Armoured Commander: WW2 Tank Commander Roguelike

[derpkhan]

Ah sorry, when I say crit I mean they are rolling 01. It might be that I'm not moving enough. Are you planning to add progression and new tanks? If so that'd be awesome.

[Rev_Sudasana]

Yes, a full combat calendar is planned, but unlike PB there's going to be a random chance of different types of missions and resistance levels per day, to fit in with the random generation of Roguelikes.

Most of the suggestions in the PB rulebook still apply to AC, so if you can find a copy check out the suggestions for staying alive near the end. For now, AC is quite challenging since you're limited to the basic M4 Tank, but in the future once you can upgrade to a higher armour Sherman things will get a little easier.

[monkie]

Is there a way I can change the key binding from the "END" key to something else?  The only reason is that on my laptop It's kind of a pain due to location and the fact I need to use a Function key combo to use the END key. Otherwise I am getting very good at using the key commands without looking at the help.

[Rev_Sudasana]

Sure, I'll add in the space bar as an alternate key to advance the phase in Alpha 4. Fully bindable keys will have to wait a bit, however.

[derpkhan]

Finally did it! Really looking forwards to the campaign/growth features. Should make the game a lot more fun! Especially when we can turn the tables and fight back.

[monkie]

Finally played through a whole day of fighting, lots of areas with no resistance and a few close calls otherwise I would say it was an "easy" day for my M4 crew. No bugs at all that I could see, very stable. Biggest thing to realize is that the M4 needs to get hull down ASAP before sending anything down range. When I first played the boardgame as a lad I never got that point, I wanted to shoot at everything.

Question: How difficult would it be to add some sounds? I'm thinking along the lines of the 8 bit type sounds like the ones from the old SSI Kampfgruppe type game? I remember hearing the simple "boom" (more like a BEEP) of the "cannon" sounds from that game and then reading the text "KILL  3 x T-34". Brings back such great memories.

Also just an idea, when the computer is working its way through the actions the list scrolls very fast and that leaves the player kind of catching up. Might it be possible that the player has to hit a key to scroll that way it kind ramps up the tension as each action is revealed?

[Rev_Sudasana]

Sounds may come in time, I use libtcod which is (among many other things) a wrapper for SDL, and SDL can play simple sound samples quite easily.

Regarding the game messages, I've got a new feature in Alpha 4 that should address this!

[monkie]

Sounds great, thanks for the reply.

question:

My tank entered an area without anything loaded into the main gun. The loader was given the "Load" command, all other crewmembers took no actions. HE was the chosen reload and the Ready Rack had 0 rounds with the next load coming from the general area. The loader did not load the main gun during the action phase and the chamber remained empty. The loader would not load the empty breach unless he was given a "change the gun load" command. Is this correct or should he have loaded HE simply by using the "load" command even though the gun didn't and couldn't fire?

[Rev_Sudasana]

Normally the Load order means "reload the gun after it is fired". If the breach is empty, you would need to give the loader the "Change Gun Load" order and select a shell to put into the gun. I think this represents the fact that selecting a particular shell and loading it takes a little more time than simply slamming in another shell after the gun is fired, also the Gunner can fire right away in the latter case, whereas he has to wait for the new shell if the breech starts empty.

One thing I have planned is for Orders to be displayed in bright red if they conflict with something else in the tank, such as a Load order when there's no shell in the breech, or giving a movement order for the driver when the tank is immobile. I could also display the ready rack usage in red if the RR of the current shell is empty, to warn the player.

Also remember that you can load the gun in the campaign map view, before you enter a new area: press "V" to view tank, then "G" to change the gun load.

[Rev_Sudasana]

Armoured Commander: The WWII Tank Commander Roguelike
Alpha 4: "Time on Target"

Dropbox download link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5500261/armcom_alpha4.rar



Changelog for Alpha 4:

Note: Savegame files from previous alphas will not work with this version, although if you keep your old high scores file they should still be displayed as normal

- Beginnings of a help interface
- Basic artillery strikes, to be developed further in future
- Labels on campaign and encounter map
- Animations for when units move around the battle map
- Narrower campaign map, slight changes to its appearance but no effect on gameplay
- Pop-up notification if no target is available for main gun or machine gun attack
- If tank pivots, Hull Down is lost and tank is Moving; if pivot order given but player does not actually change tank facing, tank is Stopped
- Minefield attack random event
- For crew who are limited to spotting in any one sector, you can now select which sector they should attempt to spot in. Before it had defaulted to in front of your tank.
- Friendly advance random event, sector control gained is random but must be empty of enemy units
- Changed selected crew to a pointer rather than an index number, things work more smoothly and should not have any visible impact on the game itself, but there was a problem where the pointer didn't seem to work after reloading, so reloaded games start with the commander selected by default. Also required a little work to get replaced crewmen put back into the list properly
- Smoke now affects spotting checks properly
- Selected area in campaign day map stays after action is performed, unless you move into a new area; easier now to check an area and then move into it
- Can now rotate turret and fire co-ax MG; +10 penalty applies if either Sherman moved or turret was rotated before co-ax MG attack
- Can use Space Bar or End to advance phase
- WASD and Arrow Keys should both be available for input where appropriate

I think the next logical step is to start working on the Combat Calendar, which would mean that campaigns can span over several months. As always, let me know any bugs or suggestions for changes.

[monkie]

I forgot to load the gun prior to moving to the new area, I was just not paying attention. The red text is a great idea.

Normally the Load order means "reload the gun after it is fired". If the breach is empty, you would need to give the loader the "Change Gun Load" order and select a shell to put into the gun. I think this represents the fact that selecting a particular shell and loading it takes a little more time than simply slamming in another shell after the gun is fired, also the Gunner can fire right away in the latter case, whereas he has to wait for the new shell if the breech starts empty.

One thing I have planned is for Orders to be displayed in bright red if they conflict with something else in the tank, such as a Load order when there's no shell in the breech, or giving a movement order for the driver when the tank is immobile. I could also display the ready rack usage in red if the RR of the current shell is empty, to warn the player.

Also remember that you can load the gun in the campaign map view, before you enter a new area: press "V" to view tank, then "G" to change the gun load.

[monkie]

I really like the way you can now see the enemy units move and they're actions. The text might scroll a little fast at times but now it's much easier to really see how things are playing out. The only thing is that if you miss what the enemy unit just did there is no way of re-capping the action. Before we could see what was happening in the text scroll, maybe it can be added somewhere for reference or the enemy actions can be replayed?

The spotting sector mechanism works great.

I find myself really having to think through my actions. So many times there are easy targets close yet there is that one AT gun in the distance that we have to put as the priority by moving to Hull Down first. Of course you can risk it and go for the glory or do you live to fight the next day. Makes for great tension.

[Rev_Sudasana]

In the next alpha I'll add a settings screen with options to copy the on-map label text to the message console, and to change the length of time that they are displayed before they disappear.

I get the same uneasiness when selecting orders; it's all about judging the likely threat of the units you know are there, choosing your actions, then hoping for some luck!

[Rev_Sudasana]

There was a bug with the smoke display which I just fixed; Alpha 4.1 is now available at the same Dropbox download link.

[monkie]

I was reading the General article called "Bettering Patton's Best" and under the FAQ they mention loading main gun ammo from general stores if you run out of ready rack ammo.

Q: If I exhaust my Ready Rack ammo supply while firing, but make my rate of fire roll, can I switch to reloading from the normal ammo supply-- or must I stop firing?

A: You may switch to using the normal ammo supply.

In AC it does not allow you to do this, it ends your fire without switching to the general stores.