Sea Power Black Friday Update

[h2]Black Friday Update[/h2][p]Hello from the Triassic Games team! Sea Power is now discounted as part of the Steam Black Friday Sale, running through Sunday, November 30th.[/p][p]Alongside the sale, we are launching a major update with improvements and new content. This update continues our ongoing work to refine the game's core systems, expand the game's roster of units and scenarios, and support both the mission-making and modding communities with enhancements.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Major Overhaul of Flight Deck Mechanics[/h3][p]This update includes a major rework of how Flight Decks function. This change applies to aircraft carriers, airbases, and all ships with hangars. [/p]

[p]Aircraft Prep & Servicing: All aircraft now have individual prep times before launch and cooldown/servicing times after recovery.[/p]
[p]Ground Crews & Deck Park Limits:[/p]
- [p]Flight decks now use a limited number of Ground Crews for fueling and arming; once all crews are busy, additional prep orders must wait.[/p]
- [p]Deck Park space limits how many prepped aircraft can queue for launch; once full, aircraft must launch to free space.[/p]
- [p]Prep/cooldown timers appear in the Flight Deck UI; Ground Crew and Deck Park usage are shown via gauges that fill up as space is used.[/p]
[p]Rally Points: Players can now set rally points and altitudes for aircraft launched from an airbase or carrier.[/p]
- [p]Right-click the airbase/carrier → Flight Deck > Rally Points.[/p]
- [p]Rally points can be set separately for fixed-wing, VTOL aircraft, and helicopters.[/p]
- [p]Place a rally point by selecting the aircraft type and right-clicking on the map; rally points appear when the base/carrier is selected and can be dragged to reposition.[/p]
[p]Limited Ordnance Stores: Flight Decks now track limited ammunition, especially advanced weapons like Phoenix and Harpoon missiles.[/p]
[p]Mission Editor Updates: Mission creators can now configure prepped aircraft and assign airbase/carrier ammunition stores.[/p]
[p]New Timing Options: A Flight Deck Timings setting has been added to the Options menu, allowing players to adjust simulation depth. Realistic, Casual, and Arcade modify prep and cooldown durations, while Cheat mode disables the system entirely.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Native Support for Loading of 3rd Party Models[/h3][p]Loading of 3rd party models (OBJ format) is now supported natively in-game! This greatly simplifies use of mods with custom models, as chain loader tools are no longer required.[/p][p]This change means that any Workshop mods that previously required Anchor Chain and Sea Lifter can be loaded without the manual install steps needed for these dependencies. [/p][p]We greatly appreciate the work the modding community did to enable 3rd party model loading with these tools during Early Access, and we are excited to incorporate a change that removes a barrier for the average user who wants to play with mods.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][p][/p][h3]New Units and Scenarios[/h3][p]This update includes a range of new units for various factions, including both brand new units and new liveries for existing units. Three new scenarios are also included.[/p]

[p]New units and liveries:[/p]
- [p]F-1 strike aircraft and T-2 trainer jet for Japan[/p]
- [p]SH-5 maritime patrol flying boat and HY-3 shore-based anti-ship missile for China[/p]
- [p]F-5A and F-5E Freedom Fighter (Norway, Netherlands, Greece, Philippines, South Vietnam, Turkey)[/p]
- [p]Delfin class submarines for Spain[/p]
- [p]Daphne class submarines for South Africa[/p]
- [p]Cuba liveries for MiG-17, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, MiG-28, and A-5[/p]
- [p]Pakistan livery for A-5 (fictional)[/p]
[p]New scenarios:[/p]
- [p]The Better Part of Valor (1988) - NATO[/p]
- [p]Arctic Intercept (1985) - NATO[/p]
- [p]Operation Polar Fury (1985) - Warsaw Pact[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Mission Editor Improvements[/h3][p]Continuous improvement of the Mission Editor is a high priority for our team. With each update, we are bringing new refinements to it as we work through a backlog of requested features from the community. Most of the changes in this update are to support the Flight Deck overhaul, but several requested features have been added as well:[/p]

[p]Ability to define randomized spawn area for units[/p]
[p]Controls for all new Flight Deck mechanics from within the Mission Editor[/p]
[p]Ability to pre-plan aircraft preparation, making aircraft available immediately in the mission for player and/or AI[/p]
[p]Ability to customize Flight Deck ammunition stores[/p]
[p]New trigger actions for weather changes and reactivation of triggers[/p]
[p]New waypoints for sonobuoy deployment, including "drop in line" and buoy depth[/p]
[p]Checkboxes to disable airbase AI, and new trigger action to enable or disable it (allowing mission-makers to delay AI launching aircraft)[/p]
[p]Removed unused Stores and Damage dropdowns; these will be added back once functional in the future[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Core AI Enhancements[/h3][p]This release brings together a set of AI changes that have been developed over the past few updates. Some of these improvements were introduced earlier, but all of the behaviors listed below are now included in the current build and serve as the baseline for AI performance going forward:[/p]

[p]The AI commander can now classify player ship and aircraft formations based on shared characteristics such as heading, speed, and grouping.[/p]
[p]AI airbases and carriers will automatically launch AEW&C aircraft.[/p]
[p]AI airbases will deploy and maintain CAP fighters.[/p]
[p]AI will launch interceptors when an inbound strike is detected.[/p]
[p]AI will dispatch attack aircraft with jammer support when appropriate to engage detected player land or sea units, and strike composition will vary based on the type of target identified.[/p]
[p]AI aircraft will prioritize attacks on detected targets more appropriately, and defend themselves against CAP effectively.[/p]
[p]AI submarines will make use of wake homing torpedoes more effectively by firing at closer range and targeting ship wakes.[/p]

[p]Changes to the base game AI that are in currently in progress or planned include:[/p]

[p]AI reconnaissance using available assets to search for the player.[/p]
[p]Expanding AI airstrike capability beyond bomb attacks only.[/p]
[p]Implementing a Morale based system for AI behavior and reactions.[/p]
[p]Improved anti-submarine warfare tactics when hunting player submarines.[/p]
[p]Improving AI use of munitions with proper engagement envelopes for missiles.[/p]
[p]... and much more![/p]

[p][/p][h3]Full Changelist[/h3][p]
Aircraft

Fixes
[/p]

[p] Loadout availability was not updated if there were no planes of this type ready to fly on the FlightDeck
[/p]
[p] Flight Deck: Fixed an issue where hitting Prioritise on Flight Deck would cause CTD in some cases
[/p]
[p] Flight Deck: Add a timeout to awaiting full power on takeoff to avoid blocking runway with turboprop aircraft
[/p]
[p] CAP planes attack own missiles
[/p]
[p] Planes currently on RTB become uncontrollable after loading save
[/p]
[p] Typo in EA-6B Prowler speeds in ini that made it instantly spend all fuel on Max speed setting
[/p]
[p] No pilot spawn for F-15 and F-15C
[/p]
[p] B-52 phases through ground and Turboprops accelerate wayyyyy too fast
[/p]
[p] B-52 serial visible on a damage model without the tail
[/p]
[p] Wingman could block formation RTB if sent to act independently
[/p]
[p] Additional ready helicopter on loading game save
[/p]
[p] Ka-25 had too high negative boyancy for its dipping sonar, changed to be in line with other helicopters
[/p]