverse is also true, however, so old carriers with new complements will be penalized in upgrades.
For the most part, you won't need to remember any of these rules when playing the game - they will just happen. All the average player needs to know is that starships with a starfighter complement will now be more economical, that upgrades are now balanced across class, and you'll get better complements the deeper you go into the tech tree. Oh, and they now might include transports.
With resounding support from fans, we will no longer automatically exclude units of the transport class from complement rosters. I've gone through all of our existing ships and added in transports where they would canonically appear based on extensive research and a little necessary supposition; our unit pages have been updated with that information.
Finally, what's a complement post without a new unit? After being sorely missed for so long, I'm thrilled to announce the addition of the ultimate CSA complement: the IRD Fighter!
The Corporate Sector had, for years, relied on makeshift, secondhand models to fill the hangars of the Picket Fleet. This thinking changed during the Clone Wars, when the increasing demand for military hardware left the CSA in a pinch. In the wake of the conflict, the Direx Board finally conceded that it was fiscally prudent to produce their own brand of starfighter specifically suited to their unique needs. The result was the IRD Fighter, a design that emphasized speed, firepower, and survivability.
As with the X-wing and the TIE/ln, the IRD has transcended its everyday use to become emblematic of its faction - and for good reason: the IRD is a solid all-around fighter for the price. It is fast enough to keep up with everything but a true interceptor, but is more heavily armed and shielded that most interceptors. Its lack of hyperdrive makes it a short-range fighter, but that is just fine for the purposes of the carrier-heavy Picket Fleet. The only weakness of the IRD is its inability to adequately perform maneuvers, a problem so severe that an entire redesign of the hull was prompted for the IRD-A. As such, it tends to be a poor dogfighter, instead relying on its concussion missiles to conduct slashing attacks.
Look for the IRD and all of the complement changes in the next release of Phoenix Rising, v1.2. In the meantime, check out the rest of the screenshots!
#4
Posted 28 June 2009 - 05:27 PM
Do you have an approx. release date?
Ahem, one down.Probably not for a while I'm afraid. I have an idea of some of the major features I'd like to see in a v1.2, but haven't settled on all of them yet. Of course, a lot of that depends on whether or not we can get some help in modeling and other areas (speaking of which, I need to make a point of writing some help wanteds). But of those potential features, I've really only completed one so far, which I'll describe in detail in a bit.
Probably not. For one, R2 would blow his motivator trying to display that much text and for two, the idea of writing out new strings for all of our variants isn't very appealing to me. In terms of opportunity cost, I could probably add a new unit or two if I didn't take the time to do this.Also will units descriptions in game now possibly have their complement versions of fighters and carriers?
#6
Posted 28 June 2009 - 09:32 PM
#7
Posted 29 June 2009 - 05:09 PM
I can see new tactics now...
Distract them with Mankvims, then give the killing blow with the IRDs.
Will there be both IRDs and IRD-As? Perhaps upgrades?
EDIT: Ah apparently yes, but will the model change? The IRD has no wings, the IRD-A has wings and adds concussion missiles.
Edited by Kacen, 29 June 2009 - 05:12 PM.
#8
Posted 29 June 2009 - 07:34 PM
It'll feature a complete set of upgrades, even if they currently don't work in GC (I'm still planning like they eventually will).Will there be both IRDs and IRD-As? Perhaps upgrades?
It was hard enough to find any model of the IRD, let alone two different ones. This one was based on the XWA-style IRD, which, although closer to the IRD-A, has its own distinct look from the "originals". As far as I'm concerned for the mod, it'll suffice for both.Ah apparently yes, but will the model change? The IRD has no wings, the IRD-A has wings and adds concussion missiles.
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