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[thumb]thumb_ar.3.png[/thumb] [blurb]According to NORAD we've got updates coming at us from all directions and renders pushing up through Mexico. I don't know how they snuck in on us.[/blurb] Dioptic manifold clear! Unit ready! Electrodes ready! Welcome to the Apocalypse Rising May Update! This month's update features the Allied Prism Tank, the Soviet Purchase Terminal, and the Soviet Shock Trooper. Prism Tank It's Einstein's Prism tech on wheels. The boys at the lab call it a Prism Tank. Careful not to burn yourself! - Lt. Eva Deployed late into the war, the Prism Tank is yet another shining example of Allied technological superiority. Developed by Professor Albert Einstein, the Prism Tank operated as the Allies' anti-structure artillery unit. Utilising the same technology found in the Prism Tower base defenses, the Prism Tank is effective against enemy infantry and structures alike. Powerful as it may be, the Prism Tank is not without weaknesses. It's light armour and low rate of fire make it particularly ineffective against heavy armour. Coordination with Allied Grizzlies and IFVs in the field combined with its long-range beam offers more favourable engagements against Soviet Rhinos and Apocalypse Tanks. "Intensifying light trajectory!" Model by @Romanov Soviet Purchase Terminal In the previous war, Allied and Soviet structures shared many similarities from external appearances to internal terminals. As the opposing sides' architecture began to take on more unique motifs, so did the individual aspects that made up the internal infrastructure. Soviet engineers stayed true to the industrial element that is the working class and designed accordingly. Putting aside the sophisticated and sleek features that their Allied counterparts possessed, the Soviet Engineer Corps set about and designed a straightforward and reliable Purchase Terminal for use throughout friendly bases. Serving the same purpose as its previous war iteration, Soviet units may access these terminals and purchase infantry and vehicles from the Soviet arsenal. Depending on the country chosen (Russia, Iraq, Cuba, Libya), additional units may be authorised for purchase. "(56k modem dial-up sound)" Concept Art by @Squid Empire, Model by @Romanov and @moonsense715 Tesla Trooper Always striving towards the next step in Tesla technology, the Soviet Union has introduced a new class of soldiers into their ranks: the Tesla Trooper. First deployed during the occupation of Washington D.C., these shock troopers are highly effective on the front-lines. Armed with a Tesla Coil gauntlet, the Tesla Trooper is particularly devastating to enemy armour columns. Shockingly, the Tesla Trooper has proven to be equally effective against enemy infantry, due in part to the armour they wear that their Conscript and Flak Trooper counterparts lack. Wearing an insulated combat uniform that also houses the back-mounted Tesla Generator, the Tesla Trooper also cannot be crushed by enemy vehicles. It is this heavy armour and deadly weaponry that makes the Tesla Trooper a threat to all Allied units in the field. "Commencing shock therapy" Model by @Romanov Screenshots Recruitment We are always hiring new team members to speed up AR's release! If you believe that you can help us out, you are more than welcome to help! The following positions are open: 2 Artists for modeling and texturing civilian buildings and props. 1 Artist for making nature assets (trees, bushes, etc.) 1 Character Artist 1 Texture Artist/Photoshop User (optionally Unwrapper) to help in texturing building interior objects If you wish to contribute to this project and believe you have the skills, give us a shout! If you would like to contribute to the game and believe you have the skills, don't hesitate to apply! If you don't know if you have the skills, send us a forum PM and we can chat. If you would like to help in areas not listed here, that is also more than welcome. To apply, just send @moonsense715 or @One Winged Angel a PM (Private Message) via the forums and let us know which position you wish to apply for. End Feel free to contact the team regarding testing applications for Apocalypse Rising and our other W3D projects and become an official W3D Hub Tester today!

I had a lot of fun playing today. Thanks for sharing those screenshots, @Silverlight.

I have attained a monopoly on APB resources. AND I'M NOT SHARING!

The soviets are meant to be powerful at long games, that's their strength. All these changes would make Allies unnecessarily powerful and frustrating on short/small games.

Well, having some of the damage points/cash be converted into kill points/cash is kind of a reward in that your enemy gets less points/cash as long as you manage to stay alive.

In fact, to compensate for this I may even get rid of the cap on cash rewards entirely (currently $120 for any combat infantry costing over $600, and $240 for any vehicle costing over $1200). Since Soviets make use of more expensive units this means Allies generally get more out of this as long as they don't send phase tanks into suicide. And non-combat vehicles will get the same halved reward as non-combat infantry so demos/MADs won't suddenly be instant ore dumps by themselves.

I'm not reducing it so much as splitting it into damage cash/kill cash like I am with points - which benefits the Allies more since it means things being repaired by Mechanics will bleed less money and their vehicles are more capable of retreat so they die less.

It felt like the old old times.

I'll do my best, there is a heavy storm coming into the area and may be an issue.

Ore Trucks will be the most overpowered ground vehicle on Hostile Waters, so those attacks might need to be nerfed.

Wait wait wait, what craziness is this? I'm gone for a week and now you guys are seriously planning to change a finally balanced and useful nader? The grenadier is now a great siege unit, that's his battlefield niche. Do you know how satisfying it is to use him after you spent countless hours figuring out where you can hide behind to hit base defenses (note: there aren't that many) on different maps? If you are complaining you can't find him, just spend more time playing the maps as a nader. Then you will see for every base defense, there is usually only 1 or 2 hiding spots. I'm not against nerfing his anti-infantry damage a bit to make him less of a close-range fighter. You can also make the grenade explosion visually more noticeable so people can tell easier which building is being hit. Lastly you can nerf his anti-building damage a bit - a siege unit like him shouldn't do RS level damage. But don't touch his range or the grenade AOE size! His uniqueness lie in the fact his attacks out range base defense and make them not easily repairable! If you are complaining about grenadiers, again maybe you guys could just play him more to learn how to find him better. This is a very specialized unit with a decent learning curve and rewarding play once you master it. Holding down the L mouse button maybe simple and boring, but scouting different map locations and objects to hide behind is not!

^ This. Some artistic license is fine within reason, but it's always bugged me when someone suggests something which is completely out of sync with the technology of the time, barring RA1-specific examples and appropriate context. For example, yes the Soviets in RA1 had Hind helicopters (early 1970's tech) and rapidly developed their jet technology (MiG-23) later in the war, but they were also still using Yak planes (1940's tech) at a time when they had already largely switched over to MiG-15 jets in our timeline. Plus a lot of the more advanced technologies were fielded only towards the end of the war (Longbows), and even then many examples were only prototypes (Phase Transport/Tank, Volkov) or very early production versions, and consequently were very rare (Tesla Tanks, Shock Troopers). Basically, RA1 is a case of a few specific areas of technology being more advanced (aircraft, some areas of electronics) while other areas are the same as they were in our 1950's (most common military technologies and the vast majority of civilian technologies) or even slightly behind (A-bombs, initially at least). As for the Grenadier, I agree with JigglyJie and des1206 in that I think the Grenadier is largely fine as-is and there's no need for any revolutionary changes with this unit. The Grenadier is easy enough to counter if you know how to do it, just like with any other unit. Snipers and Artillery can be particularly effective against a distant Grenadier. Captains, Rangers and Light Tanks also work well.