Slitherine

Some random bits and pieces collected during recent playtesting. For a change of the usual focus on "cool stuff" this is actualy all bad stuff happening.

Losing a carrier to a sneaky submarine is painful. Especially if it was packed with aircraft...



Commanders can't actualy die, but when their parent unit get destroyed you're looking at a long recovery time.

Time to put some new stuff into this thread more regularly.

Some recently added Dutch vehicles for the Java scenario.



The "Support Ship" - a new unit type which can (slowly) repair naval units if no ports are available.
It can also deploy and clear naval minefields.



A selection of infantry types & upgrades available in the game.

Nice to see some new screenshots! Especially from the infantry units.

One thing I'm curious is how these different infantry units and their upgrades work? So is there a "basic unit" that can further be specialized to fit a certain role (assault, engineer, AT, and so on) or are the different roles already divided to different units? What are the possible values/stats/aspects subject to different infantry types?

Any unit from the infantry class can be upgraded (or downgraded) to any of the purchasable types. Upgrading within the same series (for example upgrading "Marines '42" to "Marines '43") will be cheaper than upgrading to a different series (for example upgrading "Marines" to "Paratroopers"). This is the same mechanic as used for all other unit classes (tanks, artillery, aircraft, ...).

What are the possible values/stats/aspects subject to different infantry types?

They all have different "anti infantry", "anti tank" etc attack and defense values of course. And then there are the special traits and abilities: The Japanese infantry second row far right are "Lunge Miners" or kamikaze AT units. They will run into enemy tanks with mines on a pole, which is a one way ticket for the unit. Paratroopers can embark air transports and drop by parachute. Engineers destroy & build bridges and lay mines fields. Commandos can blow bridges, launch "sneak attacks" and remain hidden from distance spotting. Seabees improve the entrenchment of adjacent friendlies, ...

Plenty of distinction and use for all the different types

Sounds neat! One curiosity though. Are the weaponry and number of soldiers visible in one unit just an artistic representation or do they mirror the headcount/actual weaponry of the unit? I think that for example in Combat Mission Barbarossa to Berlin a graphical representation of a unit depicted just those aspects, though in that game a unit was actually size of a squad whereas in OoBP I think a single infantry unit is larger.

It's just a representation of the type of weapons they carry etc. Tanks, aircraft etc don't represent single vehicles either. The only exception are capital ships (cruisers, battleships & carriers) who represent single vessels.

While aircraft carriers can carry carrier-based fighters and tactical bombers, cruisers can carry floatplanes. These aircraft have little combat capabilities but are cheap and effective at scouting.

Most cruisers can only carry 1 unit of seaplanes, but the Japanese Tone class cruiser - with its unique "all gun turrets in front" - layout can carry two.

As with carriers, any floatplanes on board of the cruisers are visualed with tiny models on the seaplane launch pads at the rear half of the ships.

Awesome graphics, Lukas! I have a question about the ships movement animation. When they move from one hex to the other will there be some water effect/trail to show this?

Mark50 wrote:Awesome graphics, Lukas! I have a question about the ships movement animation. When they move from one hex to the other will there be some water effect/trail to show this?

Yes.

Because a picture says more than a thousand words, so a 360 frames video sequence says more than 360.000 words?

We're put a lot of effort into all the movement, combat, idle, explosion, etc animations. That's the whole point of using a 3D engine really

adherbal wrote:We're put a lot of effort into all the movement, combat, idle, explosion, etc animations. That's the whole point of using a 3D engine really

And the sound, Lukas, and the sound....

Of course Reminds me I still need to forfill your request on rotation sounds.

Allow me to shake your hand, energetically! That is really great. The water movement, turrets rotating and, to my surprise, even the aircraft`s propeller is animated. Plus, the sounds are just about as brutal as they should be. Great atmosphere overall! Again, I think you should make a spectacular promotional video for its release as images alone don`t do it justice. Plus, the video could be an easy way for any fan to share it with friends and other forums he`s part of.

Ain't that sweet or what! Nice work you guys have done there. :) Although it was the pictures that first caught my attention, I believe that with little video magic you could create very compelling promotional appearance.

Love all the ideas you guys are putting into the game. The injured Commander recovering, like Sid Myers pirates. The float planes and engineer abilites which are in Open General, and sadly missing from Panzer Corps.
The detail and atmosphere, (and sounds), in the naval battles are excellent, funny how little touches can completely transform a game.
I know the AI had a problem using paratroopers in PzC`s, does this work in your game?

I know the AI had a problem using paratroopers in PzC`s, does this work in your game?

The mechanics are similar to PzC: You board air transport on an airfield (which costs some resources), fly the aircraft to were you want, drop the paratroopers (dropzone can be missed by 1 hex). AI can use this too if it is set up in the scenario scripting.

And of course the paratrooper drop action has a little animation with parachutes opening and soldiers floating down to the ground

For a look at something different: The Turn Overview/Objectives panel.

Scenario objectives vary greatly, including protection or destruction of (a) specific unit(s), capturing bridges before they can be destroyed, relieving pockets cut off from supply, preventing enemy scout planes from detecting your carriers, etc.

New "town" and "farmlands" terrain types have recently been added as we reach the final scenarios of the Japanese campaign, featuring the invasion of Australia.

Big town rendering test below (not part of an actual scenario).

looks nice

This game looks awesome. Thanks for the new screenshot\tease, my mouth is watering!