Amen, brother.CronoDroid wrote:QUOTE (CronoDroid @ Jul 7 2006, 11:00 AM) Because this is purely a game,
Invent some sort of hokey [...] story
Not so sure about the Nix flight model. Apart from Noir maybe claiming copyright, I'm not too fond of it either -- the main reason why I hardly fly Rix/Nix are their flight models.
Regarding lack of sidethrust, as much as it'd be in theme, one should be open for the posibility that it will prove too much of an handicap. Remains to be seen, I guess.
Personally, I gave up on emulating airplane behavior altogether. Alleg isn't built to deal with it. I believe one can at best hint at the real capabilities and limitations: some faster, some slower, some more agile than others.
More generally, I believe this to be about bringing WWII craft into Alleg, not about bending Alleg around WWII craft. Above all, the ships/planes should work reasonably similar to what we all know already and fill the same roles. If in doubt, I'd rate Alleg gameplay higher than historical correctness.
As to Kinetic Bombs (for that WW2 feel): their logical and most fun target would be capships and utility craft. However, the former are scarce while the latter (with their scout-like agility) will be very hard to hit. Maybe even harder than Gunships and Bombers (while bombing a bomber doesn't feel right). This is the the issue that's still nagging me most. I think bombs will by necessity be anti-cap and anti-base (though I wouldn't mind if the occasional lucky hit would deal out tremendous damage vs. any other craft).
Fast-moving rockets and tracking torpedoes will work as we expect them, though.
With rockets, the easy way would be to give them the a (fixed) speed according to the main guns' muzzle velocity: if the bullets hit, the missile will. But how about having them start out slow and accelerate rapidly? so there'd be a sweet spot at, say, 400m where the rockets' path would coincide with the aiming reticule, while you'd need to manually compensate for being closer in or further away.
I think it's too early to talk about faction-wide modifiers; I'd rather leave them at 1.0 for now and build the abilities into the models themselves. I'd rather use the modifiers as convenient global nerfs/perks further down the road. More PW range/damage compared to other factions will be necessary; but I'd only do it by modifier if there were too many sideeffects with other factions picking up the ancient uber-cannons (though this can be disencouraged by giving the WW2 gear different muzzle velocities -- effectively requiring scavengers to pick up a full set).
For a first core to try it on, I think PookyCore will be the easiest to do, as you could take over the currently vacant Rix. Besides, there may be issues w.r.t. weapon handles and damage tables -- I think it can be done without any modifications there, but should it become necessary the task will be a lot easier on PC than on DN (that's already crammed enough as it is). However, I didn't ask Pook for permission yet.
Modelling should be comparatively easy (compared to all-new models, that is). There's no shortage of ready-made 3D models of WWII gear, at least some of them have to be in a format that can be converted to whatever Alleg needs. Don't know about the legal side of it, though.
Generally, I wouldn't be too shy about going public with a crude, half-finished design. Chances are that this will be funny for a week and then everybody goes back to DN. It doesn't need to be polished or perfectly balanced to be fun. Should people actually like it and demand more, the design may still be refined (and one could even attempt to squeeze it into DN).
Regarding Expansion: the Me-163 is the *perfect* Alleg interceptor. If you haven't read the Wikipedia article yet, do so. Also follow the link about the machine cannon (the "pneumatic hammer").
I believe all attempts to combine piston engines and Allegiance Expansion will be doomed; either you have to abandon any analogy to the actual gear, and/or it will become too silly to be fun anymore. It is pivotal for ints to be limited in range, but capable of reaching their destination in a timely manner; furthermore, running out of fuel should spell desaster. All of this is so much easier to explain with rocket or jet engines.
Fighters going (say) 140mps base speed and 180mps overdrive (I'd still prefer NOx injection -- it's such a convenient explanation for why it uses up 'fuel' when engaged) should go over well with the concept of propeller planes and work within Alleg. However, ints should be both much faster and slower, respectively, and I don't see how this could be done with the same propulsion system. That's why I came up with F104s for adv.ints -- they're not period (which is a pity), but at least they won't break the analogy (which would be much worse).
Another problem I see is that common base-killing ships, in Alleg, shouldn't be too fast and have a high sig (so as to allow the defenders some early warning); however, if you want to kill miners, your ship should be fast or stealthy and preferably both. There's plenty of WWII planes that historically filled both roles, but for the sake of Alleg it will be necessary to split it up.
About turrets; besides your common run-of-the-mill 20/30/37 millimeter machine[guns|cannons], there definitely have to be AA shells. Never mind if you call them 8.8cm or 5 1/4 inch... translated into Alleg, they could take up the position of skycaps (similar damage/time at a much slower rate, area effect). Now who can think of a vessel to carry these, filling the role of the Gunship?
