Cavalier - Refined RTS with scale Thread

"If you want peace, prepare for war"

- Vegetius, Epitoma Rei Militaris

Overview -

Cavalier is a one of the only breeds of RTS that deliver action based on tactical movement and choice of load-out, while removing many micromanagement necessities, including much more interactivity and precision, as well as creating a game designed for larger multiplayer matches that can scale easily between while losing none of its integrity, and removing needless linear progressions for a model of variance and function.

In essence, Cavalier is a more personal, more realistic, more direct form of RTS designed to allow urgency, communication, and chaos not properly done before.

Notice -

The storyline is very long, if you do not wish to read it all, the short synopsis is that it details the creation of Privatized Corporate Militaries after nuclear threats and inactivity of combat fronts. Afterwards, terrorist attacks against weapon stores reveal possible connections with a few of these PCMs. During a stand-off between corporations, with refusal to cooperate and so on, deployment of readied forces inside of the base is misconstrued as hostile and fire breaks out. What comes of this is a battle amongst numerous cities between various corporations, a few accused of terrorist ties, others possessing them, some trying to stop them, and a handful hoping to cease all of the combat.

The term Cavalier is derived from the technology at the time, a Cybernetic Articulated Vehicular Armor, a twelve foot tall bipedal vehicle, which allows for a single soldier to be easily deployed within urban situations with proper maneuverability and fire power, becoming much of the basis for combat.

For GAME INFORMATION please refer to the second post following shortly.

Storyline -

In 2009, the campaigns against terrorism and their haven nations escalated as remnant forces breached North Korean weapon facilities on March 23rd, and in the process gained a new threat in the form of eight nuclear warheads. Diplomacy had been high in North Korea, with open discussion on disarmament and trade activity, though whispers amongst the media of intelligence agencies considering the possibility of a staged strike and weapons selling barred any outside investigations many believed plausible. Until August 6th, no definite word of the weapons was heard, and as of 2:30 P.M., terrorist factions held New York City, Riyadh, Tehran, and Paris hostage under threats of nuclear devastation from the warheads already within these cities.

Unless NATO and allied forces were removed and forever kept from the borders of Southern Iran, Western Pakistan, Eastern United Arab Emirates, and the Gulf of Oman. However, the waters had often been a passage into and out of Oman itself from Khasab, and forces were still in the midst of returning political boundary to United Arab Emirates. Land there had been seized during three years of combat in an attempt to form Oman as a contiguous nation after a hostile overthrow of the previous sultanate for purposes deigned as class restructuring. A decision was to be reached at noon August 10th, when the first allied forces would either be moving out or the four cities would be destroyed.

Unfortunately, little decision could be reached through intense debate between the four nations, as negotiations were not to be done, yet nor could the alternative stand. Even if NATO were to remain along the borders and gulf, little doubt stood that the tenuous at best alliance made with Iran, in order to ensure stability and the removal of surrounding enemies, would end with hostile forces attempt to press them from the borders. Worse yet, Saudi Arabia threatened withdrawal of resources from corporate investments, particularly those within the United States, to help manifest the decision, enough money that the global economy could easily collapse in a single move.

The first patrol boats began to leave the Gulf of Oman at 9:00 A.M. on August 10th, and would continue for the next three weeks, agreeable enough to the terrorist forces, as well as a second condition, an undisclosed video taping of the warheads outside of the nations and actual detonation of at least one. On Augusth 21st a report came in of this detonation from miles off the coast of Brazil in the Atlantic, and on the 24th a video revealed four being transported through Colombia and Peru throughout the 18th and 19th as the other three were crossing the Aral Sea. Of course, no one believed the threat passed, seven warheads were still free in the hands of hostile forces, territory of the United Arab Emirates was still occupied, and now transportation out of Oman was open, with no ability to cease any of them without exposing a nation to risk once more.

Stagnation came for western civilization with military powers; technology slowed, recruitment halted, and were kept from disolving for traditions sake in many cases, until standing might barely crested over tens of thousands for even the United States of America. Few fronts had been kept active after the campaign, North Korea finally submitted to being disarmed and was removed from the Axis of Evil, Oman was at peace if not rightfully, Palestine was out of jurisdiction, and the guerillas of South America were no more active than had been, but the concern for terrorism was still high over four years.

However, in 2013, the United Arab Emirates began its own campaign, seeking no alliance or global aid, attempting to reclaim the borders and overthrow "Neo-Oman" as it was phrased, with the aid of the sultanate's own resources. The fighting lasted a whole of one month, information on the whereabouts of the seven warheads, as well as biological and chemical agent facilities, was seized, and in turn so were the weapons over the course of a week. Behind the combat was an American corporation with no government ties known as Aegis, titled the first Privatized Corporate Military, who had spent years in hidden training and technological development within the Middle-East. News reports sprung in interviews with Aegis executives and soldiers, considering the possibilities and future of PCMs, the first of which was airport security, which was practically leapt upon by LAX, OIA, O'Hare, JFK, and LaGuardia.

Featuring competitive rates between PCMs, as well as the benefits, freedom, and payment an officer in these corporations recieves, the concept was solid, and locked when United States government enacted "trials" with security aboard and before aircraft was passed flawlessly, in fact, too well as no incidents were plausible in mid-flight with concealed weaponry as each was confiscated before the gates. With sterling success, further airports joined in to utilize new corporations being built, including many in France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, et cetera, until it became second nature, and a new ground was about to be explored, protection and policing.

Once again, Aegis was the breeding ground for this, tackling Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, Chicago, and Orlando alongside the running departments there. In the five cities the rate was lowered by an average of 27% in violent crimes and 31% of thefts or white-colored crimes, costing a total of 15% less to maintain. Within time, the police departments were considered under the direction of the PCMs, being offered jobs as each was phased out, and this trend passed to numerous more cities in turn as with the airports. The next front a PCM was to tackle would be truly military, as the USA and UK governments contracted none other than Aegis, endowing it with the ability to carry out the actions of the government.

However, a new threat soon surfaced, as unidentified military forces stormed three weapon storehouses of three seperate PCMs on January 14th 2017, utilizing the now famous Cybernetic Articulated Vehicular Armor, or CAVAlier, that were employed openly only by the corporations themselves. Blame fell depending on who lay it, citing CAVAlier structures, weapons and tactics employed, until the well known Praetoria Contraho announced uncovering information implicating both Aegis and the second largest Myrmidon Defence Networks. As well as instigating the attacks, MDN had been shipping weapons to Colombian liberation guerillas who Praetoria was contracted to fight against under Colombia, Peru, and Venezuala. Acting quickly, numerous PCMs surrounded the larger military installations of both Aegis and MDN, threatening military action unless a full and thorough investigation was allowed and their weapon facilities were put under surveillance.

Diplomacy though never began on January 19th, as in response Aegis CAVAliers were swiftly deployed in an attempt to bar unwarranted entry. Caught unaware and considering it a hostile action, soldiers fired, destroying two as they came out of the hangar and a third nearing the front gate of the compound. In defense, Aegis returned rounds, and communication went out to open fire, and thus started the War of Corporations, amidst sprawling metropolis in industrialized nations, was said to begin the first battles with no political boundaries.

Edited by: Vangor

i beleive the success of a well thoughtout mod such as this rely on both the engine of choice and dedication of the team.

in other words, i'd play it

Squadrons -

Each player, otherwise known as a Commander, has control of their own Squadrons, made of an allowable 6-10 squadron size, standard 8, dependant upon Clout (defined later), outfitted with various equipment based upon Money (defined later), and deployed in various secured Points (defined later). As well, Squadrons are in direct control from the Commander, removing annoying running off to hunt down an enemy and poor use of abilities, though also actively firing upon an enemy or moving into cover. Plus, Squadrons cannot be fully divided, while soldiers may be individualy selected or put into hot groups, they must remain within "half a screen" of one another.

In order to perform actions such as firing at an enemy it requires direct response from a Commander, placing a firing marker for them to fire upon, either a selected region for suppressive or mass fire or a direct target to focus upon until either the selected or squadron is dead. This allows situations such as ambushes and sniper fire to begin, as well as noted above suppressive fire, or can cover when an enemy is hiding.

A map, otherwise known as a region, are completely uncovered, with the ability to move the view "half a screen" out from your furthest soldier, however, view is blocked via line of sight, and enemies will not appear until in that line of sight, though Squadron view revolves a full 360 degrees.

As well, the Commander's own view will be a full mouse controlled 360x360x360, so while an overhead may suit sprinting down a street, it may be wise to be looking up when circling up stairs of a building.

Terrain -

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of Cavalier, the terrain is designed to be truly massive in a sense, full city streets encircling larger scale buildings with hallways and stairs. While the emphasis is not to include perhaps a hundred rooms per building, the more direct idea is the allowance for balconies, stairways, rooftops, and window-like areas, allowing for tactical considerations without annoyance of room by room searching or tight camera angles. As well, the main point is undefinied routes to enemies, traverse through a myriad of subway tunnels, winding streetways, circumvent them by traveling throughout buildings, travel up and down stairways and across skywalks, et cetera. This will also help contain the balance between CAVAlier and Soldier, as the mechanized armors cannot move through most hallways or buildings, and must keep to larger open streets outside of cover, while infantry could ambush from unconsidered windows or move by the problem altogether.

In order to further the goal of terrain, it has a combat aspect, taking the forms of Hard Cover, Firm Cover, Soft Cover, and Weak Cover, defined for both CAVAliers and Soldiers, as well as interactive elements that can change the experience of the game.

Hard Cover - Cover which cannot be destroyed through any means, such as walls and buildings. Damage to enemies firing from the corner is reduced to 20% for Soldiers and 35% for CAVAliers, while it is returned in full. Explosives may still travel around Hard Cover if used properly, and enemies are not necessarily protected from multiple sides. As well, because of the often confined spaces, only a single CAVAlier or two soldiers may fire from the corners of areas such as walls and buildings.

Firm Cover - Cover which can be destroyed only through explosives, such as cars and fallen CAVAliers. Damage to enemies firing from the corner is reduced to 40% for Soldiers and 60% for CAVAliers, and Firm Cover follows the same rules of explosives and corners as Hard Cover. Plus, much Firm Cover can actively be moved by a CAVAlier, such as a car can be moved into better position, heavier ones such as buses may require double efforts. If destroyed such as cars, Firm Cover applies the an additioanl 10% damage to both Soldiers and CAVAliers.

Soft Cover - Cover which cannot is somewhat difficult to destroy but can fit entire squadrons, such as bushes. Damage to enemies within Soft Cover is reduced to 75% for only Soldiers, while damage coming from Soft Cover is reduced to 90%, as well, movement speed is reduced to 60%. Explosions have their damage reduced by the same amount but are the only weapons capable of removing bushes and trees. Notice that firing into Soft Cover from Soft Cover will reduce damage by a total of 65% on both sides.

Weak Cover - Cover which can be destroyed somewhat easily and involves crate-like items. Damage to enemies from within Weak Cover is reduced to 75% for only Soldiers firing from the corner, but, Weak Cover may be directly attacked and destroyed. Explosions deal 50% through Weak Cover and deal double standard damage against it. Weak Cover may also be moved into better positions by CAVAliers.

Resources -

While there is no management of resources or direct gathering necessary, each Commander is given a set of three resources based on a continuum, these come in the form of Clout, Money, and Merit, and are gained or lost and utilized in various forms.

Clout : The quality of leadership a Commander possesses, higher Clout allows larger squadrons to be under your command at any given time, ranging from 6-10 squadron spaces, which is gained by keeping your Squadron from harm and particularly death while actively completing objectives, such as killing enemies and capturing Points (defined later). Greater rate of objectives and larger scale objectives, such as killing larger Squadrons, gain greater Clout, while poor rates of completion to suffering heavy losses will lower Clout.

Money : The sheer ability for a Commander to complete objectives, higher Money allows further allowances to equipment load-outs, purchasing different weapons and armaments, gained by completing any form of objective, such as capturing Points or killing enemies, and doing so more and more often. Higher rates and Greater objectives will earn more Money per, as long as these are completed it will be earned, though greater amounts of Money spent per Squadron and lost will lower the amount of Money. Money is not strictly spent, it is based on a continuum that one may consider "Purchase Points", earning a specific amount of allowable equipment changes for each Squadron at deployment, this cannot be saved, though, as was stated if you choose to spend less this Squadron and you lose them quickly it will not be counted as harshly.

Merit : The inspiration a Commander gives to his Squadron, higher Merit means greater accuracy and movement speed wih Soldiers and CAVAliers, gained by killing the squadrons of enemy Commanders with higher Clout and Money, though currently a system is considered to allow for Points to enhance this as well though none is definite. Rate of kills and losses as well as the division of Merit between Commanders effects the earning of Merit, higher rates and lower losses will earn more as will possessing less than your enemy.

Objectives -

Objectives of Cavalier are divided into four types, ranging in size, priority, and purpose, often in relation to one another, though terms of victory or further divided by two game types.

Point of Deployment - Allowing full deployment capabilities, including the ability to call in CAVAliers and Soldier squadrons, these feature the shortest reinforcement lines and are often located at regional borders allowing for the shortest flight paths, these are the largest areas and are the starting points in a region for a PCM.

Point of Reinforcement - Allowing decent deployment capabilities, including the ability to call in limited CAVAliers and Soldier squadrons, these feature decent reinforcement lines and flight paths are based on location in a map, are often open areas such as courtyards and intersections, and full squadrons must be deployed in waves.

Point of Infiltration - Allowing Soldier deployment capabilities, these have no ability to call in CAVAliers, whether due to restricted landing zones or because of confined spaces beyond, these feature long reinforcement lines and flight paths are based on location in a map, can be numerous small areas such as hotel pool areas or actual rooftops, and full squadrons must be deployed in waves.

Point of Contention - Allowing no deployment capabilities, these are small areas which are often defined with well defended areas or specific route locations, such as subway terminals or whole buildings and warehouses, and are used only for gaining resources.

Control - A gametype where the mission is to capture all "Points of Control", which can range in number and type based on the region. After all PoCs are captured by a single PCM, the region is considered controlled and the game ends, or, if time constraints are allowed, the PCM with the most "Points of Control" at the end of time is victor.

Conquest - A gametype where the mission becomes the removal of enemy forces in the area by conquering their possible Points inwhich they can deploy. As long as any deployable Points for a PCM is still secured or being sieged then the game can continue, once they have none secured then the round is over or that PCM removed, in the case of multiple PCM battles active squadrons may still battle, though the corporation has lost a hold in that region and no more Points may be captured, ensuring victory will come at some point.

Securing and Sieging - The way to control a Point is through securing and sieging, securing is capturing a neutral Point, sieging is unsecuring an enemy captured Point to make it neutral and able to be secured. In order to do either of these squadrons must infiltrate a Point and remain inside the designated area, the greater amount of soldiers or CAVAliers within the Point the faster these processes are. If squadrons from enemy PCMs enter the designed area, the process ceases where it is until all hostile forces are removed, though if these squadrons are a part of the controlling PCM then they are worth 1.5x the value in terms of resecuring the Point.

End For Now -

All for now, that was alot of typing, I'll be back later to be describing a few of the units and abilities of them, as well as some information on the HUD and purchasing/deploying.

i really like your resource system, i think the clout is a really good original idea. if you implement these well it could be a lot of fun, you have done a really good job outlining your mod, gl

Thanks for your comments, I'm working on proper descriptions that will give an overlay of the units and the HUD.

Simply put, I plan on having the HUD be minimal, there are no minimaps, at most there are arrows centered on the whereabouts of nearby teammate calls or waypoints given by specific teammates, as well as a small radial style menu which will allow you to place your soldiers into prone, crouched, sprinting, or standard positions, as well as utilize a few abilities such as lobbing a grenade or launching a heavy explosive weapon at an area.

Still working on a few people wondering over the more personal experience removing from the ability to properly coordinate soldiers, but, I'd like to hear some feedback as to whether this is good or bad. It means your squadron is basically dumb, but, they won't be annoying, and, because of the lack of micromanagement, all you are focusing on is your squad, it would be akin to an FPS I believe where your character doesn't automatically fire (unless you are hacking), which allows for instances of people hiding in the shadows and attacking from various vantage points.

I find gripes with current RTS in areas such as say Warcraft 3 having archers who do not have extended range with height advantage, or the inability in most RTS to make use of trees as cover, infact in most you cannot even enter them, and the few that you can your troops are almost always outlined in some garish color to reveal their pressence.

As well, which would people prefer, a futuristic science fiction-esque RTS of this type, or more of a dark age schism with light fantasy and further interaction values allowed?

Open to discussion, as I've been writing on the fantasy.

There is a consideration among a few friends who knew the original incarnation of this to utilize fully CAVAliers and carve that out further, limiting the mobility through a few areas though in effect simplifying the game, and using an intelligent mechanism that can be further controlled for the likes of suppressive fire and the like. I'll have to see how it will work, but, as of yet I've been creating a few units in terms of soldiers and I sort of have to agree with em, I'm thinking there could be a much more massive array of how players play if given the option to utilize a few tons of steel.