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FreeSpace Releases => Mission & Campaign Releases => Topic started by: Dilmah G on October 31, 2021, 04:42:03 am

Title: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Dilmah G on October 31, 2021, 04:42:03 am
(https://wiki.hard-light.net/images/e/e9/Neptune1.jpg)

The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut

Operation Fortune is beginning to unravel. Defections paralyse the GTVA 14th Battlegroup as the true nature of the reunion is laid bare.

Scattered reports of inter-dimensional space travel cause panic throughout the GTVA Security Council, as it now finds itself at war with the United Earth Federation.

Fly as Ensign Callum Rahman, a rookie pilot aboard the GTD Meridian, as Admiral Cyrus Severanti leads the vanguard of the GTVA in an operation to seize Neptune.

(https://fsnebula.org/static/kn_download.png) (https://fsnebula.org/mod/Tev)

Experience the first major battle of the War in Heaven through GTVA eyes for the first time. The final version of the mission first glimpsed here. (https://youtu.be/rAUQkpmp6Vo)

Original Features:

- All new intelligence data developed by the GTD Meridian's Intelligence Cell. Understand the war as a young GTVA pilot would have.

- New HUD warning and missile lock tones taken from modern fighter aircraft.

- Ability to activate HUD Radar Icons thanks to the work of Svedalrain, Lafiel, and MitoPL.

- Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATADS). Call for Trebuchet fire from GTVA heavy assault wings on UEF gunships. Inspired by real-life targeting and infra-red guidance software.

- Checkpoints! Courtesy of Admiral MS and Goober5000's script.

- Glossary of military terms. Available from Tech Room->Database->Intelligence.

Director's Cut Features:

- Full voice acting, featuring 34 different voice actors. Focus on flying your fighter through one of the biggest battles of the war as your radio blares with target calls, missile launches, and the screams of those who die trapped in their cockpits.

- Bonus content. Experience the impact of sustained combat with an additional bonus mission.

- Nameplates for all of the capital ships, thanks to Colt.

- Hull repair mechanic. Take advantage of the tireless work of the GTVA flight deck crew and land to repair your hull mid-mission. Concept thanks to Battuta.

Requirements:

- FSO Build 21.4.0.
- Blue Planet: Complete installed.

Once installed, select campaign "The Battle of Neptune" from the campaign room to play.

With thanks to Strygon, Erebus Alpha, Asteroth, and AdDur for their extensive testing of the mission through development to release; The E and Darius for their testing and creative guidance; and Ertanax for their creative input. And a special thank-you to Renegade Paladin who served as the 2IC of the project and sunk countless hours into testing, voice-acting, and acting as a sounding board for many of the concepts at odd hours of the day.
Voice Acting Credits:

James William Rees-Dobbs (Colonol Dekker) as CMDR Jakub Gryffon, Alpha 1

Jordan Scherer (https://www.youtube.com/c/BadAstra) as ENS Ava Zadzisai, Alpha 2

Steven T. (Shadaloo) as Alpha 3 and Trident Kappa 4

Renegade Paladin (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmcbIz8KIgu7IAM0BQlr62w) as CMDR Reiji Nash, Beta 2 and Speargun Delta 2

jg18 as LTJG Nathan Austin, Speargun Delta 1

Red Mage Joe (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtFYPH0L6PcazuuF5Y88Vgw) as ENS Kamil Knight, Speargun Delta 3, and Draco 3

Sararose Willey - Sararose VA on Fiverr (https://www.fiverr.com/sararoseva) as ENS Rebecca Sharma, Speargun Delta 4

jessfisher97 (https://www.fiverr.com/jessfisher97) as LT Eilene Than, Speargun Alpha 1

Zach Kirchner (DizzyKoop) as Admiral Cyrus Severanti, CO Meridian

Nicolle Zambrano (https://mobile.twitter.com/ImShadow007) as Meridian Tactical

Grady Grey as CO Nova, Enfield Epsilon 4 and Trident Gamma 1

Emma Thorne (https://www.youtube.com/c/LittleDuckGaming) as Captain Robin O'Neill, CO Nakatomi

Iain ‘Sessile_Nomad’ Baker (https://www.nomadsreviews.co.uk/) as Captain Iftikhar, CO Harpy

LoneWolf271 as CO Adelaide, Wargod 3-2

Warren Bacal as GTVA Command, Vengeance Tactical, and Vengeance Control

Lionheart as CO Theodocia

Perihelion as LCPL Xavier Barletta (GTVA Crew Chief), Omicron 4, and Skull Epsilon 1

Kevin 'stripedpolkadots' Nguyen as Enfield Zeta 1, Trident Kappa 2, Draco 1, and Meridian Control

Atzel Esquivel as Rider Alpha 2, Enfield Zeta 3, and Draco 3

Hailey Buck as Enfield Delta 1 and Trident Iota 3

Oliveira as Rider Alpha 3 and Trident Kappa 1

LisaF (https://www.castingcall.club/m/LisaF) as Mustang Delta 2 and Omicron 5

Connor Holt (https://www.instagram.com/s.c.holt/) as Strike Package Yankee and 48X

Annabobanna (https://www.fiverr.com/annabobanna) as Captain Merino

Anthony Faye as Mustang Delta 1

Barry Mills as Trident Iota 2

Brick79410 as Rider Alpha 1

Cairn Remedy as Skull Kappa 1

Carlos José Guerrero (Chenchurrio) as Wargod 6

Lafiel as Thunder 3-2

Lawrence Trotti as Trident Gamma 2

mmmK-ultra as Nighthawk

Sparda as Omicron 1

Shirin Maeve (https://shirinmaeve.carrd.co/) as Cold Steel 6

Vynn as Razor Alpha 1
Tags: Blue Planet, fan fiction, military fiction. Voice acted. Balanced for Medium and Hard Difficulties.

NB: Medium Difficulty includes a number of UEF handicaps in order to support gameplay. Play on Hard Difficulty to have the authentic GTVA experience.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Dilmah G on October 31, 2021, 04:45:42 am
Be sure to tune in for Red Mage Joe's livestream at 11am US East Coast time for a livestream playthrough of the mod! Many of the VAs will be there, and it will 100% be filled with great banter!  :pimp:

Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Colonol Dekker on October 31, 2021, 04:59:15 am
Gen pleasure working with you on this.

Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: perihelion on October 31, 2021, 05:36:19 pm
This deserves a highlight.

Really. It’s fricking awesome!
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Ertanax on October 31, 2021, 08:35:41 pm
Agreed - let's get TBoN highlighted.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: jg18 on November 01, 2021, 02:10:30 pm
This deserves a highlight.

Really. It's fricking awesome!

+1! :yes: :nod:

Watching just a few minutes of redmagejoe's recorded livestream (https://youtu.be/XR5w-COccWA) will show you how much work Dilmah G and everybody who contributed to this put into it.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: perihelion on November 01, 2021, 10:56:10 pm
Goddamn.  I read the dialog at the end of the bonus mission, but hearing it right after the FSO version of the Kobayashi Maru scenario... oof.  That's a punch to the gut right there.  The lady who played Cyclone absolutely aced that role.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: jg18 on November 02, 2021, 12:14:42 am
Yeah, the VAs for both Cyclone and Delta 4 in the new bonus mission are amazing.

Maybe it'd be worth starting a thread in the Voice Acting board where FREDders list specific VAs from Fiverr whom they've had a good experience with, with a link to the actor's Fiverr page and a list of which mods/roles the actor played.

The idea is that it could become a registry of "known VAs" for FREDders who are willing to spend a few bucks to find just the right voice for their mod.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Dilmah G on November 02, 2021, 08:56:44 am
Gen pleasure working with you on this.
The pleasure was mine, mate! And that goes for everyone from the community who VA'd - the effort everyone put in was absolutely stellar, and it made the process of getting the mod voice acted a hell of a lot of fun.

Goddamn.  I read the dialog at the end of the bonus mission, but hearing it right after the FSO version of the Kobayashi Maru scenario... oof.  That's a punch to the gut right there.  The lady who played Cyclone absolutely aced that role.
She definitely did, both her (jessfisher97) and Sararose - Delta 4's VA, were phenomenal.

Yeah, the VAs for both Cyclone and Delta 4 in the new bonus mission are amazing.

Maybe it'd be worth starting a thread in the Voice Acting board where FREDders list specific VAs from Fiverr whom they've had a good experience with, with a link to the actor's Fiverr page and a list of which mods/roles the actor played.

The idea is that it could become a registry of "known VAs" for FREDders who are willing to spend a few bucks to find just the right voice for their mod.
I'd be super down with this, and from the conversations I've had with the other VAs on the project who volunteered their voices, I think a lot of them would appreciate the extra publicity as well. I'd also be happy to do a little writeup on the lessons I learned/things I wish I'd done from the start during this VA journey so that these lessons help everyone else in the community who wants to go about getting their mod voice acted. I know mjn has a great thread going so I'd be happy to add to that and make that a bit of a central resource for FS voice acting guidance. (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=96114.0) One thing I would suggest on that note is whether it can be moved to the voice acting board? I went through that at the start of the process and only found mjn's thread in The Modding Workshop when he mentioned it during the livestream the other day. :lol: Happy to admit that potentially I should've looked a bit harder, though.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 02, 2021, 03:31:22 pm
Don forget our own dedicated VA board  (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?board=126.0)  :yes: :yes:

Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: CT27 on November 03, 2021, 06:17:19 pm
I played this a while back and had a lot of fun with it.

Out of curiosity, what's the best outcome one can get in this?
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Strygon on November 04, 2021, 07:26:59 am
Tester here, as far as I know the outcome with getting the hell out of dodge and losing these corvettes is about the only "good" outcome here. Believe me, I tried to save those corvettes but that's damned tough.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: taoofcrime on November 29, 2021, 02:08:03 pm
Get "attempt to load the mission failed" on trying to start the campaign
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Dilmah G on November 29, 2021, 05:36:08 pm
Hmm, that’s weird. Sorry to hear that! Is Blue Planet Complete fully updated, and are you using FSO version 21.4.0?
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: taoofcrime on November 29, 2021, 10:06:59 pm
Yeah both are updated. Too bad cause this looks great!
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 30, 2021, 01:00:14 am
I had that initially. 

An uninstall, folder delete, reinstall, rectified it.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: taoofcrime on December 01, 2021, 02:12:32 am
Thanks, of just the mod or FS and BP too?
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Colonol Dekker on December 01, 2021, 03:53:20 am
Try just the mod first.   I'd be reluctant to take everything off. 
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Vidmaster on December 05, 2021, 05:12:20 am
I have no idea how I missed this, considering I play absolutely everything with voice acting. Downloading now...
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Colonol Dekker on December 05, 2021, 08:01:01 am
Please leave feedback 🙉
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: jg18 on December 07, 2021, 01:24:25 am
I have no idea how I missed this, considering I play absolutely everything with voice acting. Downloading now...

Please leave feedback
What Dekker said. Enjoy! :)
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Vidmaster on December 11, 2021, 12:24:12 pm
So, I played this...     and while I am certainly impressed, the actual battle of Neptune left me pretty cold. In-mission dialog and the writing in general are solid and the whole cinematic chaos-of-battle thing that BP does so well is present here too. There is nothing "functionally" wrong with the experience, I reckon that it is probably the single-mission nature of the experience that causes its failure to affect me. There is tons and tons of info frontloaded and then the mission begins with a rather slow beginning that, once the action starts, can go horribly wrong quickly because it is Blue Planet's battlescape.
It is hard to point out exactly what is missing from the experience, but it is missing that certain undefined something.

Note that I was super-confused when dying for the first time after the initial two cruisers were gone, as there was apparently a checkpoint at this time but that seem to remember a failure to escort a wing (and a subsequent objective failure) that had not yet happend in my playthrough, although it might have occured while my ship was exploding. Maybe my experience simply started off on the wrong foot.

Finally, I know its a feature but I think those airplane-sounds are just annoying. I am flying a cool space fighter, I do not care about a F-16-something-style sound not fitting the soundscape of the rest of the experience. I just find it distracting, especially if you keep getting "tone"...

While Neptune was not for me, I have much stronger praise for the bonus mission. That one was ****ing brilliant, with excellent pacing, interesting decisions, avoid the frontloading-pitfalls and overall well written characters (although I do think the final *public* emotional breakdown + shakedown by Alpha Leader is a bit much) and a wonderful in-mission arc. I can wholeheartedly recommend playing that mission to everybody without any doubt, was a superbly designed experience. I cannot help but wonder if there is some out-of-game background to this mission I fail to grasp...
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Iain Baker on December 11, 2021, 01:39:47 pm
Vid master - I would recommend playing it at least twice, it is very hectic which can be a little confusing. It is also mentally taxing keeping up with everything while trying not to die 😜 If there was one thing I would change it would be making the intercepted hostile coms sound more distinct from friendly coms. Perhaps by using more distortion or something similar to that used in BSG. This was something I found a little confusing with BP WiH in general.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Vidmaster on December 12, 2021, 07:00:51 am
Nah, the sensory overload is spot on  :nod:, that is not the problem and should be in there, since this is basically a fan mission for BP. Like I said, I think there is a bigger issue when it comes to the pacing of the entire mission, including the briefing. Of course it is heartbreaking if one hears that a player thinks the experience is not working for that player :sigh: but for me, it did not work.

Note that I believe that Delenda Est is probably the single best mission I have ever played in my almost 20 years of Freespace, it is not the BP-style that is the problem, I do think it is this mission. Like I said, there is nothing functionally wrong here but it just does not really manage to woe me :nervous:. If I could more clearly point out what the problem is, I would do it.

Again, I think the bonus mission is the much stronger offering of the two.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Dilmah G on December 13, 2021, 11:05:44 am
Yo Vidmaster, thanks for giving it a playthrough! And sorry I haven't replied earlier, just in the middle of moving houses/states, so precious forum time has been hard to come by. Overall, to be honest, I totally feel your points on the BoN mission proper - especially on the pitfalls of frontloading tens of pages of info before the player hits the mission. That's something I didn't appreciate until I watched Red Mage Joe playing through it on his stream, but upon reflection, I think I felt the (unwarranted) need to pad the mod out on its original release to justify it being a single mission standalone mod. If I was going to FRED it again today, I would probably move some of the CBs to the Tech Room and slim down the briefing a fair bit. It also wasn't particularly character driven in the same way the bonus mission was, so the emotional attachment one feels to characters in the BP-verse wasn't really there. I suspect that could definitely contribute to a lack of something that's a bit hard to put your finger on. In any case, no creative offering is going to resonate with every single person it touches, but I really appreciate your feedback.

On the other hand, I'm glad you enjoyed the bonus mission - that was a true team effort from the community, and was a lot of fun to write (and re-write) and FRED. In terms of out-of-game background, it was influenced heavily by the experiences of some of the people I served in the military with, as well as a small amount of my own experience. I was fortunate enough to serve in what was virtually a peacetime Army by the time I had finished my training, but many of the more senior soldiers/officers I served with had been in combat. They had some harrowing stories that I hope I did some justice to, but also some very interesting (read: severely unhealthy) coping mechanisms and thought processes in response to combat stress and survivor guilt. There were also some tremendously angry people amongst them who demonstrated rage on a level I don't think I'll ever see again in my life. The perception of war that I had after all of that was of bands of extremely young adults being asked to make decisions far beyond their years, of being constantly emotionally and physically frayed by stress and sleep deprivation, and there rarely being a right decision, with the only wrong decision being to make no decision. And that all of that over a prolonged period of time would either turn you into a wreck, a psychopath, or both, with only a very small handful of people emerging as stereotypical "good people". While not every part of that mission may have landed for everyone, I'm glad to hear it at least mostly landed for you. I'm certainly looking forward to working on some similar stuff in the coming year.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: jg18 on December 13, 2021, 02:21:58 pm
Hey Vidmaster, thanks for sharing your honest thoughts in detail!

I'm really glad to hear you liked the bonus mission overall. As Dilmah said, a number of people (including yours truly :)) put a lot into it. While I'm very happy with how it came together, I understand there'll be a range of reactions to it, and that's totally cool, of course.

I wasn't aware just how intensely personal the bonus mission was for you, Dilmah!

Besides the Kobayashi Maru (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobayashi_Maru) angle that perihelion mentioned (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=97876.msg1912061#msg1912061) (had to look up what that was), another thing I like about the bonus mission is
Spoiler:
While the mission as a whole is a no-win, the first decision point is effectively a no-lose. As long as the player doesn't ask Delta 1 for orders (i.e., equivalent of taking no action), either decision leads to the same result. To me, Dilmah's point there is that, even with successful outcomes, your decisions sometimes simply don't matter. It's in stark contrast to just about all other missions out there.

I'm certainly looking forward to working on some similar stuff in the coming year.
Oh? ;7



EDIT: Clarifications.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: manwiththemachinegun on December 14, 2021, 12:07:54 am
Oh damn, that bonus mission looks amazing.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Colonol Dekker on December 14, 2021, 04:43:26 am
@Dilmah


Like the hulk, we're always angry 🤣
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Vidmaster on December 19, 2021, 03:07:30 pm
Oh damn, that bonus mission looks amazing.
It is the highlight here, as weird as that may sound. It is absolutely brilliant.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: taoofcrime on December 20, 2021, 03:04:43 am
still getting "attempt to load mission failed", log: https://fsnebula.org/log/61c042f1cd283f42c22001de
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: jg18 on December 20, 2021, 09:56:04 am
Oh damn, that bonus mission looks amazing.
It is the highlight here, as weird as that may sound. It is absolutely brilliant.
Well, if someone wanted to play only the bonus mission ("Command Responsibility"), they could use the mission simulator in the tech room. Pressing Ctrl+Shift+S while on that screen will show all available missions.

The perception of war that I had after all of that was of bands of extremely young adults being asked to make decisions far beyond their years, of being constantly emotionally and physically frayed by stress and sleep deprivation, and there rarely being a right decision, with the only wrong decision being to make no decision. And that all of that over a prolonged period of time would either turn you into a wreck, a psychopath, or both [..]
Spoiler:
Thanks for making Delta 1 from the first category and not the second or third. ;)

still getting "attempt to load mission failed", log: https://fsnebula.org/log/61c042f1cd283f42c22001de
Not sure if this is your issue, but I was getting a crash on mission load until I went to the Campaigns menu and selected Battle of Neptune. I think the main hall you see should be the one from FS2 retail and not the one from Blue Planet.
Title: Re: RELEASE: The Battle of Neptune - Director's Cut
Post by: Dilmah G on December 21, 2021, 11:34:22 am
Let us know how you go, taoofcrime! It's late over here, but it looks like the custom HUD gauges have been throwing up errors from what I can see of that log. That being said, I was getting those in FRED for some reason but still managed to load and play the mission. If the issue hasn't been resolved, are you getting any error prompts prior to "attempt to load mission failed"?
Spoiler:
Thanks for making Delta 1 from the first category and not the second or third. ;)
Spoiler:
Of course! I think you've got some mean psychopath potential for the next project though. ;)