(I know, I know, it’s vastly impressive what you’ve done so far, just the assymetry in doctrine (as I’m sure everyone here’s read Shattered Sword ;-) ) sounds like some interesting game mechanics too.
Hello there guys!
Thank you all for the kind words!
Are you modelling different Japanese doctrines about carrier loading and preference for multi-carrier strikes too?
Yes we do! Different services have different doctrines which will be tweakable in the mission editor in order to reflect the evolution over the busy year that was 1942 - not only in terms of strike packages, but everything else of course (scouting doctrine, radar use, nightfighting proficiency, spotting & arming, damage control…). As such throughout 1942 the US player will be limited to launching strikes from each of his deck individually (he is allowed to direct the strike of another carrier within his task force, but it cannot be coordinated with that of the carrier he is commanding from) - while the Japanese AI enjoys the same system as the one used for airbases, that is different decks within the same formation are allowed to send aloft a cohesive balanced strike. Of course, doctrine doesn’t stop there and the IJN has woes of its own, but at the very least consider that we’ve got you covered on this one.
A few screenshots for you gents, please enjoy the beautiful shiny colors and scenery that generous slice of South Pacific offers us :)
Cheers!
Looking great!
Supoib, looking great and sounding good.
If at some point you need testers, you know where to find us :)
This looks ridiculously good.
Hi gents!
Thanks for the kind words. Appreciated.
Now, about the weekly entry!
Besides, we had a small community-based AI commander traits discussion on our discord yesterday, and we’re still taking suggestions - so if you’re into this kind of stuff, don’t hesitate to join us over there for a chat!
Cheers everybody & take good care :)
This looks glorious. What is the role of the player? Are we a high-level officer, like a flagship commander, giving orders? Or do we give orders to individual aircraft or ships? Do we fly in a plane, as in a combat flight sim? I’m sure you’ve mentioned all this before but I haven’t been paying close enough attention; my apologies!
I have to admit that when I read the first third of this thread, it all just seemed too ambitious to be real. So I had this marked down as the Star Citizen of the PTO.
But it feels more and more real as the updates keep coming. Wishlisted.
Will you be able to make use of multi-threading to help the AI not get bogged down with so much going on at once? This seems like the perfect opportunity to use every single thread you can throw at it.
Looking really good.
Can you go over when we might be able to start playing in various forms, early access, official release.
We’ve been around game development for decades, so I promise we aren’t going to hold you to any dates you put out.
@Spock
Thanks for the kind words!
Scale is Task Force command scale - you don’t get (at least not in vol.1) to go around manning the gun directors & the rest. You are in your flagplot, ordering around the assets under your command, with a priority given to detailed air ops in terms of details for this volume. It is built around a narrative approach to command which emphasizes realistic PoV & fog of war.
Right now you don’t get to fly planes or conn ships though, it’s closer to a wargame with a simulation engine than a simulation game proper. Naturally, using a simulation design also allows us to make it evolve in any fitting direction in the future, but we’re keeping the focus deliberately (and hopefully realistically) narrow for vol.1, as it is by nature a case study and a demonstrator for the future series.
Better to point you in the direction of this interview, it might be a bit more comprehensive there :)
@Mark_Weston
Thank you mark, appreciated! We’ll do our best to do right by your trust - and our own expectations of course :)
Cheers!
@jpinard
To quote our dev, yes indeed! TFA is heavily multithreaded and makes good use of multicore CPUs. Although don’t expect huge benefits with more than 8 cores, because we’re not only targeting high-end rigs, and we need to be sure everything runs fine in most conditions. Wargamers and simmers might mix in our audience, this means that we gonna take into consideration that most wargamers don’t feel like buying the next NASA computer for their hobby. As such, optimization is very high on our list of on-going priorities, which is never a bad thing I’d say.
Excellent! That’s what I was hoping to hear. I’m a wargamer at heart. It sounds great!
Thank you for your kindness @Strollen
I hope that we will have come up with a fairly complete playable slice by the end of the Spring, and when we will be able to showcase a playable version without too much fear nor shame, I’ll make sure that some of our friends from the early days get to play them - aka Magz, Wolfpack, ShamrockOneFive, History Guy Gaming, Tortuga, The Historical Gamer, The Strategy Wargamer, etc… Guys who’ve been there very early on to support us. If you follow any of them you shouldn’t miss the party when time comes (hopefully sooner than later…!) but if you don’t follow them yet - darn, what are you doing with your life! :P
In terms of time, deadline & all, I really don’t want to go too far, as it lies with the work of everybody else but me (I am just the producer, I am not a creative, they have enough pressure like that). I’d say that a full 2021 release is still a bit of a challenge, especially considering the woes through which the team (like all the teams) went through in 2020. But I can tell you that our plans are to, at some point, allow our audience to support us through an original product - that is kickstarting or more simply pre-ordering an actual box edition, the likes of those we had in the 1990s. I came to the gaming world through games like Task Force 1942 or 1942: The Pacific Air War, and I certainly intend to pay my respects to the legacy. There’s nothing random about us going with the reborn Microprose label. The nostalgia is not just there for the sake of it. ^^
When that time comes, the game will already be playable to some extent and broadcasted by the gentlemen I mentioned above, so you won’t get to take any bet in regard of the core contents of the product. At that point we will be close enough to release that we’ll probably be able to provide a realistic release date.
Cheers! And thanks for your support!
Happy Navy Day 2020 from the Dev Team to all the Sailors of the QT3 forum!
Above all, Take care & Stay safe! S!
Nice postcard :)
Thanks bro ^^
Hello there ladies & gents!
We just posted a new update online covering the work done in the last couple months. There’s a little bit of everything, we sincerely hope that you’ll all find something to your liking in there :)
[url=https://drydockdreams.games/2020/11/20/legends-fall/]https://drydockdreams.games/2020/11/20/legends-fall/[/url]
Take good care and enjoy the weekend, all of you!
Wow. This is coming out when again?