It'd be interesting, but it doesn't leave much for new technologies I'd like to bring in as standard issue, like capship countermeasures and SSMs.
It'd be interesting, but it doesn't leave much for new technologies I'd like to bring in as standard issue, like capship countermeasures and SSMs.
Meh. Someday I'd like to play a new campaign where I don't have to learn the ins and outs of new ships and weapon types. Good ol' fashioned, FS2 era shoot em up.
I've always felt like we had too many FS1/FS2 era campaigns and not enough exploration of new territory....wut
De-emphasise missile combat. Bring in close up dogfighting with guns and dumbfires. Could make an excuse that countermeasures technology has overpowered missile technology too much to make missiles viable anymore.
De-emphasise missile combat. Bring in close up dogfighting with guns and dumbfires. Could make an excuse that countermeasures technology has overpowered missile technology too much to make missiles viable anymore.
Could do, but bear in mind that this was already 90% of FreeSpace 2 (followed by a couple missions of poke-the-bomber-with-the-Trebuchet).
Three missions and one squadron per story arc!Yeah pretty much. I'm assuming if you are going to emulate the style of the :v: campaigns that you don't intend to focus on the player character anyway (at least not beyond "Alpha 1 is brave and good at killing the enemy"), so it certainly wouldn't hurt the story any to jump around between different pilots as E said. IMO, having the central character be someone like the Admiral of the destroyer where the player squadrons are stationed is a good choice, as it gives you the opportunity to develop a character over the entire campaign without having to put words in the player avatar's mouth. Plus then you can have a big climactic mission where the player finally gets to play as the main character and shoot beams and stuff.
I wonder if I am alone/rare in thinking this, but I wouldn't mind a campaign where it could be roughly a dozen missions or something, and all of them are to fulfil a single objective. I know that's not what your driving at Battuta, but imagine 12 or so missions just to say destroy a single battle group, or secure the area around a planet. Draw it out and give it a story, make it seem like you're up against a wily enemy general, and both forces are being whittled down to the bare bones.
A realy great campaign :)I wonder if I am alone/rare in thinking this, but I wouldn't mind a campaign where it could be roughly a dozen missions or something, and all of them are to fulfil a single objective. I know that's not what your driving at Battuta, but imagine 12 or so missions just to say destroy a single battle group, or secure the area around a planet. Draw it out and give it a story, make it seem like you're up against a wily enemy general, and both forces are being whittled down to the bare bones.
Play Vassago's Dirge!
2. A "vignettes" campaign. Lots of single missions (or mini-arcs) completely separate from each other, not even necessarily by the same author, exploring a wide variety of themes and events. (I actually started this at one point, and wrote one mission, but for various reasons never released it or made more).Wow that would be cool. :yes:
That's not really hard; the first idea I mentioned had, at one point, a plan to use the standardized interface against you by dumping you in a Shivan fighter as a Shivan pilot without warning.
I actually built the mission.
1. Re-do FS1. Same story, missions updated to take advantage of new AI, physics, and mission scale possibilities.
+12. A "vignettes" campaign. Lots of single missions (or mini-arcs) completely separate from each other, not even necessarily by the same author, exploring a wide variety of themes and events. (I actually started this at one point, and wrote one mission, but for various reasons never released it or made more).Wow that would be cool. :yes:
2. A "vignettes" campaign. Lots of single missions (or mini-arcs) completely separate from each other, not even necessarily by the same author, exploring a wide variety of themes and events. (I actually started this at one point, and wrote one mission, but for various reasons never released it or made more).
1. Re-do FS1. Same story, missions updated to take advantage of new AI, physics, and mission scale possibilities.This was pretty much already done in "What If - Another Great War".
2. A "vignettes" campaign. Lots of single missions (or mini-arcs) completely separate from each other, not even necessarily by the same author, exploring a wide variety of themes and events. (I actually started this at one point, and wrote one mission, but for various reasons never released it or made more).Shrouding the Light: Origins is kind of like this.
1. Re-do FS1. Same story, missions updated to take advantage of new AI, physics, and mission scale possibilities.This was pretty much already done in "What If - Another Great War".
The climax of the first act being this CO using a high pulse ETAK signal and detonating a star (using what appears to be a constructed device by the commander based on Knossos technology).
You making a post FS2 story? But you don't have anytihng definitive yet?
Could be interesting. Heck, I'd freely pass on my story for FoW3 if it will help you. Lord knows it ain't moving.
The plotline basically starts as somewhat Apocalypse Now
You making a post FS2 story? But you don't have anytihng definitive yet?
Could be interesting. Heck, I'd freely pass on my story for FoW3 if it will help you. Lord knows it ain't moving.
Sure, I'd love to see it.
The climax of the first act being this CO using a high pulse ETAK signal and detonating a star (using what appears to be a constructed device by the commander based on Knossos technology).
It took 80 Sathanases over a period of days to cause Capella to go nova. And some ship captain builds a sun-buster????
Methinks you like sun-busting far too much. Also, it's becoming a tiresome trope in sci-fi. Everyone and their grandma can blow up suns.
I have a summary file somewhere on my PC. Will try to dig it up once the PC is back from the repair.
The climax of the first act being this CO using a high pulse ETAK signal and detonating a star (using what appears to be a constructed device by the commander based on Knossos technology).
It took 80 Sathanases over a period of days to cause Capella to go nova. And some ship captain builds a sun-buster????
Methinks you like sun-busting far too much. Also, it's becoming a tiresome trope in sci-fi. Everyone and their grandma can blow up suns.
FS is all about executing corny scifi tropes, but doing it decently.
FS is all about executing corny scifi tropes, but doing it decently.I actually...disagree with this. FS1, maybe.
Plus, there is no way of conventionally defeating the Shivans. So it's either a superweapon or giving them a Deathstar type weakness in Shivantown (one structural weak spot a fighter squad can blow up that destroys the whole superstructure).
Plus, there is no way of conventionally defeating the Shivans. So it's either a superweapon or giving them a Deathstar type weakness in Shivantown (one structural weak spot a fighter squad can blow up that destroys the whole superstructure).
You lack imagination....
Plus, there is no way of conventionally defeating the Shivans. So it's either a superweapon or giving them a Deathstar type weakness in Shivantown (one structural weak spot a fighter squad can blow up that destroys the whole superstructure).
You lack imagination....
Why destroy them at all when you can just turn them all into "Carl the Shivan Butler?" :D
Plus, there is no way of conventionally defeating the Shivans. So it's either a superweapon or giving them a Deathstar type weakness in Shivantown (one structural weak spot a fighter squad can blow up that destroys the whole superstructure).
You lack imagination....
Why destroy them at all when you can just turn them all into "Carl the Shivan Butler?" :D
I don't know about that. The Shivans don't know that they nearly broke the back of the GTVA with a single Sathanas--just that the GTVA is extremely hostile towards them, has bested everything the Shivans have sent at them with the Shivan's own technology, and that it took a Sathanas to even drive them out of Shivan space temporarily. They only manage to push into a single GTVA system over the entire course of FS2 and that system is playing host to a juggernaut of its own.
From what little information the Shivans have, the GTVA are a credible threat that could have another 80 Colossuses lying in wait somewhere. It's only natural that they'd send in a juggernaut fleet of their own in response. Given their 10,000-year-plus history, it's probably precisely why the Shivans have such a fleet in the first place.
They could crush the GTVA any time they wanted, yes. Playing cat and mouse with them, not so much.
There is no way to defeat the Shivans without a superweapon of some description, or the discovery of a super Shivan weakness, surely.
There is no way to defeat the Shivans without a superweapon of some description, or the discovery of a super Shivan weakness, surely.
I say again - you lack imagiantion. And why should a superweapon be a super-mega-bomb?
Also, defeat as in what the GTVA did in FS1 or defeat as in "utter anihilation of all and every shivan". Survival is victory. GTVA survived a shivan onslaught twice. That is a victory by any definition.
There is no way to defeat the Shivans without a superweapon of some description, or the discovery of a super Shivan weakness, surely.
I say again - you lack imagiantion. And why should a superweapon be a super-mega-bomb?
Also, defeat as in what the GTVA did in FS1 or defeat as in "utter anihilation of all and every shivan". Survival is victory. GTVA survived a shivan onslaught twice. That is a victory by any definition.
That's not fair. The talk was about a total victory, not a strategic one. Keeping the Shivans away is quite possible. In fact, that is the current situation at the end of FS2. The Shivans are blocked off. Why would we talk about something that is already so?
I don't know about that. The Shivans don't know that they nearly broke the back of the GTVA with a single Sathanas--just that the GTVA is extremely hostile towards them, has bested everything the Shivans have sent at them with the Shivan's own technology, and that it took a Sathanas to even drive them out of Shivan space temporarily. They only manage to push into a single GTVA system over the entire course of FS2 and that system is playing host to a juggernaut of its own.
From what little information the Shivans have, the GTVA are a credible threat that could have another 80 Colossuses lying in wait somewhere. It's only natural that they'd send in a juggernaut fleet of their own in response. Given their 10,000-year-plus history, it's probably precisely why the Shivans have such a fleet in the first place.
They could crush the GTVA any time they wanted, yes. Playing cat and mouse with them, not so much.
Exactly, it's like an escalation. You send a couple of cruisers, I send a destroyer. You send a few destroyers, I send a juggernaut. You send a juggernaut, I send a fleet of juggernauts. While FS1 the Shivans are very mysterious - we know virtually nothing about their motives and goals - in FS2 they aren't the aggressor. They don't act, they react.
Exactly, it's like an escalation. You send a couple of cruisers, I send a destroyer. You send a few destroyers, I send a juggernaut. You send a juggernaut, I send a fleet of juggernauts. While FS1 the Shivans are very mysterious - we know virtually nothing about their motives and goals - in FS2 they aren't the aggressor. They don't act, they react.
certainly while in the nebula I would agree that the shivs are the defender and indeed even the first sath's short run can be considered a defensive act as its actions seem more recon-en-force than an outright offensive. The point where multiple Sathanas ships make the run for Capella on the other hand is a clear offensive with the objective of securing a location of interest.
You want to know what my real dream project is? I would like to create an original freespace mod which takes place in this setting. It is a setting I have been thinking about for awahile and at one point I wanted to become a professional developer just to see the dream of making it. (we've all been there) Well this is the thread of dreams, so I will indulge:
Distance causes problems. As a civilization expands, the time it takes information and capital to reach the outer edges increases. When the planet Earth was nearing the second millennium, technology all but solved the issues caused by distance. Air travel and wireless communication brought humanity closer than ever. Progress was fast and the next level of expansion was inevitable, expansion into space.
Colonies appeared in the obvious locations: the Earth's moon, Mars, various moons around Jupiter and Saturn. Humanity stayed comfortably within the solar boundary until more advanced terraforming methods were developed and more efficient material harvesting. With the artificial mutation of plants to be able to inhabit near intolerable conditions, less dependency was on the surface of planets and more placed on large integrated networks of floating spacecraft. These floating colonies grew less and less dependent on their distance from life giving planets and the sun itself. Colonies started to separate themselves in culture, dialect and national identity. This is all before the next level of human expansion took place.
Some colonies closely studied the orbit of nearby star systems. They saw opportunities to intercept these star systems, opportunities which would only be possible between thousands or even millions of years. The nearby planets and other celestial objects, were studied for material content, and environment factors at long range. They found new resources, free of synthetic pollutants and best of all it didn't need to be shared. Eventually, some colonies felt confident enough to take the leap and begin the journey to entire new star systems. These journeys, made with future generations in mind, would take hundreds of years. Though there were tragedies, many were successful.
Those that made the journeys found themselves in the midst of a terraformed paradise. They traveled to many different star systems, mostly determined by distance
This form of expansion left the once peoples of Earth isolated: delayed radio communication, no exchange of material goods and political separation. The wall of distance caused the exchange of ideas between these societies to dwindle as they became culturally separate. Over the next thousand years, the 'root' colonies which made the initial journeys to these new star systems spawned their own unique race of humans. Each race expanded further into their own star system and beyond, continuing their slow and sure cultural divide. From this point, history splits between the root colonies...
..Many years later the discovery of subspace was made on Earth, a radical invention which allowed ships to be able to travel between star systems is mere moments. An invention which would spread culture shock and so much more throughout the human inhabited galaxy.
A few things holding me back is that the ideas I have for such a mod are big in scope, roughly the size of a single blue planet installment. Something which would communicate the setting in an entertaining way with unique gameplay features and an immersive storyline. Something which would take me at least more than a year working on it, and I have been becoming increasingly more busy as the professional world tightens its grip on me. Another thing about this setting is that it has nothing to do with freespace, which I originally wanted to make a mod for when I joined HLP and as of yet have not.
Your idea is hardly worthy of our attention without further clarification.
Act 3
At this point your faction's root colony descendents are more or less united, but the enemy remains a mystery. The enemy in my mind would take the form of robots, or some kind of mass drone fleet, something like that. They don't have to be robots though, I just thought it would be scary that way since robots don't have souls.
I'll just gloss over the patronizing part.
I don't get how the first act would work really. Are there several factions to a solar system? If not, and you're traveling from system to system at sublight speeds will you take relativity into account? You'll end up dealing with some crazy time-scales if you do, which could actually be really cool if done right like in say, Gunbuster or the Enderverse.