[Nightmare]

My personal opinion is that cruisers are pretty much useless. A corvette does the same things a cruiser can do, but it doesn't blow up that easily.

You can take a look at the user made ships list on the wiki.

[Colt]

IMO cruisers would still have a place post-Capella. They could free up corvettes for smaller-scale operations (patrols, anti-piracy). User-made ships that I think look good for this period would include the GTC Cretheus (more like a gunship, but a great patrol cruiser) and the GVC Newet, which could complement the already-existing Aeolus and Mentu. Additionally, cruisers are presumably cheaper to produce, so these could be used to replace some of the losses sustained.

All in all, they could go for a heavy corvette-focused production eventually, but cruisers would be needed in the meantime.

[Nightmare]

They could free up corvettes for smaller-scale operations (patrols, anti-piracy).

Well the Deimos can already travel at 35m/s; there's not really much space up to slow fighter speeds.

We never really get to see the civillian side of the GTVA, so there's some room for private stuuf but I fdon' know if they'd reach actual cruiser size.

I actually thought about the Vasudans attempting to built some sort of Zod-Lilith; but it was more a mixture of political project "we built some super-powerful cruiser" even though it worked out in the end (it was just stupidly expensive).

[Colonol Dekker]

Whatever happened to the range of custom terran cargo skins?

[Nightmare]

Whatever happened to the range of custom terran cargo skins?

TC-TRIfied? I suspect that GTVA was trying to get rid of cargo depots.

[Colonol Dekker]

Might have been those.... I remember a multi layered template and some examples such as bosch beer, subach innes, akheton etc...

[DefCynodont119]

Good thing I had it bookmarked!

TAC1 reskins:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=55076.0

This really should be used in a mod at some point, I've never seen it outside it's thread. . .

[Nightmare]

Never seen before. Kinda late though, Nyx not only made a HTL Chronos but a new HTL TAC1 too, so the boxes are obsolete once a new MVP update is out...

[Colonol Dekker]

Surely if the source for the new textures was to, let's say... Fall off the back of a truck?

We coukd just texture replace in Fred, I don't thi knit would be that hard to upscale and shuffle stuff about.  I think it might even be a fun project for those that want to contribute to the community.

[Nightmare]

I certainly wouldn't mind that even though I have no personal use for that. PBR reskins are more difficult than normal ones however, and TBH I don't see how it fits to this thread actually.

[Su-tehp]

They could free up corvettes for smaller-scale operations (patrols, anti-piracy).

Well the Deimos can already travel at 35m/s; there's not really much space up to slow fighter speeds.

We never really get to see the civillian side of the GTVA, so there's some room for private stuuf but I fdon' know if they'd reach actual cruiser size.

I actually thought about the Vasudans attempting to built some sort of Zod-Lilith; but it was more a mixture of political project "we built some super-powerful cruiser" even though it worked out in the end (it was just stupidly expensive).

Concerning DatDB, there won't be a role for "civilian" ships per se, but I intend to emphasize the infrastructure needs of a fleet in enemy territory, so freighters and other support ships are still going to make appearances throughout DatDB.

As for cruisers becoming obsolete, there's canon confirmation in the Deimos' tech room description that cruisers are being phased out and that corvettes are becoming the new foundation of the GTVA fleet. I'll miss cruisers, but if bigger, tougher corvettes can do the same job with less chance of being destroyed, then it only makes sense to populate my fleet with more corvettes and exclude cruisers entirely.

Whatever happened to the range of custom terran cargo skins?

TC-TRIfied? I suspect that GTVA was trying to get rid of cargo depots.

Nightmare, is there a verifiable quote of this from the tech room database or elsewhere? If you have a source for this, I'd like to see it. It's pertinent to DatDB because the GTVA taskforce will have to adapt its infrastructure needs to be as mobile as possible since the taskforce has to stay on the move to avoid dangers while behind enemy lines. Freighters will still have to carry cargo modules for ship-to-ship REplenishment/REpair ops, but cargo depots themselves won't be making an appearance in DatDB, at least not for the Terrans and Vasudans. Shivan and Eidolon cargo depots, however....

[Nightmare]

GTFr Triton tech desc: ( https://wiki.hard-light.net/index.php/GTFr_Triton )

The GTFr Triton hauls almost twice the tonnage of the Poseidon-class freighters that have served the Alliance since the Great War. The ability to distribute supplies and munitions is vital in any theater of operations. With the Triton, battle groups can keep their forces well-equipped, even if dispersed over multiple systems. The Triton not only has the ability to dock with and haul TAC units, but it also has an internal cargo bay for ship-to-ship transfers. The GTVA expects the Triton to reduce its reliance on deep-space depots, which are vulnerable to attack and sabotage.

[Su-tehp]

GTFr Triton tech desc: ( https://wiki.hard-light.net/index.php/GTFr_Triton )

The GTFr Triton hauls almost twice the tonnage of the Poseidon-class freighters that have served the Alliance since the Great War. The ability to distribute supplies and munitions is vital in any theater of operations. With the Triton, battle groups can keep their forces well-equipped, even if dispersed over multiple systems. The Triton not only has the ability to dock with and haul TAC units, but it also has an internal cargo bay for ship-to-ship transfers. The GTVA expects the Triton to reduce its reliance on deep-space depots, which are vulnerable to attack and sabotage.

Yes, of course! Now I remember. Having freighters that can do ship-to-ship transfers helps immensely with logistics issues. Thanks for reminding me of this, Nightmare.

But now the new issue I have is, DatDB is going to take place in 2410, rather than my original timestamp of 2385. After thinking about it last night, I came to the conclusion that a longer 43-year timeskip from FS2 rather than a relatively shorter 18-year timeskip made more sense for my story. Now I have to decide if the Triton will still be in service 43 years after FS2. Even if it is, I'll likely new at least one newer freighter mod that's designed with ship-to-ship transfers in mind.

Any suggestions?

[Nightmare]

I'd certainly take a look at BPs Anemoi, which is some sort of mobile repair yard including internal spare part logistics (look for it on the wiki). I can check my Ships DB and also send you some of the tech descriptions I wrote for my campaign but that would have to wait until tomorrow.

[Nightmare]

I also remembered that TrashMan made a HTL version of his Sizifus freighter, which looks fairly futuristic; should be on the asset release board.

[Su-tehp]

The Anemoi is already chosen to be one of my auxilliaries, the smaller of the two auxiliary classes, in fact. The other is the Qadesh from Exile, which is essentially a very nice-looking mobile shipyard/repair facility (an absolute must-have for fleet logistics). After all, a fleet cut off from home needs some way to replace spent ordinance and fuel cells. If the auxiliaries get destroyed, that's essentially a non-standard game over.

I found TrashMan's Sizifus freighter as well in HLP's usermade ship database earlier today. Of all the usermade freighters in the HLP list, the Sizifus freighter looks better than the rest, though it's a bit meh IMHO. It's good, but not great looking. But then again, I don't know if the version on the HLP list is the same one you're referring to, so let me know where the version you mentioned is (meaning I have no idea what this "asset release board" thingie is). I'm hoping the version you mentioned might still be a worthy freighter candidate for my taskforce.

Anyway, I'm gonna keep looking in other mods ship databases for other worthy candidates. After all, it was looking at Exile's ships that found me the Qadesh and Anemoi so I'll continue looking for nice-looking ships.

As for your tech descriptions, I'm eager to look at them. You never know where the next bit of inspiration will come from.

[Nightmare]

Here's the link to the HTL Sizifus (was Nyx work, actually): https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=94790.0

I'll PM you the tech descriptions later.

[Su-tehp]

So, I just finished reading the original series of The Lost Fleet and have already started the sequel series The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier as part of my continuing "research" for DatDB.

I also just finished reading Yoseph's (A.K.A. Daniel Gibbs) Stand Firm, the Book 0 novella of his Echoes of War sci-fi novel series. If the prequel novella is any indication, this looks like a damn fine set of books that any fan of Freespace should love. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. Not to mention his upcoming Freespace total conversion of Echoes of War. If that ever gets off the ground, it's gonna be awesome!

Another project I'm working on: a project leader of one of the hosted mods here has granted me permission to do some grammar/reading comprehension editing for at least his techroom descriptions. After I finish playing through the mod and get a feel for the characterizations of the NPCs and the story's themes and moods, I'll have permission to edit dialogue scripts and pilot chatter to make them flow better. Needless to say, I won't be changing any story elements without the project leader's express permission, but I'll at least point out any plot holes to him and plug them up as best I can, subject to his approval, of course.

Which mod, do you ask? Can't say just yet. The project lead probably wouldn't be bothered if I said which mod I was editing, but in truth, it's not my place to say. I'd rather not jump the gun, but if he wants to post here and confirm which mod I'm editing, I'll PM him to let him know that he can do that.

In any case, this is a bit of a long term editing project so it might be a good while before the mod has its edits done and updated. I'm just mentioning this to satisfy my growing ego.

[Nightmare]

I'm just mentioning this to satisfy my growing ego.

Yeah but even in the universe there's not infinite space y'know

[CP5670]

I'm a bit late here, but always good to see an old timer return. Remember that roster of ships and mission guidelines we made for the multiplayer side of FS2 (with Cetanu)? I recall we had set up a whole forum for that effort, and organized several multiplayer mission packs and got them validated by Volition.

With this virus scare keeping everyone at home, I'm also taking the time to play a lot of campaigns I never got around to before. As said earlier, Between the Ashes is outstanding and should probably be the first one on anyone's list today.