Development Diary #1: Variants & Reskins, Infantry Overhaul, the Tapani Sector
Read on for news of the Tapani Sector, an exciting new infantry overhaul, unit reskins and variants, hex editing and the completion of aerial combat. Plus much more!
Welcome to a new feature for Age Of Legends: The Essential Guide. These posts will be long-form updates on the mod, giving much more detail than is available on Discord.
Read on for news of the Tapani Sector, the infantry overhaul, new ships, hex editing and the completion of aerial combat
Infantry Overhaul
As subscribers will know, the focus of the next release (v1.33) is on a total overhaul of every aspect of ground combat. The most striking addition is the introduction of aerial combat with ground fighters, bombers, gunships and airspeeders for every faction. That is now complete, and I’ve moved on to the infantry rework.
In the mod currently infantry can capture command points and… that’s basically it. Infantry battles end within seconds, with most of the combatants mown-down in an incomprehensible mess of blaster fire. That’s going to change. Infantry and going to become essential, and fun. They are also going to be divided into specific role with unique functions:
Light Infantry – fast, lightly armoured, low-range, can sprint, fires from fixed position. Trained to rush in and capture landing zones or strategic positions and hold them while heavier units move up.
Line Infantry – basic infantry, standard armour, medium-range, can take cover, fires from fixed position. Designed to hold positions and support armour.
Assault Infantry – quite fast, well-armoured, can fire while moving. Designed to storm enemy positions.
Mercenary Infantry – poorly equipped, fast, can fire while moving. Hired muscle designed to perform all infantry roles on the cheap without risking more precious units.
E-Web – as now, fixed-position firing with devastating effect against infantry.
Snipers – long-range, slow firing, will be able to conceal their position. Will be accompanied by Spotters who have long FOW reveal.
Sharpshooters – less-range than Snipers, but faster rate of fire. Offers valuable fire support to other infantry types.
Special Forces – will vary by faction, but Special Forces will includes Special Forces Squads of heavily-armed infantry, and also Operatives, who can plant bombs, steal vehicles, and deploy small forward landing zones.
Engineers/Techs – fixes vehicles and droids.
Combat Engineers/Sappers – deploys mines, drops special build pads and turrets, deploys fighting positions.
Medics – heals (organic) infantry.
Melee – devastating close-range fighters.
Those are the main categories, but there will be some other miscellaneous infantry types too. Lots of ‘under the bonnet’ work is going on to balanced the stats of existing units and reorganise them. But excitingly it means many new infantry units will be coming to the game, from New Republic Fleet Troopers to Mon Calamari Assault Marines, Imperial Scout Infantry to beefed-up Storm Commandos.
Every single infantry units will be changed, re-balanced and made useful (if used for its assigned role). With so many different unit types, each battle will be different.
Between the introduction of aerial combat and the infantry overhaul – to say nothing else of what’s coming – every single faction will be gaining many new units in v1.33. Let me say that again: every single faction.
New Unit Skins: Hex Editing
I’ve managed to start re-texturing unit variants, allowing for a huge amount of variety. My ultimate plan is for the major capital ships of each warlord faction to have their own unique markings and insignia so that you can tell a Pentastar Munificent from a Black Sun one, or a Zsinj ISD from an Imperial ISD.
From the humble T-16 Skyhopper of the Hutt Cartel to the mighty Bellator-class seen fielded by the New Republic, these reskins are adding a lot of colour to battlefronts across the Galaxy.
The Tapani Sector
Modder Sly442 has released an amazing new ship pack with vessels from the Tapani Sector. This fan favourite part of the Star Wars Galaxy will be added to Age of Legends in due course, as I move the mod towards the full Total War-style experience I have planned. You can download the ships here.
While v1.33 won’t be adding new factions, it is laying the ground work for a massive expansion of the existing playable factions. One early step has been the addition of dedicated Hapan infantry (credit to Alliance mod). I’m often asked what factions I plan to add, so I’m happy to publish here my indicative list…
A huge amount of effort goes into each release, and there are usually two major updates a year (along with hotfixes). If you’d like to support me, become a paid subscriber for just $5 a month. Thank you for your support!