[Bryan See]

I hate to say this but Shattered Stars has become a terrifyingly daunting prospect. I've been working on a mod that is set in the same universe as Mortal Engines (the 2018 movie itself, not the books of which it is based). I know this is anything but a Mortal Engines videogame, but it requires FreeSpace 2 retail, because it needs MediaVPs to run due to the nature of being a FS2 campaign.

The campaign is divided into three Acts. Each Act consist of 10-15 missions and will take approximately 2-4 hours to complete. I might consider orienting each Act around a particular theme or set of technologies or both without undermining the whole story.

The fleets I am using for this mod at the moment are those from the Ancients of Ancient-Shivan War, the Cylons from Diaspora, and the pre-existing ones from FS1 and FS2, with the exception of all Terran ships (excluding certain ones, i.e. debris).

What I am doing is careful. I am trying to provide the closure and epilogue to the film, for those who (allegedly) enjoyed it, and think the film will gain a cult following and become a once-off look into the world of Mortal Engines that may not happen ever again.

I expect you know the appropriate course of action regarding these matters, and I leave you to it. You can create a game set in the Mortal Engines movie universe, but as long as it doesn't concern the characters and moving cities on Earthbut stick to its film canon. This means space is the only avenue we are going to explore. And it may be accomplished via mods of not just FreeSpace 2, but... other space games such as Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, Sins of a Solar Empire, Homeworld, and Freelancer, to name a few as well. I honestly think Scott Manley is going to be excited about this.

This is only an idea, and is preliminary. This thread may change and be updated, as I will only start work on it when I finished something small, perhaps one or two.

EDIT: I've removed the direct Mortal Engines reference front and center from its title. But the setting remains unchanged: It is set within the Mortal Engines movie universe itself. As such it will take place before, during and after the events of the film which stretched through four days.

EDIT #2: I've changed the name to "Rekt Galaxies" because the former name sounded more like Shattered Stars, as per Nightmare.

[Nightmare]

Didn't you said that you were working on a campaign that dealt with the adventures of Kappa wing? I'd focus on that one- nobody is expecting you to finish Shattered Stars anytime soon, or to start another project.

[Rhymes]

So you finally realized that Shattered Stars was way too large a project for a first-time modder. . . so you decide to start another project that's way too large for a first time modder.

You ever hear the definition of insanity?

[Bryan See]

Didn't you said that you were working on a campaign that dealt with the adventures of Kappa wing? I'd focus on that one- nobody is expecting you to finish Shattered Stars anytime soon, or to start another project.

Nightmare, I'm working on a campaign that dealt with the adventures of Kappa wing. Heed the words below:

This is only an idea, and is preliminary... I will only start work on it when I finished something small, perhaps one or two.

So you finally realized that Shattered Stars was way too large a project for a first-time modder. . . so you decide to start another project that's way too large for a first time modder.

You ever hear the definition of insanity?

I am merely posting an idea.

[Nightmare]

TBH you should consider to keep it an idea.

[Bryan See]

TBH you should consider to keep it an idea.

I did consider. This IS an idea. The thread's title has explictly said, and notice the word "[IDEA]" in it.

[NeonShivan]

Now while I do appreciate great ideas and contributions to the artistic creations of mankind, but, why did you make a forum post for an idea?

[Nightmare]

To check whether there's interest in that? Not that I'd assume to see 1 "yes" though.

[Bryan See]

Now while I do appreciate great ideas and contributions to the artistic creations of mankind, but, why did you make a forum post for an idea?

Because I wanted to do something after I finish something small in order to progress as a first-time modder. Over the past several years, I've been experimenting such. And I wanted to finish that Kappa campaign. Furthermore, I wanted to take Lepanto's advice on beta-testers.

To check whether there's interest in that? Not that I'd assume to see 1 "yes" though.

Oh yes, there will be Ancients, Vasudans, Shivans and many more. And because this mod takes place within the Mortal Engines movie universe, the surviving characters are long dead and the Earth they are on is no more.

As Nightmare says, it is still an idea. I'm keeping it.

[Colonol Dekker]

I'm not interested.

[The E]

Oh yes, there will be Ancients, Vasudans, Shivans and many more. And because this mod takes place within the Mortal Engines movie universe, the surviving characters are long dead and the Earth they are on is no more.

Hang on, a mod idea where it's set in the faaaar future of another setting, so far in fact that anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone?

Where have I heard that before?

Oh right, it's literally every idea you've ever had.

As Nightmare says, it is still an idea. I'm keeping it.

Please, do keep that idea. I don't think anyone else is remotely interested in it.

[Bryan See]

Oh yes, there will be Ancients, Vasudans, Shivans and many more. And because this mod takes place within the Mortal Engines movie universe, the surviving characters are long dead and the Earth they are on is no more.

Hang on, a mod idea where it's set in the faaaar future of another setting, so far in fact that anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone?

Where have I heard that before?

Oh right, it's literally every idea you've ever had.

As Nightmare says, it is still an idea. I'm keeping it.

Please, do keep that idea. I don't think anyone else is remotely interested in it.

If you take a look at the Portal games, which take place in the same universe as Half-Life, you'll notice there are tenuous ties which exist only to support its universe (especially the Borealis stuff that appeared in Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Portal 2).

This may be the case, as with some of which I don't have anything to say about at the moment. As Gabe Newell said: "If you are involved in a game, everything ends up being a set of trade-offs. Anything in a game is a sacrifice of things not in the game."

That being said, Tom and Hester are all gone, as do all of the surviving characters from the 2018 film. And the world they are on is nothing but dust in space.

As I said I'm keeping the idea until I finished something small.

[Nightmare]

could you name the differences between this and shattered stars

[Bryan See]

could you name the differences between this and shattered stars

The differences between this and Shattered Stars are immense, although it involves ALL FreeSpace ships.

Both take place in the distant future. While Fractured Suns takes place in the Mortal Engines movie universe, Shattered Stars doesn't.

In terms of technical, Shattered Stars has a lot to do with the future of virtual reality (VR) as well as possible future FSO engine features, such as PhysX integration. Fractured Suns doesn't need these aforementioned ones at the moment.

Fractured Suns is an intermediate step between my Kappa campaign and Shattered Stars, as well as FreeSpace Reunited.

[Bryan See]

The E's acknowledgement makes it clear that this mod is set thousands of years after the events of the Mortal Engines movie (whose universe is being used as its setting for its entirety). This is where in fact anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone and there is a reason for it which I can't tell you.

Regardless, there will be no Terran ships. And the Ancients (not the Mortal Engines' Terran equivalent) will serve as their replacement.

As for the idea itself, playing as an Ancient pilot, expect battles with the Shivans in the far future of the Mortal Engines movie universe.

[Nightmare]

This is where in fact anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone and there is a reason for it which I can't tell you.

Thousands of years after Terrans are extinct, a new species known as "the Ancients" now rules the galaxy. Aye Aye. Probably you should put the "idea" away (alone because you changed like 90% of the plot), because if you ever wanted to make this reality it is many milennia away from being released anyway.

[Bryan See]

This is where in fact anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone and there is a reason for it which I can't tell you.

Thousands of years after Terrans are extinct, a new species known as "the Ancients" now rules the galaxy. Aye Aye. Probably you should put the "idea" away (alone because you changed like 90% of the plot), because if you ever wanted to make this reality it is many milennia away from being released anyway.

Thanks for that. And I'd like to note that this could go well with The E's statement about a mod idea where it's set in the far future of another setting, so far in fact that anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone. I'd liked the concept. 1 point for Nightmare

But it is still set in the Mortal Engines universe (the movie itself, not the books of which it was based).

And, Nightmare is right. Because I'm still working on something small. I want to make sure it takes its time to ensure that this shocks and awe all of you upon release.

[The E]

Thanks for that. And I'd like to note that this could go well with The E's statement about a mod idea where it's set in the far future of another setting, so far in fact that anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone. I'd liked the concept. 1 point for Nightmare

Bryan. No. Stop. The statements I made were criticisms. They are things that I think are wrong and bad, they are mistakes that you are making over and over again without ever seeming to learn from them.

You can't take something like Mortal Engines, remove all that is unique and interesting about the setting (which are, in order, the characters and the massive metaphors that are the traction cities), and then still claim that whatever you came up with is still connected to whatever you started out with.

[Bryan See]

Thanks for that. And I'd like to note that this could go well with The E's statement about a mod idea where it's set in the far future of another setting, so far in fact that anything that made that original setting interesting is long gone. I'd liked the concept. 1 point for Nightmare

Bryan. No. Stop. The statements I made were criticisms. They are things that I think are wrong and bad, they are mistakes that you are making over and over again without ever seeming to learn from them.

You can't take something like Mortal Engines, remove all that is unique and interesting about the setting (which are, in order, the characters and the massive metaphors that are the traction cities), and then still claim that whatever you came up with is still connected to whatever you started out with.

Though I apologise for making over and over again without ever seeming to learn from them, I would like to ask: Why not set in the same universe as the 2018 Mortal Engines movie, but set thousands of years after its events? Mortal Engines takes place 1000 years after the present time, and this mod takes place 10,000 years after the film.

As with Portal and Portal 2, why not relegate any Mortal Engines-related references into a tech room database?

[theperfectdrugsk]

If the references to ME are only in the techroom... Then what's the point?  You're basically handicapping yourself in terms of the in-game universe you could create.