Back to Gunship! Expansion Packs
After a few years spent rummaging around in Gunship!'s bowels, it become
clear to me that many more USMC scenarios were planned for Tank Platoon! That is why I
think that the majority of the work needed for a USMC expansion pack is already done,
which if coupled with some new, unique elements, would make this a sim unlike anything
else available.
A flyable AH-1W Super Cobra would be essential, especially after it's highly visible use
in Iraq. Seahawks, updated Sea Stallions and even Osprey's would make for more unique
missions. But what would really make a splash would be two novel elements: the FireScout
UAV, and the LCAC Hovercraft.
The FireScout UAV would be very challenging to fly. The user's "cockpit" views
would be MFD views only. By making a box 3D object, with the "screens" in fact
windows with a limited view of the world, the sense of remote control can be quite
powerful. In fact, the F1 Pilot view could be set in the field in the back of a LAV-C, and
the F2 Gunner view could be set in an office in CIA HQ! It could plausibly be armed with
two Hellfires, or the laser-guided FFAR rockets now in development. If buddy-lasing were
possible, that could also be used. The F3 could be the close-up view of the gunner's MFD,
with the F4 exterior view as it is.
An operational LCAC hover craft would be another simming first. I have already
experimented with a hovercraft FM, and have a working prototype. Giving it deployable
vehicles and troops seems possible.
The demands of Littoral Warfare
| Aircraft | 3D model status as of 7/2003 | Other aspects | ||||||||
| (Link to external info) | Low | Med | High | CPIT1 | CPIT2 | FM | DM | Sound | Weps | |
|
100 | 75 | 0 (?) | 0 (?) | 0 (?) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | |
| S(C)H-60 Seahawk |  |
90 | 90 | 0 | 0 (?) | 0 (?) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| CH-53 Sea Stallion |  |
90 | 75 | 0 (?) | N/A? | N/A? | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| FireScout UCAV | 
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AV-8B Harrier |  |
100 | 100 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| V-22 Osprey |  |
0 (?) | 50 | 0 (?) | N/A? | N/A? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| UH-1N Huey |  |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 100 |
|
||||||||||
| Ships* | Low | Med | High | CPIT1 | CPIT2 | FM | DM | Sound | Weps | |
| WASP class Amphib Assault |  |
50? | 50? | 50? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | 75 |
| Burke-class Destroyer |  |
100 | 100 | N/A? | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 | 75 |
| LCAC hovercraft |  |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 0 | 40 | 100 |
|
||||||||||
* Several of the 3DZ models used in the MPS sim Fleet Defender have already been converted for testing in Gunship. (No successful carriers as yet.) New higher-detail ship skins may be needed. In lieu of a recompiled EXE, these ships can be used in the four vehicle "slots" currently used to define German armored vehicles.
Campaigns (Iraq?)
Missions
Terrain M1TP2, Iraq
http://oldsite.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/turret/m1tp2/
http://www.tanksim.com/topic2.htm
