Capital Command News

[h3]Missiles in Capital Command hit hard and can't be dodged. When used correctly, they can have a dramatic effect. Still, they aren't the perfect weapon.[/h3]

They do have a number of significant advantages over ballistic artillery. First, the warhead on a missile doesn't need to be acceleration-proofed to withstand being shot out of a gun. This, and the usually larger size of missiles, means they are used to deliver the heaviest, most devastating payloads.



Second, since missiles are self-guided and self-propelled, they continuously correct their trajectory, making sure that they hit exactly where they were aimed. This makes them excellent at disabling particular systems on a target.

Finally, missiles are launched from tubes, and it's much easier to put a missile tube on a ship, than an artillery gun. Therefore, ships can usually launch salvos of many missiles at once, to overwhelm the target's defenses.

[h3]Almost perfect[/h3]

However, missiles also have disadvantages, which keep them from being the ultimate weapons.

First, reload speed. A ship with full missile silos can deliver a heavy strike, but afterward it will take quite a while to reload all the tubes. Ballistic artillery, even very heavy guns, reload at a much faster rate.

Second, because missiles are extremely effective, they are also ideal to defend against the enemy's missiles! The same characteristics that make them powerful offensive tools, are even more advantageous when defending. Attacking a prepared target, that has enough interceptors in reserve, means wasting a costly and potentially devastating attack.

In Capital Command, light missiles are specifically designed for point defense, with high acceleration and excellent accuracy and agility, but short range and low damage. They excel as interceptors, as well as for precision strikes against enemies at point-blank range.

In-game, the captain has the option to allow automatic point-defense launches for each silo on the ship. Interceptors can also be launched manually, allowing specific target selection and prioritization. In this mode, missiles can even be launched to intercept artillery strikes, although this will result in quick magazine depletion.

Overall, missiles are a great addition to a ship's arsenal. They are not without flaws, but when used well, they can deal heavy, accurate, concentrated damage that can cripple even the heaviest targets.

That's it for this Tactical Analysis. Next time, we'll bring out the big guns: artillery in spaaace! If you enjoyed this presentation, leave a comment and don't forget to add Capital Command to your wishlist!

Godspeed
The dev

[h3]Ships in Capital Command can fly themselves, you just have to tell them what you want. Or you can take direct control and fly like an ace. Your choice![/h3]

In space, things move differently. Without friction, ships don't slow down to a halt, unless something else is slowing them down. Engines push you ahead without any practical speed limit, but inertia is unforgiving. A careless pilot might find himself unable to stop where he intended, or through lack of experience misjudge the boost required for a particular change in trajectory.

On the other hand, in the heat of battle, a captain won't always have the time to fly his ship manually. Especially in large vessels, weapon management, damage control and situational awareness take up so much effort and concentration, that flying hands-on is just not an option.

Enter the Navigation System: you tell the ship what you want, and it takes care of the dirty work of actual flight. The different navigation settings are designed so that the whole game can be played entirely without using manual control.

To be sure, automation can never replace skillful ship handling. Well-timed maneuvers and boosts, awareness of the vehicle's capabilities and limits, as well as experience and human intuition, let a talented pilot pull off the right moves at the right time to gain the tactical advantage.

The game currently has six nav settings, including manual; more may be added in time, if either the author or the players come up with more, useful flight modes.

• Attack: probably the most important nav setting. The ship will perform flybys of the target, orienting itself so all weapons have the best firing angles.
  
  
• Rendezvous: another useful setting. The ship will approach the target and halt when it arrives.
  
  
• Evade: the opposite of Rendezvous. The ship will move away from the target as fast as possible!
  
  
• Cruise: the most flexible setting. You aim your camera in a direction, engage Cruise, and the ship will fly in that direction relative to the current target. If no target is selected, the ship will fly at cruise speed relative to the local jump velocity.
  
  
• Match Velocity: the "stop" button. If a target is selected, the ship tries to stay at that target's velocity, so it's effectively stopped relative to it. If no target is selected, the ship matches the local jump velocity, allowing it to jump away and ensuring it is stopped relative to any other ships who jump in nearby.
  
  
• And last but not least, Direct Control. This is the manual setting: captain has the conn!
  

That's it for the first Progress Report, bringing you details about new features implemented in Capital Command. The plan for next time is the reveal of the single player campaign, Capital Command's primary game mode! Don't forget to leave a comment and wishlist the game: it helps a lot!

Thanks for reading and fly safe
The dev

[h3]In Capital Command's universe, ships can "jump" between distant locations, allowing astronomical distances to be covered quickly and efficiently. But the story doesn't end there. [/h3]

Space is big. So big, in fact, that, in order to get anywhere before the crew dies from old age, ships need to move at extremely high speeds. This poses a huge practical problem, since the propellant and fuel needed to accelerate has to be carried along, making the ship heavier, which means it needs even more propellant and fuel, and so on. The result is ship designs where over 90% of the launched mass is expended during the voyage, and they still can't get very far (in astronomical terms).

In Capital Command, however, ships have a way to cheat the Rocket Equation. It's called the jump drive, and it allows them to cover vast distances at the speed of light, without actually having to accelerate and brake at all! The technical details, and the science behind them, aren't really important to ship commanders. What matters are the capabilities and limitations of jump technology, and their huge impact on the tactics and strategy of space combat.



[h3]The most important fact about jump tech, is that you can't jump if you're moving.[/h3]

Of course, in space, movement is relative. What "not moving" actually means, is that the ship must have near-zero velocity relative to nearby astronomical objects. Next to a planet, the ship must be immobile relative to the planet. Next to a star - relative to the star. For a ship in interplanetary space, the jump velocity is influenced by all nearby bodies, but heavier and nearer ones have far greater "pull" than those which are lighter and more distant. That said, distance counts far more than mass: a distant planet has less influence than a nearby asteroid. While the local star has a lot of influence anywhere in its solar system, the nearest body is usually what matters most.

[h3]The second vital fact about jump tech, is that you're not moving when you come out of jump.[/h3]

"Not moving" has the same meaning as when starting a jump. The fact is, that no matter how far the ship has jumped, after it arrives it won't be moving at all, relative to nearby astronomical objects.

[h3]Why It Matters[/h3]

The two basic facts, that you can't start a jump while moving and that you're not moving after you've jumped, mean that most battles are fought at very short range, between ships that are more or less at a standstill.

The short range is caused by the ability to jump relatively accurately, to within a few hundred kilometers of the target, usually much closer. The technology exists to build weapons that can strike at astronomical distances. However, this gives no advantage when an enemy can jump into point-blank range. This means weapons are designed to provide heavy firepower at ranges on the order of a hundred kilometers or less. This is next to nothing in outer space, but it's where most battles happen.

The other big consequence is very low velocities in combat. No ship wants to accelerate too far from the jump velocity for its local area of space, since to do so would prevent it from jumping, denying it an astronomically faster and more efficient way to move. Basically, nobody wants to accelerate from jump velocity, and jumps end exactly at jump velocity. So, ships will usually be immobile when the shooting starts. Of course, tactical maneuvers and positioning are extremely important, so ships won't be standing completely still. They just won't (usually) boost beyond a few kilometers per second.

This means that weapons can't assume they'll be impacting at astronomical speeds, so kinetic energy is unreliable at best. Instead, projectiles (both guided missiles and ballistic artillery) use warheads that detonate on impact. Even so-called "kinetic" ordnance uses speed mostly to get through point defenses, with warheads doing most of the damage to the target.

Finally, another consequence is that lasers aren't practical space weapons. At short range, their superb accuracy isn't much better than solid projectiles. Meanwhile, the cumbersome beam generators, vulnerable optics, and the enormous power requirements, all mean laser ships are much less effective in the savage, close-quarters battles that are the norm in Capital Command.

That's it for the first of (hopefully many) "First Principles" posts, where I'll be providing an in-depth look at the technology and world behind Capital Command. The next First Principles will explain in more detail the setting of the game's campaign, why you're there, what your job is and what might happen if you fail.

If you enjoyed this post, leave a comment and don't forget to add the game to your wishlist.
Thanks for reading, and good luck out there!
The dev

[h3]Ships in Capital Command don't have colorful bubbles of glowing energy that magically absorb damage. Instead, projectiles are physical objects that can be attacked and destroyed.[/h3]

When you play Capital Command, you can assume your ship will often be targeted by enemy attacks. It should therefore be a high priority to limit the impact of these attacks and prevent excessive degradation of your ship's combat capabilities and structural integrity.

Dodging, i.e. moving out of the way of incoming projectiles, can be an effective tactic in some situations. However, larger ships accelerate slowly, and in any case guided missiles cannot be dodged at all, since ships can't hope to match their acceleration and maneuverability.

Fortunately, ships in Capital Command have another, far more reliable way to protect themselves: shooting the enemy ordnance clear out of the sky! This is referred to as "Point Defense" and is one of the basic functions of shipboard weaponry.



[h3]How It Works[/h3]

If the captain has enabled point defense targeting on a secondary battery, that battery will automatically engage incoming ordnance, both guided missiles and unguided shells. Or, the captain can take control and direct battery fire manually, ensuring the right targets are prioritized.

However, nothing is perfect and point defense does have its limitations. Small projectiles cannot be reliably targeted, thus they are effectively immune to point defense. Even heavier ordnance isn't guaranteed to be hit, and even worse, might not be destroyed by the first, or even the tenth strike! Also, point defense uses up ammo at a very fast rate, and batteries can't fire during their reload cycle.

And there is another, even more significant limitation. Secondary weapons are usually mounted in casemates with limited fields of fire. If the ship is not correctly oriented, the guns cannot execute their firing solutions. Even ships with turret-mounted secondaries still have significant vulnerable angles.

It is the captain's responsibility to make sure that his point defenses can do their job. If correctly employed, they will likely intercept and neutralize a large percentage of incoming damage. To defeat a competent defense, an attacker must either overwhelm it with a large volume of fire, or use specialized ammunition such as canister/fragmentation warheads or high-velocity impactors.

That's it for the first episode of Tactical Analysis. If you enjoyed this presentation, don't forget to post a comment and add Capital Command to your wishlist! For next time, I'm planning a post on Missile Combat in Capital Command, but I'm open to any suggestions for topics of interest.

Thanks for reading, stay safe and good hunting
The dev