HydroRacers 1.6
Author: Stratactic Studios
HydroRacers is all about fast paced action on the water! There are two teams Axis (red) vs Allied (blue). Your objective is based on the map you are playing on and can be either standard Conquest Mode or enemy platform destruction.
Release Notes
=============
Changes in 1.6
--------------
1) Lots of NEW stuff!
******* Map changes:
The maps have been altered to allow for underwater (sub vs. sub) combat. Without going into a lot of detail, the developers of the BF1942 engine (DICE) didn't really seem to have had this type of thing in mind, as the engine does its best to NOT render anything more than 9 meters or so underwater. To overcome this and ensure that all underwater areas are rendered, there must be a high density of underwater spots on a map that are 9 meters or less below the surface - so depths of more than 9 meters are achieved by use of canyons or stalagmites.
In the interests of keeping the download size for HydroRacers as small as possible, we have 'recycled' and otherwise re-used the terrain textures of the 'stock' BF1942 maps so as to avoid shipping new map textures with the HydroRacers distribution. In some cases, the result has been to restrict the playable area on some maps (GuadalCanal) or assign one map's textures to another (Coral Sea and others). Also, there may be some underwater areas where the default detail texture is the only texture applied. If we had generated custom textures for the ocean bottoms, the download size of our mod would have been in the hundreds of megabytes - something we wanted to avoid. The result, though, is that some of the textures might look a little out of place - we hope you'll go with the flow, and have fun anyway!
In addition to the 5 maps shipped with HydroRacers 1.0, HR 1.5 also includes Aberdeen (hydrated ;-) and the Battle of Britain.
******* Mini-submarines:
These subs have been altered to allow for first and third-person underwater views, allowing underwater sub vs. sub combat. The subs are equipped with null-grav torpedoes and guided ICBMs.
The null-grav torpedoes are very useful in sub vs. sub combat, and in the hands of an expert can even be used against targets above water. Unlike 'normal' torpedoes, they will travel in a straight line rather than floating just below the surface - and their engines are capable of propelling them both in and out of the water. They have the same explosive force as a 'normal' torpedo. Note: when firing torpedoes, there is some 'parallax' effect due to the difference between the line-of-sight of the periscope and the line-of-flight of the torpedoes - learning to adjust for this at different ranges can take some practice.
ICBMs have a devastating effect on exposed targets such as infantry or boats on the surface. However, subs are vulnerable while engaging with ICBMs - this is because sub control transfers to the ICBM during its flight (at which point the sub will bob to the surface if it was in shallow water when the ICBM was launched). It is advisable to fire ICBMs while your sub is 'lying doggo' in deep water, or in the company of allies who can watch your back. If you see an ICBM headed your way, it should be possible to shoot it down with an AA gun, or even the Engineer's Bazooka (the Bazooka projectiles have a proximity fuze) - if you're lucky. ICBMs can be used against enemy subs, but only down to a limited depth - subs in deep water will not be affected by an ICBM strike.
Piloting of both submarines and ICBMs benefits greatly from the use of a joystick - especially one with throttle and rudder controls. When the joystick is properly configured, piloting a sub underwater feels very much like flying.
The dual floating depthcharges on the Type 3 HydroRacer (Burninator Class) are effective against submarines down to a depth of 10 meters or so - beyond that depth they have little or no effect.
******* PT Boats:
PT Boats became available with BF1942 1.5, so we incorporated them into HydroRacers - with some changes.
The pilot's primary weapon is still the torpedo. His secondary weapon is new - an anti-submarine weapon called the 'HedgeMouse'. The HedgeMouse fires a barrage pattern of 12 anti-submarine depth charges, which explode at varying depths. The HedgeMouse is very effective against any submarine caught within its spread, but in the interest of game balance it has no splash effect against any other vehicle type. However, a _direct_ hit by a HedgeMouse projectile will cause some minor damage to any vehicle type, or more serious injury to a player.
The machinegun on the PT boat has been enhanced with a higher rate-of-fire and velocity, making it more useful against fast-moving HydroRacers.
An additional player position rounds out the PT boat enhancements with a new primary weapon, the rapid-fire rocket cannon. The rockets have a proximity fuze (useful against ICBMs) and are effective against infantry, boats and land-based targets (DefGuns and RadarTowers). The secondary weapon is the large floating sea mine - but be careful not to release seamines unless the PT boat is moving forward, otherwise the mine's proximity fuze will cause the mine to detonate prematurely.
******* AA guns:
The rate of fire has been increased to make the AA guns more effective against PT Boats and ICBMs.
******* Machine guns:
The rate of fire has been increased to make the machine guns in guard towers and other stationary emplacements more effective against HydroRacers, PT Boats and ICBMs.
2) Support for single player has been dropped. We only had one single player map (Midway) and the AI was pretty bad (well, nonexistant really) - but the BF1942 patch completely broke HR single player, and rather than fix it (which would have likely taken a complete AI rewrite on our part) we decided to drop single player and concentrate on multi-player enhancements.
3) We removed the 'rampfests' (the circular groupings of floating ramps), as their collision meshes interfered with those of submarines with very strange results. Also, they were ugly when seen from under water - so they went.
4) HydroRacers 1.6 is compatible with the BF1942 1.6 patch.
=============
Changes in 1.6
--------------
1) Lots of NEW stuff!
******* Map changes:
The maps have been altered to allow for underwater (sub vs. sub) combat. Without going into a lot of detail, the developers of the BF1942 engine (DICE) didn't really seem to have had this type of thing in mind, as the engine does its best to NOT render anything more than 9 meters or so underwater. To overcome this and ensure that all underwater areas are rendered, there must be a high density of underwater spots on a map that are 9 meters or less below the surface - so depths of more than 9 meters are achieved by use of canyons or stalagmites.
In the interests of keeping the download size for HydroRacers as small as possible, we have 'recycled' and otherwise re-used the terrain textures of the 'stock' BF1942 maps so as to avoid shipping new map textures with the HydroRacers distribution. In some cases, the result has been to restrict the playable area on some maps (GuadalCanal) or assign one map's textures to another (Coral Sea and others). Also, there may be some underwater areas where the default detail texture is the only texture applied. If we had generated custom textures for the ocean bottoms, the download size of our mod would have been in the hundreds of megabytes - something we wanted to avoid. The result, though, is that some of the textures might look a little out of place - we hope you'll go with the flow, and have fun anyway!
In addition to the 5 maps shipped with HydroRacers 1.0, HR 1.5 also includes Aberdeen (hydrated ;-) and the Battle of Britain.
******* Mini-submarines:
These subs have been altered to allow for first and third-person underwater views, allowing underwater sub vs. sub combat. The subs are equipped with null-grav torpedoes and guided ICBMs.
The null-grav torpedoes are very useful in sub vs. sub combat, and in the hands of an expert can even be used against targets above water. Unlike 'normal' torpedoes, they will travel in a straight line rather than floating just below the surface - and their engines are capable of propelling them both in and out of the water. They have the same explosive force as a 'normal' torpedo. Note: when firing torpedoes, there is some 'parallax' effect due to the difference between the line-of-sight of the periscope and the line-of-flight of the torpedoes - learning to adjust for this at different ranges can take some practice.
ICBMs have a devastating effect on exposed targets such as infantry or boats on the surface. However, subs are vulnerable while engaging with ICBMs - this is because sub control transfers to the ICBM during its flight (at which point the sub will bob to the surface if it was in shallow water when the ICBM was launched). It is advisable to fire ICBMs while your sub is 'lying doggo' in deep water, or in the company of allies who can watch your back. If you see an ICBM headed your way, it should be possible to shoot it down with an AA gun, or even the Engineer's Bazooka (the Bazooka projectiles have a proximity fuze) - if you're lucky. ICBMs can be used against enemy subs, but only down to a limited depth - subs in deep water will not be affected by an ICBM strike.
Piloting of both submarines and ICBMs benefits greatly from the use of a joystick - especially one with throttle and rudder controls. When the joystick is properly configured, piloting a sub underwater feels very much like flying.
The dual floating depthcharges on the Type 3 HydroRacer (Burninator Class) are effective against submarines down to a depth of 10 meters or so - beyond that depth they have little or no effect.
******* PT Boats:
PT Boats became available with BF1942 1.5, so we incorporated them into HydroRacers - with some changes.
The pilot's primary weapon is still the torpedo. His secondary weapon is new - an anti-submarine weapon called the 'HedgeMouse'. The HedgeMouse fires a barrage pattern of 12 anti-submarine depth charges, which explode at varying depths. The HedgeMouse is very effective against any submarine caught within its spread, but in the interest of game balance it has no splash effect against any other vehicle type. However, a _direct_ hit by a HedgeMouse projectile will cause some minor damage to any vehicle type, or more serious injury to a player.
The machinegun on the PT boat has been enhanced with a higher rate-of-fire and velocity, making it more useful against fast-moving HydroRacers.
An additional player position rounds out the PT boat enhancements with a new primary weapon, the rapid-fire rocket cannon. The rockets have a proximity fuze (useful against ICBMs) and are effective against infantry, boats and land-based targets (DefGuns and RadarTowers). The secondary weapon is the large floating sea mine - but be careful not to release seamines unless the PT boat is moving forward, otherwise the mine's proximity fuze will cause the mine to detonate prematurely.
******* AA guns:
The rate of fire has been increased to make the AA guns more effective against PT Boats and ICBMs.
******* Machine guns:
The rate of fire has been increased to make the machine guns in guard towers and other stationary emplacements more effective against HydroRacers, PT Boats and ICBMs.
2) Support for single player has been dropped. We only had one single player map (Midway) and the AI was pretty bad (well, nonexistant really) - but the BF1942 patch completely broke HR single player, and rather than fix it (which would have likely taken a complete AI rewrite on our part) we decided to drop single player and concentrate on multi-player enhancements.
3) We removed the 'rampfests' (the circular groupings of floating ramps), as their collision meshes interfered with those of submarines with very strange results. Also, they were ugly when seen from under water - so they went.
4) HydroRacers 1.6 is compatible with the BF1942 1.6 patch.
| Filename: | hydroracers_1_6_0.exe |
| Size: | 23.93 MB |
| Post Date: | Feb 15, 2004 1:16pm PST |
| Last Updated: | Sep 23, 2010 7:00pm PDT |
| Downloads: | 4,258 |
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