A Path Beyond APB Hostile Waters - Life Signs

[Jeod]

On 2/3/2018 at 11:18 AM, Raap said:

This will be the last update, the map is scheduled for delivery sometime next week, providing that nothing goes wrong.

I've fixed various Advanced Naval Yard areas, added some polish here and there, and most notably, added a new area outside the naval yard that allows more quick navigation for the Allied team and make MCT room camping notably more difficult.

Do I detect some inspiration from Tom Clancy? The layout in this shot is eerily familiar...

[Raap]

15 hours ago, Ice said:

I'd also recommend that, if there's gonna be a bridge between two icebergs, then they should be joined into one big iceberg with a canyon where the bridge is (or at least, joined underwater). Two separate icebergs would rip any bridge apart as they drift around.

 

Hah, yes I know none of this looks realistic! I am not going for what looks realistic though. This is purely a case of gameplay before graphics or immersion. I needed to connect those two icebergs for gameplay purposes and I didn't want to use yet another baren ice bridge. I needed to sell the concept that this was part of a base, so this construction became a thing. I pretty much make it up as I go, working on what I need at that particular moment. I CAN do realistic as well, Siege for example is very consistent in appearance, but this map called for something else entirely!

That is not to say I ignore the request for more realism entirely, I've for example redone large segments of the icebergs and overhauled the underwater caustics effect to accommodate concerns regarding their appearance. But you know how it is, there is only so many hours I can put into this, choices have to be made.

37 minutes ago, Jeod said:

Do I detect some inspiration from Tom Clancy? The layout in this shot is eerily familiar...

I never played those games, I do not usually draw inspiration from other projects, I made that ramp because gameplay demanded it to exist. Naturally as I work on anything I do use my own methods and actually hope they stand out as something I would do, essentially, sort of like having my own style of creating things. 

Anyhow, in terms of map progress, I ran into a few small things, one very tricky thing I had to do was to migrate game logic from preset data to local level instances, this involved a lot of re-wiring in the script logic that powers the gameplay on this map. I managed to finish it up with no real incidents or gameplay alterations, but in the long run this migration will help Pushwall, since he hopes to re-use the new naval buildings in other maps. Who knows, maybe the Gem Silo also makes additional appearances on maps that need a greater credit tick income!

Edited February 5, 2018 by Raap

[SarahNautili]

5 hours ago, Raap said:

Who knows, maybe the Gem Silo also makes additional appearances on maps that need a greater credit tick income!

frankly I wouldn't mind seeing them as a capturable objective on a map, something like Pipeline's Oil Derricks.



Looking forward to seeing how this new HW plays out

[Raptor29aa]

After seeing some screen shots I am impressed... finally some much needed cover on icebergs! (never thought those two concepts would be combined; I mean who builds military installations on a melt-able platform? Unless those are made to look like Ice bergs and are actually a floating platform, like an oil rig. And if that was the case then yes I could see the desire to claim it.)

As far as unique tech goes it would be hilarious to see a single shot V2 sub or a single shot artillery boat at a ridiculous cost. (because a double barrel V2 sub "dreadnaught" would be over kill just like a double barrel artillery "cruiser" would be). But hey an AA truck exists, why not a long range naval craft? (@Raap I know you are short on time so I won't push it; since adding a stationary V2 launch platform to the top of a sub/Msub or a stationary artillery arm to a destroyer/Gunboat would take way too long to design.)

Also a Gem Silo... that is very future tech/ Enstein of you. (it fits well as a easter egg and could fit RA universe)

Lastly, Good choice of using a larger money pool, because water combat is expensive and I would often get upset that my boat or sub took a while to save up for and died too quickly (especially with longbows or hinds buzzing like flies around the middle and no way to assault the flat open ice bergs to reclaim the SAMs since there was only one landing point).

The changes are much appreciated, especially since now it won't break the bank to sub/boat assault.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Raptor29aa

[Pushwall]

19 minutes ago, Raptor29aa said:

Lastly, Good choice of using a larger money pool, because water combat is expensive and I would often get upset that my boat or sub took a while to save up for and died too quickly (especially with longbows or hinds buzzing like flies around the middle and no way to assault the flat open ice bergs to reclaim the SAMs since there was only one landing point).

The changes are much appreciated, especially since now it won't break the bank to sub/boat assault.

I guess you missed the latest APB update that brings the prices of naval units way down (gunboats/dests are now their RA prices of 500/1000, attack subs priced at 550, and missile subs at the RA attack sub price of 950). Money pool won't actually be that large as a result, and what this means is that it'll be pretty costly to amass air units or to sprinkle rocket soldiers around the icebergs but deploying combat boats will still be cheap.

[Raap]

Designing new units is time consuming indeed. It's not so simple as the "mobile" SAM vehicle prop you see on the iceberg (that was just me making use of an old obsolete asset I had laying around). Also note that in none of the screenshots I've shown so far is the full iceberg cover, this is actually the current and final task on my to-do list now that I have fixed/changed everything else that needed changing between test builds.

But yeah, no realism on this level, at least not in the sense of immersion. You can only expect so much in a game featuring unusual themes. 

Despite not having a land route, I still believe this version of the level will play better than previous iterations.

Edited February 6, 2018 by Raap

[Ice]

On 2/5/2018 at 10:14 AM, Raap said:

Hah, yes I know none of this looks realistic! I am not going for what looks realistic though. This is purely a case of gameplay before graphics or immersion. I needed to connect those two icebergs for gameplay purposes and I didn't want to use yet another baren ice bridge. I needed to sell the concept that this was part of a base, so this construction became a thing. I pretty much make it up as I go, working on what I need at that particular moment. I CAN do realistic as well, Siege for example is very consistent in appearance, but this map called for something else entirely!

That is not to say I ignore the request for more realism entirely, I've for example redone large segments of the icebergs and overhauled the underwater caustics effect to accommodate concerns regarding their appearance. But you know how it is, there is only so many hours I can put into this, choices have to be made.

Fair enough, and yeah you're right in that gameplay has to take priority over absolute realism. Just to clarify though, I really like the bridge and think it's a good addition. I was just suggesting connecting the two icebergs, either underwater or just above the surface, and still having the bridge over the gap (clearly they needed to get to the other side so a bridge makes sense).  It wouldn't affect the gameplay but would make it much more realistic in that sense.

[Raap]

It'd require more work than you realize. The icebergs aren't just your every-day geometry in W3D, they are a set of different meshes with experimental material configurations. Editing one means editing all and for something so small it is hard to justify. On top of that, I'd also have to make the ocean deeper, and some parts of that area use non-modifier UVW coordinates.

Anyhow, with a little luck I get to sign off on the map tonight, and with a little more luck Pushwall may be able to patch it in relatively soon. I've reached a critical moment now where I simply have to finish the last item on my list before I run out of time, while fixing any last minute minor issues that pop up (for example I noticed a vertex light solve problem spot near the new naval yard stair that needs fixing, this is a simple fix, but these sort of small things have a way of piling up).

Edited February 7, 2018 by Raap

[Raap]

I've officially signed off on the project, and all files have been delivered to Pushwall.

Hostile Waters should return to the game map rotation in the near future!