RA2:AR FAQ

[Killing_You]

how can i join the testers? or i cant ?

 

They said that they'll send out applications when they're done with the current batch. And I am SO FREAKIN PUMPED for it, too!!! I really want to play it so badly that I've been scanning this site for a long while! I'm like a redneck camping out to get NASCAR tickets waiting for them to ask for new testers!

[Guest Metaridley]

renegade supports no 3 sides on maps

so I had enquired a little with finalwars productions like they with theirs mod "battle for dune" three sides playable make

it becomes alternate on maps thus his =

 

atreides vs ordos

ordos vs harkonnen

harkonnen vs atreides

 

now my question, would be possible such a thing? like this =

allies vs sovjets

sovjets vs yuri

yuri vs allies

 

and if it was possible... you would implement it... maybe in a far away future? (apart from balancing with yuri)

 

and another question

do you make again a moon map like in apb? with laser shooting cosmonaut?

[Guest dangles20]

renegade supports no 3 sides on maps

so I had enquired a little with finalwars productions like they with theirs mod "battle for dune" three sides playable make

it becomes alternate on maps thus his =

 

atreides vs ordos

ordos vs harkonnen

harkonnen vs atreides

 

now my question, would be possible such a thing? like this =

allies vs sovjets

sovjets vs yuri

yuri vs allies

 

and if it was possible... you would implement it... maybe in a far away future? (apart from balancing with yuri)

 

and another question

do you make again a moon map like in apb? with laser shooting cosmonaut?

 

Introducing the new sovjet rifle! a remake of the ramjet!! .

 

Nah really i reckon it needs to be only soviets and allied with a yuri/prime unit usable for soviets and all new YR allied and soviet units included, like the battle fortress.

[OWA]

renegade supports no 3 sides on maps

so I had enquired a little with finalwars productions like they with theirs mod "battle for dune" three sides playable make

it becomes alternate on maps thus his =

 

atreides vs ordos

ordos vs harkonnen

harkonnen vs atreides

 

now my question, would be possible such a thing? like this =

allies vs sovjets

sovjets vs yuri

yuri vs allies

 

and if it was possible... you would implement it... maybe in a far away future? (apart from balancing with yuri)

 

and another question

do you make again a moon map like in apb? with laser shooting cosmonaut?

Yuri's army isn't planned to be honest. Some Yuri units will appear though.

 

We're thinking about implementing the Cosmonaught.

[Guest SgtSavage67]

Here's a question you may have already answered, but as much as I would love to spend the next two hours combing through ever post looking for it... *cough* any way, My cousin was wondering if there are plans to make the Chrono Legionarre capable of actually teleporting across the battlefield? I told him not to get his hopes up, but you guys have done some pretty awesome coding with this, so I know I wouldn't be surprised.

[OWA]

Here's a question you may have already answered, but as much as I would love to spend the next two hours combing through ever post looking for it... *cough* any way, My cousin was wondering if there are plans to make the Chrono Legionarre capable of actually teleporting across the battlefield? I told him not to get his hopes up, but you guys have done some pretty awesome coding with this, so I know I wouldn't be surprised.

We'll probably be using the same logic as APB's Chrono Tank. You push Q (or similar key) to leave your body and designate a target using a flying marker. Once you move the marker to where you want to shift to, you push Q again and you Chronoshift there. Be warned though, whilst you are in control of the flying marker, your character is vulnerable. The marker is aslo timed too, so you can't Chronoshift too far from your starting point.

[Guest SirJustin]

Here's a question you may have already answered, but as much as I would love to spend the next two hours combing through ever post looking for it... *cough* any way, My cousin was wondering if there are plans to make the Chrono Legionarre capable of actually teleporting across the battlefield? I told him not to get his hopes up, but you guys have done some pretty awesome coding with this, so I know I wouldn't be surprised.

We'll probably be using the same logic as APB's Chrono Tank. You push Q (or similar key) to leave your body and designate a target using a flying marker. Once you move the marker to where you want to shift to, you push Q again and you Chronoshift there. Be warned though, whilst you are in control of the flying marker, your character is vulnerable. The marker is aslo timed too, so you can't Chronoshift too far from your starting point.

So it would be like when you used the chronosphere in ra, where the bubble was around units, and they will be able to be hit? Will it show the chronoshift animation as you are placing your marker? Edited September 9, 2012 by SirJustin

[OWA]

So it would be like when you used the chronosphere in ra, where the bubble was around units, and they will be able to be hit? Will it show the chronoshift animation as you are placing your marker?

Yes and yes. while you are choosing where to chronoshift to, your character will be vulnerable to attack. This is to stop the CLeg from becoming overpowered.

[Guest SgtSavage67]

So it would be like when you used the chronosphere in ra, where the bubble was around units, and they will be able to be hit? Will it show the chronoshift animation as you are placing your marker?

Yes and yes. while you are choosing where to chronoshift to, your character will be vulnerable to attack. This is to stop the CLeg from becoming overpowered.

 

Thanks! I'm sure my cousin will love to hear it.

[OWA]

Let me know if you have any more questions. I'd be happy to answer them.

[Killing_You]

Well, the Chrono Legionarre couldn't move at all in RA2 without Chronoshifting. And the farther he chronoshifted, the longer it took him to phase in. And while he was phasing in, he was super vulnerable because he couldn't move or attack until he phased in completely, but he could be attacked. As opposed to using a chronosphere, where any shifted units would be immediately available for use.

 

I was wondering if you're taking these factors into account, especially the vulnerability issue.

[OWA]

Well, the Chrono Legionarre couldn't move at all in RA2 without Chronoshifting. And the farther he chronoshifted, the longer it took him to phase in. And while he was phasing in, he was super vulnerable because he couldn't move or attack until he phased in completely, but he could be attacked. As opposed to using a chronosphere, where any shifted units would be immediately available for use. I was wondering if you're taking these factors into account, especially the vulnerability issue.

We're allowing the CLeg to walk in AR, since it would be completely silly if he didn't. As for shifting back in, the unit needs extensive testing before we decide on a lot of these factors. We like to get a unit in game and test basic functionality before we make our final decisions on exactly how it should act.

[Guest SgtSavage67]

Still, I think the method sounds good and could potentially be very balanced. I look forward to seeing it.

 

Here's another question my cousin posed:

Will the Ore/Gems actually diminish over the course of the game given enough over-mining?

Also, what measures will you use to keep people from spamming too many bots by way of paradrops?

 

One that I wanted to know is:

Will the rocketeer have a lower flight ceiling than the Harrier / Kirov / Nighthawk?

And finally, are you planning on adding the Iron Curtain AND Chronosphere in some form or another (in addition to the Nuke and Weather Control Device)?

[OWA]

Still, I think the method sounds good and could potentially be very balanced. I look forward to seeing it.

 

Here's another question my cousin posed:

Will the Ore/Gems actually diminish over the course of the game given enough over-mining?

Also, what measures will you use to keep people from spamming too many bots by way of paradrops?

 

One that I wanted to know is:

Will the rocketeer have a lower flight ceiling than the Harrier / Kirov / Nighthawk?

And finally, are you planning on adding the Iron Curtain AND Chronosphere in some form or another (in addition to the Nuke and Weather Control Device)?

We won't be able to get ore and gems to diminish over time without some wacky code. It's safe to say that it's not planned currently, but if it's possible in the future we could definitely implement it.

 

Paradrops will be on a timer like in RA2. We haven't worked out a lot of the actual mechanics and limitations just yet, so we'll be developing that as we go.

 

The Rocketeer won't have a lower flight ceiling, but this won't be an issue because Flak weapons are really good at taking down air units. They are kind of like long range shotguns that only work on air units.

 

All the super weapons will eventually make it into the game. It's just a case of time.

[Guest SgtSavage67]

^Sweetness^

[Guest SirJustin]

How will the applications for testers be put out, I missed the last round as I was gone and far from a PC. And wish to be around for this round, as to be prepare.

Edited September 14, 2012 by SirJustin

[Guest SgtSavage67]

Yes, same here. I check this site all the time so as not to miss it, but It would be nice to have a sketchy idea of when I'll be needed.

[Killing_You]

And me.

[Guest SirJustin]

Yes, same here. I check this site all the time so as not to miss it, but It would be nice to have a sketchy idea of when I'll be needed.

I'm on every SINGLE day lol, do not want to miss this time around, was a major pain last time as I wish to support as much as I can.

[OWA]

How will the applications for testers be put out, I missed the last round as I was gone and far from a PC. And wish to be around for this round, as to be prepare.

Yes, same here. I check this site all the time so as not to miss it, but It would be nice to have a sketchy idea of when I'll be needed.

We'll put out a news post that we are hiring with all of the details and such.

 

Usually what happens is that people PM, Me, Chronojam and Wallywood their applications and we discuss them in a big team chat and decide which people we want to hire and which people we don't need/want at the time. Application time will be soon. Keep checking the updates as they are posted.

[Guest SirJustin]

Where will they be ... I had noticed that alot of things were in site news, which I hadn't checked a lot, realizing now that much of what is important is actually up there. (Sorry to nitpick it, just trying to figure it all out this time around)

 

This post will be updated to contain all of your questions, post a response if there's a question you want answered that isn't currently here.

 

Note: Only questions that are relevant to release one (radar tech level) will be added to the list.

 

Q: When are you releasing the game?

A: We haven't set a release date yet, but we are working constantly. Keep reading the blogs to see how we are progressing.

 

Q: Will the SEAL be able to swim?

A: Not in the first release, but when Tanya and naval units are introduced, then it shall be included. SEAL swimming movement will be different to the sub, it would look terrible to convert him to a VTOL.

 

Q: Will the chrono miner be able to chrono shift?

A: Yes, danpaul88 has worked out the time shift coding, it's working properly.

 

Q: Will naval units be seen in the first release?

A: No.

 

Q: Will Crazy Ivan get any weapons other than his timed bombs?

A: Yes, we're giving ivan a revolver, a combat knife and two types of timed bombs.

 

Q: Will there be dogs?

A: Not in the first release, but they will be in eventually.

 

Q: How will the IFV work?

A: The IFV switches turrets just like it did in RA2 but unlike in RA2 you are able to switch back to the rocket turret without getting out. We've defined a deploy key for functions such as this.

 

Q: Will the GI be able to deploy?

A: Yes the GI can deploy and while deployed he can use his heavy machine gun.

 

Q: Will engineers be able to capture structures?

A: There are tech structures such as oil derricks around the map that engineers are able to capture but for the sake of balance you wont be able to capture enemy structures.

 

Q: Will the conscript/GI be the starting infantry class?

A: Yes.

 

Q: Will it be possible to garrison buildings?

A: Yes, we have a few systems to do this, we have not yet decided which system we will use.

 

Q: Will tesla troopers be able to power up tesla coils?

A: Tesla troopers can supercharge and even power-up tesla coils when the base power is offline.

 

Q: Will prism towers fire between each other in maps with more than one prism tower?

A: Yes, the combined light beam from multiple towers also does more damage.

 

Q: Will there be yuri?

A: Army - No, Soviet infantry - Yes

 

FAQ cleaned and updated as of: 13/08/2012

Since there is no yuri army, no slave miners I suppose. I enjoyed those. Unless there was some way to implement it, other then for pure amusement and a nice call back to the game, I can't make any good argument for them other then they were awesome in their own way. Edited September 16, 2012 by dtrngd

[Guest Jerad2142]

We won't be able to get ore and gems to diminish over time without some wacky code. It's safe to say that it's not planned currently, but if it's possible in the future we could definitely implement it.

I'd think the code was the easy part:

 

The coding end you'd just need a linked list that knew where all the ore fields were, how much ore each field had, and then the harvester could pathfind to each field (or use a waypath if you manually defined them per ore node).

 

Finally, you could set the code up to find what ore was closest and hell, you could even prioritize gems over ore if you wanted to.

Data structure would probably look something like this:

 
//***Ore Data node***
struct oreFieldNode
{
		    float amount;// If you use 0 when the field is gone, that way you could make them regrow over time without having to make the ore dynamically find safe grow spots, otherwise you could just remove the node from the linked list).
		    float value;// different for ore and gems obviously
		    int waypathID;// probably not a great idea if you set it up like tiles like in RA as this would require as loads of waypaths, it'd just let pathfind do its job if that were the case).
		    bool regrows;// special flag for the controller that allows this ore to regrow
		    bool spreads;// another special allow the ore to spread and not the gems
		    Vector3 position;// position of the ore node so the Ore Truck can find it
		    struct oreFieldNode *next;// next node in the ore list
};

oreFieldNode *oreFieldNodeList = NULL;

//***Ore Control Code***
//Standard linked list controller setup here with some extra features to support ore regrowth etc.
//You could make it make sure a mine is nearby or a fully-grown patch of ore in order to allow current patch of ore to regrow.

//***Ore Truck Code***
//Then all you'd need is code for the harvester that tells it to go to the nearest ore field node that had an amount greater than 0.
//harvester would also need idle code for when no ore is available on the map
//code that slowly removes ore from the patch when the Ore Truck gets there
//code to store money value of ore and gems currently on board

 

So in all I personally think the code would be the easy part, the hard part would be making the physical ore look good on the map. Growth animations, level with the terrain, etc. So level edit and modeling which would be more time consuming than anything else.

 

 

However, in the end it'd probably be worth it, as this would add a more dynamic aspect to your maps, you wouldn’t have to camp one ore field the whole game as eventually it could be depleted. And then you'd have to go to a new field, which could have enemy units waiting in ambush!!!!

 

Anyone else get bored at work, or am I the only one that ends up waiting on clients to deliver stuff so I can do my job?

[danpaul88]

The code for gem fields already exists, we just don't use it at the moment. It's just the same script as ore fields use, but you set the oreValue to be higher in the script parameters. The AR miner AI already knows how to locate ore fields independenly, however it currenty prioritises the closest field rather than the most valuable.., the idea was either have a small gem field close to the base for an initial cash boost, with an ore field for the rest of the game further out ,or leave a gem field further out for players to mine.

 

We won't be able to get ore and gems to diminish over time without some wacky code.

 

Eh? I could do that in 5 minutes flat... I had actually thought about putting it in at one point, but decided against it for the time being... ideally would require some kind of animated 'gem field' model, which would probably have to be hand made per-map, which shows how many gems are left in the field.

 

Paradrops will be on a timer like in RA2. We haven't worked out a lot of the actual mechanics and limitations just yet, so we'll be developing that as we go.

 

<- my paradrop demo video if anyone missed it first time around

[Guest Jerad2142]

The code for gem fields already exists, we just don't use it at the moment. It's just the same script as ore fields use, but you set the oreValue to be higher in the script parameters. The AR miner AI already knows how to locate ore fields independenly, however it currenty prioritises the closest field rather than the most valuable.., the idea was either have a small gem field close to the base for an initial cash boost, with an ore field for the rest of the game further out ,or leave a gem field further out for players to mine.

 

We won't be able to get ore and gems to diminish over time without some wacky code.

 

Eh? I could do that in 5 minutes flat... I had actually thought about putting it in at one point, but decided against it for the time being... ideally would require some kind of animated 'gem field' model, which would probably have to be hand made per-map, which shows how many gems are left in the field.

 

I think 5 min flat might be an under estimate unless you’re not counting testing time, but it'd be pretty simple, as I said the hard part would be making the harvester dynamically find which pieces of ore are closest, a task which is simple for the programmer regardless how it’s done, but harder on the person in level edit if you go with waypaths (but would look better than pathfind) lol.

[danpaul88]

As I already said, the AR miners already locate ore fields by themselves, there are no waypaths in AR.

[OWA]

The ore and gem field idea could actually work then. That's interesting. Proof again that I should always ask the coders first.

 

However, there would need to be a way to dynamically check how much ore was left at each resource field. Perhaps a bound key that links to an overhead map with a list of percentages.

 

The paradrops do work well; but when I was talking about mechanics, I meant how paradropping fits into the gameplay and other extra bits such as how to select where you want to paradrop to.

[Killing_You]

What units/vehicles/defenses will use sounds different from their RA2 counterparts, if any at all? APB can get away with this since RA1 recycled a lot of sounds due to time/engine constraints, but I feel that RA2 has enough variety in it's sounds that AR should utilize them.

[OWA]

What units/vehicles/defenses will use sounds different from their RA2 counterparts, if any at all? APB can get away with this since RA1 recycled a lot of sounds due to time/engine constraints, but I feel that RA2 has enough variety in it's sounds that AR should utilize them.

We're taking most of the original sounds and modifying some of them so that they're better. We have some original sounds in there too, but it's mostly RA2listic.

[Guest Jerad2142]

As I already said, the AR miners already locate ore fields by themselves, there are no waypaths in AR.

I was talking about fields that can completely run out of ore, thus the harv would have to find the next field, then it would reselect the original closer one once it had regrown a certain amount of ore, thus making it worth visiting again.

 

 

The ore and gem field idea could actually work then. That's interesting. Proof again that I should always ask the coders first.

 

However, there would need to be a way to dynamically check how much ore was left at each resource field. Perhaps a bound key that links to an overhead map with a list of percentages.

All this talk about ore fields must have caused me to think about this subconsciously or something because I ended up adding a JOB into ECW where you have to drive a hazmat truck around picking up waste barrels (which 'respawn' after a certain amount of time). Built a system that marks a star on the player’s radar so they know where the closet barrel/pile of barrels is. It dynamically places zones when it creates barrels and so forth. And I'm doing all this crap in 3.4.4, beings you guys are in 4.0 I'm absolutely certain that you could build an overhead map for something similar.

[danpaul88]

Yep, the current AR miner could could easily cope with finding alternative ore fields when one is depleted and returning once it has a useful amount of ore again.