Transports

[Eduardo]

Hey, the transports can be selected as a unit in space right??, I mean I have never seen in a EaW video a transport muving from a place to another, like an individual unit, and what about the republic transport?(those of episode II), if they can't land on a planet(in the game), how they undeploy units in ground???, and how you place units in a transport if they are in a planet?, you call the transport to grounds and the units enter???

[Ghostly_Substance]

Seems like you have a question to ask in the live chat

[Naja]

I wonder if you'd need seperate transports to carry ground forces, or if larger capital ships themselves could keep transports. ISDs, for example, store multitudes of heavy walkers and Lambda shuttles for ground assaults. It'd feel kinda lame to have to cart around transports along with your fleets.

[Nevets]

http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3137719&did=4

 

The "Art of War" section in this article points heavily to yes.

[Eduardo]

Hey.....can You tell me wath it says, cause the page doesn't open...

[Nevets]

THE ART OF WAR

The Imperial forces are trying to make an all-out push to take over Tatooine. The Rebels are only able to muster a few X-wing squadrons on short notice. The objective: Take out as many of those transport as possible. Afterward, with one less transport, the ground war begins. Knocking out enough transport in orbit can turn the tide below, effectively stopping an assault.

 

RED FIVE, STANDING BY (SCREEN 1)

Let's say you want to take over Tatooine. Load up transports with all the AT-ATs you can cram onboard, send along some star destroyers, and then slaughter yourself some Rebel scum. The first trick is getting there. An asteroid belt surrounds the planet, making it tough for large ships to get to it; plus, you can't see what's beyond the belt.

 

TIE fighters are nimble enough to navigate the field, but larger ships will get pelted with rocks and take some damage. On the other side, a contingent of X-wings lies in wait. Crap! These guys are good at taking down transports and capital ships at close range! Every transport that gets destroyed is one less piece of equipment for the ground war. "To keep the space battles manageable, combat is done on a 2D plane," says producer Brett Tosti. But, he assures, the engine allows ships to weave around each other, making for some incredible-looking aerial duels. And, like the asteriod belt, other interstellar phenomena will also affect combat. An ion storm, for example, could cripple a ship's shields or ability to fire lasers. Basically, think of the game as a much better done Star Trek: Armada rather than Homeworld.

 

ALLLLLMOST THERE... (SCREENS 2 & 3)

The space battle can resolve itself in a couple of ways. The Rebels could repel the attack and hold the planet, but they might still be pummeled by another wave of invaders, if the Empire breaks through, it's another story. If the Rebels stop enough troop transports, you've got to wait for reinforcements to show up. In the meantime, blockade the planet to cut off any income that it generates for the enemy.

 

Tosti gave an example of one strategy that ran through his head during the demo: "I may start a battle that I'd lose. Why? Because it's straegically advantageous for me to slow down the ground assault. In the meantime, as I keep the Empire fixated on my planet, I can sneak over and take an unprotected world."

 

STAY ON TARGET (SCREENS 4 & 5)

When the ground war begins, all the main resources that were on the transports finally come into play, and that is all you've got to rely upon for the battle—at least until you control the planet yourself. When the dust settles, you're either still holding the fort and waiting for the cavalry to arrive, or there's a new sheriff in town and you need to brace yourself for a counterattack. You see, the battle is never really over. Any surviving troops are what you're left with for upcoming battles until you get reinforcements.

 

Sure, survivors will get experience. There's also going to be a couple hero units along the way to help out. Darth Vader will be there to fight alongside you and cut a bloody swath through Rebels, but passive characters, such as Mon Mothma, are better at increasing your income.

 

and hey, i didn't notice before but does it confirm experience and mon mothma as a hero? Probably didn't notice it before because this was released when EAW was announced so it was a lot to take in...but hmmm...

[Joshinator]

Hey that's a great find. Something that may have to be asked during the live chat

[Eduardo]

Thanks a lot!

[Teradyn_pff]

Star destroyers will burn in orbit. AT-ATs will crush Rebel forces on the ground below. And it will all happen at the same time, in a persistent universe.

 

I wish they would stop saying this if it isn't true. And if it is true, how? The sequence of battle is one thing that still confuses me. If it is linear, how do reinforcements show up? If it is real time, could you drop troops on the ground before the enemy is taken out in space? And if that is possible, could you have orbital bombardments happening from both fleets on the ground?

 

Too many issues with this part of the game.

[Delphi-PG]

Transports can be selected as a unit in space right?

 

Yep, in space tactical mode they are an actual unit controlled by the player that must be protected. In galactic mode, you will simply move unit icons from one planet to another.

 

How do they undeploy units in ground?

 

When you engage in a land tactical combat situation, you will tell the units where to deploy based on reinforcement markers you've captured. Transport will then land and troops will automatically deploy. Reinforcement markers are vital too land tactical control, without them, it will be hard to gain ground and secure locations.

 

How you place units in a transport if they are in a planet?

 

From galactic mode, you simply grab your unit icons from land and move them into space. Our galactic UI is very intuitive and fun to use. Also, from the galactic UI you will be able to combine ships into fleets, allowing you to create unique offensive and defensive groups for each planet.

[Teradyn_pff]

From galactic mode, you simply grab your unit icons from land and move them into space.

 

Does this mean that we don't have to build transport ships? Or are you meaning more like a Rebellion interface where you drag the units to the fleet and they get added if there is room for them on the currently built transports?

 

When you engage in a land tactical combat situation, you will tell the units where to deploy based on reinforcement markers you've captured. Transport will then land and troops will automatically deploy.

 

Is it possible for the transports to be fired upon by enemy AA weapons? Meaning if the defending forces are moving on a reinforcement marker to retake it, would it be dangerous to drop troops there for fear of them being destroyed in transit? From the videos it seemed that the transport drop was a quick automatic thing that happened immediately without real interaction between the transport and the land map like being fired upon or firing back.

[Moriarty101]

In one of the demos I think the guy said that the transports were susceptable to ground fire and could be destroyed. It kinda makes sense aslong as the enemy has enough fire power to take out a transport. If its just a squad of troops it be nice to land the transport on them.

 

On their position that is.

[Delphi-PG]

Does this mean that we don't have to build transport ships? Or are you meaning more like a Rebellion interface where you drag the units to the fleet and they get added if there is room for them on the currently built transports?

 

More like Rebellion in the sense that you drag units into a fleet (galactic mode). So if you encounter space tactical combat, ground based units will be in transports and very vulnerable.

 

 

Is it possible for the transports to be fired upon by enemy AA weapons?

 

Yes…

 

Meaning if the defending forces are moving on a reinforcement marker to retake it, would it be dangerous to drop troops there for fear of them being destroyed in transit?

 

Yes… Also, reinforcement markers are contestable, if you don’t protect them they can be captured by the enemy. This mechanic is awesome in multiplayer as strategic locations can change hands very quickly. =)

 

 

From the videos it seemed that the transport drop was a quick automatic thing that happened immediately without real interaction between the transport and the land map like being fired upon or firing back.

 

When you select a squad from your reinforcement pool and drag them into a reinforcement location, the transport process is automatic. Units are dropped off. One last thing, units are very vulnerable during this phase; protect them well. =)

[Moriarty101]

Oh Boy...sounds like theres's going to be a few objectives to take or hold. Not just straight out and conqure.

[Gen.Vader]

i remember an issac newton quote

 

so you guys at petro are taking the point marker mechanic from DOW then?

 

always good to have new info btw....can thier be deployable AA?

 

like i could have AA nearby at the points and when they try to land i can blow them out of the sky?

 

thanks again delphi!

[Juggernaut1985]

I'm under the impression that Acclamators can land on planets since we saw it in Ep 2. In Ep 2 they also unloaded troops. Has Petroglyph taken this into account. If so, will they be able to function how we saw them in the film?

[Delphi-PG]

so you guys at petro are taking the point marker mechanic from DOW then?

 

It is more like Battlefront (if we had to compare) that anything else. With that said, it is a ton of fun and makes for some really unique ways to play multiplayer tactical games.

 

 

always good to have new info btw....can thier be deployable AA?

 

Of course! The Empire makes good use of this unit. It is also great against infantry.

 

Also, Acclamators cannot land on planets in Empire at War. Sorry, just wanted to dispel that ASAP.

[AT-AP]

That would be the AT-AA walker (we forgot that one on the list of units!)

 

Also, Acclamators cannot land on planets in Empire at War. Sorry, just wanted to dispel that ASAP.

I guess the Acclamators serve more as frigates than troop ships then? (Which some of their variants already do in other sources)

 

Speaking of designations, I saw in the Leipzig footage that ships were classified 'corvettes', 'frigates' but when highlighting star destroyers, these were called 'capital ships' . Has this been changed to 'destroyer' in the most recent development of the game?

[Nevets]

haha, I just looked up the lengths of the Rebel medium transports (since we know they can land on planets) to the Acclamators for comparison. The transport is 90m the Acc is 752m. lol damn, I had no idea there was that big of a different between the two. Be quite hard to even fit the acc on th ground, would still like to see a mod try to do it.

[Gen.Vader]

hey thanks for the answers delphi.

this might of been asked already but what aare a few animations you guys will have for transporting if you have any at all?

 

example

 

a ramp comes down on a lambada shuttle when the troops go on board, or a ATAT kneeling down for troop transport?

[Popcorn2008]

I have a quick question, can there be neutral reinforcment drop off points? Like a drop off point that hasnt been captured by either the empire or rebellion, and is available to whoever can get to it first.

 

I cant wait to get more info on the basics of the game. It sure is nice to have Delphi here to give us a few clues. lol.

[Naja]

I have a couple of questions about transports for you Delphi, if you don't mind:

 

1. I assume that AT-ATs can carry Stormtroopers. When they disembark, what animation is used to show them leaving the walker - does the walker simply kneel down and the troopers disembark, or do the Stormtroopers rapell out of the sides (sort of like how American Rangers rapell out of Chinook helicopters in C&C:Generals) of the walker, like they do in the Expanded Universe? If they do not rapell, how difficult or easy would you say it would be to mod this animation in?

 

2. About transports in space: it's been established that when you move ground units (and I assume heroes?) into fleets, they show up in transports if those same fleets meet up with an enemy in space. I assume that the game registers each transport with carrying X amount of ground units, and when that transport gets destroyed, so do those units. My question is, how easy or difficult would it be to mod space battles so that ground units register as being inside your capital ships, getting rid of transports in space battles altogether. I don't disagree with transports being in vanilla space battles as this constitutes a good strategic element of having to defend them, but call it an esthetic that I might like to see in a mod.

 

Thanks, Delphi!!

[Ghostly_Substance]

sorry dont wanna bug you people but ...........I just thought we could save all these questions for Thursday/Friday ? Askign Delphi this week could give Friday a less of a meaning? Just something I could throw your way and ponder about

[Nevets]

sorry dont wanna bug you people but ...........I just thought we could save all these questions for Thursday/Friday ? Askign Delphi this week could give Friday a less of a meaning? Just something I could throw your way and ponder about

 

Have to remember tho that everyone wont be able to make the chat, and although they can try to get their questions asked by posting in the thread, asking Delphi directly seems like a better way of getting it answered.

[Ghostly_Substance]

True but I only threw that out there just to ponder about.

 

Well I reread Darthmauls post and cant you post your questions there on thursday at anytime of the day? Maybe I read it wrong but well.....whatever doesn't really matter.

 

Well just to make sure, i've just been wondering if you can actually store units like Stormtroopers to AT-AT on the Deathstar like in Rebellion. If you cant and just have dropships outside then well ........... Lets party