The 1.6 development and testing work is well under way. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve added several new features to the mod, integrated some of my other mods into Revolution and trialed some experimental changes. I’m posting some up-to-date screenshots and clips, as well as some light explainers for some of the more advanced changes.

Ready Screen

Aimed primarily at PvP games, your carrier can now signal that you are ready for your match and other teams will see the message. You’ll also see if other carriers have launched.

PvP game starts are generally a “Gentleman’s agreement” kind of thing, this just makes coordination easier.

HD Bridge screens

In the video above you might have noticed that some text looks a little smaller. The eye-level helm screens and the RADAR screen are now “HD” (well, 320×320) resolution. For the helm this makes it a little easier to have a wider view around the carrier while still making island names readable and depth details visible at a glance

Barge Names & Info

Small QoL tweak to the logistics screen, you now get a view of the barge as a full-width bar instead of a mouse-hover tooltip. Included are at-a-glance views of the biggest cargo, number of waypoints and it’s “name”.

Manta Payloads

I (and others) really love flying the Manta, but I (and others) do not _really_ like being bombed by the Manta. Some balance tweaks are needed. They are great for air combat or killing NPC ships, but in the hands of a skilled pilot, they are essentially unstoppable as a bomber. A single player with 4-5 mantas and a stock of heavy bombs stands a very high chance of sinking a fully-crewed, alerted and prepared carrier crew. In PvP games this has started to mean that the final outcome has become heavily influenced by the starting map and how fast a team can secure a supply of Mantas and bombs/IR missiles.

So, rather than trying to elongate the “manta rush”, instead, I’ve placed some experimental (needs balance testing) limits on the Manta based on payload weights.

In the Falklands War, RN Harriers were able to fight and win against Sky Hawks and Mirages with usually only a pair of IR guided missiles and a gun. If you choose to configure for an air-combat role you’ll have more than they did. If your mission is bombing, you’ll have to make some decisions. Do you bring a defensive missile? Do you have flares instead of a gun? There are many many combinations and it feels more realistic to me.