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Posted by: MARS 21 Apr 2012, 6:05

Greetings, dear fans. As you may remember from our ongoing mini-series of updates, General Orlov is in great peril, but despite this, we decided to break up the pattern a bit with this week's update. And now for something completely different:

This is Eric Brice reporting live from Washington DC where a huge crowd of protesters has gathered in front of the Capitol Hill today. Demonstrations from various different groups have been a common sight in the American capital for decades but this one stands out: A sizeable portion of the protesters are members of the United States military, the Navy in particular, who express their discontent over this year's controversial National Defense Authorization Act. The law which with all likelihood will be approved by Congress this week includes the largest budget cuts in the history of the US military. The savings amount to almost half of the country's annual spending which, even today, four years after the global war on terrorism came to an end, still exceeds the dreaded mark of one trillion Dollars, putting a constant strain on the stagnating economy.



"My name is James Hernandez, I'm 26 years old and currently a Seaman onboard the USS Lincoln. They told us that most of our Nimitz-class carriers are going to be mothballed cos they're too damn expensive and that 'the role of super-carriers in modern naval warfare is to be re-evaluated', as the brass say. I guess they're still scared shitless by what the GLA did to the Reagan back in '27. They're gonna decommission like half the entire fleet and replace it with a few newer ships that have a ton of AI assistance, so much of the personnel's being laid off as well. Seriously, man? I've got a wife and a kid to take care off. My dad used to be a Marine for his entire life, my grandfather's been in the Mexican forces back in his day and so on. The military has always been a safe bet for our family but...Well, I guess I'm gonna be the last in that line. Life's a bitch..."

But the NDAA isn't just controversial due to the scaling-down of equipment and personnel: The law also states that most of the many old vessels, including capital ships, destroyers and boats, are to be sold with little regard as to who. Proponents say that the current geo-political climate is stable enough thanks to China's leading role in international peacekeeping and that the technology of these ships no longer represents the cutting edge of the US military's modern day arsenal. Thus, they conclude that the danger of these ships, should they ever wind up in the hands of a rogue state, would be very controllable but many members of the Navy disagree with that assessment. Captain Karen Thompson is one of them:



"These ships may no longer be 'cutting edge' but they're still advanced enough to shift the balance in smaller, regional conflicts between emerging powers. The financial situation of our country has degraded to a point where long-term geo-strategic planning has simply become a luxury so the government is going to sell them to pretty much anyone who's willing and capable to pay the price. But the way we see it, this policy is going to backfire on us really badly. For all we know, these ships could easily end up with the Russians or the Chinese. For their naval forces, the technologies on these vessels including the various sub-systems like radar, weapons, fire-control, electronics, et cetera, are still quite modern and they could easily use them to jump-start their own developments. Better buy a decent ship from someone else than build the entire thing from scratch. And this isn't like Iran back in the day, whose F-14s were rendered useless when we ceased to provide them with spare parts and system updates after the revolution. These are global industrial superpowers we're talking about and they are very well capable of reverse engineering our tech. In a nutshell, we may very well be arming the countries that could be our greatest adversaries in some future conflict."

In any case, the servicemen and -women here will continue their protests as will the public debate over these controversial developments. This was Eric Brice reporting to you live from Washington DC. Back to you, Christine.









The naval units are only available on a handful specific maps that have been modified to include the Tech Naval Yard and are currently undergoing extensive testing. So far, we haven't encountered any major problems and I can reveal to you that they definitely add some interesting new gameplay dimensions on the maps that have them. However, before any miscommunications arise, I shall conclude this update by stressing once again that this is a temporary navy. It will be completely replaced by a more diverse, faction-specific selection of ships filling in similar unit roles in a later version, so don't get too attached to them.

Posted by: Generalcamo 21 Apr 2012, 6:13

Oh god, the legacy of shockwave has arisen!

Will this be in the next version? Or will this come later?



EDIT: Wait a minute, it looks like this is a direct port from RA. Oh well, it's only temporary. Will that battlesub we were shown since shockwave .93 (Or earlier?) appear in a later version?

Posted by: MARS 21 Apr 2012, 6:16

Yes, it will be in the next/upcoming version, which is going to be labeled 1.7 and include the navy, the revamped GLA as well as some small but noticeable new additions to Russia, China and the US.

EDIT: That is correct. The ships for this temporary navy where made as an homage to the Red Alert 1 designs from back in the day. With that in mind, you can probably also conclude that there's going to be another unarmed ship that we haven't shown in this update.

Posted by: Generalcamo 21 Apr 2012, 6:20

Will that "thing" xxxxxx tanks? Or just Infantry?

Posted by: MARS 21 Apr 2012, 6:25

Well, I don't know which function you're thinking of, considering that the word "transport" does not fit into your "xxxxxx", but yes, it can do that to tanks and infantry alike; even APCs that contain actual infantry.

Posted by: Comr4de 21 Apr 2012, 6:29

Navy will be available for the this upcoming release.

Posted by: DerKrieger 21 Apr 2012, 6:35

Well, this was somewhat unexpected! I recall that on the facebook fan page there was a question about what one would like to see in a hypothetical navy. I can't wait to see what the later faction specific warships are going to be like. (thinking of more advanced ships with multi-functional armament, point defenses [lasers for US, Goalkeepers for ECA, Kaštans for Russia, and so on)

Posted by: MARS 21 Apr 2012, 6:38

Yeah, that question was a bit of a teaser back then. The_Hunter actually broke the news of his idea to us back in early Febuary.

Posted by: DerKrieger 21 Apr 2012, 6:41

In any case, cool learning that this idea actually got off the ground for ROTR

Posted by: Claine 21 Apr 2012, 6:41

OMG it cant be.. they said theres no navy for this mod this is impossible!!
thanks SWR_team^^ i like the transport hover " injoy the ride"

Posted by: Evan 21 Apr 2012, 6:48

From https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=359975500716603&set=a.350424315005055.78075.346701942043959&type=1&theater I would love to assist in a map or two if you'd let me. Notice some similarities between that map and maps I make so...if I can help (even a little) let me know I have a portfolio if need I suppose...

also, what the hell is that green turret thing next to the Hovercraft in the top left?

Posted by: Comr4de 21 Apr 2012, 6:56

You'll find out soon. Exclusive content.



(fffffff-)

Posted by: Dimension 52 21 Apr 2012, 7:43

No ECA?

Posted by: TheSpudd 21 Apr 2012, 8:04

Really blown away guys! Fantastic idea, make it a tech building!! SWR, going were no one has gone before!


I'm looking forward to the GLA ships! (in the future of course)

Posted by: MARS 21 Apr 2012, 8:10

What would you rather have? A fully functioning navy, a revamped GLA and some new stuff for Russia/China/US soon, or wait another undefined eternity for all that plus the ECA with no sort of new release to pass the time between that?



We do already have some ideas floating around for those, but for now, they too will have to make do with the "generic" ones. Puts them all on equal terms though, and you will all be quite impressed by the firepower and range of these ships.
When we're talking "long-range" in regards to the Battle Ships, we aren't just talking Nuke Cannon long or Cruise Mode Tomahawk long; I can tell you that much.

Posted by: TheSpudd 21 Apr 2012, 8:15

(dreams up portable AGAS Tremor on Russian destroyer)

Posted by: Dimension 52 21 Apr 2012, 8:27

Yeah you're right, bring on the GLA!

Posted by: SpiralSpectre 21 Apr 2012, 9:47

Now that's a pleasant surprise. The renders (specially the Naval Yard) look amazing and naval units should be fun.

Yeah I guess everyone's doing it but I ain't feeling like anticipating what kinda unique ships the factions would get. Those ain't planned for anytime soon anyway (I guess).

Posted by: Jester 21 Apr 2012, 9:47

SWR please marry me?...This was totally unexpected great job guys!

Posted by: dangerman1337 21 Apr 2012, 10:52

Seriously guys you keep surprising us more and more. It looks like the plans for Navy for Shockwave 1.0 came here instead and I think RoTR's slower playstyle suits a navy like this more rather than Shockwave. Also is that a dual turret tech defense in that facebook screenshot?

EDIT: Will the unique faction ships come with ECA vanilla, 2.0 or a different version altogether?

Posted by: Mcbob 21 Apr 2012, 11:05

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/380762_359975780716575_346701942043959_990432_214731523_n.jpg

Posted by: Warpath20 21 Apr 2012, 11:49

The Navy is in ROTR!!! man you guys are awesome but how will it be captured.

Posted by: MARS 21 Apr 2012, 11:53

The Tech Naval Yards are always placed in such a way that they are on land but point towards the sea, so you just capture them with a basic infantry unit as you would capture any other tech structure and build the ships from it. It's not exactly rocket surgery.

Posted by: Comr4de 21 Apr 2012, 12:06

Will post some of these puppies in combat on facebook - JUST - so people know that they are in fact ready to go.


Also because I tease

Posted by: Red Guard 21 Apr 2012, 12:29

Navy?The proportion of how?Will not affect the balance？

Posted by: Generalcamo 21 Apr 2012, 14:05

One bug I have always noticed with naval producing buildings is the fact that rally points NEVER go out into the sea. Will this be fixed? Or will rally points be removed?

EDIT: One more thing, will these be available to all players in the naval maps? Because if they are, I would suggest a script to transfer owner of the tech buildings to the nearby player.

Posted by: Zeke 21 Apr 2012, 14:17

1. Naval yards don't use waypoints
2. Naval yards have to be captured just like any other tech structure.

Posted by: simeon5541 21 Apr 2012, 15:16

That are cool news.
Have someone of you DEV's tought about giving this one to Russia in some future release :

http://cnc.wikia.com/wiki/Dreadnought_(Red_Alert_2)

?

Posted by: Panzer4life 21 Apr 2012, 15:23

So, how will naval combat affect my ground and air war, will they provide naval support for light infantry forces should they be near water, and will maps dedicated to allowing naval warfare exist? Also, if each faction can get their own flavor, the give the Russians their typhoon class missile boats. For Mother Russia!!!

Posted by: Jester 21 Apr 2012, 15:33

Im guessing the AI will not use the navy? If so i cant wait to have a comp stomp

Posted by: SpiralSpectre 21 Apr 2012, 15:46

^What's the fun in that?

This is none of my business so excuse me for butting in but just for the records - these guys become a bit mean if you suggest too much. Don't worry, I am aware that whatever I say won't change your mind.

It's more like naval warfare will only exist in maps dedicated for naval warfare. The Naval Yard tech building will exist in maps meant for naval combat.

Posted by: Jester 21 Apr 2012, 15:49

If i remember the AI cant use naval units because it proceeds to beach its units on multiple shorelines around the map making them stuck and unable to move. Atleast thats what happened in reborn afaik

Posted by: simeon5541 21 Apr 2012, 15:53

That was not suggestion,just question,
if I would suggest it would be probably some real life ship.

Posted by: Red Guard 21 Apr 2012, 16:09

If so, need to make a great map，Like QSN “modern war” mod.........But I think the large-scale naval battle is boring。。。。

Posted by: Red Guard 21 Apr 2012, 16:16

I am also concerned about this problem

Posted by: TheSpudd 21 Apr 2012, 23:02

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=359975500716603&set=a.350424315005055.78075.346701942043959&type=1&theater

I see a hovercraft, a coastal defense installation, AND I think, a re-skinned Ranger Rifle.

Oh and just wondering (sorry to be a pain) how do you link something within a word/sentence?

Posted by: Mcbob 21 Apr 2012, 23:22

I doubt think the ranger's weapon has been reskinned. It's already been remodeled as such before. As for the coastal defense gun, the green skin looks really weird. At first I thought it was a darker-colored, enlarged battlemaster turret with two guns with a grey concrete base.

Posted by: simeon5541 21 Apr 2012, 23:47

That is probably cuz it gonna be neutral structure which you must occupy with the soldier to work
like in the Shockwave mod,I can bet.

Posted by: TheSpudd 22 Apr 2012, 0:08

Oh...I didn't know the Ranger's rifle had already been redone, my bad...Is it an M-16 or M4? Or something else?

Posted by: simeon5541 22 Apr 2012, 0:31

M16A8 and M4A6 carbine variant

Posted by: GDIZOCOM 22 Apr 2012, 0:52

A Navy? YES! (Shockwave has arisen once more )

Seriously, just PURE awesomeness here. This was the last thing I expected from you guys

Posted by: DerKrieger 22 Apr 2012, 1:44

It's certainly more detailed than the stick used by the original EA Ranger; it could be a M16/M4 variant, an ACR derivative, or some futuristic fictional assault rifle.

Posted by: Mcbob 22 Apr 2012, 2:57

What does that have to do with the green skin?

Also, no need for speculation about the Ranger's gun. It's just a generic polygon that looks better than the old rifle colored black. That's all it is

Posted by: simeon5541 22 Apr 2012, 3:01

Thought little bit.

Posted by: Comr4de 22 Apr 2012, 3:33

More than aware that this exists but chances are slim for it to actually come back, at least for the Russians.

We have their equivalent already in mind

Posted by: Mcbob 22 Apr 2012, 3:49

Missile cruisers are BIG in Russia

Posted by: Comr4de 22 Apr 2012, 5:04

Let me reiterate. We have their equivalent already in mind

Posted by: TheSpudd 22 Apr 2012, 6:02

Just like the AKS-74U hybrid for the GLA eh.

Posted by: SpiralSpectre 22 Apr 2012, 6:17

Officially the GLA assault rifle is still the AK-47. From "Fighting for the Cause" update -


But we never heard anything official about the Ranger rifle. Personally I would say it's a futuristic fictional assault rifle since that goes with ZH/RotR US's style.

Posted by: Admiral FCS 22 Apr 2012, 7:59

THE LEGEND, IT HAS ARRIVED.

Such an awesome news! It must've been a pretty meticulous job finally making navy a reality, and then some making maps balanced. My most sincere congratulations.

On a side note... since ShockWave is now officially complete, navy's not going to be in there, is it? (If that had been answered, sorry, I didn't read the previous posts...)

Posted by: MARS 22 Apr 2012, 9:25

Nope, Shockwave is indeed compplete and will not receive any naval units, partly because they seem to fit better into the general ROTR gameplay.

Posted by: SpiralSpectre 22 Apr 2012, 13:14

Honestly speaking I would say naval combat would go with ShW more than RotR since ShW has a higher number of amphibious vehicles and aircrafts are more common back on ShW (ie GLA won't have aircrafts in RotR while they do in ShW).

Ofc obviously this will change if a good number of amphibious vehicles are added to the RotR factions in future releases. But the way the current RotR US, China, Russia and known GLA stands, ShW takes the cake.

I am gonna be grilled for saying this, ain't I?

Posted by: Encrypted 22 Apr 2012, 14:18

After looking at the update images I noticed This;

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/571/bombardmentcannon.jpg/

I don't remember it being in any updates until this point. Is this a replacement for the fire base or something else entirely ? From appearance it looks to be a little beefier that your average fire base, leading me think it might be the latter.

Posted by: Jester 22 Apr 2012, 14:40

Oh yes the hovercraft..How come you made a completely new hovercraft rather that use the old one? The new ships seem to resemble the old battleship from ZH so why a new model for the hovercraft? I have nothing against this decision just curious

And that cannon well my guess is its just a cannon used on naval maps suited to taking out ships rather than your average tank or other armoured vehicles.

Posted by: MARS 22 Apr 2012, 15:22

The entire navy is heavily inspired by Red Alert 1, which is why we came up with an entirely new Transport that looks like the iconic one from RA1. The Battleship has been changed because the old one had
three guns per turret which wouldn't look right given the proportions of the in-game ships; those parts would simply look too busy otherwise, kind of like classic Western cartoon characters if they had five fingers.

As for the green thing, that is actually a tech Coastal Battery, which will be officially revealed soon.

Posted by: DerKrieger 22 Apr 2012, 18:08

Ah, so the Battleship is smaller than the stationary model from vanilla Generals? I thought so due to the reduced cannons, but it's hard to tell from the screenshots I've seen so far.

Posted by: Mcbob 22 Apr 2012, 19:38

I take it the skin is WIP?

Posted by: The_Hunter 22 Apr 2012, 19:43

Nope it's fully completed and ready.

Wouldn't be ingame if it was WIP

Posted by: Mcbob 22 Apr 2012, 19:56

That olive green sure throws my eyes off though. Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me.

Posted by: Jester 22 Apr 2012, 20:48

I like the green skin personally it's a change from the usually bland tech structures

Posted by: TheSpudd 22 Apr 2012, 21:42

Ha ha I remember in the Red Alert 1 how the Hovercraft were open top and you could see all the men and vehicles inside them. Would be Hilarious if in ROTR, you could snipe the men out of the hovercraft. Obviously not because its enclosed now. Which is a good thing.

Posted by: BlitzGeneral 22 Apr 2012, 22:10

Maybe a moot point, but how are you handling sizing and scale for ships? Plus, I always thought it was a little odd that amphibious APCs could swim right out to the middle of the ocean and fire on battleships. Has that been changed at all?

Posted by: Comr4de 22 Apr 2012, 23:06

Well CnC scaling was never accurate was it? It'll be the same in 'reds considering we'd have lumbering beasts otherwise that clog up the map (and less space to fight on)

Posted by: D' WRTHBRNGR 23 Apr 2012, 11:40

Wow, this was an unexpected surprise in RotR, great job as always (looking forward to the faction-specific ships in the future releases).

EDIT: Liked the page on FB

Posted by: Raven 24 Apr 2012, 4:06

Damn....I was away from sometime and another update. One question and I did not read through the 3 pages yet. Are the naval units going to be huuge? Some ZH naval units in some mods are pretty huge almost filling up the screen.

Posted by: Comr4de 24 Apr 2012, 4:40

There's some new screenshots on our facebook page that can answer that

Posted by: Raven 24 Apr 2012, 8:25

ooo checked it out...looks pretty good. Scaling seems just about right IMO.

Posted by: TheSpudd 24 Apr 2012, 11:37

So I'm taking it the Naval Yard respawns after a while, once it has been destroyed?

Posted by: Darkfire Angel 28 Apr 2012, 16:45

If I wanted to import the maps and naval yard into Shockwave how difficult would it be?