Looks good on paper...steam punk? turn-based tactical combat? x-com?
Quote
Hardcore Turn-Based Steampunk Squad Tactics In The Old School Style Of Julian Gollop's X-Com And Laser Squad
Conquer the super-continent of Pangea with an invasion of Airships!
Battle Dastardly Pirate Insurgents!
Keep the locals happy or they will be revolting!
Game Features:
Turn-based squad tactical combat with emergent gameplay
2 massive strategic campaigns featuring resource, technology and population management
Campaigns are randomized on creation for infinite replayability
Single Battle Mode for getting straight into tactical action
No two games the same
20 battlefields
Randomized deployment on battlefields
5 types of environment with environmental modifiers
3 types of battlefield objectives
4 types of weather
Enemy Ai with 11 different combat tactics
5 Ai campaign strategies
7 classes of troops, each with 4 upgrades of weapons/equipment
Troops have unique attributes which are upgraded with experience
6 playable Steampunk factions
Austro-Hungarian Empire
British Royalists
Chinese Dynasty
Peoples Collective
US Republic
Zulu Nation
http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-ASD/airship-dragoon (http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-ASD/airship-dragoon)
You can get a feel for the game watching the trailer.
I bought it, but have had issues getting it to run on my old laptop with any semblance of fluidity. I think I've overstepped my laptops capabilities with this title (and a number of others nowadays!)
I think James Allen did a vid-review too.
Interesting and kind of bizarre.
Developer is "Yorkshire Rifles"
I've been eying this for a short while now.
I'd like to see some impressions of it before really deciding whether to jump in or not.
that video of the tactical combat was brutal. hope they work on speeding that up.
There is a demo from the beta (last September). I tried it out, but gave up on it fairly quickly. The airships themselves aren't really used other than to move over a new territory to invade. I probably didn't give it a really good try, just have too many other choices at the moment....
http://www.indiedb.com/games/airship-dragoon/downloads/airship-dragoon-demo
http://gamingtrend.com/game_reviews/airship-dragoon-review-accidentally-game/
PE
Anyone still playing this one? Downloaded the demo today and kind of interesting...don't know how to really play it, moving all my little men seems tedious....but interesting. I'll keep giving it a try.
Don't know how I missed this thread. Although all the reviews are slamming the game for being boring I'm still intrigued. I've put this game on my wishlist and will wait for a price drop before picking it up.
I'm enjoying it despite a few flaws. I posted these thoughts over at the Wargamer, and being too lazy to rewrite them I'll just repeat them here:
QuoteJust bought it and played around with a quick battle. Still getting a feel for it, but I am intrigued.
It is turn-based. You issue orders to your guys one at a time using action points that can be used for movement, firing or reserved for reaction. You can skip bewteen guys, so you can move one a bit, then move another, then move the first guy again - so it does have a squad-like feel. When your action points are exhausted (or reserved for reaction fire), your end your turn and the bad guys move.
Graphics are OK, but the bad guys are often little more than dots in the distance. You locate them as much by tracking their fire at you as by actually spotting them. You don't really aim; you are given a list of targets your guy can see and are within weapon range, then use action points to fire. I assume weapon choice and distance matter and more experienced guys are better shots. It doesn't appear that you can do much to influence the hit chances except work together, get closer, have the right weapon and stay alive to get better - a pretty reasonable combination overall.
There probably is more to it that will become apparent as I get into it, and I haven't tried the campaigns.
In an odd way it sort of reminds me of the old top-down perspective game 101: The Airborne Invasion of Normandy, in that you outfit your troops down the last bullet. Weapon loadouts matter; my guys were getting shot before they even saw the bad guys because their weapons were outranged. The perspective here is different - third-person - but you do have to think about how your squad is equipped and who has what weapon.
It also has a nice steampunk feel to it. It's different and fun so far.
Here's a couple more posts after seeing James Allen's review:
QuoteHaving now played a bit more, I'd say James' review is spot on.
A small 5-on-5 battle can be a lot of fun. Lots of sneaking around trying to outflank the bad guys. And the AI is pretty good; I've lost about half the time on Medium settings.
I do have a couple of gripes. First, even a small battle can take a half hour or so. Without an autoresolve feature, I can't even imagine playing the campaigns. I started one, but when the first battle I encountered was 15-on-15, I didn't have the heart to play it out. Which is a shame, because the game seems to have some nice squad management features - promotions between battles, etc - that come into play only in the campaign. I wish they'd add either an autoresolve feature or a setting to set the size of campaign battles. As it is, I'm not sure I'll ever play the campaign.
Also, a mini-map would be nice in the battles. It's often hard to orient yourself as to where each of your guys is located. I actually got better at figuring it out using terrain features, so it's really not a huge deal. But did take some getting used to.
Even with those issues, I have enjoyed it. The battles are really quite unique and a good way to get in a bit of gaming in a half hour or so.
QuoteI think I like the battles a bit more than you did. The slow pace doesn't really bother me; I'm a guy who plays FarCry crawling through the weeds the whole time.
The map size creates lots of great tactical opportunities. The fact that you don't start right on top of the bad guys means you can set up good defensive positions or flanking attacks. And there's a lot of "flush the target with my machine gunner, then kill him with my sniper" opportunities. Just finding the enemy is part of the fun, at least given my style of play.
And I've found the AI to be pretty good, even on the default setting. The AI does a really good job of using the terrain; they don't just charge over the nearest hill. I've had my guys picked off by flanking attacks. And the maps are big enough that the AI moves don't seem repetitive or scripted (as least not yet).
Finally, you mentioned weapon accuracy - it does depend a lot on the skill and experience of the shooter. None of the troops is Sgt. York - which is good IMO - but skill and experience, as well as whether the unit is moving or stationary, make a difference in a way that makes sense. I haven't seen outcomes that seem implausible - AI shooting through hills or having infalible eye sight, for example.
The battles have really grown on me as I play more. Still, I can't imagine playing a huge 20-on-20 campaign affair.
^There are some points brought up in those discussions which I share, hence my intrigue with this game. It would make sense that your men will not hit much at range if they are not experienced. However as they survive and gain more experience I bet the battles flow just a bit faster because they will be hitting more often than not.
That video of James Allen tells a lot. Why did he waste so much ammo firing his weapons at their extreme ranges? I bet if he didn't reserve ap for shooting and instead moved his men their max amount each turn he could have closed the distance to the enemy and got better hit ratios.
The only scary thing about this game is the length of time needed to play out a battle. I wonder if you can save the game during a fight?
Quote from: W8taminute on January 26, 2014, 05:39:26 PM
^There are some points brought up in those discussions which I share, hence my intrigue with this game. It would make sense that your men will not hit much at range if they are not experienced. However as they survive and gain more experience I bet the battles flow just a bit faster because they will be hitting more often than not.
That video of James Allen tells a lot. Why did he waste so much ammo firing his weapons at their extreme ranges? I bet if he didn't reserve ap for shooting and instead moved his men their max amount each turn he could have closed the distance to the enemy and got better hit ratios.
The only scary thing about this game is the length of time needed to play out a battle. I wonder if you can save the game during a fight?
I'm going to dive in and try a campaign. I think maybe the larger battles will go faster simply because there are more guys shooting at each other.
Experience, etc definitely makes a difference. If you look at the trooper stats in the recruitment screen, you'll see that each "character" has a rating on things like experience, stamina, morale and reactions. There's actually a lot more going on in this game than initially meets the eye.
And after playing a few battles and watching James' review again, I see that he basically played his first battle the way I did mine - charge ahead and shoot the first thing I saw. After playing a bit more, I now use cover and limit reaction fire to wait for a good shot. The battles are lot more fun - and challenging - once you know how the system works.
And, yes, you can save during battles.
Also, there is a demo here: http://www.yorkshirerifles.com/webpages/games.html#demo
That's good to hear you can save during battles.
I noticed that there are quite a few different stats for your men as well. That's always a good thing. So on the main map is it just a matter of flying around to various locations and initiating battle to conquer territory? Is there an economy you can run and buildings to build etc.?
Not sure yet about the economic game. The campaign does track population, food and resources, though I'm not quite sure yet if you make anything apart from capturing new territory. I think as you conquer territory, you gain in each area depending on the nature of the land you gain (urban, temperate, etc). I know you can build garrisons to protect your conquests.
But the campaign is essentially about conquest. Your troopers gain experience with each fight.
I just bought this. Will probably do a short AAR or just post some screens after learning the ropes. Damn too many campaigns started in different games at the same time. Talk about ADHD
I think there is a new update out next week that will deal with a few annoying bugs, and improve the UI a lot.
And there's an environment mod in the works.
http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.sg/2014/06/airship-dragoon-mod-preview-and-summer.html
They got Greenlit as well.
game has been updated to 1.4.8 and a realism terrain mod released.
http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/airship-dragoon-v148-and-realism-mod.html
Airship Dragoon has been updated to version 1.4.8.
There has been a variety of changes and additions including some based on player feedback (maximum 16 veterans is raised to 30 veterans, autosave option, reload hotkey). Many thanks to Vincent for sending my his save files so I could replicate issues. The "Realism Mod Total Conversion" is also out for those who "like all the pixels".
Here is the post on my development blog.
http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/airship-dragoon-v148-and-realism-mod.html (http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/airship-dragoon-v148-and-realism-mod.html)
The new versions should have been pushed through and should now be available for direct sales, Gamersgate and IndieGameStand including the bonus files and Realism Mod (look under patches on Gamersgate). Desura takes a week longer as they reconfigure it for their wrapper.
[edit] wow I type slow ;)
Thanks for the news guys! I'll have to update my copy and give her a go. O0
Don't know if he checks this thread, here's some feedback.
I only play the battles.
Better mini map...this one needs some work.
more map control options, size especially. I play 5 vs 5 too much searching around for enemies.
a map preview before starting to play.
Being able to select which guy to move by clicking on the man on the screen.
My number 1 would be having the ability to change movement stances during the phase i.e. charging to cover, switching to the crouch and sneaking along instead of being stuck with one movement mode for the turn.
The new graphics are a big improvement, thx for that. I don't remember if you mentioned multiplayer but this would be fun 1vs1,2vs2, 3vs3 once it hits steam.
another thing or a question rather, are there different injury types? if you dont get to a critically wounded buddy in one turn he dies is their different time frames for other wounds? are you ever able to fix them up so they can continue to fight or do they always get choppered out?
Thanks again for the update.
was playing an urban map.How the ability to go over or climb certain walls at an AP cost. Always having to use the openings even if their really small walls...sucks ;)
Airship Dragoon coming to Steam. 10am PST/7pm GMT 26th August 2014
Existing users get a Steam Key for free.
Quote from: jomni on August 25, 2014, 06:27:42 PM
Airship Dragoon coming to Steam. 10am PST/7pm GMT 26th August 2014
Existing users get a Steam Key for free.
Any idea on the price?
I was in touch with Steve last night. He's mainly been busy integrating Steam, but has also just finished a new update v1.5 - mostly some minor changes, but some cool new tracers. :)
Airship Dragoon version 1.5 changelog (save game files should be safe)
Fixed issue with next page of veterans button not displaying after a battle and recruitment has made veteran number greater than first page can hold.
Added awesome cool groovy ribbon effects for tracer and projectiles.
Added shader materials for said ribbons effects.
Changed redone standard projectiles so they look better with the new ribbons.
Added performance option to shader quality so that ribbons are disabled on low and very low settings.
Added virtualization for fleeing enemy troops who are far from the player's forces to speed up panic phase.
Changed tweaked enemy Ai thought process slightly when wanting to virtualizing movement.
Added pdf file of instructions that were previously only available in the game.
Added icons for achievements which are similar to the steam/valve build.
Fixed issue with name buttons not displaying for first recruits in campaign modes.
Added a warning and easy abort back to main menu if loaded save game can't find art assets because a mod has been uninstalled.
Changed tweaked a few variables here and there.
Check out the dev blog http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/
v1.5 will be going off to Gamersgate soon, but he's been really busy getting the Steam stuff ready for its release today.
Quote from: DennisS on August 25, 2014, 09:06:37 PM
Quote from: jomni on August 25, 2014, 06:27:42 PM
Airship Dragoon coming to Steam. 10am PST/7pm GMT 26th August 2014
Existing users get a Steam Key for free.
Any idea on the price?
Well the page is not up yet.
Turned in my key to Steam and, unsurprisingly, it told me, "hey, dummy, the game's not available yet."
I will say that I bought the game on one of the programmer's sales and didn't pay awfully much for it. Certainly value-for-dollar I thought.
I shudder to think how much it will be on one of Steam's infamous sales.
Jim
One day I'll remember a password ... or at least remember which piece of paper I wrote it down on ... (something about officers and maps) ???
As Boggit mentioned below there is a new v1.5 version of Airship Dragoon. It's also on Steam and any previous owner should be able to retrieve a Steam key from wherever they bought it.
There's also an updated RealismMod for those of you using it. This too is available everywhere it previously was ... or you can get it here:
http://www.yorkshirerifles.com/downloads/airship_dragoon_v1_5_realism_mod_total_conversion.zip (http://www.yorkshirerifles.com/downloads/airship_dragoon_v1_5_realism_mod_total_conversion.zip)
No huge changes to this, it's just that v1.5 uses a new and fancier specular shader that made the old textures look like they were made of mylar. Not good for leaves. ;)
This does seem to work fine in the Steam version too.
Grog on!
Mildly interesting and vaguely military related anecdote:
I was drinking with some soldiers who were at our local darts night and I mentioned that I was ex-Queens Uniform and the year of my intake. Their sergeant said that was the same year he was born ... I guess I'm now confirmed for Old Fart ... :o
I got this on groupee I think and then chose the Desura option. Is there a way for me to get a steam key?
Yeah, Steam key should be on your Groupees page now if you log in. O0
Jarhead -- I also picked this up in the Groupee bundle. I checked this morning and I now have a Steam key alongside my Desura key.
^Ninja'd by Steve. What he said.
If only I can find my stupid Groupee login information. This is the only game I have ever bought from that site.
As you were. I think I got it.
I uninstalled the game and reinstalled on steam, so I have too reinstall the realism mod?...right.
Would have been nice if Realism Mod was in the Workshop.
or included in the steam install. I got it installed just fine, basically just like the non steam version.
What does the realism mod do?
Better graphics.. total conversion... I believe. I would post some pics...but at work.
I've been tempted to get this for some time. The developer boasts that battles take 30 minutes or more. Can you save during one?
Quote from: tgb on August 28, 2014, 08:54:07 AM
I've been tempted to get this for some time. The developer boasts that battles take 30 minutes or more. Can you save during one?
Yes.
Takes me 30 to 40 minutes on a 5 vs 5 small battle.
Though not for the faint of heart, this is shaping up to be a terrific game.
I confess to being no lover of Steampunk, so I am compelled to imagine my fellows to be soldiers of the Empire.
Now to win the lottery and compel the developer with cash blandishments to create an electronic version of "The Sword and the Flame". Then we'd have something.
Yes, the total conversion is well worth the trouble for the graphics alone.
Best,
Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)
Quote from: Cyrano on August 28, 2014, 09:35:22 AM
Though not for the faint of heart, this is shaping up to be a terrific game.
I confess to being no lover of Steampunk, so I am compelled to imagine my fellows to be soldiers of the Empire.
Now to win the lottery and compel the developer with cash blandishments to create an electronic version of "The Sword and the Flame". Then we'd have something.
Yes, the total conversion is well worth the trouble for the graphics alone.
Best,
Jim
"Cyrano"
:/7)
Like you, I can't say I was much into Steampunk before I got this game, but it grows on you. :)
My own campaign is with the Russian People's Collective, and it's a blast, if time consuming, which limits how much I play it. Sauron has been playing his Austro-Hungarian campaign for a while now. He's quite an expert compared to me, but I've seen lots of screenshots of his guys being wiped out, so it says something for the AI.
I revel in the Schadenfreude! Muahahahaha! ;D O0
From my limited time of play, my best tip is to not leave your troops in the open after your turn.
Hiding behind cover during the enemy turn is more effective than leaving action points for opportunity fire.
Quote from: jomni on August 28, 2014, 05:15:22 PM
From my limited time of play, my best tip is to not leave your troops in the open after your turn.
Hiding behind cover during the enemy turn is more effective than leaving action points for opportunity fire.
Here's a question. I saw one video where one dragoon was about 200m out from his target, with a 61% chance to hit. Does this hit percentage go up as you get closer, or is it fixed, based on weapon type, and training of the dragoon?
The reason I ask is that it appeared that there sure were a lot of VERY long range kills going on..easily in the several hundred meter range over open sights, and no optics. This just ain't gonna happen, in real life.
Quote from: DennisS on August 28, 2014, 10:10:28 PM
Quote from: jomni on August 28, 2014, 05:15:22 PM
From my limited time of play, my best tip is to not leave your troops in the open after your turn.
Hiding behind cover during the enemy turn is more effective than leaving action points for opportunity fire.
Here's a question. I saw one video where one dragoon was about 200m out from his target, with a 61% chance to hit. Does this hit percentage go up as you get closer, or is it fixed, based on weapon type, and training of the dragoon?
The reason I ask is that it appeared that there sure were a lot of VERY long range kills going on..easily in the several hundred meter range over open sights, and no optics. This just ain't gonna happen, in real life.
Odds increase as you close the range.
Yep. Odds increase in close range like in other tactical games.
The observaton is correct. Long range fighting is brutal. Thats why I recommend saving enough action points to hide at the end of your turn. Not sure about realism. This is a fantasy game so I don't mind.
Just to point out, Airship Dragoon has been updated to version 1.5.2.
Full details including the changelog are here: http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/airship-dragoon-updated-and-on-direct.html (http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/airship-dragoon-updated-and-on-direct.html)
There's also a patch out for 1.4.8 or later (http://www.yorkshirerifles.com/webpages/store.html) (scroll down)
If you're using the Realism_Mod, it's also had an update and the new version is required to work with v1.5.2. It is now activated in game via Options->Mods. See patch link above.
If you're using Steam it should auto-update (and Realism_Mod is included here for ease of use). Desura will also autoupdate but might take a day or two to go live. Everywhere else should have the new version for download.
Once more unto the breach!
Oh, and someone did a rather amusing Machinima of it. Worth a chuckle or two. ;D
Great news Steve. :) I'll get my update in a jiffy. Will it affect my current campaign?
BTW I loved the video, particularly the guy at 1:16 with the radio controlled watering can! :2funny:
coolio! - :)
Boggit, I am glad to announce that campaigns are always safe!
Wouldn't want to knacker up anyones 200 hour gaming session - least of all my own! ;)
Website back up for links now. Looks like half of Red China wanted to update their pirated copies and ate all my months bandwidth. ;)
Airship Dragoon has had another update to version 1.6.
Info and links to patch available from:
http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/airship-dragoon-v16-update.html (http://yorkshirerifles.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/airship-dragoon-v16-update.html)
Changelog:
http://www.yorkshirerifles.com/downloads/changelog_update_v1_6.txt (http://www.yorkshirerifles.com/downloads/changelog_update_v1_6.txt)
Looks really good Steve. I'll have to check out the new update. I really enjoyed the last update and this one sounds just as good.