Battlefleet Gothic Armada: Space Commissar Simulator

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Arc Hammer: Mar 4, 2013; Got any deathsticks?

Nothing will look as good as homeworld's 3d tactical display and snap-to camera controls.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 02:20

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# ? May 6, 2024 19:42

DOCTOR ZIMBARDO: May 8, 2006

Derakarsis posted:

I would have preferred a minimalist UI.

This is a WH40K game, minimalism and good taste are heresy.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 03:23

Stalkerr: Jun 10, 2012

Waiting for American gaming press to get in on this (the publisher is probably pushing in Europe, since the BFG fanbase is so large there), but until then, here's Italy's take:

https://translate.google.com/transl...t-text=&act=url

# ? Feb 29, 2016 15:55

radintorov: Feb 18, 2011

Stalkerr posted:

Waiting for American gaming press to get in on this (the publisher is probably pushing in Europe, since the BFG fanbase is so large there), but until then, here's Italy's take:

https://translate.google.com/transl...t-text=&act=url

Doesn't go too much into detail (and I'm reading in the original language) but it is a pretty positive impression, praising the variety of the battlefield elements, intuitive UI and the overall depth of the gameplay.
One interesting thing that stands out is that "factions" are mentioned, with the player being able to align to one of them to obtain a series of passive bonuses: could those be various groups within the Imperium that you have to juggle on the strategic level?

radintorov fucked around with this message at 16:13 on Feb 29, 2016

# ? Feb 29, 2016 16:11

Angry Lobster: May 16, 2011; Served with honor
and some clarified butter.

radintorov posted:

One interesting thing that stands out is that "factions" are mentioned, with the player being able to align to one of them to obtain a series of passive bonuses: could those be various groups within the Imperium that you have to juggle on the strategic level?

Yeah, it was mentioned previously that in the campaign there will be several factions inside the empire with whom you can gain favor to obtain bonuses, like the adeptus astartes or the mechanichus. The astartes were mentioned specifically because their bonuses is a battle barge for you to use.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 16:22

Perestroika: Apr 8, 2010

Angry Lobster posted:

Yeah, it was mentioned previously that in the campaign there will be several factions inside the empire with whom you can gain favor to obtain bonuses, like the adeptus astartes or the mechanichus. The astartes were mentioned specifically because their bonuses is a battle barge for you to use.

Yeah, that was mentioned in the french article posted earlier. You'll be able to one out of align with either the Nobility, Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines), Inquisition, or Mechanicus, for certain bonuses each. As you said, the Marines have their own unique ships that you'll probably be able to get that way, the Mechanicus is probably about applying unique upgrades to your ships, though I dunno what advantages the Inquisiton or Nobility might bring. Perhaps unique ship captains or more resources or something of the sort.

Also, next faction dump:

Space Marines

Space Marine chapters are usually fairly small, and on their own they often don't even have enough ships to amass a significant fleet. So instead, they're usually part of a mixed force consisting largely of regular Imperial Navy vessels with a few Space Marine ships mixed in. Space Marine ships are usually focused on launching and supporting planetary invasions rather than pure space combat, but that does give them some unique advantages.

As a baseline, SM ships are very well armoured (the larger ones featuring the highest possible armour on all sides) as well as decently fast for their size. Their main downside is that their weaponry is fairly short ranged, and their ships tend to be relatively few in number. Since their ships are primarily crewed by, well, marines, SM get huge bonuses (bigger than any other race, SMs are dicks like that) to boarding actions, hit and run assaults, and ground attacks (these show up as mission objectives in some games). Instead of regular attack craft they have only multi-role Thunderhawks, which can fulfill both the roles of fighters and boarding shuttles at the same time, with no penalties to either. Unlike other fighters they can get into fights with other attack craft and potentially just carry on afterwards without having to go back and land to rearm and repair. With all this focus on getting in close and boarding stuff you might say that SM are basically the Imperium's Orks, except not nearly as cool.

Space Marines have only a handful of unique ships, so this should be short:

Battleships

Battle Barge

If you decide to go with Space Marines instead of the regular Imperial Navy, it's probably to bring one of these. The Battle Barge offers incredible resilience, devastating armament including a bombardment cannon and some torpedoes, and even has hangars for a bunch of Thunderhawks. The only real downside here is a somewhat short range and a very hefty pricetag. Instead of having one of the "default" Battle Barges built, some Marine chapters may also opt to just pick a regular Imperial battleship and retrofit it for their own use, getting all the SM-specific goodies like Thunderhawks and better boarding but retaining the original armament.

Cruisers

Strike Cruiser

Just like the Imperial Lunar-class cruiser, the Strike Cruisers form the backbone of SM fleets, and are similarly versatile. The default configuration of the Strike Cruiser offers some modest broadside batteries, a small bombardment cannon, and some hangars for Thunderhawks. The latter two may be exchanged for a variety of options, allowing you to instead mount torpedoes, lances, or an addition bigger bombardment cannon instead.

Escorts
Space Marine escorts are basically just the same ships that the Imperial Navy uses, except they get some additional armour and higher top speed for a somewhat higher proce. In short:

Gladius Frigate

A simple gunship, mostly there to intercept ordnance and other escorts.

Nova Frigate

Carries a single short-ranged lance, which allows it to offer some versatile additional fire support against other ships.

Hunter Destroyer

A simple fast torpedo-carrier, intended to outflank and engage capital ships.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 18:15

xthetenth: Dec 30, 2012; Mario wasn't sure if this Jeb guy was a good influence on Yoshi.

Bombardment cannon are an intermediary between batteries and lances. They care about the direction the enemy's facing like batteries but don't care about armor like lances. It's pretty cool, although it does put a premium on position relative to the enemy.

# ? Feb 29, 2016 18:25

BadLlama: Jan 13, 2006

Sooo Its March 2016 and I haven't heard of anything close to a release date or multiplayer beta, is this game getting delayed?

# ? Mar 1, 2016 20:23

2 SPOOKY: Sep 9, 2010; Always Be Alert!

Generally you can't fault someone for not reading a games thread but come on man it's 3 pages. :v:

Release is March 23rd, no date on mp beta yet that has been talked about here/on steam.

# ? Mar 1, 2016 22:34

BadLlama: Jan 13, 2006

2 SPOOKY posted:

Generally you can't fault someone for not reading a games thread but come on man it's 3 pages.

Release is March 23rd, no date on mp beta yet that has been talked about here/on steam.

I read the OP and all the juicy fun post about ships. Seems like maybe an important update to make to the OP if that is the release date?

# ? Mar 1, 2016 22:47

Stalkerr: Jun 10, 2012

Where are you hearing the release date from? I haven't found anything, but I'll check the official forums and see. EDIT: Nothing but speculation, based on typical Steam release dates. Once it's officially announced, I'll update the OP.

In other news... a report on playing the Orks! (sort of)

http://www.pcgamesn.com/battlefleet-gothic-armada/the-great-ork-massacre-when-battlefleet-gothic-armada-goes-horribly-wrong

My biggest takeway: Ships can get lost in the warp.

Stalkerr fucked around with this message at 01:36 on Mar 2, 2016

# ? Mar 2, 2016 01:33

DJ Dizzy: Feb 11, 2009; Real men don't use bolters.

Preorder discount ends on the 23rd. That might be where.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 07:06

2 SPOOKY: Sep 9, 2010; Always Be Alert!

That's what I deserve for parroting information posted earlier. Seriously though, the lack of a release date when we're in release month is pretty baffling!

# ? Mar 2, 2016 21:55

Derakarsis: Aug 7, 2007; Hope you've had your shots

At least they're releasing gameplay footage. Its not likely to be Colonial Marines.

# ? Mar 3, 2016 01:28

sirtommygunn: Mar 7, 2013

So assuming that the end-date for the steam pre-order is the release date, and that they'll wait for the last possible second on the access to the multiplayer beta, we should be getting access to it on the 9th at the latest.

# ? Mar 6, 2016 04:44

Asmodai_00: Nov 26, 2007

sirtommygunn posted:

So assuming that the end-date for the steam pre-order is the release date, and that they'll wait for the last possible second on the access to the multiplayer beta, we should be getting access to it on the 9th at the latest.

Close!

http://steamcommunity.com/games/363680/announcements/detail/842542556780198774

quote:

Greetings admirals!

We�re pleased to announce that the Battlefleet Gothic: Armada multiplayer beta will officially begin this Thursday evening (GMT+1, 10th March).

To gain access to the beta, you just need to pre-order Battlefleet Gothic: Armada on Steam. If you�ve already pre-ordered, then you�re all set to commence battle as soon as the beta begins!

The beta will run all the way until the full release of Battlefleet Gothic: Armada. Stay tuned for more details closer to the beta�s launch.

All glory to the emperor!

# ? Mar 7, 2016 17:40

Perestroika: Apr 8, 2010

Asmodai_00 posted:

Close!

http://steamcommunity.com/games/363680/announcements/detail/842542556780198774

Finally! I'm really looking forward to finally seeing some gameplay and first impressions. I've been burned one too many times to preorder it blindly, but I'm still really hoping it'll turn out well.

# ? Mar 7, 2016 19:17

xthetenth: Dec 30, 2012; Mario wasn't sure if this Jeb guy was a good influence on Yoshi.

Steam returns exist and it'll be a preorder.

I'll probably make a video. No promises it won't be in a hosed up resolution and aspect ratio.

# ? Mar 7, 2016 21:16

sirtommygunn: Mar 7, 2013

Asmodai_00 posted:

Close!

http://steamcommunity.com/games/363680/announcements/detail/842542556780198774

Later than I expected but its still good to get a confirmation.

# ? Mar 7, 2016 23:50

Stalkerr: Jun 10, 2012

Video preview... finally!

EDIT: Holy cow, this game looks good. YOU MUST PURCHASE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw5V2O7jQJU

Things we learn in the video:

Campaign

The devs are super 40k spergs
The voiceovers and custscenes look/sound really nice.
The campaign is a "Crisis Management Simulation", where you take Battlefleet Gothic and try to defend as much of the 6 sectors of the Gothic sector (50 planets?) as possible, from Chaos, Orks, and Eldar.
You start with the entire sector in your hands, and gradually lose planets to the enemies.
Each planet has certain bonuses, so you start with all the bonuses, and have to deal with losing them over time.
You start the campaign with access to only one sector, and expand to other sectors as the campaign progresses.

Ship Fitting/Fleet Stuff

The ship models look amazing.
Renown is the main currency in the game. You earn renown from winning battles, and can use renown to "purchase" new ships and upgrade existing ships.
Your Admiral Rank determines what ships you can have in your fleet. At Rank 1, you can only have Escorts and Light Cruisers. As you rank up, you gain access to more spaceships.
Your fleet is capped by ship class: 1 Battleship, 2 Battlecruisers, 3 Cruisers, and 4 Light Cruisers. You can have as many escorts as you want (ESCORT SPAM).
You can upgrade Engines, Generators, Deck, Hull, and Weapons on any ship you own.
There are tons of crew skills, in the following categories: Tank, Damage, Control, Support, Recon, Maneuver
Battleships can have up to 4 skills, Battlecruisers 3 skills, Cruisers 2 skills, and Light Cruisers 1 skill.
Every faction can also apply a favor to their ships! For Imperial Navy, those factions are The Inquisition, Adeptus Mechanicus (gives an additional skill for the ship, reduces upgrade and repair costs), Imperial Navy (free Cobra escort reinforcement, prevents the ship captain from insubordinating), and Adeptus Astartes (increases defend/attack troop strength, critical damage skill "For the Emperor")
Favors change the color/model of the ship. You can see this most obviously with Chaos ships.
Painting your fleet is a thing, although they aren't sure it'll make launch. They are going to patch it in, if that's the case.
The crew panel allows you to grant experience to different classes of crew on your ship, which provide different passive bonuses depending on what you invest in. Each crew class has Level 1 by default, and can be upgraded 3 times.
You can get a maximum of 10 crew points per ship (everything in this game has 10 levels it seems)
Imperial Navy crew categories are: Commissar, Navigator, Techpriest, Master Gunner, Rating (?), Servitor
So, every single ship can be SUPER CUSTOMIZED via ship upgrades, skills, favors, and crew upgrades.
Each ship earns experience individually via combat. So you might be a Level 10 Admiral, but if your entire fleet gets blown away and you have to start from scratch, you'll be at a serious disadvantage with Tier 0 ships.
You can name your ships whatever you want for Skirmish/Multiplayer/Campaign. Emperor's Giant Dong, reporting for duty!

Skirmish

You start Skirmish by selecting your faction, then select your opponents.
You then get dropped into "Port Maw", which in the campaign is your main base and the refit location for your fleet. In Skirmish/Multiplayer, it's where you set up your fleet.
You can set up a random skirmish, so you just drop in and hope your fleet comp doesn't doom you.
Mission Type: Spacestation Assault. This mission has actual Attacker and Defender roles.
Other Mission Types: Convoy Escort, Cruiser Clash, Planetary Assault, and a few others from the tabletop game.
Battles have Fleet Point caps, like any good 40k game.
Battles can be more than just 1v1!
You get renown bonus points if you drop in under point cap, so there's an incentive to be like the Clans and bid yourself down into the smallest force possible, quiaff?

Combat

Combat starts (in skirmish at least) with a deployment phase, like on tabletop (I sense a theme...), with a set deployment zone.
Certain mission types involve different deployment scenarios, or drop you right into the action. It won't always be two fleets starting on opposite sides of the map.
You can opt to auto-deploy
60,000 polygons on a cruiser. NEXT GEN, FOLKS.
All maps are randomly generated. Never know what you're gonna get...
Asteroid fields damage your ships if you enter, and grant a cover bonus to the ships inside.
Behavior: Can set ships to auto-attack, which will cause them to automatically choose targets.
Behavior: Can set ships to broadside engagement mode or frontal engagement mode.
Behavior: Choose engagement range
Behavior: Choose engagement side (kinda weird, IMO), allows you to choose primarily a port/starboard engagement if using broadside mode.
You can mouse over ships to see the range and arcs of their weapons
Damage is super compartmentalized on ships, so one section of batteries on one side of a ship could get blown up, etc.
You can set up move orders during deployment
Wow, movement is super slow paced. This game is really going to be Real Time Strategy, as all your decisions prior to shots being fired are going to determine how well you're positioned for success.
Enemy ships initially only show up as signatures, and you don't know what they are. There are even ways for you to FAKE signatures, so you might think it's a big fleet on one side of the map, when really it's just two escorts and the main fleet is flanking you to take the objective. I can see this being amazing in multiplayer.
You can slow or pause the passage of time, to submit orders.
With weapons like the Nova cannon, the farther you fire, the greater the dispersion range. Seriously, tabletop.
RAMMING SPEED
Ship tonnage matters in ramming
Chaos ships with Mark of Nurgle infect nearby enemy ships with a locust cloud (DoT), so ramming is bad.
The wreckage of destroyed ships can be used as cover
Captains can panic and run away, but you can execute the captain before that if you want to keep the ship in the battle.
Ships can taunt other ships, resetting their warp cooldown and forcing the target captain to engage.

Ok, that's enough, go buy it already.

Stalkerr fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Mar 8, 2016

# ? Mar 8, 2016 01:46

sirtommygunn: Mar 7, 2013

"Woah what happened there?"
"This loving ship is a coward, and I should have executed him before he warped out"

:allears:

they really get it

Stalkerr posted:

Each ship earns experience individually via combat. So you might be a Level 10 Admiral, but if your entire fleet gets blown away and you have to start from scratch, you'll be at a serious disadvantage with Tier 0 ships.

On the website it says that, in multiplayer at least, destroyed ships are not permanently lost. They're just taken out for some time or can be bought back instantly with renown. http://www.battlefleetgothic-armada.com/en/game/multiplayer

sirtommygunn fucked around with this message at 02:53 on Mar 8, 2016

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:24

Mordja: Apr 26, 2014; Hell Gem

I wonder what happens when you lose a ship. Is it gone for good, or can you bring it back next battle? Would this apply to multiplayer? Similarly, I saw that captains have levels but they didn't really explain what they do and what exactly you'll lose by executing them.

E: Nvm, answered above.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:54

Derakarsis: Aug 7, 2007; Hope you've had your shots

What the hell happened over at Games Workshop this year that they're allowing all these awesome Warhammer Games to be made? :commissar:

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:54

Asmodai_00: Nov 26, 2007

Derakarsis posted:

What the hell happened over at Games Workshop this year that they're allowing all these awesome Warhammer Games to be made?

There have been awesome Warhammer games made for years though?

I mean, yeah, they've stepped up their game this year, but we've had awesome games before too :v:

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:55

OctaMurk: Jun 21, 2013

sirtommygunn posted:

"Woah what happened there?"
"This loving ship is a coward, and I should have executed him before he warped out"

they really get it

On the website it says that, in multiplayer at least, destroyed ships are not permanently lost. They're just taken out for some time or can be bought back instantly with renown. http://www.battlefleetgothic-armada.com/en/game/multiplayer

Wow that sounds like a pretty awesome mechanic. You can't rely on the same ships every single game and have to switch it up, and also you actually have something to lose so retreating is a thing.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:57

Derakarsis: Aug 7, 2007; Hope you've had your shots

Asmodai_00 posted:

There have been awesome Warhammer games made for years though?

I mean, yeah, they've stepped up their game this year, but we've had awesome games before too

Eh... the Dawn of War series until soulstorm and Dark Omen.

Edit: This thread is about awesome spaceships though, don't want to derail.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:58

xthetenth: Dec 30, 2012; Mario wasn't sure if this Jeb guy was a good influence on Yoshi.

Somebody tell them that if they add a co-op option especially to the campaign I will buy copies for everyone I know.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 02:59

Derakarsis: Aug 7, 2007; Hope you've had your shots

xthetenth posted:

Somebody tell them that if they add a co-op option especially to the campaign I will buy copies for everyone I know.

That's the first question we had- "Cool you can Coop with the AI" what about your friends? Still, the multiplayer component has persistence- that's almost as good- maybe better in the long run.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:01

Triskelli: Sep 27, 2011; I AM A SKELETON
WITH VERY HIGH
STANDARDS

Sorry, couldn't help but laugh a little at the canada mouth at the end of the cutscene.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:09

Stalkerr: Jun 10, 2012

OK, I'm done with my summary post above. It has all the info I was able to glean from the video, which is a lot.

Hype is real now.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:19

xthetenth: Dec 30, 2012; Mario wasn't sure if this Jeb guy was a good influence on Yoshi.

Don't forget sick powerslides into point blank broadsides look awesome. This is important.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:24

Stalkerr: Jun 10, 2012

At the end of the video, the devs mention they would love to get Tau, Necron, Tyranid, and other fleets in as expansions, if the game sells well.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:27

OctaMurk: Jun 21, 2013

Stalkerr posted:

At the end of the video, the devs mention they would love to get Tau, Necron, Tyranid, and other fleets in as expansions, if the game sells well.

Really it's a shame they haven't done more marketing, but I think this game is set to be pretty successful in the same way that the Wargame series is. It's unique and fits a niche without any real competition, and in the same way that Wargame can draw on military hardware geeks this can draw on 40k fans.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:36

Klaus88: Jan 23, 2011; Violence has its own economy, therefore be thoughtful and precise in your investment

God-Emperor only knows how they'll balance Necrons, since one Necron ship can wreck entire battle groups single handed.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 03:44

Triskelli: Sep 27, 2011; I AM A SKELETON
WITH VERY HIGH
STANDARDS

Klaus88 posted:

God-Emperor only knows how they'll balance Necrons, since one Necron ship can wreck entire battle groups single handed.

Well on the tabletop you don't win just because you destroyed the enemy fleet: Each ship destroyed is worth a certain number of points which in this game could be the "renown points" we saw. Every Necron ship is worth a ridiculous amount of points (well above its purchase price), and if you're careless enemy can beat you despite losing every one of his ships.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 05:44

sirtommygunn: Mar 7, 2013

Triskelli posted:

Well on the tabletop you don't win just because you destroyed the enemy fleet: Each ship destroyed is worth a certain number of points which in this game could be the "renown points" we saw. Every Necron ship is worth a ridiculous amount of points (well above its purchase price), and if you're careless enemy can beat you despite losing every one of his ships.

"worth it" - the late admiral Triskelli, upon losing the entire Gothic Fleet to destroy a single Necron ship, summarily executed shortly thereafter.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 05:48

xthetenth: Dec 30, 2012; Mario wasn't sure if this Jeb guy was a good influence on Yoshi.

sirtommygunn posted:

"worth it" - the late admiral Triskelli, upon losing the entire Gothic Fleet to destroy a single Necron ship, summarily executed shortly thereafter.

I think you mean "Worth it" - the newly promoted Lord Admiral Triskelli shortly after trading the entire Gothic Fleet for the first successful destruction of a Necron ship.

# ? Mar 8, 2016 05:58

sirtommygunn: Mar 7, 2013

xthetenth posted:

I think you mean "Worth it" - the newly promoted Lord Admiral Triskelli shortly after trading the entire Gothic Fleet for the first successful destruction of a Necron ship.

Knowing this setting, we could both be right :v: