fldash
Founder
 Posts: 9755
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« on: March 08, 2007, 02:10:32 pm » |
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I wanted to provide our followers with another update on the development . It's been over 2 months and still no sign of an actual war taking place. As such, you might be wondering, what's taking so long?
While I can safely admit that development isn't moving as fast as I would like, it is still moving. The pre-alpha test we released confirmed that the gameplay that will be provided by Europe In Ruins will be fun. It provides a lot of what makes Company of Heroes so great but mixes it up enough to keep it interesting.
Currently, the modification is going through a complete overhaul, all the attribute changes are being moved over to new files instead of being modifications of original Company of Heroes attribute files. In addition, the spawning system is being changed to allow you to call in individual units and 'platoons' based on the units available in your companies on the website. You will also be able to call in custom platoons based on how you set them up on the website.
The objective system will be setup to allow both an attacker/defender and an 'equal-ground' setup. In the attacker/defender objective, the defender will be given 2-5 minutes to setup defenses and it will be the attackers job to eliminate them from this position. In the equal-ground setup, both players start immediately. Victory can be achieved through annihilation or territory control.
The territory control system isn't the capture the flag system used in vanilla Company of Heroes. Sectors are auto-managed by a timed rule; you capture sectors simply by being present in the sector and eliminating enemy units from the sector. The amount of time you've been present and the amount of units you have in the sector are all factors in determining when the sector changes control. Each side will be required to control a certain number of sectors, if they fall below this threshold they will be given time to recapture the required sectors or else lose the battle. The number of sectors that the side must hold is determine by the number of players on each side.
In addition, companies will be purchased and setup on the site. A match-up interface will be available so that players can purchase their companies, create platoons, and then setup a match between one or more other players. You will be able to select the objective system you'd like to use, and the arrival time of each players companies as well. For example, a matchup might look something like this:
BattleID: 323
Axis: Ucross (Company C) & fldash (Company A)
Allies: Forefall (Company D) & Unkn0wn (Company A)
Objective: Attack/Defend
Attack: Allies
Defend: Axis
Arrival Times:
Ucross (Company C): Immediate
fldash (Company A): 5:00
Forefall (Company D): 2:30
Unkn0wn (Company A): 2:30
Once this is setup, the players will each download an .SGA file (Relic compression). This file will contain all the battle details, including the units available in each company, any platoons setup in these companies, and the objective and arrival times.
It's worth noting, that this matchup system is only used for testing and balancing. When the war map is applied to the system, all of the matchup, objectives, and arrival times will be based movement around the map.
I would very much like to give an ETA on this new version, but I won't simply because I don't want to miss a promised deadline. I appreciate all the support that has been shown to us and hope everyone is looking forward to this modification as much as we are.
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