Author Topic: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian  (Read 40318 times)

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Offline CT27

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
There's a special technique to defeating some of the newer Vasudan ships that might help with some of the missions you encountered:

For the newer Vasudan cruisers, attack and destroy the reactor subsystem...that should cause them to blow up.
For the newer Vasudan corvettes, take out the weapons subsystems.  That will cause them to stop firing anything.

It's not like most campaigns where you take out some of the actual turrets on Shivan ships and then move on.  One might disagree with how Herkie designed Aftermath 2 (and he's given me permission to say we did have some disagreements on Aftermath 2's design when I was testing it), but it's just how it is for better or worse (depending on one's perspective).

This should help with Lightning From Heaven and allow you to make surgical strikes on the Vasudan ships attacking your forces and then move on to the bombers (on these missions you'll want to have a Maxim or Blizzard Disruptor with you).

On Solar Eclipse Pt. 2, when the cruisers are targetable, go for the reactors like I said earlier (and not general damage attacks) and the gate should be able to be saved.

I'm not sure what to say about 'Caucus', sorry.

Hopefully this helps somewhat.

 
Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
My problem is that there are WAY too many bombers, and my idiot wingmen never go after them when I order them to. They just attack the fighters instead and I cannot take down the bombers in time by myself

 

Offline Marguel

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
I'm not sure which mission you refer to, but I've defaulted to dual maxims in most missions, cause of the mere range and utility they provide (and widowmakers if available, those are OP)

Thanks for the info CT27!
« Last Edit: August 28, 2021, 07:50:11 am by herkie423 »
"You'll see. It'll be better than last time. "
"I hope so. I died."

 
Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
I'm not sure which mission you refer to, but I've defaulted to dual maxims in most missions, cause of the mere range and utility they provide (and widowmakers if available, those are OP)

Thanks for the info CT27!

I was referring to Solar eclipse part 2, the one CT27 spoke of.  Also, I used the skip after dying 5 times trick to pass part 1 as it was just impossible for me to defend those cannons

 

Offline Marguel

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Probably gonna try again sometime soon, see if I can manage this with the new information.
"You'll see. It'll be better than last time. "
"I hope so. I died."

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
My problem is that there are WAY too many bombers, and my idiot wingmen never go after them when I order them to. They just attack the fighters instead and I cannot take down the bombers in time by myself

Move faster. If widowmakers are avilable, use them all and watch your radar. Practice destroying an entire squadron of bombers under 45 seconds..
and shoot the torpedos first, i mean really fast. Speed is the key. I played this in "Hard" and I got them all everytime.

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Like I said in the opening post of this thread, strategy is the key. Unlike Reboot, blasting away will not get you anywhere. And this campaign is unorthodox, everything you learn in FS universe does not apply here.

Now, dealing with many bombers. Although I can wipe them all out under a minute, i recommend giving orders to ALL your wings to attack just one of them, preferably the center of the pack, and your wings will help you decimate them.

 Armed yourself and your wingmates with the best weapon available. The Starfury Scattergun, the Widowmaker if available (which is rarely available), the Screamer rockets (contrary to what everyone believes, it is very effective), trebuchets (they still have their worth) and lastly, the Blizzard SDG but only arm this yourself and not your mates (they tend to prerably use this and this weapon has no physical damage)

For capships. Vasdan cruisers, they are deadly to capships despite their size and very dangerous to approach with their flak cannons (they have 25)so brave the flak and destroy their reactors and they will explode. For the deadly Vasudan corvette, it has no exposed reactor so disarm it completely by targeting the "weapons" subsystem. This is the same as the Archania destroyer. You have to be quick or they will tear you apart with their flaks or devastate the assets you are protecting. Vasudan capships are armed to the teeth. Those Hornviper torpedoes will tear your assets apart at very long range. Those Neutrino cannons (these are not regular lasers) which is analogous to the Terran Antimatter cannons (green projectile) are devastating now than in Reboot. Don't take out the turrets, take out the subsystem controlling it. Do this in strictly 2 minutes everytime. Everytime. An example is the mission "Caucus for peace," the two Archanias will destroy the transport Katrina in two minutes. Neutralize the two destroyers in two minutes, and yes, two destroyers. I can do that by using the Starfury and widowmakers, no need for the Blizzard.

Oh yes, one more thing. I have coded in the mission designs that your enemy will react to your strategy (even to your loadouts and the ships you assigned to your mates. They will intentionally make diversions, destractions, and even lead you astray to complete "their" objectives. One fighter will lure in a merry chase while their mates are outmaneuvering you. I had said this in the opening post. Essentially, you are going up against my strategies. Strategies I have learned and used when I was a captain in Philippine Marine Corps, fighting the insurgencies. And you know why these are difficult? Because these missions are based in my real life combat situations. The feelings you have felt when playing this mod, the frustrations and desperation and the annoyance, are what I had felt while bullets whizzing past and a granade shrapnel tore my leg while watching many of men die or get injured. These are not design flaws or some game balancing issues (except for bugs or compatibility problems). They are intentional. Sorry for the drama. These mods, TBG and the Reboot is very personal to me.

I will make a walkthrough for all the difficult missions soon (Please post them and let me know). Available via MediaFire download.

As a side note, Blue Planet Act 1, 2 and 3 is even more difficult strategically than this campaign. To my opinion and mine alone, the BP campaigns are more complex and the best mod I played, my inspiration. Second is Between the Ashes tied with Exile, then third Shadow Genesis, awesome mods and I put mine last place. I played them all, I love them and I actually learned many coding techniques from them.

Stay tuned for my Walkthrough. I thank you all for playing this mod. I am 60+ years old now, and you all have made me feel young (tears flowing as I type). Sorry for the drama, when you are my age and having a few years left, you will understand.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2021, 05:41:35 pm by herkie423 »

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
I'm not sure which mission you refer to, but I've defaulted to dual maxims in most missions, cause of the mere range and utility they provide (and widowmakers if available, those are OP)

Thanks for the info CT27!

Maxims... They are not really effective in this mod. Use the Starfury. Or the Blizzard SDG... Like I said, FS2, 2nd Shivan War era weapons are not effective save for the trebuchet.

EDIT: ... and dual Maxims, it's a bad idea. All Vasudan fighters and bombers in this campaign have massive shielding (1000!). Maxims have very little shield damage.
« Last Edit: August 28, 2021, 05:39:18 pm by herkie423 »

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian

It's not like most campaigns where you take out some of the actual turrets on Shivan ships and then move on.  One might disagree with how Herkie designed Aftermath 2 (and he's given me permission to say we did have some disagreements on Aftermath 2's design when I was testing it), but it's just how it is for better or worse (depending on one's perspective).

CT27 is right. I told him this strayegy. The Vasudan Anubis cruiser is indeed deadly. But... It has a notorious weakness, the reactor. Read the ship's description. It's stated there.

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Ah, one tip I forgot to mention and an important one. In order for your wings or squadrons to be effective, order your wings to form up on you (not "cover me" because only 2 wings will comply) at the beginning of your mission. In this way, your mates will be readily available (close to you) if you issue them orders like destroying a squadron.

Like I said, strategy, strategy, strategy.

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Update upcoming in a few days...

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
NEW UPDATE - 4/6/2022

DOWNLOAD LINK:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/1t43emd7f19gbq2/TBG-Update2022.rar/file

Download and extract to the mod's root folder. This replace the old files.

 

Offline CT27

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Just for fun I did a list of the major wars that are a part of this Aftermath's universe (through the end of TBG).  I've listed the name of the war (sometimes an unofficial name) and in parentheses the campaign it took place in:

Terran-Vasudan War (FS1)
The Great War (FS1)
The Hades Rebellion (Silent Threat: Reborn)
Deneb counterinsurgency campaign (Shrouding The Light)
Operation: Templar (Templar)
NTF Rebellion (FS2)
Second Incursion (FS2)
UPC Conflict (The Aftermath: Reboot)
Third Shivan War (The Aftermath: Reboot)

just in case someone hasn't finished TBG I'll spoiler its conflicts
Spoiler:
Operation: Cleanup (TBG)
New Imperium Insurrection (TBG)
Rigelian Crisis (TBG)

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Nice list. We actually used them as a premise for the Reboot and TBG story.

 

Offline mjn.mixael

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Your ships.tbl has typos. The attached version has those typos fixed.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/5xdnmg0rj91ris2/AF2ships.zip/file
Cutscene Upgrade Project - Mainhall Remakes - Between the Ashes
Youtube Channel - P3D Model Box
Between the Ashes is looking for committed testers, PM me for details.
Freespace Upgrade Project See what's happening.

 

Offline XappiK

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Hello Herkie,

The first mission in Act 3 is broken.

Spoiler:
When the Gabriel jumps in, it just sits there and does nothing. However, when targetted the Gabriel has a speed of 254 (subspace exit speed) but isn't actually moving.

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
That's a glitch or compatibility issue, not a bug. Use FSO 19.0

 

Offline XappiK

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Unfortunately, if  I switch from using FSO 22 to 19, I will have to restart the campaign which is something I really don't want to do. It's a shame because the mod has worked pretty much perfectly using FSO 22.0 up to this point. Is there definitely nothing you can do to fix this or solve the compatibility issue? It would be very much appreciated if you could.

Another thing I noted is that the enemy destroyers speed also decreases to a full stop
Spoiler:
upon the arrival of the Gabriel
. I don't know if this is intended, but could the addition of a friendly bomber wing (or four) and the continued advancement of the destroyers be put in place as a workaround?

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
Unfortunately, if  I switch from using FSO 22 to 19, I will have to restart the campaign which is something I really don't want to do. It's a shame because the mod has worked pretty much perfectly using FSO 22.0 up to this point. Is there definitely nothing you can do to fix this or solve the compatibility issue? It would be very much appreciated if you could.

Another thing I noted is that the enemy destroyers speed also decreases to a full stop
Spoiler:
upon the arrival of the Gabriel
. I don't know if this is intended, but could the addition of a friendly bomber wing (or four) and the continued advancement of the destroyers be put in place as a workaround?

I think you don't need to restart. Just try.

As for compatibilty fix, I'm already very obsolete, stuck with FSO 3.7.4 (2015). There are many implementations and features in newer builds. Sadly, I don't think I will have enough time to study them and be updated. I am already 68. It took me 5 years to know FSO 3.7.4. I am retired from modding now.

And I have submitted both AFR and TBG for restoration by the HLP community.

 

Offline herkie423

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Re: RELEASE: The Aftermath II - The Blue Guardian
With regards to the Vasudan destroyers, they will stop if the Gabriel shows up.