Hi

Im making an aircraft game similar to rogue squadron but with strategy elements such as choosing loadout, gaining resources and buying land units to destroy the enemy's base.

Going back to base and restock on suitable weapons for the current objectives the map offers is part of the gameplay. My idea is to have damage/armour classes where heavier weapons take more space on your craft but deals full damage to a larger array of enemies.

For each class under a targets "armour class" the weapons damage would be cut in 3 or 4 making "too weak" weapons unsuitable but not worthless for any target.

Would this setup make sense?

LIGHT

Weapons: Autocannons and swarmer rockets

Targets: Infantry, trucks, jeeps, normal buildings (silos, werehouses etc).

MEDIUM

Weapons: Most rockets, missiles and bombs

Targets: Tanks, armoured vehicles, heavy turrets and emplacements

HEAVY (not so common)

Weapons: Specialized bombs and missiles

Targets: Fortified bunkers

WARSHIPS (not sure if this is needed)

Torpedoes deal full damage, otherwise counts as heavy. A bit strange maybe but nice to have a use for torpedoes...

Any other way to do this or tweak this idea?
Thanks

Erik

Noone?

it may be called hardpoints, but i want the player to have some liberty on what to load up on (part of the gameplay). So a large bomb may take the same "space" as five small rockets.

Each plane type has

1. A autocannon damage and ammo cap

2. Drop cap (bombs/torpedoes, may be zero)

3. Launcher cap (rockets/missiles, may be zero)

4. Other characteristics such as armour, speed, agility, cost etc

So (for example) some aircraft types may only drop bombs, but the player composes the loadout from within these limitations. Or switches plane, if its available for that level.

More comments?

Erik

But the general idea, does it make sense?

Hi,

General idea does make sense of course J. There is a wide range of what can be done in a game.

I suggest you should take a look at a game Crimson Skies, if you did not already. It has similar basics as Rouge Squadron (though it is set in different environment) with high focus on plane customization.

Each plane was defined by different base attributes (agility, speed, armor etc.). The most important attribute for a plane was carry capacity. Then player was able to put different engine (with or without nitro boost), armor, weaponry and color to his plane within this capacity. These customization further increase base attributes before mission, so player could adjust his plane for every specific challenge. It also helped create personal bond with the plane improving overall atmosphere.

Such customization could allow you to add diversity to your weapons as their drawback could be not only damage against specific target type but also cost, weight or alternatively ammo capacity.

Adding the possibility to buy ground units that you mentioned, would open an option for player to either dump their money to support ground (possibly air) units or his own plane.

One more thing that could be nice are Warships you mentioned. Crimson Skies for example, featured Zeppelins as game units, which were huge flying fortresses with numerous gun and rocket hard points that could be destroyed as well as several engines. After destroying its engines the whole Zeppelin went down. In more futuristic setting this approach could be used for huge Warships with additions of shield generators, sensors etc.

So there are many possibilities in this genre. In the end it depends on you how complex mechanics you want to use.