Monday, May 9, 2011

USS line gets massive overhaul

Due to my concerns with the state of our current ironclads I have started work on doing a massive overhaul to all the ironclads. Currently the USS line is the first to get the makeover, and below you can see how much they have improved aesthetically ...



Sculpted hulls give the ships a more smooth, streamlined shape



More detailed and historically accurate texturing


The combination of sculpted prims and the fact that vehicles can now be 32 prims regardless of passenger count means ships can have more details like anchors and vents



Not only have the ships been upgraded visually, but huge improvements have been made to the HUDs and internal scripts. Some of these improvements include...

  • Dial controls for all weapons and cameras allowing for 360° of turret and camera rotation
  • Eject button allowing crew to exit vehicle safely
  • Engines now have a simplified system of SLOW,HALF, FULL speeds reducing key presses needed to get to full speed
  • Flagpoles and other prims that obstruct firing are now phantom making it safer for ships like the USS Passaic to fire forward
  • Steam whistle added and activated by pressing UP or E
  • Ability to cut engine power by pressing DOWN or C
  • Arm/Disarm feature has been removed, ships are now armed at all times
  • Wake effect added for forward and reverse movements


All of the USS line is complete save for the USS Queen of the West, however that should not take long as that is one of the simpler ships. Once that is complete these will all go into the update server. The MSS Ugly Duckling has also received the same makeover and will be updated at the same time as well.

After the USS line will naturally come the CSS line, followed by the fictional ships. I had wanted to start on some other things like the Miniclads game but as this is our staple product it takes priority, but don't worry I will eventually finish the game as it's 80% complete.

I also want to announce that we are discontinuing our line of coastal artillery, mainly because I have not had the time to keep up with upgrading it but as well as the fact that Sidney Arctor has already finished a much improved ICS artillery. Once he actually releases them I will have more details for you regarding this, but suffice to say from what I have seen they are a giant improvement.

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