[bigchunk1]

@Antares I like the idea. I don't know how doable it is in fred just yet. A workaround would need to be found.

@docfu
Delenda Est as it is now is a simple conversion, meaning it was modified with the primary goal of being a technically playable multiplayer mission. The single player version of Delenda Est used carefully scripted sequences to promote a more cinematic experience and to keep gameplay under control. E.g. the Carthage is attacked before the... <spoiler> happens. I have purposely kept many of these safeguards in place (guardianed turrets and such) to preserve the authentic mission as much as possible. That original model, of course, is subject to change.

There have been suggestions for an update on the Delenda Est mission. Some have included; a surprise last ditch effort attack from the tevs (bombers?), warships such as the Leander jump in for a second round of fighting towards the end, the <spoiler> happens and players must face the final threat and defeat it as well. There are many possibilities, thanks for sharing yours.

I have considered ideas about taking the BP modpack against the shivans in a gauntlet style mission. I was thinking of a shivan gauntlet where you play as the Vishnans. The lack of weapon variety is one of the things which hold me back from jumping on that idea. Ignoring plot, gameplay wise a shivan gauntlet with UEF, or perhaps any terran(human?) fighter at your disposal might be a good idea.

[docfu]

Actually after a day of thinking about this the thought occurred to me that the UEF has no idea about current Shivan technology (aside from what the defectors and Sanctuary would have told them at the end of BP.) since the collapse of the Sol jump node at the end of freespace 1.

So, in all honesty, having a bunch of UEF simulations where you take on only original FreeSpace Shivan and Vasudan ships would not only be very cool, but would also be very logical from a training standpoint. You would train versus the enemy you know using past battle experiences.

No Capella scenarios would be present because Sol would have no idea that any of that happened.

This could make for a very cool side project while the rest of us wait for WIH - Part 2.

[Scotty]

The UEF knows what has happened since the Great War.  Remember in Delenda Est, one of the frigate captains has a talk with Admiral Lopez about Admiral Koth and futility of a last stand.

[KyadCK]

'Training Simulations' are like the holy grail to us (or at least me), it allows us to bend the rules and make missions that would not otherwise make sense with the main story (see: gauntlet missions in general). There is no reason the UEF couldn't have pre-war training simulators for anti-shivan, especially considering the scare they got the first time. Or they just have old ones from the Great War sitting around, who knows, and there HAS to be that one guy who updates it with the new info from defectors 'because it would be fun'. We all know someone like that, and with the billions of people in Sol, I promice there is one in BP too.

The idea holds merit to me, and as such I will start fredding something to revolve around it unless docfu would rather make it himself and submit it to the project.

[docfu]

To keep this simple I'll start by specifying that training missions should be considered "to have been developed before the re-opening of the sol node."

I've never fredded anything except hacking the current WIH missions to let me check out those new snazzy bombers and other ships that haven't been released yet (and to see what 12 Uriels do to the Meridian in Post Meridian). As a result I wouldn't feel comfortable releasing anything.

I don't see a need to do all of the original freespace missions. Considering the first 1/3rd of the game you neither see Shivans nor have shields would mean that any UEF fighter should dominate to the point where it's not worth playing.

I'll spend an hour tonight looking over old missions to see which have significant value and post a list. I'm guessing probably 5-6 offhand would be worth doing and I'll write some notes so that hopefully they can be scaled to have value.

Again, Clash of the Titans instantly comes to mind because on Easy-Medium difficulty you could have the original mission as is, then on Hard/Insane you could simply quadruple the number of enemies in flight to make the mission difficult. Upgrading the demon to have beams wouldn't work because before the sol gate was opened the UEF had no idea of beam weapons.

KyadCK: Can you locate the multiplayer versions of the freespace 1 missions? I think there was a thread where someone redid the FSOpen Missions to make them more difficult and give them a fresh look. They might be a good place to start.

I think it's a worthy topic to discuss what kind of training missions the UEF would consider. Should we spin this off into it's own thread?

[Lester]

So, if I understand correctly, you want a remake of Clash of the Titans with UEF ships instead of GTA ships? If so, that'd be incredibly easy to make.

[docfu]

I just split the thread off with a detailed description of what I'm thinking of at:

http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=76742.0

[KyadCK]

I've never fredded anything except hacking the current WIH missions to let me check out those new snazzy bombers and other ships that haven't been released yet (and to see what 12 Uriels do to the Meridian in Post Meridian). As a result I wouldn't feel comfortable releasing anything.

After a bit of debugging and polish, my first mission is now in the BPmulti SVN. Dont give up before you try, you never know how good you are untill you do and we are always looking for more help. It is also quite a bit easier to learn when you have people that can help you to understand what went wrong, or how to do a certain thing, and most of us hang out on IRC. Please, make an attempt. If it helps it does not have to be put on the svn right away but can be shared via PasteBin or something.

KyadCK: Can you locate the multiplayer versions of the freespace 1 missions? I think there was a thread where someone redid the FSOpen Missions to make them more difficult and give them a fresh look. They might be a good place to start.

It is worth noting that we do NOT have FS1 assets. So things like the Apollo or Scorpion are out of our reach unless we add them to the SVN manualy since adding yet another large mod -FSport and it's MVPs in this case- to our already long requirement list might not be for the best.

[docfu]

Okay, if you tackle Clash of the Titans and toss in a Karuna (because we are talking current fleet readiness.) I'll tackle Evangelist.

I'm trying to decide which UEF fighters should replace the original Freespace fighters. Uhlans are an easy pick but Uriels don't seem like a fair replacement for Hercs.

Comments?

[MatthTheGeek]

I don't see those simulations should be 1:1 conversion from FS1 anyway. The deployment of UEF forces in those mishes should fit the UEF doctrine. Put Kents or Uriels if they fit the spirit of the mission and what the UEF would deploy in those circumstances. Also, remember than Uriels can take bombing, no need to send Durgas unless it is a very valuable target.