[DEFUNCT] (PA – 2LW) Relief of St. Lyvan – Skipper’s Update
UPDATE 24OCT 2018: Took my first go at making proper ships in Ravenfield, and included them in this map, in the form of escort frigates and attack corvettes. Bots have their issues with using them, and – as usual – I’m not sure if I can fix those issues, but hopefully I’m off to a good start with them.
Map Type: Objective
Recommended bots: 100 (Minimum)
Recommended weapons: Project Altirus: The Second Leersog War pack or sidearms only
With the onset of autumn, Syrvania’s supply lines in Hetland are beginning to exceed their limits, thanks to the rapidly widening front and the ever-present threat of the Hettic Royal Flying Service. To keep the invasion from grinding to an attritional crawl, the port at St. Lyvan could enable the delivery of supplies by sea. The city remains in Hettic hands, but heavy bombardment to clear them out could cost Syrvania their much-needed port facilities and infrastructure. The St. Lyvan garrison has thus found itself under siege, with land and sea routes hounded by the Syrvanian Army Air Corps.
At the fortress-turned-airbase of Eirsaeg Island, Bressian aid convoy Aldevor L-17 is preparing to embark on the perilous final leg of their voyage to St. Lyvan. Each ship carries in its hold enough supplies to last the beleaguered defenders for longer than Syrvania can afford to maintain the siege. Elements of the 1st Air Hussars Squadron, joined by Chergarian pilots of the Auxiliary Aviators Group, take off to provide cover for the convoy, as the full brunt of Syrvania’s air forces bears down upon it.
This took way longer than it should’ve, mainly thanks to my computer dying after I got started, and it taking almost a month for all the parts for a new one to come in and for me to get it working. What’s more, the idea behind it seemed a lot more straightforward than it actually was. As it turns out, the bots may behave unpredictably. They may decide not to board the ships, or abandon ship shortly after boarding. They might bunch up at some point in their route and get stuck. They might leave out of order and ram each-other. Or they might work just fine – Every tester seemed to have a different experience, even after I got them to work consistently on my end. So while I wanted to add all sorts of stuff like escort and attack boats, ground targets like coastal artillery for Raven to attack with their own bombers, and more overall detail, I decided I should save that effort for future maps and content. On that note, I have another, similar map in the works which should be more reliable, and is less dependent on the A.I playing ball. If this map decides not to work for people, then that one should be a suitable substitute when it’s done. Or, if it turns out to work for people after all, maybe I will add that stuff.
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Tags: Dogfight, Bomber, Convoy, Air Battle, Naval
