Stormkeeper: So. Tonight, we have the TAP crew. Who are working on the HW 2 TC, The Apocalypse Project, for you people living under the rocks. Hi guys.
HerraTohtori: Rock surrounds me from all sides, never mind me. I'll just sit here and watch...
Pecenipicek: 'lo.
The E:Yo.
Scourge_of_Ages: Hiya
Dark Knight: Hi
Ktistai228: Salutations
Lester: Sup
MatthTheGeek: Poof
Stormkeeper: So who does what in the TAP?
MatthTheGeek: I'm the local HW2 modding expert
Lester: I work in that FRED thing everybody's talking about
Ktistai228: I'm the new guy trying to figure out tables and ship classes
Dark Knight: I am the story guy, writer. I am also a professional editor and sound editor so I'll be taking on those duties too no doubt.
Scourge_of_Ages: Mission tester, and odd jobs
Pecenipicek: I'm the current leader of the team, head modeller, pof-er, texturer, converter of shinies and so on. Apart from the backgrounds, everything you'll see ingame will have been touched by me in some good or bad or horrifying way.
The E:I sort of stumble around in the dark, doing some code and support stuff
Stormkeeper: '"touched by" Pecenipicek.'
Stormkeeper: ktistai, you said you handle the tables and stuff, right?
Ktistai228: I am trying to, as I said I am the new guy:)
Stormkeeper: Mmmhmm. So have you tabled or looked at the table for FS2 ships too?
Ktistai228: I've looked through the ship tables for FS2 ships, mod ships, all sort of ships due to my involvement with the wiki
MatthTheGeek: We've gone through several iterations of tabling. we're trying to have some HW spirit, have the whole thing be playable, while not doing a straight FS-like gameplay
Ktistai228: However, we still need to not go too HW-like
Pecenipicek: Most often it resulted in having the behavior be "pick 2 out of the 3" from MatthTheGeek's list.
MatthTheGeek: Well, that's part of the "have the whole thing be playable" part
Ktistai228: For instance, I can't shoot down right now because of the high speeds involved
Pecenipicek: Hence the "pick 2 out of 3"
MatthTheGeek: We're still not very far in the balancing stage, and things will have to change a lot
Pecenipicek: Capture hw spirit = check, dont do pure fs-style gameplay = check, have it actually comfortably playable = still a fair ways far from that goal.
MatthTheGeek: That's more or less where we are right now, yeah
Ktistai228: Indeed, and at the time a big problem is getting ships to behave correctly, as HW ship classes behaviur vary from FS ship classes
MatthTheGeek: Well, I'm not too unhappy with ship behavior so far, aside from bombers
Pecenipicek: If anyone has seen our lovely "destroyers fighting around in space while floating around like bathtubs" they'll know what we're talking about. Bombers are another point of contention...
MatthTheGeek: Well, for bigger ships, lrn2waypoint
The E:But those are going to need a new approach AI-wise in order to not behave like morons
Pecenipicek: Basically, instead of doing strafing runs, they just rummage in close, and then sit around while going "neener neener cant hit me"
Scourge_of_Ages: Sort of like FS bombers do
The E:Which is a carryover from FS
Pecenipicek: Exactly like fs bombers do if they dont feel threatened.
The E:I know TAP needs a different approach, and several other mods do as well
Pecenipicek: There's also the lovely fact of "no shields"
Dark Knight: Hehe.
Ktistai228: Meaning missile corvettes for example just rip you to pieces
Pecenipicek: Which makes bumps of any sort a bit... hurtful
Ktistai228: although I do not think they are supposed to
Pecenipicek: ktistai228, you haven't been on the wrong end of a higgy flakfrig burst then
MatthTheGeek: Armor classes will take care of that
Lester: All that shouldn't be much of a problem anymore since armor classes on player ships are fixed now
Pecenipicek: Also, my personal preference of the "MOAR DAKKA" principle is going to show a bit more, since our engagements will most likely be a bit smaller in scale than what you'd normally expect out of HW2.
Pecenipicek: Lester, yeah, not just for player ships. I personally pulled numbers out of thin air to populate the armor.tbl.
MatthTheGeek: I'll populate it at some point
Pecenipicek: We had it set up a looong while ago, its just that the numbers were all 1
Its one of the goals/milestones in any case.
MatthTheGeek: Although I'll have to be clever or have to compromise at some point since HW2 have armor values per weapon and not per ship class
Dark Knight: There are a few, big set-piece battles but there are many more, smaller engagements (missions) that build up to them.
Ktistai228: Skirmished if you like
MatthTheGeek: (#hlp-interview is now known, again, as #tap-dev)
Stormkeeper: (Uh-huh)
Ktistai228: Okay, ball back to you stormkeeper
Stormkeeper: Mmm...
Pecenipicek: (as a note to the rest of you in the channel, if you have any questions, write them down for the post-interview Q&A)
Stormkeeper: Pecenipicek, you mentioned that the engagements were smaller in scale, compared to HW2. What about compared to FS2?
Dark Knight: May I?
Pecenipicek: Of course.
Stormkeeper: (Must be quite the explanation)
Ktistai228: Indeed
Dark Knight: the majority of missions are set to last around the 10 minute mark. Comparatively about the same as most FS missions. Design philosphy is one of scale. Where in HW one mission might involve numerous smaller engagements leading up to a big one in TAP we've split those missions up. So in one mission you might be intercepting a Vaygr push, in the next mission... you escort your resource collectors back and in the next strike back protecting the capital ships.
Just as an example. So the first might be about the same as your average fs bomber mission, the next would be similar in size to any of the escort missions and so on. So individually they are the similar to FS2 missions but thematically the missions are more closely linked by story. On the other hand some of the battle missions planned are simply huge. Sorry. HUGE..
Stormkeeper: Like?
MatthTheGeek: Like HUGE. You're welcome
The E:Like, this big
Dark Knight: Hmm... what can i say...
MatthTheGeek: Many ships with guns firing.
Ktistai228: BoE style?
Pecenipicek: MOAR DAKKA, in short.
MatthTheGeek: NEVUR ENUF
Dark Knight: Battle of the line.
Stormkeeper: ... Okay, I kinda get the idea. Won't it lag?
* +pecenipicek sits in his happy place with happyfun images in his head.
MatthTheGeek: I don't expect our ships to be unoptimized
The E:Stormkeeper: Not as much as, say, WiH did in places
MatthTheGeek: So I don't see why it would lag
Lester: The only possible performance hog would be the trails.
Pecenipicek: Yeah. they've proven in the past of being a truly performance raping feature.
Dark Knight: Trust us. Well trust me. I'm cool.
Pecenipicek: Heheh
Stormkeeper: I wouldn't know about that. =P
The E:Also, given that we expect the engine to get quite a bit faster by the time it comes to release, I wouldn't worry too much about it
Dark Knight: Well you can check out all the other projects i've worked on through the years... wait don't. They all failed.
MatthTheGeek: And if you're unhappy, upgrade your goddamn hardware
Stormkeeper: XD
Dark Knight: The way the missions are designed too should reduce lag.
Stormkeeper: Mmkay.
Dark Knight: Or eliminate it rather
MatthTheGeek: Nuke the lag from orbit
Pecenipicek: The one thing i'm pushing for is perfection. And this TC will not be released until we've attained that. In some way, shape or form.
MatthTheGeek: Only way to be sure
Stormkeeper: What did you guys mean when you said "pure FS gameplay"?
Dark Knight: You played FS2? Like that
MatthTheGeek: Well, mainly ship handling, combat mechanics, etc
Dark Knight: 
Lester: You don't have secondaries in TAP
MatthTheGeek: We don't want to do FS2 gameplay with HW ships. That's not what this mod is about. For gameplay reasons, it also can't be a straight HW2 figure-by-figure conversion
Scourge_of_Ages: See, in FS, you're ALPHA 1, savior of humanity, killer of Shivans. Your wing gets knocked out, you keep trucking.
Pecenipicek: We tried that. It didnt work out
Scourge_of_Ages: In HW2, you send a single interceptor out on it's own, you don't get it back
MatthTheGeek: of course, but it gave us a base to work from
Pecenipicek: And you're the one to thank for that actually.
Scourge_of_Ages: You'll need to learn to work with your AI wing, and depend on them
Pecenipicek: you were the figurative boot up my ass to get me back to working on TAP.
MatthTheGeek: heh, thanks. After what's now 7 years of HW2 modding, couldn't let that die off
Stormkeeper: Work with your AI wing. So will you have more control with them, or will the AI be improved?
Dark Knight: 7 years? I started working on HW mods back on the VWBB!
Lester: We already have custom AI which works quite well
Pecenipicek: "Custom" rather. AI profiles are a godsend.
Dark Knight: Also, the plot is more character driven. Your wingmen actually matter.
The E:Oh Mobius is going to hate that
Lester: Well, most of them at least
Stormkeeper: Is duct tape involved? Or its functional Hiigaran equivalent?
MatthTheGeek: The_E: my thoughts exactly
Pecenipicek: Stormkeeper, you want Mackie from Derelict in TAP?
Stormkeeper: I believe that his legacy should never die out!
MatthTheGeek: Not sure about duct tape, but I'm sure we'll find some too thick cables somewhere, if you want your memes
Pecenipicek: Well, the world revolves thanks to ducttape and improvisation
Stormkeeper: Oh yeah
Dark Knight: I'll take a vote on whether to include ducttape in the mission dialogue.
Stormkeeper: \o/
Stormkeeper: Alright, I have achieved my objective. This interview is now over. =P
MatthTheGeek: Maybe we'll try to find something more imaginative
Pecenipicek: Heh
Dark Knight: ... cool i can go back to being ill.
Stormkeeper: So, anyway. Last time we spoke, you mentioned that the campaign will be pre-HW2. Is that still true?
Pecenipicek: that was 3 years ago, no?
Dark Knight: The wingmen... wingwomen... are sufficiently different to Mackie.
Stormkeeper: Aye
Pecenipicek: I'll let DarkKnight take the stand over there, again
It was a big mistake in general back then to not have him with me when we had the interview back then.
Stormkeeper: That was when I was first starting out though. I only had MSN in my arsenal.
MatthTheGeek: people still used msn back then ? must have been _ages_ ago
Dark Knight: The campaign starts a few days prior to the events of Homeworld 2 and runs parallel to the events of the game ending in the same place.
Pecenipicek: well, it was the first interview when they got resurrected by you.
Stormkeeper: (Actually, I didn't resurrect the board, Goober did, and I just ... did the first interview. =X)
Stormkeeper: You won't be following the Pride of Hiigara?
Pecenipicek: (whatever, you get my point)
MatthTheGeek: Nope, you won't. No random core salvaging stuff for you
Stormkeeper: 
Dark Knight: During HW2 your saw snippets of the battle going on around the HOMEWORLD.
Stormkeeper: Yeah, I remember that.
MatthTheGeek: Just good ol' kicking vaygr asses
Dark Knight: In our story you are one of the guys fighting that battle. Holding the line and fighting a rear-guard against the Vaygr to buy the Pride enough time to complete its mission
Stormkeeper: Mmhmm.
MatthTheGeek: The Vaygr, leaded by Makaan, are sieging Hiigaran territories in order to force them to surrender the core
Dark Knight: I am not sure how much to actually give away at this point...
MatthTheGeek: Someone has to hold them back
Pecenipicek: Give a bit out. Nothing too major
MatthTheGeek, let DarkKnight give out the snippets for now
MatthTheGeek: Yeah. Was just refreshing everyone's memories about HW2 canon
Pecenipicek: Resident HW2 specialist.
Stormkeeper: Mm, I see that.
Pecenipicek: God, how long were we arguing enlarging everything bigger than corvettes to their current sizes?
MatthTheGeek: Don't think we argued that much
Stormkeeper: What was wrong with the scaling?
MatthTheGeek: Well, ships equal or above frig class were scaled up.
Stormkeeper: Uh huh.
MatthTheGeek: Problem is, when you're capturing ships with salvette, the scale difference is just massive
Pecenipicek: (salvette = salvage corvette for those who are going "whud"?)
MatthTheGeek: Salvette. Stormkeeper: (My favorite ship in HW1)
Stormkeeper: So wait . As I recall in HW1, at least, the salvette wasn't really dwarfed by the larger ships like the Heavy Cruiser. Just how different was the size?
MatthTheGeek: It looked like they could actually move them, in HW1
Ktistai228: Indeed
MatthTheGeek: With the other scaling, it'd be like 5 Ursas trying to tow a Hecate
Ktistai228: Especially 4-5 of them
Stormkeeper: -squint- That's ... Wow.
MatthTheGeek: Well, maybe not. Let's say 5 Poseidons. What's the size of Poseidons compared to Ursas ?
MatthTheGeek: (Ursa might actually be larger)
Stormkeeper: I think the Ursa is slightly larger, length wise
MatthTheGeek: Heh
Stormkeeper: Cause the Poseidon has the two arms
Pecenipicek: In reality, this does not concern us however. only the JToH team
MatthTheGeek: Yup
Pecenipicek: Heheh.
MatthTheGeek: TAP won't have that problem anyway. Capture ships are frigate class
Stormkeeper: Moving away from moping singles.
Pecenipicek: In any case, DarkKnight , got any snippets you might want to throw out to the masses?
Dark Knight: I'm typing I'm typing!
Pecenipicek: xD
MatthTheGeek: Type faster ! What are we paying you for? ...oh wait.
Dark Knight: But yes. During the second mission of HW2 Makaan (leader of the Vaygr) uses his Hyperspace Core to jump a fleet into Hiigaras orbit bypassing the main lines of battle in the surrounding systems. The main Vaygr fleet is still on its way coming along multiple Hyperspace paths...
YOU are a pilot in Kiith Soban. Part of a battlegroup tasked with protecting the area around the Tanis system from the Vaygr Advance. When Tanis falls and the Homeworld comes under blockade you and your comrades must do all in your power to slow the Vaygr Armada (under the command of the Taiidan Duke, Admiral Lindos) long enough for the pride to do her work.
Stormkeeper: ... Kiith Soban, I remember that Captain. Badass black paintjob.
Dark Knight: You will fight in amidist the megalithic monoliths of Tanis. We revist locations from Cataclysm and HW1, in a game of cat and mouse with the Taiidan Warlord... worlds fall... people die...
Stormkeeper: Will we have black paintjobs?
Dark Knight: Currently it is the plan.
Stormkeeper: I focus on the importan- YAY SIGN ME UP FOR FIRST DOWNLOAD THANKS
* @Stormkeeper pre-pre-pre orders
MatthTheGeek: We're waiting for table-based texture replace, no ?
Dark Knight: Captain Soban (his first name is Merlan actually, fun fact) is a member of Kiith Soban. One of the Kiith-clans of old Kharak. An all mercenary Kiith that you have joined as a pilot.
Stormkeeper: Really... Merlan Soban. Suddenly not so awesomee.
MatthTheGeek: Kiith Soban's history as a mercenary kiith is canon btw
Stormkeeper: Yeah, I remember
MatthTheGeek: People from any kiith can join em if they prove themselves worthy enough
Dark Knight: Merlan is semi canon.It's from an older version of HW2's script
Pecenipicek: Dust wars or some other?
Lester: That still doesn't do anything to decrease the coolness of their paintjobs, though
Pecenipicek: Ho yes.
Stormkeeper: So true.
MatthTheGeek: Dust war is what HW2 should have been
Stormkeeper: Back on track.
Dark Knight: No, newer than Dust Wars I think. The one that was very close to HW2 but had Makaan as a sentient computer I think
Stormkeeper: ... What? Wait, what? Makaan? A sentient computer?
Dark Knight: Yes. We're not using that
MatthTheGeek: Old scripts. not canon. Don't freak out mate
Stormkeeper: ... Hard not to.
Lester: Funnily enough, hed still have the same character depth if he was a sentient computer
Stormkeeper: ... lol. Mmm. Back on the topic of TAP.
MatthTheGeek: Good point
Stormkeeper: Weapons wise, what's the size of the arsenal? I know we have no secondaries. So what happens to bombs, they're now primaries?
MatthTheGeek: Player weapons you mean ?
Stormkeeper: Yes.
MatthTheGeek: We won't have the diversity of FS2 that's for sure
Pecenipicek: Bombs were always primaries.
MatthTheGeek: But we won't have just one gun either
Pecenipicek: Because that'd just be cruel and unusual.
MatthTheGeek: Attack bombers use plasma bombs, which are definitely primaries
Stormkeeper: Mmhmm.
Stormkeeper: I guess that would deplete your energy reserves in 2-3 shots?
MatthTheGeek: The variety of the arsenal is still under consideration tbh. Bombers have fair energy. You can't mount plasma bomb launchers on interceptors, of course
Stormkeeper: As I recall, the interceptors used a mass driver, and only mass drivers. So will that be ammunition based, or energy?
Lester: Both, actually
Pecenipicek: We still have to figure out proper ways to do reloadings and stuff.
Lester: Energy functions as some sort of heat build-up
MatthTheGeek: That's the current idea, yeah. Won't necessarily be that way in final
Dark Knight: You need a lot of juice to run them/keep them cool.
MatthTheGeek: Still under development
Dark Knight: No FS-style spam fire for you!
Stormkeeper: Fine by me~
MatthTheGeek: There's a reason fighters fired in short 5-bullet bursts in HW and we'd like to keep that spirit
Stormkeeper: Mmm. So accuracy counts for a lot more.
Pecenipicek: Ho yes.
MatthTheGeek: Especially given the speed and distances involved
Dark Knight: ... I really need to buy a new stick.
Pecenipicek: We really should've frapsed those few multi matches we had back a while ago, yes, Lester, MatthTheGeek?
MatthTheGeek: Nothing much to fraps. Firing for half an hour, can't hit ****
Lester: Well, they were interesting
Scourge_of_Ages: I can vouch for that
Pecenipicek: Laughing asses off.
Stormkeeper: lol
Lester: Especially for me, as I was flying a scout.
Pecenipicek: Crashing the game when warping out at mission end. Fun times
MatthTheGeek:Ogawd scouts. Peashooter cannons
Pecenipicek: Lester, that made you very hard to actually find and smack tho.
Scourge_of_Ages: Especially against Vaygr interceptors, which are only slightly wider than the bullets you're shooting
Lester: Scouts don't work as they do in FS
Stormkeeper: How?
Lester: They're flat-out useless in TAP
Stormkeeper: Because the "scouts" in FS2 are invariably you. I never used them in HW2, tbh.
Dark Knight: One mission where you have to disable a ship. Other than that no.
MatthTheGeek: in HW2, scouts are VERY fast and have VERY ****ty armament
Lester: You can still destroy stuff in a Pegasus, but you sure as hell can't in a Scout
MatthTheGeek: Like I said, peashooter. It's actually the file name of the scout weapon in the HW2 files
Dark Knight: Never used them myself.
Pecenipicek: i used them against MatthTheGeek occasionaly when we were having HW2 multi fun. very nice for annoying people.
MatthTheGeek: Very hard to hit a scout though. They have EMP in HW2 though
Pecenipicek: Vaygr one even more so.
MatthTheGeek: Haven't implemented that yet in TAP
Pecenipicek: Well, that's easy enough to punt into tap.
Dark Knight: We do have a few missions where you fly a Scout in TAP tho. Enjoy!
Stormkeeper: Do ships have one or two weapon banks?
Lester: Currently, two
MatthTheGeek: Dunno why we still have two tbh
Pecenipicek: Most of them at least, Lester. I'm not sure if i gave all the vaygr the double banks as well.
MatthTheGeek: Since both banks carry the same weapon and you can't link 'em.
Pecenipicek: MatthTheGeek, you can't link them for now.
Lester: It's not the same weapon the last time I checked
Pecenipicek: Once we figure out proper payloads... yeah, it isn't.
MatthTheGeek: Bombers do have a small autogun for self-defence though
Lester: You had the spray one and the burst-fire straightforward one
Pecenipicek: Its still in testing a lot, basically. (once more dev talk hijack, woo
)
Stormkeeper: It's okay. I'm the expert at filtering out the spa- Uh. I mean, the chatter.
Pecenipicek: Heh
MatthTheGeek: In term of capital weapons however, we'll try to stay as true to HW2 capital-vs-capital balancing as possible. There is no reason to change it from HW2, although capital-vs-fighter will be adapted.
Pecenipicek: With an addition of some PD weapons to some ships that sorely lack any. (glares at the hiigaran carrier)
Stormkeeper: Torpedoes, Ion Beams, mass drivers, pulsar lances... Which reminds me. As I recall. The Torpedo Frigate; it could fire two different types of torpedos, the one for strike craft and the one for caps. Is this still the case?
MatthTheGeek: Isn't ingame yet
Pecenipicek: And won't be until way later on. But it is likely it might fire two different payloads.
MatthTheGeek: It's not in the list of ships we need for the missions we're currently working on
Pecenipicek: However, considering the sheer amount of dedicated fighter-killer type ships on both sides arsenal, throwing in another one might be a smidge of overkill.
Stormkeeper: Hmmm. But the torpedo frig is kinda common in the Hiigaran fleet, isn't it. Wouldn't it be weird not appearing at all? That's like saying you've played the whole of FS and FS2 and never seen a Fenris.
MatthTheGeek: Never said it won't appear at all
Pecenipicek: Yeah.
Dark Knight: To clarify
MatthTheGeek: It's just not in the meshes we're currently working on
MatthTheGeek: And yeah, torpedo frig is quite common, it's actually the first frigate class you can build in multiplayer
Dark Knight: Yes. It is the standard Ship of the Line, however the section we are working on involves you being a part of a small, well armed reconnaissance task force... make of that what you will.
MatthTheGeek: Although IIRC flak frig happens first in SP
Stormkeeper: ... That thing is crap, iirc.
Dark Knight: And once you can build Ion Frigs who bothers?
MatthTheGeek: Flak frig ? Real corvette killer
Stormkeeper: I never had good memories of Flak frigs.
MatthTheGeek: Oh flak frig ?
Stormkeeper: Somehow my interceptors always seemed to fare better.
MatthTheGeek: Flak frigates are currently a genocide weapon in TAP. Frigates in general were crap in HW2.
IIRC you need 16 ion frigates to replicate the 2 ion turrets of a BC, in HW2 that is. Frigs might get buffed in TAP or we might just count on mission design.
Lester: Mission design *should* be of satisfactory quality
MatthTheGeek: It better be
Stormkeeper: XD
Dark Knight: ... Crap thats me too.
MatthTheGeek: Knowing pece, TAP won't be released until we have top-notch mishes anyway
Stormkeeper: Yeah. He said that all those years ago too.
Pecenipicek: Shush.
MatthTheGeek: Well, he wants top-notch everything. That includes ships that will have to be completely remade at some point. We're currently using directly-converted ships from HW2.
Pecenipicek: Unlike the original team who started it (USS Alexander, elorran, Thorn and others, afaik), we actually made something we can show.
Dark Knight: So we're still on for 2065 release yeah?
Stormkeeper: You'll have to include HW 3,4,5 and 6 too, for a 2065 release. ... a question just drifted out of my head, hang on lemme catch it... Oh right!
Pecenipicek: And get our kids to continue our work as well
Stormkeeper: What about point defence weapons?
Dark Knight: They shoot down stuff
MatthTheGeek: Missiles are not destroyable, if that's what you mean
Pecenipicek: Mostly annoy fighters a lot. Some ships will get them some wont.
MatthTheGeek: Bomb intercepting is also a prominent feature of FS2 we're not gonna have here
Stormkeeper: How large a role will they have in combat, then?
MatthTheGeek: Yeah, we will put some more cover weapons than HW2 ships have, but you won't see point defenses on an ion frigate any time soon
Pecenipicek: These won't be weapons that will shoot down fighters outright.
Stormkeeper: That would be the Flak frigs role.
MatthTheGeek: With shield-less combat, we can't afford to have too much powerful anti-fighter defences. We need a reason for fighters to exist at all
Pecenipicek: The flak frigs current status as "Vaygr Genocide Machines" is more or less a fluke of my lack of experience with balancing anything
MatthTheGeek: Especially since fighter logistics are less practical than in the FS universe, no jumpdrives and all. Flak WILL be nerfed BIG time
Dark Knight: No jump drive is FUN for mission design let me tell you.
Stormkeeper: o_O
MatthTheGeek: Indeed.
Lester: I'm quite looking forward to it, actually
Dark Knight: TBH it was a lot of fun solving that problem.
MatthTheGeek: Gotta be creative in mission design
Dark Knight: Means you have to think about the escalation rather than just "add fighters here".
Pecenipicek: Well, with Vaygr and their Hyperspace Gates, you have a sorta freedom there.
Dark Knight: Makes for a nice objective too.
MatthTheGeek: Oh yeah, I tend to forget about those. They're so impractical in HW2 multi. We don't even have them yet in TAP, right ?
Pecenipicek: Not on the "needed assets" list, so that'd qualify as a "no."
Stormkeeper: So a carrier will be a part of the task force then.
MatthTheGeek: Definitely. just like you're nearly always based on a destroyer in any FS campaign
Stormkeeper: Does this mean you won't be able to call in reinforcements?
MatthTheGeek: That's up to mission design
Dark Knight: Some missions for example start an hour into the missions flight time, so you're already hundred and thousands of km away from the carrier... some time you lift from the deck... Also strike craft may not be available for reinforcements... but bigger ships have jump drives.
MatthTheGeek: In HW2, fighters often operate dozens of km away from the carrier ship, and with no jump drives, they have to fly in and back on their own. Btw, 1 hour of flight at 325 m/s is more than 1k km. Just sayin'
Pecenipicek: 325 m/s = 1170 km/h
Stormkeeper: That's true. If you'd put it to a percentage, how many percent done would you say you are?
Pecenipicek: Hrrng... tough one.
MatthTheGeek: The three big objectives are balancing, FREDing and remodelling of the ships.
Pecenipicek: Tough one. i think i can safely say that we are maybe 10% complete at the time being.
Stormkeeper: Awwright. Progress.
Pecenipicek: What i really would like, is to have someone model the Vaygr fleet.
Stormkeeper: So you've mostly been working on the Hiigaran fleet, then.
Pecenipicek: Since i personally prefer the higgy stuff. yeah. So far, the flak frig, the ion cannon frig and the carrier are in a sorta-finished state modelling-wise. And I'm going to get back on working on those as soon as i finish my non-TAP based "assignments"
Stormkeeper: There won't be Progenitors appearing, right? Since you're not haring off after the Cores and Sajuuk
Dark Knight: ... no comment.
Stormkeeper: Hmmm.
Dark Knight: I will say they I've already stated it ends around the Battle of Hiigara and there was at least one rather large progenitor ship in that battle.
Stormkeeper: True, that. Will you use HW2 music and FX?
MatthTheGeek: Not HW2 music. we already have some tracks of our own
Lester: FX will probably be remade
Pecenipicek: Not probably. they WILL be remade.
MatthTheGeek: HW2 FX are low-res
Pecenipicek: Everything that is in-engine at the moment is either HW2 FX or semi-placeholders.
MatthTheGeek: And the best-looking HW2 fx (explosions, mainly) are not adapted to the way FSO treats FX
Stormkeeper: Mmmm. All in all, still a lot of work.
MatthTheGeek: Tell us about it
Pecenipicek: Oooh yes.
Stormkeeper: Well, I wish you guys the best of luck.
Lester: Oh gawd
Stormkeeper: That wraps up the closed portion.
Pecenipicek: Thank you very muchly.
Lester: Scourge of Ages took screenies from my mission
Stormkeeper: FAQ is open and I demand the requisite tribute of screenshots
Stormkeeper: ...am I doing this right?
Pecenipicek: no.
Lester: i dont think so
Pecenipicek: -m is right.
Stormkeeper: TALK, AUDIENCE, TALK
* +pecenipicek pokes allmote , dsockwell , HerraTohtori , Zacam
Pecenipicek: Closed talky section is done. if any have questions, ask now.
Zacam: Ahh. Good. *clears throat*
HerraTohtori: What type of skyboxes do you guys use? Or backgrounds in general
Dark Knight: Pretty ones. next
MatthTheGeek: Heh
Stormkeeper: lol
HerraTohtori: oooo
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, define type? Skybox vs skysphere or?
HerraTohtori: They're all the same. Basically are you using models or some sort of procedurally generated backgrounds
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, models.
HerraTohtori: Ok, spheres or cubes
Pecenipicek: Currently sphere maps, but i'm planning to move on to cubes for maximum awesome.
Zacam: So, aside from the closure on the HW Modding front, what was the major compelling reason to choose FSO?
Pecenipicek: Zacam, I had experience?
MatthTheGeek: Zacam: To be fair, when TAP started, I think HW2 modding was still fairly active
MatthTheGeek: After all, that was aaaaaaages ago, right ?
Dark Knight: Yes. It was. I have grown up and got a degree since this started.
Pecenipicek: TAP started back around the end of 2001, beginning of 2002, going off from our archived threads.
Zacam: Right, I know the BP->HW portion at least, but I never really got that into HW to begin with. I blame the other people who tried to "sell" me on it being less than stellar examples.
Pecenipicek: I got recruited into TAP as a modeller back in 2006, when grug was leading the team. when he disappeared around the end of 2007, i took over.
MatthTheGeek: Pecenipicek: wait what. HW2 is 2003
Pecenipicek: I am talking about TAP, MatthTheGeek .
MatthTheGeek: How can a TC about HW2 start before its release
Dark Knight: It started as a cat tc
Pecenipicek: TAP was originally HW1, HWC.
MatthTheGeek: Orite
Stormkeeper: Yeah
MatthTheGeek: Didn't know that
Zacam: Again, apologies if asked, but what have been some of (both) personal and technical challenges to overcome or adapt to in this project?
MatthTheGeek: Stop apologizing Zacam
Pecenipicek: Zacam, oooh... there's a lot. Most often, free personal time has been the total and utter showstopper to my involvement with TAP. As for the technical challenges... well, i dont know. I cannot actually classify anything much as a technical challenge.
Before we started developing via SVN, it was a sorta mess to push a unified working base to everyone involved.
Zacam: (I'm only apologizing because I haven't been reading through on this channel for the last while, so I don't want to inadvertently re-ask something that's already been covered and give Stormkeeper more work to do)
MatthTheGeek: I guess it was probably hard to produce anything solid without HW2 material before I arrived
Zacam: So, SVN has worked out as a very useful tool for your dev process then.
MatthTheGeek: Isn't it for all dev processes. SVN is a godsend in all fields
Pecenipicek: That as well. what was in before MatthTheGeek arrived was a hodge-podge of horribad conversions and truly crap models.
Zacam: I just like underlining that fact whenever I can.
Dark Knight: Personal challenge. There is a 70 page story document including mission plans, scripts, character histories, timiles, general facts, another 10 pages of tech descriptions for the ships... trying writing all of that and not going a little bonkers.
Lester: ^that thing absolutely blew me away when i first joined
Pecenipicek: No offense to ex members, but nobody did **** between 2001 and 2007, apart from DK.
HerraTohtori: What's your typical process of converting a model... I mean, do you use original geometry with new UVmap
MatthTheGeek: I export meshes to obj and textures to dds
HerraTohtori: Or do you use those models with original mapping and bazillion textures?
Scourge_of_Ages: Ah yes, screens. (sorry, had to go away for a few seconds, back now for a few more)
MatthTheGeek: Pece takes over. And converted models won't be used in final.
Zacam: So, it's obviously going to be a fair departure from the regular FSO scene, and it will obviously have a lot to cater to current HW fans and nostalgic members as well, what do you feel will be the big draw for your project for those not necessarily accustomed to HW or it's settings?
MatthTheGeek: And HW2 ships don't have bazillion textures
HerraTohtori: Oh
MatthTheGeek: Only HW1/HWC
HerraTohtori: My mistake then
MatthTheGeek: HW2 is fairly well mapped, UV-mapping and all
HerraTohtori: That is good to know
Dark Knight: Big draws... fun gameplay, a differant expieiriance to FS2 (change of pace) and a kick ass story.
Pecenipicek: Get model and textures from MatthTheGeek, import all objects, textures and ****, convert it all to single UV map, proper subobjecting for FSO use and suchlike, proceed to testing in game and so on.
HerraTohtori: Righto. Do any of the ships require re-modeling, or are HW2 ships of sufficient quality? I never played any HW games
MatthTheGeek: (17:21:45) MatthTheGeek: and converted models won't be used in final
Pecenipicek: Biggest technical hurdles there have been getting Cinema4D dae exporter bugs sorted out and such.
The E:They hold up well
MatthTheGeek: We want everything remade but yes, everything you see in current eyecandy in converted
HerraTohtori: ok, I just wanted clarification on that part
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, they hold up very well, but they arent what we are going to use. i do not want to use anything that Relic initially made, at least in terms of visual and sound assets.
HerraTohtori: so basically your final aim is to have all models re-done?
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, oh yes.
HerraTohtori: How many models are we talking about? Just to get a scope of things. I get the impression HW has a lot of designs
MatthTheGeek: Hum. Lemmie count
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, at the moment, 14 ships total, not counting assorted neccesary things, like missile models, or background pieces.
MatthTheGeek: Probably around 50 total in HW2
Dark Knight: ... background pieces. Space is not empty.
Pecenipicek: Tanis, asteroid bases and such like. In short, yes, space is not empty.
HerraTohtori: are you aiming to recreate backgrounds too?
Pecenipicek: Yes.
HerraTohtori: Wow
MatthTheGeek: Well, we'll be in locations known from HW1/HWC/HW2. Similar backgrounds to those seen in game will have to be made
Pecenipicek: Here's a link to
the thread with some videos we have made. Also,
screenshot thread. MatthTheGeek: randomly, the normal maps are from the "HW2 2.0" mod project.
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, in short, yes we have a massive amount of work cut out for us. and boy, do we want to deliver.
Dark Knight: We will for example revisit to Aiowa system from Cat on the revisiting locations note.
The E:One thing TAP is going to use is a new wrinkle in the Shaders for glossyness mapping, which will make the game look a bit more varied
Pecenipicek: And the infamous env mapping extension.
Zacam: Without spoilerizing anything, do you have any "shout outs" or contemporary references and how structured are you to HW Canonicity?
MatthTheGeek: Not sure what you mean with "shout outs or contemporary references". As for HW canonicity, HW1 is canon, HWC is semi-canon (I don't think you'll see any reference to the Beast anywhere) and HW2 is canon, or mostly is.
Zacam: Was there going to be seen if Anisotropic Reflection was going to make it in as well?
The E:That too
Pecenipicek: "Diffusely convolved enviroment mapping" it was called, if memory serves?
The E:Yea
HerraTohtori: glossyness mapping... I need to pay more attention to latest FSO developments.
Pecenipicek: Since our backgrounds will be a fair bit more colorful than standard FSO backgrounds in any case.
HerraTohtori: I have waited for glossyness mapping for a looong time. A long time.
The E:HerraTohtori: It's still a bit experimental, and won't hit FSU for some time
Pecenipicek: HerraTohtori, it was included by my request. The_E implemented it.
HerraTohtori: Awesome. I shall discuss that later in other channels
Pecenipicek: Stormkeeper, i'll provide you with all the screenshots sometime later next week
MatthTheGeek: Are there questions we missed somewhere ?
Stormkeeper: Kk.
Pecenipicek: MatthTheGeek, dunno, if anyone wants, ask away?
Dark Knight: Anyone want to ask any more plot or mission related questions?
Scourge_of_Ages: Well, I got to run, guys. This was fun, take care!
Stormkeeper: If there are no more questions ....?
Dark Knight: Go on! Somebody!
Pecenipicek: yeah, if there are no more questions, lets conclude this.
Stormkeeper: Alrighty. That brings us to the end of the interview. Thanks for stopping by, guys!
