Ice

Looking really nice so far! Looking forward to seeing the complete unit and hope to see a lot of the tape units. Out of curiosity, are you planning on animating those? EDIT: Didn't see your latest post until after posting mine lol. Anyway that looks awesome! I'm curious as to what the oscilloscope-like unit will look like. Looking forward to it! Now we just need another 1-2 rows of tape units somewhere lol.

Nice. Looking forward to seeing it Out of curiosity, are you going with the classic rounded-square screens or the really old-fashioned circular displays seen on early televisions and some computer systems of the era? It would be cool to see some of those on something as well, especially since the RA1 menu background features one (presumably a radar screen due to the grid lines, although they were used in some early computers for other purposes as well). The Whirlwind 1 image I linked earlier appears to have three; a large one at the far right and what appears to be two smaller secondary ones towards the middle and left)

Looking good so far! It will be interesting to see how it all turns out! Computers and electronics can be really fun to design as props, especially old-fashioned ones since their typically clunky and instrumemt-laden designs can give them an interesting and dynamic appearance. I linked a few more images below if you're looking for further inspiration:

Looking good so far! I agree with Jeod in that it would be best if the building had a few alternate interiors/prop-sets for specific purposes (science lab, computer centre, prison, etc.) rather than trying to combine everything into one. Also it would be cool if we could replace some the old computer models in there with some more detailed vintage-style ones, like this one from a blog posted years ago:

Not only this, but some players could even use this to deliberately team-hamper; Purposefully letting the enemy team through and not engaging them, making the otherwise effective defensive structure useless. Personally, I'm all for man-able defences in appropriate locations on some maps, but they would need to be a secondary defence by their nature; machine gun nest, anti-tank gun, mortar pit, etc. Essentially, their role would be to harass and slow down the enemy rather than outright stop them, so they would need to be effective enough to be worth using, but not to the point of overshadowing the main defences. Caution would also need to be exercised to not overuse them on maps.

To be fair, those two things aren't really comparable. Aircraft have been a ubiquitous asset in all modern armies for almost a century now, while Phase technology is a radically advanced top-secret technology developed by one side and which is not necessarily replicable by the other side, similar to Allied Chronosphere technology (which the Soviets were never able to replicate despite extensive espionage) and Soviet Iron Curtain technology (which the Allies, in turn, couldn't replicate). Plus, realistically there would have been a plethora of various European aircraft available to the Allies during the war, ranging from 1940's-era prop planes and bombers up to some of the very the first jets. That all being said, however, introducing an Allied fixed-wing aircraft, while cool in theory, could prove difficult to balance well and could just end up messing up the gameplay. The only likely exception to this would be in mission-specific scenarios, and even then it could be kinda iffy.

If an artillery round or rocket explodes near you, you're probably gonna be a bit disoriented if not outright concussed (if you even survive, that is) so it makes sense in-game. Plus IMO it makes it more immersive.

True enough. Who knows, maybe the landing gear mechanisms were unreliable at first so pilots just left them deployed.

Not only that, but the RA1 Hind is consistently shown as flying with its landing gear deployed, so it's possible that, given the likelihood of subtle design differences due to the alternate timeline, the landing gear may not even have been retractable. Just a thought

If the APC gets a speed boost, it should still be a bit slower than the Ranger, both for the sake of their respective roles as well as realism (Jeeps of the time could go up to 60mph while the M113 could only go up to 42mph).

Personally, if APB ever gets new character models, I'd like to see more variety in Allied infantry to highlight the fact that the Allies are many nations working together, with certain units looking distinctively French, German, British, even American, etc. This could be even further enhanced by having both a summer and winter model for certain units, each styled after a different nation (for example, the sniper could have a British-style summer model and a German-style winter model, etc.), although this would be twice the work. In contrast to this, Soviet units (who are basically all serving under either the Soviet military or Soviet-supplied satellite states) would have a more standardized overall appearance but each unit would still be distinctive enough to be easily identifiable. Awesome AR update by the way. Really liking the new models.

^ 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.

Indeed, steel helmets generally only protect against light shrapnel and sometimes pistol rounds, although glancing blows from rifle rounds can potentially be deflected at the right angle. Still, doesn't really justify an in-game mechanic around helmets (especially since that would put a lot of Soviet infantry at a disadvantage compared to their Allied counterparts, as well as complicate balance). Heck, even modern Kevlar helmets aren't guaranteed protection and it still largely seems to be a matter of luck; Some have stopped multiple direct hits from 7.62x39mm rounds while others were penetrated by a single stray bullet. There are a lot of factors that affect it. It's all in knowing how to separate the literal from the representative. Personally I've always chalked up the Shocky and Volkov's uncrushability to anti-tank training and simply having the knowledge/reflexes to avoid being run over.

Was this meant as a reply to my post? (I was quoted in it) I wasn't talking about texture tiling, so I'm a bit confused lol. Anyway, floating icebergs (assuming that's what you meant by 'moving terrain') could be an amazing feature if it works out well, so I'm looking forward to seeing that.

Although the style of the city was/is kinda out of place, I'm glad to see Metro is back. Urban combat is something I've sorely missed in APB and this is a major improvement over the old version. I do miss the alley dog's barking though. I did notice one small issue; The wooden pole in the Allied base is floating.

I approve of MBT's no longer being able to transport passengers, for the simple reason that it should, in theory, result in more non-tank vehicle usage (Ranger, APC, etc.) and thus more variety of vehicles being used. It's annoying when a team spams tanks and nothing else.

In real life, guns tend to sound more "bland", but in games they're given unique firing sounds to make them more distinguishable, I guess. I don't have much gun knowledge either, but here I gave the silenced Beretta a more metallic sound, rather than the quirky "pew" often heard in movies. Nice sounds! My only recommendation would be giving them a bit more 'crack' and echo. Now, with regards to blandness and uniqueness, gunshots are a very dynamic audio experience and video game sounds never truly do them justice either way (movies are often this way too). I've got several rifles (including an SKS which fires the same round as an AK-47) and any mid- to large-caliber weapon will pretty much sound like an explosion when fired in real life (especially in echo-prone areas like the forest), and the shots can usually be heard from several kilometers away lol. They're very loud and there tends to be a lot of echo, along with a loud 'crack' as the bullet breaks the sound barrier during acceleration (subsonic ammo, used in suppressed weapons, avoids this). Needless to say, your ears will be ringing like crazy after the first couple shots. BTW you can get guns just fine in Europe, you just need to go through your country's licensing process.

It's a M24 Chaffee here. Indeed. The Bradley was a Tib Dawn era vehicle and was used by Nod, not the Allies.

It is, in fact, an old Soviet tactical marking used on tanks. Personally I like historic details like this and would like to see this more often.

Solved it today. Very cool challenge and nice rewards

Siege is looking awesome and I'm looking forward to seeing Frostburn Cove as well! I just hope those prototypes aren't too crazy or unfitting.

The vehicle looks interesting, although it's pretty easy to tell that it's two V2 chassis stuck together which looks kinda odd, and 2 SAM turrets seems rather excessive and redundant. Why not simply have a standard V2 chassis with 1 SAM turret, set up similarly to the Mobile AA?

Even the minor villages in APB, that make JRPG villages look like metropolises by comparison, use a lot of the same houses and ruins between different maps. Some of them even have 2 of the same house/ruin on the same map. I wouldn't think of trying to make any villages larger than Stormy Valley/To The Core's with the few houses we have, and certainly not a proper Moscow-esque city as we have absolutely nothing for that besides Metro's icky and anachronistic assets. Pushwall's right; Well-made urban maps require a lot of unique assets (namely, buildings, civy vehicles, misc. city props like street signs, etc.) which take a lot of time to make, and then there's also figuring out how best to arrange all these assets to suit gameplay and performance. Plus, as he said, we can't even re-use Metro's assets since they're both horribly outdated and completely inappropriate for RA1's setting. An urban map in APB would ideally look like a European city in the 1940's (since the devastation of WWII didn't happen during the 1940's, most places would look largely the same as they did before the war), and not Los Angeles circa 1990. This all being said, I've got some small assets on the go which could contribute to an urban project; Antique-style traffic lights, vintage street signs, and a couple of old civy vehicles. I did start trying to make civy buildings awhile back as well, but unfortunately life's been very busy this year and those had to be put on the back burner for a while.

I agree with ChopBam on this; The very name and nature of the weapon means that it should have friendly fire, otherwise it's not a Mutually Assured Destruction weapon. Aside from this, there's also the problem of abusing MAD Tanks for base-defence, something which it (along with demos) should never be able to be used for without repercussions. I could get behind this along with perhaps a couple other small tweaks to make the MAD more appealing to players, as long as it retains some level of friendly fire.

I can't really make them smaller because then the infantry model would look strange in the seat. Cannons IRL are not small either. The turning platform and ability to raise the cannon angle is obviously not based on real world designs, but the rest is. I just meant scaling down/narrowing the cannon barrel itself, not the entire platform, but it's not a big deal (no pun intended ). Just it seems a bit oversized; even the Tsar cannon (biggest antique cannon in the world) isn't that big. Anyway I'm really looking forward to the new RA_Siege. Can hardly wait to explore the castle!