The first dramatic update to Conflict Terra happened over a year ago when we worked with the skilled Knorke of the Spring Community to bring a mining resource system to Conflict Terra. Part of that update involved switching over to the cruiser factory system, beginning the huge emphasis on mobility that would come to characterize CT as you could move your factories around the map. The second came when the Drones were introduced, a whole new and unique faction for players to play as.
Now, the third major update to Conflict Terra has arrived!
Updated Cruisers
- Remodeled the old Flagship (it is now called the Expeditionary Cruiser!), Mech Cruiser, Tank Cruiser, and Air Cruiser. They are a bit more sleek now, and look quite a bit more intimidating. They now have landing gear which extends and retracts as the units land, and downward pointing engines on the front end of their undersides. How does this affect gameplay? It doesn't! But this does:
- These 4 cruisers (and most of the upcoming cruisers I still need to work on) now fire barrages of beam cannons at enemy cruisers. Gone are the boring, slow exchanges of missiles! But, because a beam cannon is less likely to hit a moving aircraft in Spring than you winning the lottery, a pair of homing AA missiles can be fired from each of these cruisers. An important note though: these cruisers can no longer attack the ground!
- Now, when cruisers are built, they descend from the sky and land on the landing pad of whichever building you're using to "build" these ships. It looks so, so much better when they aren't being nano-framed into existence on the surface!
- When these factory cruisers are building their units, scaffolding unfolds out of the hull and the new unit arrives with a show of blinking lights (green means go, red means stop!) It is a vast improvement over the older cruiser factories!
New NKG Unit Structure
- The Advanced Mech Cruiser and Advanced Tank Cruiser have been removed, as well as the Advanced Cruiser Beacon and the Experimental Build Pad. All mechs are now built from the new mech cruiser, and all tanks from the new tank cruiser! All cruisers are built from the Cruiser Beacon, with some still being built from the new Expeditionary Cruiser (your starting unit.) So, how do you get the stronger, Advanced Units?
- A new unlocking system has been implemented. To unlock the Advanced Mechs, you must build the Ace Mech. The Ace Mech will look familiar, it is the old Honda MkII! As long as the Ace Mech is alive, you will be able to build Advanced Mechs from the mech cruiser. You can only have one, so protect him well!
- The same goes for the Advanced Tanks. Build the General's Tank, and you'll have access to the Advanced Tanks from the tank cruiser. As with the Ace Mech, you can only have one, so keep him well guarded!
- This also goes for the Cruisers. Building the (newly designated) Flagship will allow you to build Battlecruisers. But, just a side note: the Flagship and Battlecruiser still need to be remodeled and redone! But don't worry, they're still in the game ready for you to build.
- I really hope this streamlines and simplifies the unit tree for the NKG. You can now see just about everything you have the potential to build, and the tooltip even tells you what to do to unlock something. I think it'll really improve the game!
New Units
- When the Honda MkII moved up to the role of Ace Mech, a gap was formed in the Advanced Mech line-up! That gap was filled with the newly redesigned Honda MkII! Armed with a pair of beam machine guns, this unit can still Jump Jet and will still certainly tear through units.
- The new Taisho Type Tank is the previously mentioned General's Tank; having it on the field unlocks Advanced Tanks. It is a simple unit, with a pair of tank cannons. Hopefully someday it will have some kind of power to help it stand out!
- These units haven't been made yet, but they are coming! Expect a brand new Missile Cruiser, a smaller cruiser with no requirements to build which can only fire at the ground with a barrage of missiles. Meant to be an earlier version of the Battlecruiser.
- Vastly redone Transport Cruiser. It is going to be a lot smaller, a lot cheaper, and hopefully fully functioning and easy to use!
- A new specialized repair pad for aircraft and cruisers! Before, this function was given to the air cruiser, but it looked ridiculous with a massive Battlecruiser landing on the much smaller Air Cruiser to be repaired. Expect a stationary building, easy and cheap to build, which will repair your aircraft and cruisers!
What Comes Next?
As specified in the above section with not-yet-made new units, there are still some units that need to be made to round out the Big Changes. However, I was wanting to get this out first so people can get a taste of what I've been working on.
In addition to the new units, I will be working on pathfinding (Forboding Angel, who is working on Evolution RTS, has recently released some helpful info on optimizing units pathfinding). I will also be working on making better, original, and more accurate weapon impact effects. The ones in the game haven't been touched in in almost 2 years I think!
And, of course, the continued effort of remodeling and improving the existing unit roster. Expect some balance work in the future, as this new system for the NKG is sure to shake things up!
So play, give me some feedback, and enjoy the game!
