Airship Dragoon, the niche, uber-hardcore, turn-based strategy, attrition simulator where 90% of your individually named troops are slaughtered in the first contact with the enemy, now comes with Steam™ Trading Cards.
A free internet to anyone who spots the references in some of the names, but you'll probably have to be British and over 40 ...
Static menu backgrounds have also had a bit of an overhaul to make them more visually interesting.
Over 9000 hours in MS Paint
In update news, there's been a few minor tweaks and bugfixes. The main one is a bugfix for airship movement which get stuck amongst a crowd of friendly dirigibles when attempting complicated pathfinding around them, and control would not be returned to the player (thanks to Vincent for sending me his saved game so I could verify and fix the issue). Airship Dragoon has also been updated to the latest version of Steam SDK but none of the code changes specifically impact the game.
And thanks to everyone who has left a nice review on this niche agraphobia simulator. ;)
If the phrase "niche, uber-hardcore, turn-based strategy, attrition simulator" appeals to you, please try the free demo.
Airship Dragoon v1.6 Update
Airship Dragoon update version 1.6 has been released.
The updated features a couple of bug fixes, some tweaks, and a new gameplay mode for Tactical Battles called "STREAMLINE" mode.
Start with the biggest change is the new choice of gameplay modes, "HARDCORE" and "STREAMLINE". HARDCORE is the standard style of Tactical Battle. STREAMLINE is the newly available choice with the following differences.
Carrying external ammuntion is no longer a requirement in STREAMLINE mode. During deployment this frees up a lot of weight in a trooper's inventory for other items like frags and aidkits (especially aidkits). In combat, weapon's still have an internal bullet capacity and clips/magazines must still be reloaded when empty, but there is no longer a requirement for additional ammunition in the inventory. Disposable single use items are still only useable once, so do not expect an infinite supply of rocket grenades, aidkits or flamerockets. Use the extra weight saved by not needing ammunition to stock up on these one-shot wonders.
Inventory manipulation no longer costs Action Points in STREAMLINE mode. Previously swapping weapons, dropping or picking up items, arming or disarming frags and bombs, all cost Action Points. In STREAMLINE mode this is now free. Using an item, such as an aidkit to heal or call for medivac, or reloading a weapon's clip/magazine does still cost Action Points.
During the Passive Phase of a Tactical Battle, when the opposing team is taking their turn, reactive attacks based on spotting a new target or returning fire after being unsuccessfully attacked by an opponent are no longer Class based. In HARDCORE mode each class of trooper has a specific range at which they can attack during their Passive Phase. In STREAMLINE mode this no longer applies, meaning that all troopers in range of an enemy may attack during their Passive Phase. Spotting an enemy still works the same as previously, and is dependant on the trooper's vision attribute, distance and angle, or when an enemy gives away their position by attacking.
Passive Fire in STREAMLINE mode makes ambushes much more dangerous, with everyone in sight now capable of blazing away at an enemy who comes wandering unsuspectedly over a rise in the terrain or around the corner of a building. Grouping troops close together gives a better chance of them all seeing a new enemy at the same time, though this also makes them more susceptible to explosive or machine-gun area fire. Expect a lot more returned fire when attacking a large group yourself.
Gameplay mode cannot be changed mid-battle (swapping from STREAMLINE to HARDCORE would mean no one had any ammo) but can be changed anytime during the Strategy Phase of a campaign via the Options Menu. When loading a battle from a saved game, the gameplay mode will default to the one in use in the saved file.
In other tweaks and changes which affect both gameplay modes:
Attacking targets who are in the open and clearly visible now gives a +20% bonus to accuracy. So a trooper who is crouching using CAUTIOUS tactic and can see the full length of an enemy will have a +40% bonus to accurcay (crouching +20, unobscurred target +20). Keeping your troopers partially obscurred by the lie-of-the-land and/or in cover is now more important than ever.
Players asked for a better stealth when attacking from the rear, so spotting targets is much more difficult from behind now, especially at distance. This now makes it possible to creep up directly behind enemies completely unseen, with no chance of them detecting your trooper as long as they do not come closer than 30 metres, in which case they do have a chance to hear the approaching threat. Of course once an undetected trooper starts shooting they will give away their position to everyone within sight.
AI troopers have had their basic statistics rebalanced.
In the Pangea (main) Campaign the Dastardly Pirates have had their progression rebalanced to prevent them from becoming overpowered in the late stages of the campaign.
An issue with Arid Map 2 and Arid Realism Map 2 where projectiles would not collide with rocks and boulders has been resolved.
Airship Dragoon will automatically update the next time STEAM is started.
Airship Dragoon is an uber-hardcore, turn-based, strategy game inspired by early 1990s tactical games such as X-Com/UFO series, Laser Squad and Steel Panthers, a demo is available.
Airship Dragoon Update 1.5.2
Airship Dragoon has been updated to version 1.5.2.
As per customer requests, there are now a plethora of hotkeys allowing for the camera to be controlled via the keyboard, as well as opening the inventory, opening the map/radar screen, reloading, and scrolling back and forth through troop selection. Hotkeys can also be customized and rebound. See Options->Controls in-game.
Aidkits can now be used inside the inventory by selecting the arm/reload button. No more having to equip the aidkit, exit the inventory, heal the wounded, and then go back into the inventory screen to re-equip a weapon.
Also to be found in Options is the new Mod Selector. This allows easy access to the included Environment Total Conversion Realism_Mod without having to initialize anything outside of the game. Previous methods of using the Realism_Mod are now redundant, so if you have had it enabled for play, note that you will have to re-enable it via the new Mod Selector. As the Realism_Mod is a dedicated mod, enabling or disabling it requires the game to be exited for it to load/unload the mod for the next time you play.
Additional changes since version 1.5 are as follows:
Reduced height of low walls on buildings by 20cm/8" so it's easier for crouching/cautious mode troopers to spot targets and shoot over. Walls were previously just cover/defensive for crouched troopers, now they offer more aggressive option whilst maintaining minimal exposure to incoming fire.
Very close range Ai will now opt for headshots/weakpoints over body mass centre. Player must still manually aim for the position they want to strike when up close, automated player attacks (via target range buttons, small, blue, far right side of screen) still aim for centre of target if it is visible (more chance of hitting) and head when centre is not.
Refractored passive fire opportunity to discount classes with unsuitable ranges early. No noticeable in-game change but cleaning up code is always nice.
Fixed a rare crash bug caused when a trooper is killed whilst firing a lightning gun.
Fixed "laser" beam from energy weapons extending beyond impact area. (purely aesthetic)
Tweaked how panicking troops go beserk and start shooting, should now be slightly less indiscriminately.
Rewrote the tag line on the Fairy Tale Achievement to make it clearer that it is only available in Single Battle Mode.
Added initial heat damage bonus to Atomic Death Ray when it causes a fire at a target's location.
Stopped artillery targeting recently deceased targets. (no noticeable effect in game)
For those playing with older/preSteam release campaigns, the game now checks to see if the "High Tech" (Pangea/Main Campaign) and "Full House" (Citadel/Bonus Campaign) have already had their victory conditions met. Thanks to the chap who emailed support pointing this out. Wouldn't want anyone wanting to chase Achievements and have to restart a 100+ hour campaign! ;)
On top of all of this there have been various tweaks, fixes and streamlining to code and functionality, most of which won't be noticeable during play.
RealismMod Total Conversion Now Part Of Main Game
The RealismMod Total Conversion has been directly added into the main Airship Dragoon steam build. This is a total conversion which replaces the standard abstracted aesthetic with high resolution textures, high-poly models and parallax terrain (with shader quality settings set to "High").
To make it available for play you need to add the line: loadMod("mods/realism_yorks/realismMod.cs"); to the mods/main.cs file inside your saved games folder using notepad or similar text editor. eg: \documents\AirshipDragoon_GameSave\mods\main.cs The line is actually already in there as an example but is commented out.
Things to note:
The replacement levels use their own pathfinding system, so it is advised not to mix-and-match saved battles with the standard levels. Swapping mid-campaign is fine, as long as the saved game is from the Strategy Mode (big world map thing, airships, hexes) and not Battle Mode (tactical combat).
The Realism Mod places a lot more strain on the CPU and GPU than the standard levels. Running the game with the mod enabled on an old PC or non-gaming laptop may give low fps and poor performance.
Airship Dragoon Is Live On Steam
Airship Dragoon Is Live On Steam.
IGS keys have been uploaded.
Fastspring/direct sale keys have been uploaded.
Indie Royale keys have been sent.
Groupees keys have been sent but not confirmed yet.
Previous saved games and settings are compatible with the Steam version.
Realism Mod Total Conversion has been updated and seems to work fine with the steam build.
