New In 1.0
Artillery Spotting Positions
Vehicle based artillery spotting, introduced into BG42
in 0.98, has now been expanded to cover the majority of
light tanks and also armoured cars designed for scouting.
Flamethrowing Tanks
A significant innovation for BG42 1.0 means you won’t
just be playing with fire metaphorically, you’ll be
playing with it literally. In-house work on flame effects
has allowed the creation to the Sherman Ronson, M3 Satan,
KV-8, TO-34 and Flammpanzer III flamethrowing tanks. Each
deals out lag free death and destruction from the end of
a flame projector, infantry watch out!
Remote Machine Guns
I'm sure we've all been there. You get into a tank and
man the turret machine gun only to be shot several times
from some infantry chumps lurking in a building. In BG42
1.0 the Rundumsfeuer Remote MG solves the problem. As you
can probably guess, the Rundumsfeuer Remote MG is a remote
machine gun that was fitted to several german tanks later
on in the war. While your tank is still vulnerable to AT
attack, your defensive machinegunners will be safe and sound
in the hull, controlling the top machine gun to keep those
pesky infantry at bay without endangering the life of the
gunner. The Rundumsfeuer Remote MG is only used on historically
appropriate vehicles and carefully placed on maps to retain
balance and accuracy.
Dynamic Vehicle Spawn System (DVSS)
Push forward soldier for you shall receive a reward! Another
dimension has been added to a number of maps in BG42 1.0,
push forward, capture more control points and reinforcements
will arrive in your rear assembly areas.
As usual regular spawn points abound with a Sherman here,
artillery piece there, all the normal stuff you would expect.
The DVSS comes into play as players progress through the
map capturing more control points as they go. Capture enough
points and you are rewarded with “reinforcements”
at your home and captured bases. These reinforcements can
range from stationary guns to heavy armour, aircraft or
naval craft.
We’ve spent literally hours tweaking and balancing
the DVSS so that you have a slight advantage but not enough
to overwhelm the opposing team. Which bases you capture
affects what you get. So for example a middle of the desert
outpost might not get you as many reinforcements as a factory.
Zooms & Hull Machine-Guns Applied Universally
Additional zoom and hull machine-guns, introduced since
BG42 0.90, have now been applied to the majority of vehicles
that historically had them.
Towable Artillery
The entire team is extremely pleased with another exciting
development for BG42 1.0, Towable Artillery. Towing has
been done before but was accomplished by making the towed
artillery piece a part of the towing vehicle which disappears
when “deployed”, only to have a real artillery
piece spawn within milliseconds. This was a decent system
but the rigid attachment to the back of the towing vehicle
and looked out of place. In BG42 1.0 however, the artillery
piece moves independently of the towing vehicle and reacts
to bumps, hills and ditches!
Vehicle Exhausts
The Tiger rolls over the plains during Operation Citadel,
belching black smoke as it tears the ground apart. While
we can't claim that the vehicles with exhaust smoke will
have any direct effect on gameplay, they sure do look cool.
Anti-Tank Rifles
One concept left out of the original BF1942 game was anti-tank
rifles (ATR).
In BG42 1.0, ATRs play a significant role in anti-tank warfare.
ATRs have been introduced into those maps where they saw
service in WW2. They are powerful weapons but have just
as many disadvantages as advantages so choose your class
wisely.
While ATR’s are great at defeating the light armour
of early war tanks, they are essentially ineffective against
late war tanks and heavy armour. Add in the massive recoil
and you have a weapon that isn’t as dominant as it
night be expected. However, in the right hands an ATR is
a deadly tool if one knows the proper strategy for using
it. Difficult to master, those that do learn its secrets
will be a valuable asset to their team.
Revised Navies
Naval changes in 1.0 are a quantum leap from past versions
of BG42.
Starting us off is the addition of the Japanese Taiho Aircraft
Carrier. This ship, the pride of the Imperial Japanese Navy
will grace the waters of the updated Midway map in 1.0.
In addition all the carriers in 1.0 are now be armed with
powerful 20mm cannon batteries to fend off attacking aircraft.
Destroyers have also been upgraded with Torpedo Tubes and
blaring alarms to alert the sailors of impending attack.
In addition the Hatsutsuki Japanese Destroyer has an additional
turret to bring it inline with its real-life counterpart.
Battleships have not been forgotten either. Suhren has
activated the extra turrets so that all the guns fire and
the port and starboard guns now can choose between ammo
types. Submarines also have a revamped firing system in
1.0 which among other things lets you fire rear torpedoes
for wiping out those nasty destroyers tailing you.
Double Articulated Tracksets
Custom tracksets are a trademark of BG42 and with 1.0 we
wanted to go 1 step further.
Double Articulated Tracksets are essentially tracksets whose
upper row of tracks move up and down with the wheels. This
means the rigid tracks of yesteryear are gradually being
replaced throughout the mod, just remember we've not to
all of them yet.
This is a cool feature, but of course it only applies to
tanks where the tracks run along the top of the roadwheels
rather than on return rollers. If your still confused as
to what it means, just download 1.0 and see for yourself.
New Infantry Class System
Another major reworking is complete, this time to the entire
infantry class system.
To start with BG42 1.0 will include a 6th class. This means
the new class system is essentially broken down into: Sharpshooter,
Submachine gunner, Anti-Tank, Medic, Mechanic and Rifleman.
Each class has distinct advantages and disadvantages as
you would expect.
The biggest change however is that there is now a bold
distinction between early and late war kits. Infantry weapons,
like all other types of equipment in BG42, are now also
historically related so players will see the progression
of armament throughout the war as the infantry did in WW2.
The introduction of anti-tank rifles for the early war period
is one example of this at work.
For futher information of Allies infantry
click here
and for Axis infantry click
here.
Anti-Tank Grenades
We all remember when BF1942 first came out that 3 or 4
grenades under a tank would disable the damn thing. When
BG42 came along, we gradually refined the effects so that
grenades had as much of an effect on tanks in game as they
did in real life, which is essentially no effect at all.
Of course during World War 2 all sides realised this weakness
and developed grenades for the sole purpose of destroying
tanks. BG42 1.0 has included the British and American Gammon
Bomb, Russian RPG43 and German Geballte Ladung anti-tank
grenades for your enjoyment (though in obviously limited
numbers!).
Deployable Machineguns
Another new infantry feature is deployable machine guns.
Kits for these weapons will be scattered across maps in
obvious places like bunkers so there will be need to be
searching around for them. Simply drop the portable MG and
voila, you can send streams of molten metal flying at your
adversaries from any place you see fit. Once again, the
deployable MG’s are limited to prevent over-use.
M12 155mm GMC Spade &
Dedicated M30 Ammunition Carrier
These are technically new vehicles but their significance
warrants that they be classified as features.
The M12 GMC and its companion M30 Ammo Carrier are best
used in conjunction and far away from the frontline as they
have very limited armour. The M12 Gun Motor Carriage is
the base for a 155mm gun whose shells can, and will liquify
metal on contact. The M30 is based on the M12’s chassis
and supplies the M12 with ammo.
An important feature of the M12 is its spade. Before firing
this beast, you must lower the spade (the same way you lower
the doors on the landing craft) to ensure the Motor Carriage
stays stable. Failure to do so will result in a possibly
catastrophic accident as a result of the massive recoil.
Remember both the M12 and M30 have next to no armour so
stay away from front line fighting!
Rifle Grenades
Some classes will have this little guardian attached to
the end of their rifles. The rifle grenades are very limited
in number but at the same time incredibly useful. These
weapons are best used at short to medium range as they do
not have the ballistic characteristics of bullets. They
are explosively propelled grenades and have a respectable
range. As always, there are advantages and disadvantages
to this one-shot weapon so use it wisely.
Bayonets
In 1.0 some classes will have bayonets replacing the zoom
function on their rifles. This has the advantage of giving
you a long reaching close combat weapon but cuts back on
your rifles long range capabilities. Not all classes have
bayonets so you can choose either/or.
Rotating Artillery
Added in 1.0 is the ability to slowly rotate a stationary
artillery piece around 360 degrees so you can get maximum
area coverage from the gun. This added movement to the gun
removes the problem of tanks finding your respective “blind
spots” and exploiting them. (This feature does not
apply to artillery batteries.)
Mobile Artillery
Thanks to the gentlemen over at the Battlefield 1918 mod
for donating their walking animation so that BG42 1.0 now
has mobile artillery. This is separate from Rotating Artillery
and Towable Artillery because it is two seated. The one
seat can slowly push the gun forward while the other gun
can fire though you can’t do both at the same time.
At present this feature only appears on the towed version
of the Pak40.
Air-to-Ground Anti-Tank Rockets
Another addition is the inclusion of Anti-Tank rockets
to planes like the P-38 F. AT Rockets give airmen another
tool to use against armour but they are tricky to use and
have limited ammunition so tankers have no need to worry
about getting completely obliterated in 1.0. However a distracted
tanker can mean certain death if a skilled pilot is overhead
to look to the skies!
Improved Automated Planes
In BG42 1.0 you’ll notice a marked improvement on
the Autoplanes code first implemented on Operation Mercury
several versions ago. In 1.0 and specifically on the new
Berlin Streets map, the Autoplanes now have more attitude.
With better sounding fly-bys and even turning manoeuvres,
the Autoplanes almost seem to be piloted by real life players.
Watch out below as it would seem that on Berlin Streets
the high level bombers even drop bombs!
Priest, Wespe & Zrinyi PCO Changes
No more getting into the main gun position of these self-propelled
guns only to have someone drive off with it. We have finally
combined the driver and gunner positions for ease of use.
There is still a second position for the machine gunner
of course.
Improved APC Physics
Ever get tired of rolling the APCs? Well DaCrapper has
coded a new physics layout for the APCs so that those annoying
rollovers only occur when they are supposed to.
Majority of Maps Converted for Co-operative Gameplay
Following advances in the tools available to modders and
additional input from Careybear of the Great War mod we
have been able to convert nearly all our maps for cooperative
use. Various members of the team have joined in the massive
exercise which means there is huge number of new maps now
open to off-line players!
For more information on the maps in BG42 click
here.
Vastly Improved Skins
There isn’t much to say about this one that the title
doesn’t already explain except that our skinners have
gotten their little hands on our old skins and given them
a thorough work over to great effect.
Greatly Expanded Sound Package
Richochets, explosions, collisions, muzzle loadings, gunfire,
planes, tanks, engines, ships, turrets and everything under
the sun. New sounds galore in BG42 1.0 so keep an ear out.
Old gun sounds have been beefed up to sound like heavy weaponry
not pea shooters. Those plane engine sounds have been tweaked
as not to deafen you. All in all, a real treat for the ears
in 1.0.
Yet More New Equipment
The portfolio of BG42 equipment continues to expand. New
Planes, ships, tank and more specialised vehicles all add
to the spice of the game. For further information on Allied
equipment seen by clicking
here while Axis equipment can be found by clicking
here.
Up to 0.98
Relative Muzzle Velocities
All tanks have correct relative historical muzzle velocities.
This means they fire flatter and straighter, making them
better against enemy tanks and vehicles – especially
moving targets (coax against infantry is unchanged). The
muzzle velocities used are exactly 1/3 of the real historical
values making them a significant improvement on the values
in the original game (which vary randomly between about
¼ and 1/8 of the real historical value).
Corrected Armour Protection vs Artillery
Tanks correctly take no damage from the splash of battlefield
artillery (Priest and Wespe). Damage from direct hits fired
by small calibre artillery is reduced. Damage from large
calibre artillery (ships and defguns), both splash and direct,
is unchanged.
Gun Traverse & Elevation
All tanks and self-propelled artillery have their historically
correct gun traverse and elevation limits, rather than all
being identical. Generally this increases the ability for
tanks to fire below the horizontal, and is intended to encourage
correct fire positions for tanks (e.g. reverse slopes below
crests or in folds in the ground) where previously they
had to be on flat ground or angled forward to fire downwards.
Relative Ammunition Stowage
All tanks and self-propelled artillery now have corrected
relative ammunition stowage amounts for the main gun (actually
1/3 of their historical value), rather than always holding
30 rounds. In some cases this has increased stowage, in
others it has reduced it. Although overall stowage amounts
are not significantly changed, there will be a few more
occasions when tanks run out of main gun ammunition. The
answer, of course, is to call up an APC for resupply!
Improved APC Armour Protection
APC's have been made immune to small-arms fire (e.g. BAR
and SG44), as they were built to be. Damage from artillery
splash has been reduced. Damage from heavy machineguns (e.g.
Browning MG & MG42) and direct hits from artillery remains
unchanged.
Repairing APCs
As well as the original ability to resupply ammunition
to vehicles, APC's can now repair vehicles belonging to
their own side (including tanks) by driving up close to
them. They can also repair themselves and other APC's, but
only very slowly.
Grenade Rearming Altered
Resupply rate of grenades from ammunition crates boxes
has been reduced to discourage grenade spamming.
APC Lifetime Increase
APC's have had their lifetime when unoccupied increased
to two minutes (from 45 seconds) to encourage their use
as local repair and supply points. Repair radius has also
been increased from 10 to 15 metres.
Re-planned Artillery Spawnpoints
Artillery on some maps has been repositioned to make it
more useful.
On maps where artillery pieces only spawned at a forward
base was it was captured, they have been replaced by tanks
and/or APC's. Instead, artillery has been added to the main
bases so that it can be used to help the initial advance
and to cover defensive manouvers in the field. This change
applies to Kharkov, Kursk and Bocage.
DICE Aberdeen Map Co-op Support
Support has been added for the DICE created, Operation
Aberdeen map. Most base also spawns APC's.
The Operation Aberdeen map needs to be installed from a
DICE patch for these changes to become available for use
in BG42.
Tank Placement for Teamwork
In a number of DICE's original maps many tanks of similar
type are be scattered around main bases in a haphazard fashion.
In the BG42 versions of thse maps these have been gathered
together in order to encourage players to use them in co-operation
(historically the smallest unit for tank fighting would
have been a troop - typically 3 tanks).
Light Tank Artillery Spotting
Commanders of light tanks and some armoured cars in BG42
have the opportunity to spot for artillery as a secondary
fire option. This is extremely useful for teamplay and gives
artillery commanders a wider choice of targets to indirectly
fire at from the safety of solid cover.
Flak36 ('88) Multiple Ammo Types
This anti-aircraft weapon was famous for its dual ability
to cause substantial damage to both aircraft and tanks alike.
In BG42 this option has been included to allow gunners the
choice of left click for anti-aircraft ammunition and right
click for anti-tank ammunition.
Hungarian Army
During World War 2 the Hungarian army fought alongside
their German allies and fought a series of valliant rear-guard
actions against the onslaught of the Russian counter-offensives.
The Hungarians come equipped with their Zrinyi assault gun,
Nimrod anti-aircraft/anti-tank self-propelled gun and Turan
II medium tank as well as their 43M machine gun for the
soldiers on the ground.
DICE Maps Converted to BG42
All Maps DICE have released with the original game and
in the subsequent patches have been converted for use with
BG42. Like the new maps added in the mod these have all
had the equipment on revised to match the historical fact
as closely as possible. In particular the Operation Market
Garden map has been converted to reprisent the battle between
British and German forces at the Arnhem bridge. Cooperative
support remains.
For more information on the maps in BG42 click
here.
Realplane Code
BG42 incorporates much of the RealPlane mod code built
by Psychoslaphead. The most obvious change is that fighter
aircraft now have cannons as secondary armament instead
of bombs. However the code is also aimed at improving aircraft
flying and dogfighting by bots in cooperative mode.
Redesigned Armour & Damage System
One of the most significant changes in BG42 when compared
to the original Battlefield 1942 game is the completely
rebuilt and historically accurate armour/damage modelling
system. Each vehicle now has its historically correct armour
and gun power. A full description of these changes are given
below:
There are 3 main parts to the system:
1) Armour materials (=thicknesses)
2) Projectiles
3) Damage values for a particular projectile against a
particular armour thickness
The material part of it is as follows:
MatID: Historical Armour Thickness
43: 5mm (including unarmoured vehicles - jeeps, trucks,
etc.)
44: 10mm
45: 15mm
46: 25mm
47: 35mm
48: 50mm
49: 65mm
50: 80mm
51: 100mm
52: 125mm
53: 150mm
54: 185mm (e.g. King Tiger mantlet)
Note we have 'taken over' all armour
values from 43 to 54, including those which DICE generally
never use (e.g. 48, 49). Note too, that all tanks and
armoured vehicles will always have exactly 100 hitpoints.
Softskin vehicles (e.g. jeeps & trucks) can have lower
hitpoints where it is felt appropriate. For the occasional
time we need greater thicknesses than 185mm (e.g. the
Jagdtiger, if we do one) then we will scale via hitpoints
(e.g. give the vehicle 150 hitpoints)
As you can see there has been alot of thought applied,
the results of which required modification of every single
vehicle in BG42 up until the system was introduced!
Smoke Grenade Dischargers
As a special treat for King Tiger commanders the tank can
fire smoke grenades to conceal itself by using the right-click
position 2 (the commanders turret hatch).
APC Driver Mouselook
All APC drivers now have the option of looking around the
cabin, through the side windows and inside the vehicle at
their own passengers!
Activated Hull Machine Guns
A number of tanks have had hull-mounted machineguns fitted.
These were used on a wide variety of tanks during World
War 2 for well-protected infantry suppression. Where historically
correct, the process of adding all the appropriate hull
MG's to the tanks in BG42, has begun.
Improved Tank Optics
- All tanks and anti-tank guns now have a fixed (low-power)
zoom.
- All heavy tanks have gunsights.
- The Jagdpanther tank destroyer has a high-powered (x2.5)
zoom in second, gunner's position.
BG42 & BG42 Converted Community Maps
BG42 has a wide array of new maps, both produced within
the team and by members of the community. All maps have
been designed or converted for use with BG42 and fitted
into a historical timeframe. Whereever possible each map
has vehicles and equipment appropriate to the time and events
the maps are based upon. In addition a number of the BG42
created maps have been converted for cooperative use so
off-line players can get sunk into the action!
For more information on the maps in BG42 click
here.
Updated Sounds & Skins
New sounds abound in both maps and for a number of the
vehicles. All the new vehicles have seen the attentions
of our skinners while a number of the originally introduced
models have received a refreshed coat of paint.
New, Rebuilt & Revised Equipment
BG42 includes the most comprehensive equipment available
in any Battlefield 1942 mod to date. There are new vehicles
of every description to sit alongside DICE equipment that
has been rebuilt or modified to fit with the BG42 ethos,
damage system and historical accuracy. Numerous small-arms
have also been built and are complimented by new aircraft
and naval vessels. All have been coded to slot straight
into the mod and provide the widest variety available and
give a hugely diverse range of playing styles.
For all the information on the equipment available to Allies
in BG42 click
here and to the Axis click
here.
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