Welcome to the Frontline Chaos April Fools’ Update. As I’ve seen too many false updates for mods the last couple of years, I decided to make an update without any jokes =P. I’ve been working hard on this mod since the last major update. The major updates on this mod are:
-the mod’s story (finally)
-new models and skins for units/structures
-several new units and structures for both armies, and civilians
-AI updates
-balancing
Mod Story:
I know I promised to post this many times before, but I couldn’t get me to post it any sooner. The original was written in an evening, and had some stuff that wasn’t completely straight (note: never write stories like this when you’re tired :P ). After some revisions I can finally present the final form. Check out this topic for the mod’s story. This should explain some stuff, and why the 2 armies are fighting ;)
Unit updates:
While I can try to tell all the updates of each specific unit, it’s better to let the following image comparison speak for itself:
As always, Legion units in front, Revenant units in the back. As you can see, most units have their own models, and have been skinned. There have been some scrapped units for both sides, and some replacements have been added for them. Some of the new units:
Legion:
-Helepolis Heavy Assault Transport – an heavy armoured transport with fireports
Revenant:
-Pyradon – an heavy-duty flame tank, the replacement of the old Promethean
I’ve been also working on the air units. While I can model ground units decently now, air units are still a bit of a problem. I’ve been working on Legion air units, and have been having some problems with polycounts. In example: the Hunter gunship originally had over 800 polies, which makes it very high for an unit that can be spammed rather easily. I’m now considering my options, as the current model does fit the unit.
Besides the above, now remaining is creating new models for the Supply Trucks of both sides, and skinning the remaining models. After that, I’ll begin adding the much-requested details on the textures (with some new techniques I picked up here and there) ;)
Structures:
Some time ago, I didn’t had any inspiration for either side, so I decided to do some work on stuff that wasn’t related to any army. The result of this are several Monuments, some of which are based upon the RA2 monuments. The ones that are done for now are the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. Visit this topic for more information about those.
I also have made several other large civilian structures, but displaying them would spoil the campaign a bit =P
In other news:
Besides adding, scrapping, and editing units, I’ve also done some work on other parts of the mod:
-AI: the AI now works for both sides, on all AI levels. I’ve make sure that they use the new units and upgrades as well, and made some updates where needed.
-Maps: while not my strong point, I decided to continue my work on some of the campaign maps, and the shellmap (the map you see in the main menu). These will most likely be updated in bursts, as I can work the best on those when I’m in a mapping mood :P.
-Superweapon switch: something I always liked in Red Alert 2 was the option to disable superweapons. With some assistance I’ve changed the Superweapon Limit button of GenZH to a Superweapon Disabler button. This way you can decide whether you want to play with or without the destructive superweapons. I’ve changed this as the superweapons in this mod are more destructive than their counterparts from GenZH, and it can be fun to use more conventional forces to destroy your enemies instead of using a ‘simple’ power.
-General Powers: while I still have to find a new name for this, General Powers are still in this mod. I’ve been looking at some nice ideas I can use as a General Power for each army. Besides the generic ‘unlock unit’ and ‘unlock superweapon’ powers, I have some nice powers for this mod ;).
-Billboards: I always loved the random billboards from TS and RA2, so I decided to include some, just for the heck of it =P They come with random images and quotes, and can be shot so they topple, crushing inf and damaging vehicles/structures.
General Images:
Just some images from the General Images thread:
That is all for now. Watch out for the jokes today, and try not getting fooled =P.
Until next time, Dutchygamer out.
