Some questions again., Nuff said. Options

[Die Hindenburg]

1. Why the ECA gets an helicopter with an Avenger-esque rof-laser? And Russia a form of chinese ECM??? Is that not contradicting, and if sorry for my boldness, a little bit lame, as well... I mean its like giving an viking an broadsword and an chinese warrior an scimitar.

2. I am still confused about the unit unlocks in 2:0, will Aleskandr then still need to unlock its tesla tree or will it be still limited to one type of unlock per Faction at all, like russias airfiel?

3. Why you remove standard traits like firestorms for chinese artillery? I really find that dumb because it robs these their uniqueness... now the player has to pay for standard things...

4. Would the Scorpion get an graphical or gameplay upgrade, now its back?

5. Will be the Cyclops and Airborne Laser Plane (GP) be the last laser/DEW units for the mod?

6. Is the USA going to have more drones/Infantry types in 2.0???

7. How the stealth for GLA will be effective with so many stealth detectors being introduced for the next version?

8. Are the Spetznas be superior in all ways, unlike the green berets, to the conscripts?

9. & will the GLA eventually get more units from scrap or form obsolete ones, or will it be a tie beetween orky and real life equipment as well?

[Karpet]

4. Just graphical I think. The old Centurion didn't fit the GLA (rightfully so, the Centurion is a little too professional) so they changed it back to the original scorpion we love.

[(USA)Bruce]

His questions

1-Cause the engine lets us do only so much but doesnt deny us ways to change values.The Avengerish ROF lazer is usefull sure but it lacks other qualities.Russian Arena defences are good...Till the conscripts guarding your sents gets killed by the explosion and a technical drops in hijackers
2-You will pick a general at the start of the game, the other general powers will change depending on your general If I understood how I understood it...
3-Even when you require 5 Infernos to start a firestorm they're just too good for thier price/range/damage.The firestorm can destroy anything caught underneath its flames.TLDR:Ballence
4-I'll leave this to MARS, hes more qualified
5-WHat? I'll leave this to MARS, hes more qualified
6-Most likely....Yes
7-All stealth detectors have a weakness, one that GLA and exploit easily
8-They'll be more like the green berrets if Im not mistaken.
9 - I'll leave this to MARS, hes more qualified

This post has been edited by (USA)Bruce: 21 Feb 2014, 17:24

[MARS]

1. Why the ECA gets an helicopter with an Avenger-esque rof-laser? And Russia a form of chinese ECM??? Is that not contradicting, and if sorry for my boldness, a little bit lame, as well... I mean its like giving an viking an broadsword and an chinese warrior an scimitar.
2. I am still confused about the unit unlocks in 2:0, will Aleskandr then still need to unlock its tesla tree or will it be still limited to one type of unlock per Faction at all, like russias airfiel?
3. Why you remove standard traits like firestorms for chinese artillery? I really find that dumb because it robs these their uniqueness... now the player has to pay for standard things...
4. Would the Scorpion get an graphical or gameplay upgrade, now its back?
5. Will be the Cyclops and Airborne Laser Plane (GP) be the last laser/DEW units for the mod?
6. Is the USA going to have more drones/Infantry types in 2.0???
7. How the stealth for GLA will be effective with so many stealth detectors being introduced for the next version?
8. Are the Spetznas be superior in all ways, unlike the green berets, to the conscripts?
9. & will the GLA eventually get more units from scrap or form obsolete ones, or will it be a tie beetween orky and real life equipment as well?

1. We do make exceptions on 'soft' visual theme elements like lasers, railguns or countermeasure flares when it serves the purpose of enhancing gameplay variety. The Bloodhound FAC is a fire control support unit, so it not just spots targets for your howitzers but it also confers a rate of fire bonus to friendly units by marking a target. The fact that it uses a laser (albeit one of a different colour) for that purpose is not important, since it gets the point accross that it's a designator unit. There's no point in making things overly complicated to identify for the hell of it. Likewise, the Russians needed an upgrade that improves the survivability of their helicopters, since they're supposed to be able to win via a pure tank/gunship approach.

2. The tech unlocks at rank 1 are, for the most part, entirely temporary to avoid feature/theme bloat. Things like Armored Company, Covert Forces, Assault Tactics, High Explosive Caches, Tesla Weaponry Breakthrough Strategy (unlocks Overlords and Shenlongs in 1.85) and Artillery Support (unlocks Claymores and Combat Pioneers in 1.85) will be removed in 2.0 as most of the tech that is unique to a certain General will be available to him by default, save for a few exceptions like tac-nukes for Zhukov and Mau, as well as certain high-tier units that are useful to have in certain situations, but not essential at any time.

3. As it stands right now, China is severely overpowered and even though many of their themes will be dispersed among different Generals as of 2.0, they're still more powerful than they used to be in the original game. Sometimes, these temporary nerfs via upgrades are necessary, much like the Raptor Ammo upgrade that everyone seems to hate. Sure, it's not an elegant solution, but it's the only one that's somewhat workable within the constraints of the game if we still want the US to be unique in that they're able to field aircraft before anyone else. ROTR's balance is still somewhat off, yes, but judging it based on the old Generals/ZH balance system isn't the most sensible approach since, the tech trees and mechanics are simply too different and too far expanded for that comparison to matter.

4. The upcoming Recycler mechanic will not only affect the Recycler Truck itself, but also a few other units depending on the circumstances, including the Scorpion.

5. Maybe, maybe not. We're not working under any sort of 'must (not) have more than X amount of theme Y' system. We add theme weapons wherever they might provide for interesting gameplay possibilities.

6. The US will have slightly fewer infantry types than the other factions (the exception being Thorn, who actually gets more) and there will be a few more drones. No, we're not intentionally filling up role slots with unmanned units that cannot gain experience; drones will be useful and viable in and of themselves due to having a wide range of abilities, armour and auto-repair once fully upgraded. They do perform some of the functions that could be carried out by infantry or manned vehicles in other factions, but their quite economical and tend to have good mobility, not to mention that you'll likely be able to transport them in decent numbers once the US get their airborne vehicle transport.

7. We wouldn't be adding new detector units if we had the impression that they'd make stealth gameplay useless, especially for the one faction that gets them most use out of it.

8. Spetsnaz aren't actually just one generic 'rifleman plus' type unit. In the same way as Thorn gets access to multiple special forces units, Orlov gets access to Spetsnaz soldiers that all perform many different roles.

9. The Recycler mechanic will add more to the custom/unconventional element and we do prefer the GLA with a more homebrew/re-fitted civilian than surplus military look. They kinda had that in ShW with all sorts of ex-Soviet and even lots of WW2 era weapons, but their ROTR arsenal is a lot more 'non-state'. Naturally, this makes it that much more egregious that their vehicles made in a cave with a box of scraps can somehow destroy top-of-the-range first world hardware, but that's a necessary concession for the sake of gameplay and stylistic variety. If we were operating under any sort of realistic mindset, the GLA would be flat-out gone or heavily refitted into a political alliance of Middle Eastern states with an actual industrial bases like the GoI from MEC2, but that's not gonna happen for obvious reasons. Generally speaking, many of the oddities in both game design and setting are due the fact that Generals/ZH were goofy and unrealistic to begin with and we didn't want to rip the game's entire soul out in order to bend it into a more realistic framework because that simply isn't our goal.

[Jam Hacker]

about that new heli you showed in the twitch live stream, hunter, you said it was stealth detector right? does this overlaps with the GDI sensor array thingy that ECA as of 1.802 has?

[MARS]

It only overlaps in the sense that, yes, they're both stealth detectors but the MSA was always limited due to the fact that it has to deploy in order to function. You use it as a stationary long range detector for, say, a base perimeter whereas the Bloodhound can actually be used as an active mobile detector out in the field alongside your combat units, which makes it more practical in an offensive situation than the more defensive/passive MSA, which also dies rather easily, but allows you to cover larger areas.

[Planardweller]

Mars, could you go in more detail about RF gunships - what is current vision for them - Hellion, Hunchback and Hind go to Orlov, what the others will get? Also will there be other AA armed helicopter than Hind?

Also, will there be an increase in detection and sight range for ECA MSA?

This post has been edited by Planardweller: 21 Feb 2014, 19:34

[MARS]

Hellion = Orlov's Tier-1 replacement for the Havoc. Armed with an auto-cannon and anti-tank missiles by default
Hunchback = Will be exclusive to Orlov in the current form and remain available at Tier-1. Armed with an auto-cannon by default, but can be upgraded with thermobaric bombs via the same Orlov-exclusive Tier-1 upgrade that also adds thermobaric rockets to the Hellion.
Hind = Orlov's exclusive Tier-2 flying tank with no equivalent among the others. Armed with a gatling gun, rocket pods and Igla missiles by default. The standard Russian Havoc will probably have an auto-cannon, rocket pods and Iglas, but neither the Hinds transport ability nor its heavy armour.
ALL Russian helicopters for ALL Generals will benefit from a new upgrade that substantially increases their survivability during the early part of a confrontation.

[Planardweller]

Hellion = Orlov's Tier-1 replacement for the Havoc. Armed with an auto-cannon and anti-tank missiles by default
Hunchback = Will be exclusive to Orlov in the current form and remain available at Tier-1. Armed with an auto-cannon by default, but can be upgraded with thermobaric bombs via the same Orlov-exclusive Tier-1 upgrade that also adds thermobaric rockets to the Hellion.
Hind = Orlov's exclusive Tier-2 flying tank with no equivalent among the others. Armed with a gatling gun, rocket pods and Igla missiles by default. The standard Russian Havoc will probably have an auto-cannon, rocket pods and Iglas, but neither the Hinds transport ability nor its heavy armour.
ALL Russian helicopters for ALL Generals will benefit from a new upgrade that substantially increases their survivability during the early part of a confrontation.

So basically Havoc will be a do-all gunship?
Also, why bombs on Hunchback instead of rockets? Rockets would be more useful.

[Nemanja]

So basically Havoc will be a do-all gunship?
Also, why bombs on Hunchback instead of rockets? Rockets would be more useful.

Probably for the sake of variety.

I have one question too.
Will this new ECA Heli have bigger sight radius,thus be even more useful in conjunction with artillery ?

[X1Destroy]

I have some questions too.

Is there any chance of a tank for GLA beside the Scorpion and Marauder? Currently that's the only armoured vehicles they have.

Since Secret Police is about intelligence and disruption, would he be weak in direct confrontations?

[Jam Hacker]

O I'd actually like to ask if there would be any from of vehicle transport in plan other than the naval transport, like aeroplanes, trains(I vote for tech train station ), "philadelphia drive" and so forth, since no faction other than GLA can practically transport any vehicles from point A to point B.

[DELETED MEMBER]

Hellion = Orlov's Tier-1 replacement for the Havoc. Armed with an auto-cannon and anti-tank missiles by default
Hunchback = Will be exclusive to Orlov in the current form and remain available at Tier-1. Armed with an auto-cannon by default, but can be upgraded with thermobaric bombs via the same Orlov-exclusive Tier-1 upgrade that also adds thermobaric rockets to the Hellion.
Hind = Orlov's exclusive Tier-2 flying tank with no equivalent among the others. Armed with a gatling gun, rocket pods and Igla missiles by default. The standard Russian Havoc will probably have an auto-cannon, rocket pods and Iglas, but neither the Hinds transport ability nor its heavy armour.
ALL Russian helicopters for ALL Generals will benefit from a new upgrade that substantially increases their survivability during the early part of a confrontation.

i noticed all the playable helicopters right now are Orlov exclusive, will the other generals get a troop transport or other niche helicopter?

[Jester]

I really wanna see the USA vehicle air transport

[MARS]

i noticed all the playable helicopters right now are Orlov exclusive, will the other generals get a troop transport or other niche helicopter?

We actually had plans for unique helicopters for both Aleksandr and Zhukov, but they were deemed superfluous and unfeasible due to design changes and technical issues, so they're actually getting the Havoc and a lighter version of the Hunchback which serves as an airborne infantry transport with less armament than Orlov's version.

[Neo3602]

We actually had plans for unique helicopters for both Aleksandr and Zhukov, but they were deemed superfluous and unfeasible due to design changes and technical issues, so they're actually getting the Havoc and a lighter version of the Hunchback which serves as an airborne infantry transport with less armament than Orlov's version.

Was one of unique helicopters for Aleksandr going to be armed with tesla weaponry?

[MARS]

No. Most of the idea was undone by the concept we had for Zhukov, which was supposed to be a RA2-style siege chopper based on an unused concept art from YR. However, The_Hunter had to use several odd tricks for its implementation which made it too glitchy and impractical to be left in. Suppose we could still show it if we ever do some sort of 'cutting room floor' trivia update.

[(USA)Bruce]

Oh....THAT helicopter....

A huge shame we couldnt make it exist....It was epic....sad to see it had to go really...

[MARS]

It was a cool concept, yes, but the technical implementation left a lot to be desired, what with the manual repair ability, the altitude switching, deploying on water, etc. It could have worked with a different engine, but that's SAGE for you.

[Nemanja]

Does that mean that model was already made ?

This post has been edited by Re_Simeone: 22 Feb 2014, 17:51

[The_Hunter]

Does that mean that model was already made ?

yes








An other reason why it was scrapped is because it looks rather goofy in general.
Also don't bother asking me to release the model for public use because i won't

[Rohan]

yes








An other reason why it was scrapped is because it looks rather goofy in general.
Also don't bother asking me to release the model for public use because i won't

Wow that is an excellent model. Though I have to admit it looks weird.

A question of mine :-

Will there be Earthquake inducing units in ROTR like the Anvil Tanks and Seismic shells in Shockwave ? Will there be plasma based units ?

[Dangerman]

^ Yeah that does look very goofy and does not fit with RotR Russia in any way.

[MARS]

^ The ECA already has a seismic weapon in the form of their Grand Slam bomb and plasma weapons will most likely not be added in any form.

[Admiral*Alex]

We actually had plans for unique helicopters for both Aleksandr and Zhukov, but they were deemed superfluous and unfeasible due to design changes and technical issues, so they're actually getting the Havoc and a lighter version of the Hunchback which serves as an airborne infantry transport with less armament than Orlov's version.

Is it possible to give General Zhukov get a long range missile armed Helicopter basically a flying Topel ,but with less damage and non-nuclear payload with the counters being Aircraft ,long reload time ,and weak Armor or is this redundant?

This post has been edited by Admiral*Alex: 22 Feb 2014, 20:24