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SWR Productions Forum _ The Workstation _ Ardent Seas

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 12 Jan 2015, 22:52

http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/

Ardent Seas is a real time strategy game focusing primarily on Naval combat. The game takes place on an alter-Earth, called Tenorra, an Earth-like planet that is larger and has a bigger Ocean coverage than Earth. The gameplay focuses on the acquisition of Metals and Hydrocarbons, and the destruction of the enemy Command Ship.

Naval Games takes place in an alternate timeline, on an alternate planet, and is roughly equivalent to 2030 in reality. The leading powers in the world are Tenorran Defense Navy, the Naval branch of the Tenorran Defense Union, and the Coalition Navy, part of Coalition of Populist Socialist Nations - CPSN - which are in a cold war-like situation with eachother, with occasional battles happening near their borders. The Tenorran Defense Union is named after the planet itself – Tenorra, which is intended to mean „Not really Earth“, it is a Union of several highly advanced states across 3 continents, and in many regards similar to both the EU and the USA. The CPSN is a loose coalition of countries in the two southern continents, and are on a technological level comparable to the early 1990s, but with flatscreens and smartphones, with very powerful industries – in some ways comparable to present day China.
Tenorra is under siege by an Armada of Drones, the purpose of which is the total destruction of any civilization they find, set upon the Galaxy as a final act of retribution against a rivaling civilization they were losing against.

The player is represented by and starts with a single unit, the Command Ship, the ultimate goal of the game is the destruction of all enemy Command Ships. A player automatically loses if his Command Ship is destroyed.The game features two primary and three secondary resources. The primary resources are Metal and Hydrocarbons, these are later converted into Construction Materials, Ammunition, and Fuel. Ships require Construction Materials to be built, and Ammunition and Fuel to operate.

Ardent Seas will feature a single player campaign, an original soundtrack, three unique factions each with over 20 units, large and diverse maps, with high tactical depth, customizable units and various gameplay modes.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/naval-games/images/screenshots1 http://www.indiedb.com/games/naval-games/images/screenshots2


Posted by: Sargeant Rho 22 Jan 2015, 20:38

Sneak peek of a coming update, and feature: Unit customization.

You will be able to set the colors used by the patterns, as well as which patterns are used, the size of the pattern, and the color of the white stripes.

http://i.imgur.com/JB3oTNh.jpg

Posted by: Kommandant Karisse 22 Jan 2015, 20:54

Whoa ... looks awesome! I wonder how a purple-and-black camo scheme would look on those ...

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 22 Jan 2015, 21:14

Fabulous, probably tongue.gif

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 28 Jan 2015, 0:14

More Corvette progress. We might use these camo/stripe settings as default for the TDN.

http://i.imgur.com/ycRVNW4.png

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 5 Feb 2015, 3:04

Next little update, the KA52N Naval Warfare Helicopter of the Tenorran Defense Navy - also the closest thing to a real vehicle you're going to find in the game.

http://i.imgur.com/ZXOs68C.jpg

It's armed with twin 40mm chemically assisted railguns and 4 air launched torpedo missiles.

Posted by: Oliver 7 Feb 2015, 4:21

looks pretty neat.. I'm actually interested on the particle system of this game, how will it be?

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 7 Feb 2015, 4:34

Well, we're using Unity's system, and it seems fairly flexible. I haven't had the opportunity to really dig into it yet.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 15 Feb 2015, 21:03

Corvette, Helicopters and explosions!

The weapons of the Helicopter all work, as does its movement for the most part. The Corvette's anti-submarine turrets still fire at ships, but that'll change once the Attack Sub is implemented.

http://i.imgur.com/BmBZ5kt.jpg

Posted by: Kommandant Karisse 15 Feb 2015, 21:20

Neat o.o I like the hexagonal pattern for the camo. What was the inspiration for that?

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 15 Feb 2015, 21:27

CELL's camouflage from Crysis 2 and 3 for the hexagons themselves. The blue and gray color selection however came about by tweaking the shader.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 1 Apr 2015, 1:43

http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/news/setting-fire-to-the-seas-media-update

So, where do I begin?

Let's start with the important stuff first, shall we?

The game is now no longer called Naval Games. The name is Ardent Seas now. Naval Games was only the Development Title, to be used until we had a final name after all. Remember to update your bookmark if you have one, as the URL is now Indiedb.com

More things. The Command Ships' class final name is Flagships, everything else about them remains the same. The class of ships used to capture Islands is now called Command Ship, as those names are all much more fitting than the previous ones.

Next up, we have some storyline changes. Tenorra is its own planet now. It's located several hundred lightyears from Earth, and was colonized quite catastrophically some centuries ago, resulting in a kind of dark age, during which all resources were spent on agriculture, and building up basic infrastructure, losing a lot of tech in the process. The different factions on the Planet have largely recovered, and are a few years ahead of where we are in real life, and some extras. The rest of the storyline remains unchanged.

Little things. The Destroyer is getting an additional set of weapons, two swiveling quad Torpedo Launchers, quite devastating, but inaccurate and of short range.
The KA52N is going to be moved to the CPSN, or replaced completely in face of the storyline changes. The TDN's air force will almost completely consist of VTOLs.

The Shields of the ICES units are getting an interesting mechanic. The more units shoot at the shields, the more resistant the shields become, dealing less and less damage the more fire is received by them, capping off at a reduction of about 75%. The shields however still lose HP, and will deplete eventually.

Also, Unity have updated their licensing. *All* engine-features are now available in the free version. Among other things this means we don't need to overdraft our bank accounts quite as much as before tongue.gif

And now, for the media-part of this media update!

First of all, some renders. The first two are self explanatory. The third image is the TDN Resupply Vessel, which replenishes nearby units with Ammunition and Fuel. The 4th image is the Port structure, with the command ship to scale. This port structure acts as control hub for the Islands.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update4http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update3
http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update2http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update


Next up, Screenshots!

http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update6http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update5
http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/images/march-31st-update7


And some newer gameplay footage:




That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed it!

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 3 May 2015, 9:39

Small update:

I've finished redesigning the Fast Attack Craft, also I've redesigned the Turret - turrets and units are handled as separate entities. The new turret is a 40mm Autocannon, the previous one was a 5" naval gun. It can fire at everything, and does decent damage.

http://i.imgur.com/2hQzhtz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/G22irYe.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YAcPbUh.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ln86m0q.jpg

Posted by: TimeBurner 3 May 2015, 10:34

Nice work! biggrin.gif excuse me, uhmm, can you please upload the .obj and .mtl file for the helicopter KA52N ? I want to examine how you did it smile.gif im currently working on a KA- 50 Hokum smile.gif THanks !

Posted by: Oliver 3 May 2015, 11:34

I'm liking the model so far, the enviroment are still a WIP? Or it will have those colors on the final product? They dont seem to work well with the contrast of the models.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 3 May 2015, 11:49

Everything is WIP still tongue.gif

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 7 Aug 2015, 10:41

Begone is the old water, the new one actually has waves!

The water will require some work on the shader still, it’s not quite what we want yet. Aircraft work for the most part, hey fly, fire, and explode nicely. Can’t land yet though. Added several new ships, and gave the Fast Attack Craft another makeover, textured the Resupply Vessel, and the TDN’s Airforce is almost complete, only missing an attack helicopter of sorts, to attack ground installations.

Now, for those new units I mentioned. First off, the Fast Battleship

http://i.imgur.com/ZXMIAgw.jpg

The Fast Battleship is specialized for long range combat. Fast Battleships sacrifice armor in favor of greater speed and mobility. The greatly reduced reliance on chemical propellants also allows for a lighter citadel design, since the main guns don’t require propellant, allowing for smaller powder magazines. Its Mjolnir missiles are very powerful against large and capital ships, but are likely to miss smaller, more agile vessels like the Hydrofoil and the Fast Attack Craft.
Default Armament:
3 Quad 14″ Railgun Turrets
4 Twin 8″ Gun Turrets
6 “Lance” Anti-Ship Missile Launchers
2 Mjolnir Hypersonic Anti-Ship Missile Launchers
1 24-Cell Vertical “Naginata” Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile Launcher
4 SeaRAM Anti-Missile Turrets
Strong Against: Medium Vessels, Large Vessels, Capital Ships
Weak Against: Submarines, Aircraft, Small Vessels


Next up, the Hydrofoil

http://i.imgur.com/gJIDptk.jpg

The Hydrofoil’s primary purpose is that of a scout, as well as Air Defense. It has very little armor, but is very fast since it’s propelled by 4 turbojets in 2 swiveling pods in the back of the craft.

Default Armament:
1 RAM Anti-Aircraft Missile Launcher
1 6-cell Multi-Purpose Vertical Launch System
Strong Against: Aircraft
Weak Against: Small Vessels, Medium Vessels, Submarines


And lastly, the Supersonic Missile Frigate

http://i.imgur.com/6Ip49Ob.jpg

Long Range anti-ship artillery. The Supersonic missiles the Frigate fires have very poor tracking, as such they are not very useful against small ships, as they are likely to miss. They’re best used against Medium, Large and Capital ships. Very weak armor, but it’s one of the fastest TDN units. Has a Helipad that can support a single Helicopter or VTOL.
Default Armament:
2 “Naginata” Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile Launchers
1 127mm Railgun Turret
1 SeaRAM Anti-Missile Turret
Strong Against: Medium Vessels, Large Vessels, Capital Ships
Weak Against: Aircraft, Small Vessels, Submarines

Furthermore, from Left to Right, we have the Strike Fighter, Tactical Bomber and Air Superiority Fighter:

http://i.imgur.com/bivyYFi.jpg


That’s it for the units, but not for the update.
I have added several new effects, mostly weapon effects, but also others, like ship trails, jet exhausts and wingtip vortexes, some of these effects can already be seen above, the remainder are in the next load of screenshots:

http://i.imgur.com/5jp0Mpx.jpg http://i.imgur.com/HcC8Wxm.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eMdctV2.jpg http://i.imgur.com/fFObY3V.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ZS9eJNd.jpg

And that’s pretty much it for now. Follow us on Twitter for more frequent updates: https://twitter.com/Ardent_Seas

One last thing: We have a website now. http://www.ardentseas.com/

Posted by: TimeBurner 7 Aug 2015, 12:21

I want ittt! biggrin.gif Nice work man! biggrin.gif Really hoping for this and how it will turn out!

Posted by: Oliver 7 Aug 2015, 13:07

Yh, really looking forward to what the environment will look like... If you manage to perfectly fit the units among the environment, this will be quite something.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 7 Aug 2015, 14:35

Kelp forests, cliffs, tropical beaches and lots of explosions, that's the plan anyway tongue.gif

Posted by: Kommandant Karisse 7 Aug 2015, 14:58

Sounds beautiful :D I'm a sucker for tropical environments.

But did you say...http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120928172236/spongebob/images/d/d0/Club_SpongeBob_12.jpg

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 7 Aug 2015, 16:23

Indeed. And the Tenorran equivalent of Sharks, Whales, etc. I want to create a fairly believable environment.

Posted by: Svea Rike 7 Aug 2015, 20:47

Mm... very sexy! How much will this game cost?

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 7 Aug 2015, 20:54

25€ probably.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 21 Sep 2015, 18:29

September 21st Update

There be bad guys

The Ravagers fill the role of the bad guys in Ardent Seas, but are they really bad? They have no consciousness, they just do as they are programmed: Seek and destroy foreign technology. Because of their alien nature, they're going to differ in some fundamental ways from the Tenorran Defense Navy and the Coalition. Unlike them, they do not depend on Islands what so ever, whereas both the TDN and CPSN have to capture islands to gain access to higher tier units.
Furthermore, the Ravagers don't use fuel or ammunition, their ships get everything they need from the Sea below. That doesn't apply to their aircraft though, which are just as dependent on energy and ammunition as the other two are dependent on fuel and ammunition.
Instead of Fuel, the Ravagers require Bandwidth. To increase the bandwidth, you have to upgrade the Flagship, that can be done a few times, and after that build Auxiliary Command Ships, which in turn can also be upgraded to further increase the bandwidth. Bandwidth works very much like power in other RTS games, if the limit is exceeded, ships shut down. They can however disable ships to bring the usage back down within the current limit.

Ravager ships are fast and lethal, and are protected by powerful shields, but their firing range is limited and their have weak armor. The shields and weak armor are both a weakness and strength of this faction. Shields aren't quite as good as armor, but unlike armor, they will regenerate on their own. Additionally, shields attenuate damage based on how much damage they're receiving, which makes them very, very good at taking on superior numbers.

They also build a bit differently. Their Flagship can produce every unit they have, sort of. Their units are built in the Mothership high above, and dropped from Space right next to the Flagship. They're inactive for a brief moment while they power up, and are extremely vulnerable during that time, as their shields are inactive.

Harvesting also works differently. While the Coalition and the Navy both harvest resources with specialized units, the Ravager Flagship also acts as harvester, firing a mining beam into the water, and a transport beam up to the Mothership. This means that Ravager players are likely to fortify themselves around resource deposits.


Would you like to know more?

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, let's get down to business!
So far, we have three Ravager units: The 'Reaver' frigate, the 'Breacher' destroyer and the 'Banshee' drone.

And we're going to start with the Reaver of course.

http://i.imgur.com/3TZC6oI.jpg

The Reaver is a light, fast attack vessel, and one of the earliest available in the game. It's armed with two dual liquid metal cannon turrets, and two "Swarmer" missile launchers mounted in its shoulders, each firing 6 missiles. The Reaver can eject its shields, causing a localized EMP burst that disables any units nearby, but leaves it unprotected, meaning that if there are any units outside of the blast zone nearby, the Reaver firing the EMP will likely die very quickly.

All in all, it's built to harass the enemy, with great speed and decent armament and protection.

Next up, the Breacher.

http://i.imgur.com/3XDKqT3.jpg

Fast, but otherwise very unlike the Reaver, the Breacher is more of a general combat unit. Its armament consists of 3 dual liquid metal beam turrets, and 3 Swarmer launch bays, each firing 8 missiles. In addition to that, it has 4 twin water cutter cannon turrets, two on the top front of the hull, and two under the tail prongs, for close range defensive purposes. It's faster than any other ship of its size class, though still slower than the smaller Reaver. Its firepower is primarily focused forward. Its shields regenerate faster than those of other ships. It can carry a single combat drone, and comes with a "Banshee" by default.

It's a great general purpose ship, able to deal with many threats on its own, but it will struggle with long range sniping units and heavier units than itself.

And now the aforementioned Banshee.

http://i.imgur.com/Hxn9DDo.jpg

The Banshee is a fast fighter-bomber drone, able to deal with most aerial threats quite easily, but it can't do much against heaver units, particularly large and capital ships. It's armed with a single 8-shot Swarmer launcher, with another 16 missiles in storage. Like all Ravager units, it has weak armor and powerful shields. Unlike other Ravager units however, it has to rearm and recharge at its carrying ship periodically.

Overall, it's great to take the skies, but not well suited for any other jobs.


And now, back down to Earth.

Or not? There are news about the TDN too.

They have a new unit, the HAL-33-10 High Altitude Laser.

http://i.imgur.com/6qNWwWN.jpg

Basically an aerial area denial weapon. The HAL is armed with two anti-aircraft laser turrets firing Green beams, and two anti-missile lasers, firing Red beams. It's very much capable of dealing with larger numbers of hostile aircraft, if it stays out of their range. It's very fast, but isn't the most well armored aircraft around.
It differs from other TDN aircraft, in that it can only be built and deployed from Airfields on Islands.

If you need to protect a fleet from enemy air forces, this is the unit you want.


But wait, there's more!

You already know these next two units. Nothing too big has changed about them, but I think they deserve a proper introduction, too, and have received some extra artistic love. Future news updates are going to include proper introductions to already existing units, until every one is covered.

The Fast Attack Craft.

http://i.imgur.com/J3kbzGr.jpg

A fast hit-and-run unit with weak armor, but good firepower. Unlike most TDN units, the Fast Attack Craft doesn’t have very long range. It's armed with 2 forward facing Light Anti-Ship Missile Launchers, a 40mm Autocannon turret in the front, that can fire at surface and air targets alike, two 30mm point defense cannons, that too can fire at everything but have less range than the 40mm gun, and lastly a SeaRAM CIWS turret.

A good early game harasser, and still good at supporting larger ships later in the game.

And the Corvette

http://i.imgur.com/LuYLFws.jpg

The Corvette is an agile electronic warfare and scout ship, lacking armor, but undetectable on Radar. It has a Helipad that can support one helicopter or VTOL. Additionally, it’s designed to combat submarines. It's one of the most gratuitously armed ships of its size. 12 Anti-Submarine missile tubes, 4 Anti-Submarine grenade launchers, a 75mm burst-firing autocannon turret, a SeaRAM CIWS, 2 30mm Point-Defense Weapons, 2 EMP cannons, and 2 Electric Smoke Grenade launchers, fired through a special ability, that create a lingering EMP effect in the target area.

Although it's a small ship, it's not available until very late into the game, being a high tier unit. It's also an area-denial weapon, being able to lock down entire areas with its electric smoke and EMP cannons, while simultaneously deterring any submarine movement nearby.

But wait, there's even more!

Part of the UI works, and has a set theme now, the TDN have a faction logo, info on the way tech levels/tiers work, a demonstration of the unit customization, and a load of screenshots. Also, the Battleship has received several Quad AA-Guns.

The UI is seen in the screenshots below, and doesn't really require all that much explanation. Resources are displayed in the upper right corner, abilities and buildable units are in the bottom right corner, with a unit type selector above, and attached to the left of that, we have unit stances, waypoints, etc.

This is the TDN logo:

http://i.imgur.com/ag9Fqknm.jpg

The 6 stars represent the 6 nations part of the Tenorran Defense Union: Atlanta, Bretania, Euras, Helena, Latania and Norsia.

Next, the tech system.

Players start at Tech 1, with a collection of units available to them, and more that can be researched. To advance, Tech upgrades are purchased on the Flagship, each unlocking more units, and making more available to research, up to Tech 4, which unlocks Capital ships, like the Supercarrier.

And the unit editor:





And finally, Screenshots!

http://i.imgur.com/BDjhjdF.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/V9Z4hh3.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Hvlbtmc.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/JQbYVhq.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WddcBGy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/HDvSo4S.jpg

Posted by: Oliver 21 Sep 2015, 19:24

Hmm, I was expecting a more darker environment, cause the units have this military look.. But, a part of that, I like that you can customize (correct if i'm wrong) your fleet, with patterns and stuff.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 23 Sep 2015, 11:33

http://i.imgur.com/QRXZJde.jpg

Dark enough? biggrin.gif

Posted by: SiR Chaff 23 Sep 2015, 11:44

It's looking good Sargeant Rho.. smile.gif

Btw, is this game gonna be a resource hog ?

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 23 Sep 2015, 12:04

So far, it runs pretty well on my PC, and I don't have a very powerful one at that.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 26 Nov 2015, 9:42

Welcome back aboard, Cap'ns!

Today's update consists mostly new new TDN units, as well as some work-in-progress renders, and a little glimpse at things to come. So let's get right to it, shall we?

http://i.imgur.com/70paBm3.jpg

CG-122 "Wreathe" Class Cruiser

The Wreathe carries siy 8" cannons on 3 turrets, firing special anti-aircraft shells, with these it is capable of projecting a wall of titanium and shrapnel into the air, destroying any aircraft foolish enough to fly through it. Furthermore, it has 6 quad 40mm anti-air turrets, a heavy 4-cell, and two 32-cell Vertical Launch Systems. One of the VLSes is loaded with anti-aircraft missiles, the other with long-range cruise missiles. The heavy vertical launcher is loaded with anti-ship missiles.

Defensively, it has 8 CIWS turrets and 6 30mm autocannons, and a set of flare and chaff launches. Like most Tenorran ships, it's fast but not very well armored. It's best used to escort other ships, protecting them from enemy air attacks.



http://i.imgur.com/vLM1XAR.jpg

SCNP-8 "Infiltrator" Corvette

Built with a reverse engineered stealth field generator, salvaged from a destroyed Ravager stealth ship, the Infiltrator is perfect for keeping eyes on enemy fleets without being noticed, as well as sneak attacks. Armed with missiles, a twin 75mm autocannon turret and three 30mm autocannons, it's very much capable of defending itself.

It's primary role however, is to capture enemy ships.



http://i.imgur.com/E5rZOWg.jpg

CM-12 Minelayer Corvette

The Minelayer, as its name suggests, deploys naval mines. It uses special encapsulated torpedo mines, which instead of detonating directly, wait for an enemy ship to pass overhead, and then fire their single Torpedo upwards at the target, exploding right underneath it inflicting heavy damage. It can also fire off depth charges, revealing any nearby submarines and damaging them if they're hit.

It's armed with a twin 75mm autocannon turret and two 30mm autocannons for self-defense, and a single CIWS turret. Its fast, but has absolutely no armor, and will be lost quickly under enemy fire.



http://i.imgur.com/Nx54D3n.jpg

MC-42B Constructor & C-42 Carryall

The C-42 Carryall is an adopted civilian heavy transport aircraft, used to carry resources from mining platforms to the nearest drop off location. The militarized version has a telescopic refueling rod, radar warning receivers and flare dispensers.

The Constructor was developed from the Carryall, replacing its giant electromagnetic tractor claws with metal powder containers and a manufacturing head, it can build all structures available to the TDN, as well as patch up damaged ships.



http://i.imgur.com/QISz0U0.jpg

DF-21 Littoral Defense Platform

These platforms were originally built as early warning radars on most archipelagos under TDN control, during rising tensions between the TDN and the CPSN. They have fallen into disuse since, but have been modernized in the face of the impending Ravager invasion.

Now they can be upgraded with a variety of weapons, such as the 450mm Railgun turret, for mid-long range coastal defense, and Mjolnir missile silos, for long range defense.

Next up we have some unfinished TDN assets. We usually don't like posting unfinished units, but since this is a big update, let's make it even bigger.

http://i.imgur.com/VVt5n9W.jpg

First we have the Battlecruiser, a long-range artillery ship, fast but with weak armor, it's armed mostly with missiles.



http://i.imgur.com/QGWYhXj.jpg

Then we have the Helicopter Cruiser, a cruiser-sized helicopter carrier with teeth. It doesn't support all aircraft, only VTOLs, like the Wyverns seen here, the Carryall, and the Air Superiority fighter. One possible tactic we could see this being used with Constructors, to quickly fortify an area of the map with the Floating Fortress.



http://i.imgur.com/TWhbRJS.jpg

Which brings us to the Floating Fortress. A large, floating weapons and utility platform that can be expanded from the central core with all sorts of modules, shown here with an unfinished logistics module, which rearms and refuels nearby friendly units.



http://i.imgur.com/c9RoCnG.jpg

Shown in this render, is a concept for a special unit skin, available for these two aircraft upon completing certain campaign missions, or perhaps as reward for kickstarter backers in the future.

We also have this Space Shuttle, which will only appear in the Campaign, but more on that in a future update.

http://i.imgur.com/PUyWG3T.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TTVoH5U.jpg

Finally, we have some videos and more screenshots!








http://i.imgur.com/oHCeAkg.jpg http://i.imgur.com/4azzXEr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/QFN7VHV.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/5XVphyQ.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/lkRvpck.jpg http://i.imgur.com/BpEGAlm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/BGmTPds.jpg http://i.imgur.com/qkdORmj.jpg


Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ardent_Seas
And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArdentSeas/

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 6 Dec 2015, 3:12

I was actually going to make a dev 'vlog' out of this one, but I seem unable to speak properly tonight, so an article it is instead.

-----

Hello everyone,

Given the currently running indie of the year competition, we thought it'd be the perfect time to talk about one of the most important parts of the game: The Flagship



As example we'll use the CSN-71 'Elysia' of the Tenorran Defense Navy.

The Flagship is a nuclear powered amalgamation of a shipyard, an aircraft carrier, a tech center, and a military base, a heavily armored and well armed one, at that.
It functions as the "command center" for TDN players, producing the first available TDN units, such as the Carryall and Constructor, the Command Frigate, and the Strike Fighter, but also higher tech units after progressing further up the tech tree.

The four large rectangular slots on the front of the central hull, and on the right hull as well, are upgrade slots, filled as one advances through the tech tree, adding a unique module for each tech level.
On the right hull, the Elysia features a large double helipad, where two large VTOLs like Carryalls or Gunships can park to be resupplied and repaired.

The left or port side hull features a far more prominent flight deck, with a landing strip on top in the back, and a lower catapult deck, where regular fighters take off from. The Elysia can hold 2 large VTOLs and 5-6 squadrons, each consisting of 3 aircraft.



The Elysia is in no way short on firepower, with its 6 twin 8" gun turrets, omni-purpose vertical missile launchers, and 8 close-in weapon systems, it can easily deal with small groups of enemies, but it's still unwise to use it as an attack unit, despite its enormous pool of hit points, it can't hold up against sustained fire from larger enemy groups.

Another feature of the right or starboard hull is the resource dropoff, here Carryalls can deliver resources harvested by mining platforms.
The central hull features the shipyard, where gunboats, corvettes and frigates can be built, but nothing as big or larger than destroyers or capital ships.

At this point we'd like to give a shout-out to http://www.indiedb.com/games/global-conflagration, a Real Time Strategy game where players take control of the battlefield using the deadliest of weaponry and units in a clash between two powers: The EU, armed with most advanced technology and high tech equipment, or The Awakened, driven by the sole purpose to fight for their freedom by all means possible, including the use of technicals and improvised vehicles.

Global Conflagration shares the same RTS Framework and engine as Ardent Seas.

http://www.indiedb.com/games/global-conflagration

That's it for today, we hope you enjoyed this little update!

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ardent_Seas and on https://www.facebook.com/ArdentSeas/!

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 6 Dec 2015, 20:06

We've got another, smaller article up:

This time we're taking a look at yet another major set of game mechanics: Submarines, using the TDN Type-192 Attack Submarine as our test subject.

http://i.imgur.com/wl3DbgD.jpg

The Type-192 is armed with several torpedo tubes effective against ships, submarines and naval structures, along with 10 cruise missile launchers, effective against surface and ground targets, activated with an ability. It's the only submarine available to the TDN, and best suited for ambushes and to hunt enemy submarines.

Submarines can freely switch between diving and surfacing, though heavily damaged submarines will be forced to surface. There are going to be a variety of submarines in Ardent Seas, with different abilities and weapons. Submarines that are out of fuel will likewise surface.
Submarines are invisible to the enemy while underwater. There are numerous ways of finding them, however. When a submarine fires its missiles or torpedoes, or whichever weapon it may have, it becomes visible to all players. Some ships are equipped with special submarine-hunting equipment, such as Destroyers and submarine warfare aircraft.
Depth charges also reveal all submarines in a wide area, and will cripple them if they happen to detonate next to them.

Most ordinary weapons can't fire on submarines. Some units have special anti-submarine weaponry, in the form of torpedoes, anti-submarine missiles and anti-submarine grenades.



http://i.imgur.com/DdXJvdI.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/jSx6QuS.jpg


For the Coalition Navy, we have planned an much more diverse set of submarines. They will be receiving a submersible aircraft carrier, a submarine warship which is armed with 2 gun turrets that can only be used on the surface, a long-range missile submarine, a hunter-killer submarine, similar in role to the Type-192 shown here, and their harvesting unit is also a submarine.

As always, you can follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/Ardent_Seas, https://www.facebook.com/ArdentSeas/ and http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 8 Apr 2016, 0:26

I've just posted a new, rather humongous update on indie DB: http://www.indiedb.com/games/ardent-seas/news/april-update-humongous-edition

Showing off several new units, as well as some new game mechanics. Also includes a few details on what we've got planned for the kickstarter.

Posted by: TimeBurner 8 Apr 2016, 11:21

QUOTE (Sargeant Rho @ 8 Aug 2015, 5:54) *
25€ probably.


And with all that being said
Welcome to piratebay!

Posted by: SiR Chaff 12 Apr 2016, 12:29

That generous update biggrin.gif

Implementing ground combat around a naval game is quite interesting.. Hoping for more good stuff happy.gif

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 26 Apr 2016, 19:09

Dev blog time!

I had planned to make the first dev blog about the basic gameplay, but I've ultimately decided to do ground combat first.

As mentioned in our previous update: April Update: Humongous edition, we we may do ground combat eventually, in an effort to spice up the island gameplay somewhat. In this dev blog I'm going to go over how it would work, using the island below as a practical example.

http://i.imgur.com/wvLOkDy.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/IsFOa4g.jpg


The very first thing you want to do if your goal is to capture an island, is to get rid of any enemy ships nearby. Ships can't use most of their missiles against ground targets, but can use their cannons, and those are still rather devastating, even against tanks.

Islands will often have their own defenses, such as anti-ship missile launchers, coastal cannon batteries, surface to air missiles, and also more advanced things, like shield generators and EMP weapons.
Your opponent could also have his own vehicles on the island, if he has a war factory there, even replace the ones you're destroying.

Most structures not destroyed during the capture, will be transferred to the player who captured the island.-

http://i.imgur.com/Xk6nXfe.jpg http://i.imgur.com/IIDICMk.jpg

Once the area has been cleared, it's time to bring in the amphibious transports, such as hovercraft, amphibious assault vehicles, and also air transports, like the TDN's Carryall. AAVs and Carryalls can be launched by specialized ships.
In the case of the TDN, the Helicopter Cruiser and the Supercarrier will both be able to do that, though larger hovercraft are deployed on their own.
The Coalition Navy also get a specialized amphibious assault cruiser, and a cargo submarine that can deploy AAVs near the shore.
The Ravagers, as so often, do things a little bit differently, involving a lot of orbital drops and unit cannons. More on that, once we're sure that ground combat will actually go in.

There are several vehicle types, with well defined roles planned.

Amphibious Assault Vehicles: Slow, heavily armored, but weakly armed vehicles, which can traverse the water and go on land on their own, without requiring transport. These are your best friend early in the game.
Main Battle Tank: A well rounded combat unit, with decent armor, firepower and mobility. Best used to destroy structures, MCPs, artillery units, etc.
Tank Destroyer: Fast, lightly armored vehicles with a large cannon, devastating against armored targets, such as MBTs.
Self-Propelled Anti Aircraft Guns: A SPAAG a day keeps the bombers away.
Artillery: Best used to defeat defenses, firing slowly and somewhat inaccurately, but causing heavy damage when they do hit.
Mobile Command Post: The most important unit of all, used to capture islands.
Special: Every faction gets one special unit, that might be a Mammoth Tank, some sort of stealth unit, etc.
Landing Craft: Used to bring regular vehicles, such as Tanks and MCPs onto an island.
Merely getting your assault troops onto the island is only the first step, or second, on the way to your new private island. To actually capture this particular island, you'll first have to get your troops onto its tiny beach, then through the harbor, and into firing range of the Mobile Command Post.

http://i.imgur.com/fZswcvf.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Q97Goc4.jpg[/size]

As with vehicles in the case of a war factory present, if there are constructors, the defending player can also build more defenses, which might lead to nasty surprises if you're not careful.

Unlike most other infrastructure, defenses will self destruct as soon as the MCP has been destroyed, but that doesn't mean rushing it with a large tank battalion will be particularly effective. Despite its flimsy look, the MCP is actually very hard to kill, due to its own active protection systems, and tons of duct tape.

Everything in this post is subject to change, as the future of this particular feature is uncertain.

Posted by: TimeBurner 27 Apr 2016, 10:13

Gorgeous! Sarge,this looks satisfying for a C&C fan! Great job!

Posted by: SiR Chaff 27 Apr 2016, 10:30

More gameplay info, yass. Thanks Sarge biggrin.gif

QUOTE
The Ravagers, as so often, do things a little bit differently, involving a lot of orbital drops and unit cannons

Kinda reminds of DoW drop pods and RA3 Bullfrogs (Man cannons pls laugh.gif )

QUOTE
if there are constructors, the defending player can also build more defenses

This got me wondering..
Will the construction placement system be similar to Generals (able to place structures anywhere and make it face any direction as long as there's space) or Red Alert 3 (only able to place structures on cells(dunno the right term) and can only make it face in limited angles) ??

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 27 Apr 2016, 10:58

For simplicity's sake, we're going for a RA3-style build grid, with 90°-rotation snap.

Posted by: SiR Chaff 27 Apr 2016, 11:29

I was hoping for a mix between the two, but this is a naval game after all so I kinda expected your answer. Still, the game is shaping quite fantastic tho..

Keep up the good work Sarge Rho smile.gif

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 27 Apr 2016, 17:21

And another dev blog, looking at our current plans for the core ship gameplay. I've also polished the website a bit more!

QUOTE
Hey everyone, SargeRho here.

We have looked at the Flagship and Submarine mechanics in two previous blogs, now let’s take a look at the current plans for Ships in general. I’ll be going over ships in general first, and then do Capital ships, since they differ from the others in several significant ways, and since we’ve already covered Subs and Flagships, we’ll skip those entirely. Also, Abilities and Upgrades warrant their own dev blog, I think, so I won’t go into detail about those here either.


http://www.ardentseas.com/core-gameplay-ships-and-weaponry/

Posted by: SiR Chaff 30 Apr 2016, 12:33

Neat ( pun intended tongue.gif )

Posted by: Mirrowel 6 May 2016, 13:15

Looks very good, but i have a question. How big is your team?

QUOTE (TimeBurner @ 8 Apr 2016, 13:21) *
And with all that being said
Welcome to piratebay!

LMAO

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 6 May 2016, 13:28

Technically 4 people. But active right now, only Koen and I, Koen doing all of the programming, and me doing all of the art and level design, and we both share game design work.

Posted by: Mirrowel 6 May 2016, 23:24

QUOTE (Sargeant Rho @ 6 May 2016, 15:28) *
Technically 4 people. But active right now, only Koen and I, Koen doing all of the programming, and me doing all of the art and level design, and we both share game design work.

Great work on game with only 4 people.

I want to make a game some time in the future(Have a well developed game universe in my head for a year now). I tried to learn unity year ago but got stuck at C#. Hope university will help me with that unsure.gif

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 7 May 2016, 1:48

Hah, I know the feeling. While I know the basics of C#, I'd have to do a lot more learning to actually write a game.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 8 May 2016, 4:40



I really need to practice 'public' speaking more.

Posted by: The_Hunter 8 May 2016, 10:59

QUOTE (Sargeant Rho @ 8 May 2016, 5:40) *
I really need to practice 'public' speaking more.


I would say so you sound very monotone and dull in that paticular video.
The more excited and pumped you sound when explaining something in a video like that the more hyped and exited people will be about your product (doesn't matter if its a video game or basket of fruit from your harvest).

Or see if you can get someone on board who can do this for you and simply write a script.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 11 May 2016, 8:28

QUOTE (The_Hunter @ 8 May 2016, 11:59) *
I would say so you sound very monotone and dull in that paticular video.
The more excited and pumped you sound when explaining something in a video like that the more hyped and exited people will be about your product (doesn't matter if its a video game or basket of fruit from your harvest).

Or see if you can get someone on board who can do this for you and simply write a script.


I don't know if I can fix my monotone voice :/

I'll get someone on board to narrate any trailers and such from now on, but I'll continue to do the Dev Vlogs.

Posted by: The_Hunter 11 May 2016, 12:32

QUOTE (Sargeant Rho @ 11 May 2016, 9:28) *
I don't know if I can fix my monotone voice :/


I'd just loosen up a little more.

Imagine as if you were explaining things to a friend not a crowd smile.gif

Posted by: Mirrowel 12 May 2016, 20:53

QUOTE (The_Hunter @ 11 May 2016, 14:32) *
I'd just loosen up a little more.

Imagine as if you were explaining things to a friend not a crowd smile.gif


Well not everyone can straight up become "loosen up". Most of them just try to pick the words right and not screw up basically.
The important thing to understand: In the internet no one knows who you are or where you live.

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 12 Jun 2016, 9:59


Posted by: Sargeant Rho 15 Jun 2016, 19:21

We've got a profile on the 'Made with Unity' page now!

http://madewith.unity.com/games/ardent-seas

Posted by: Sargeant Rho 17 Jun 2016, 22:26

I've recorded some gameplay, and talked over it. I've tried to sound more enthusiastic this time around, but damn, I have one depressing voice ><


Posted by: Sargeant Rho 29 Jun 2016, 10:27

Aww crap, I completely forgot to post it here XD!

Our kickstarter is currently live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sargerho/ardent-seas-naval-rts

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