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General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Assassin714 on November 06, 2018, 10:24:16 pm

Title: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Assassin714 on November 06, 2018, 10:24:16 pm
It's a What If/Alternate History where the Shivans never showed up, and the Terran/Vasudan war continued, following it all the way to the end, whichever side ultimately wins.

If it doesn't exist, would anyone be interested in playing something like that?

Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 07, 2018, 03:21:08 am
To my knowledge, no one has made a campaign like that.

There is Twist of Fate (https://wiki.hard-light.net/index.php/Twist_of_Fate) that works of a similar but very different continuity - it's an alternate timeline where the Shivans were destroyed(?) by the Ancients.


As for, if I would play it: Yes, definitely.

The Terran-Vasudan War is actually a ripe prospect for thematic exploration, esspecially since it seems to be created from different reference points and there are some intruiging open questions that could be answered that way.

EDIT: Not to forget that could be some amazing visuals to be put together too - just because there might not be something that obviously flashy and attention grabing (*cough*beams*cough*) doesn't mean it can't be amazing. (This is the point in the argument where I wish I had played any of Black Wolf's Frontlines yet)
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Oddgrim on November 07, 2018, 07:55:32 am
Agree with Orph3u5, the TW has not really been explored like suggested.
I wonder what would have happened.. Maybe the war dragged on until a ceasefire had been reached, If I recall by the time the shivans appeared the confilict was a bit in a stalemate. Or if it had dragged on to its bitter end with either terrans or zods loosing their homeworld. heh A story set where the zodz occupied earth, told from the human perspective would be interesting.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 07, 2018, 09:11:28 am
I had a concept for such scenario called Unborn Legacy, where unknown race intefered during Ancient-Shivan War and destroyed the Lucifer. I even released a shippack with models associated with UL and one more, cancelled production. Also I still have started modpack, with some stuff like PVN-themed Hatshepsut. I never officially started that for various reasons [ya know, real life and stuff], but it would eventually become my side project aside from Exile.

Some of the coolest features of such scenario would be FS1-themed mood of the mod and alternate fleets based on Atens, Typhons, Fenrises, Orions... As Hecate or Deimos are probably influenced by vasudan engineering, they were never designed. This fact generate space for new, completely alternate ship classes based on technology used during Terran-Vasudan War.

It is also perfect opportunity for introduction of Ancients. Maybe as a secondary or even primary enemy, along with PVN.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 07, 2018, 09:42:40 am
Ah that's the campaign these shiny ships were made for. :D

The point has been brought up before:

I think there were several campaigns that dealt with that throught the years, this was just the only one that ever made it to release. There was also Woolie Wools "Twist of Fate" and some HLP project called Alternate Paths or something like that I once read about (not sure about the latter though).

What If is kind of like FS1: Reborn.  It's a similar story, but with flak guns and beam cannons.  By contrast, both Twist of Fate and Alternate Paths tell what may have happened in the Terran-Vasudan War if the Shivans had never shown up.

Alternate Paths dates from way back in HLP's history.  Here's a capture of their website. (https://web.archive.org/web/20020420105155/http://www.3dap.com:80/hlp/hosted/ap/)  I included a reference to it in the secret area of the Phoenix holonet. ;)
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Black Wolf on November 07, 2018, 10:33:09 am
It's a What If/Alternate History where the Shivans never showed up, and the Terran/Vasudan war continued, following it all the way to the end, whichever side ultimately wins.

If it doesn't exist, would anyone be interested in playing something like that?

I definitely would be interested! Potentially some of the Frontlines ships might be useful too if you make it; in my continuity they're mostly meant to be from early in the war, but things like the Neith, Cleopatra and Jupiter could easily be retconned as late or post-war developments.

IMO, though (and this is just my opinion) there's no way the war wasn't heading towards a definitive Terran victory within 12 months of FS1 anyway, were it not for the Shivans. When you look at the events of FS1, you'll see that the Terran fighter fleet basically replaces itself in the space of a few months, from Apollos and Athenas to a whole array of new fighters and bombers like the Hercules, Medusa, Valkyrie etc., as well as the weapons that arm them. Many of them we're explicitly told are new designs as well, and there's just no way that all those classes hadn't been in development - likely also being manufactured - for years prior to FS1. Maybe the Shivans arrival sped up their deployment a little, but the Terran fighter fleet was regenerating and upgrading itself big time in the years leading up to 2335, probably building up for an attack on the Vasudans. The Vasudans basically only gained the Thoth during that time period: clearly they weren't modernising at anything like the pace that the Terran were. Toss in the Loki and Zeus, as well as the Hades, which must have been under construction for years even prior to the Shivans, and you have a modern Terran fleet, headed by one of the most powerful and we'll defended capital ships ever designed almost certainly steamrolling through outdated Vasudans defences in 2336/37.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 07, 2018, 11:06:52 am
Good observation! :) I never thought that there could be a side winning the TV-War given how FS1 starts, but I'd guess that the Vasudans would have certainly face huge trouble even if they'd manage to take out the Hades, which would have neither beams nor shields (unlike the Lucifer). On the other hand, the war went back and forth for a long time and I'm not sure if one side ever came close to the hostile homeworld (they had atleast enough time to built up colonies). Also, one shouldn't forget the Ursa, the Harbinger and the Avenger on the Terran side.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Novachen on November 07, 2018, 11:13:47 am
Well... i always had the impression, that the Terran development is shown only, because the player is a terran.

It is more apparent in FS2, because there the player only get new GTF's, GTW's and GTM's... but no vasudan counterparts at all, even they should exist referring to the Mekhu HL-7 entry.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 07, 2018, 11:15:11 am
Read the red line in my sig.



I will serve the GTA gladly.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 07, 2018, 12:19:50 pm
Well... i always had the impression, that the Terran development is shown only, because the player is a terran.

It is more apparent in FS2, because there the player only get new GTF's, GTW's and GTM's... but no vasudan counterparts at all, even they should exist referring to the Mekhu HL-7 entry.

:v: did a lot of implications about GTVA Terran/Vasudan tech similarities, but in the end the Shivans are firing Harbingers and Tsunamis too.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 07, 2018, 12:50:34 pm
I kind of disagreed with the idea that the Terrans were sure to win. I think the Terrans had more territory, can't be sure. But when I first played FS1 my headcanon was that there was no end in sight to the war. The Vasudans had a major edge with the Typhon destroyer, definitely a better ship than the Orion at that time. Also more heavy bomber capability with the Amun, and such excellent craft as the Horus, Seth, and later Thoth. The Terrans did not outdo the Zods in excellence of fighter production, the Horus/Seth/Thoth trio still stands strong as late as FS2. Also the advances made by the Terrans in the wake of the great War (Silent Threat era stuff) I always associated that with the fact that the Zods got hit harder by the Shivans. Bear in mind that by FS2 the zods had bounced back, with the best all-purpose destroyer design, better beams, amazing strikecraft, etc. I don't think we can judge the Vasudan's capability to continue the war in that hypothetical scenario based solely on what we actually saw happen after the Shivans invaded.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 07, 2018, 01:21:46 pm
Ah that's the campaign these shiny ships were made for. :D
Actually those assets were supposed to be shared between two, different FS1-themed mods.
Good observation! :) I never thought that there could be a side winning the TV-War given how FS1 starts, but I'd guess that the Vasudans would have certainly face huge trouble even if they'd manage to take out the Hades, which would have neither beams nor shields (unlike the Lucifer). On the other hand, the war went back and forth for a long time and I'm not sure if one side ever came close to the hostile homeworld (they had atleast enough time to built up colonies). Also, one shouldn't forget the Ursa, the Harbinger and the Avenger on the Terran side.
Hades would never exist in the form shown in ST, as it was actually based on Shivan technology. However, different superdestroyer with different technology would be possible, same as whole GTI rebellion thing. Perhaps it was planned long before the Great War and it would be possible even without shivan interference. Maybe somekind of alter-Hades without beam weaponry and other systems?

I was thinking about armaments race during Terran-Vasudan War and GTA were probably those, who always throw the gauntlet first. If I remember correctly, Orion is older, while Typhons were introduced during T-VW probably to counter Orions. While the matter of any eventual older destroyers for both sides is debatable, PVN may be introducing new classes of warships only as a response to some threads in particular. Karnak is confirmed example for such manner. What conserns me the most is why PVN never actually introduced strong cruisers to counter terran Fenris and Leviathan. Aten is a crap.

Anyway if threat like Hades ever appear in such scenario, PVN would surely find a way to kill such thing. With Typhons and bombers, or with something new.

Alternate history scenario is tempting, but something that covers eventual post T-VW period is even more interesting in my opinion, mostly because possibilities are countless. Campaign set after victory of one side, ceasefire or even more exotic approach like Ancients encounter, or discovery of Knossos in Gamma Draconis. While alternate stories were proposed before, nobody ever made anything that tells a story about what happened after alternate ending of T-V War. Many alternate T-V War scenarios may be... Hmmm... Predictable?

Something 2355-2360 [alter-Reconstruction??] would be also perfect opportunity to show GTA and PVN fleets after years of armaments race. Woolie Wool had this cool idea of using scrapped EA destroyer as Orion successor in Twist of Fate, while Vasudans developed Hatshepsut separately to GTVA zods in main timeline. I even made a small upgrade to Raven's model he used.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Novachen on November 07, 2018, 01:37:13 pm
:v: did a lot of implications about GTVA Terran/Vasudan tech similarities, but in the end the Shivans are firing Harbingers and Tsunamis too.

Yes you are right. The similarities are also present in the game. The mentioned Mekhu HL-7/Subach HL-7 similarty. Another one is the GVF Ptah/GTF Pegasus.

So i still think, that there is a vasudan version of the Maxim aswell a vasudan Trebuchet and a vasudan GTF Ares counterpart. Like the mentioned similarities the difference is only small, but it is there. Maybe the vasudan Trebuchet has a shorter range, but is more maneuverable or something like that. Mekhu and Subach are also different only in details, because the Vasudans have their own style to fight.

But i think that this stuff is not in the game, because it is not relevant for it. Because we are playing a terran and most of the time we are part of the terran fleet in the GTVA. Only for a handful of missions on the GVD Psamtik/Memphis  :v-old: had to create a whole tech tree for the vasudans. Would be nice to have for the immersion, but nothing more. Not really relevant for a commercial game.

The same is the vasudan tech in FS1... it is not really relevant for the official campaigns if the Vasudans have their own counterpart of Avenger, Phoenix V, Athena etc., so there were not created by  :v-old:

I do not believe, that the Vasudans twiddle thumbs only in both games and watches without reaction how the Terrans develop all these new shiny ships and weapons...


Maybe someone like to create a whole vasudan tech for FS1 and FS2 in the future that can be properly used for FreeSpace Port and Blue.


But well, to the original question.
Well, i am not very sure if this war could be won by anyone. It has similarities to the western front in World War I, some of the front systems had back and forth battles since 14 years only.
Even with the Hades, i am not sure if this would be the ultimate end-of-the-vasudan-days-weapon, because without all the shivan tech the Hades would have been a different ship. It would not have any beam cannons, it would not have a superior subspace drive and whatever other tech the Hades only had due to the Shivans. And also we do not have any information about which was neglected for the Hades. Because i think, that all the resources that were put into a super destroyer would have some effects in other aspects of the military.

Maybe the Vasudans would have been able to destroy the Hades right in time. Even in this Shivan enhanced version the Hades had some weaknesses, without it would had surely some more of them. It would not be able to hit the Vasudans from the back, which was the biggest advantage the Hades had in ST:R. Without it, it had to fly through the front lines, without beam weapons. Actually i have doubt, that the Hades would be able to reach the vasudan core systems at all or heavy damaged only.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 07, 2018, 02:07:06 pm
A large-scale war can both stifle or increase innovation/advances in technology.

The reason I say this is because a technological power is presented with two main choices upon being thrust into conflict: Do we focus time, money, labor, raw materials, and other resources into technological advancements that will help us win later on, or do we focus our resources into maintaining the current assets?

Actually, both plans can be quite workable. It very much depends on your situation. Investing in technological advances can leave you vulnerable when what you really need are a few dozen more squads of older but dependable front-line vehicles. On the other hand, the longer a war goes on, the better the chances that your enemy will boost their technological level and you will need to counter that.

With the passage of time it has been repeatedly demonstrated that forgoing technological advancement usually has dire consequences. However I believe this should be balanced with a respect for what you already have - if it's cost-efficient and can hold back the enemy, make use of it.

It appears to me that, exclusively during the TV war era, we might see at least a slight tendency with the Terrans to prefer rapid advances, while the Vasudans preferred to upkeep older designs as long as they remained competitive - which indeed they did, I do not agree with the notion that Terran designs outdid Vasudan counterparts even as far back as the TV War. Terran cruisers were better for sure, but Vasudans had the superior destroyer, some superior auxiliary designs, and arguably superior fightercraft depending on the scenario. At least zod strikecraft remained competitive.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: rubixcube on November 07, 2018, 10:15:09 pm
I'd love to play a campaign around this idea.

You could almost set this as an alternate universe in BP's multiverse. Then again that might constrain your story space too much, maybe you'll want to do your own thing.
Either way, hope it gets made  :D.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 09, 2018, 07:19:47 am
Since we are all now putting forth ideas, and I see a flaw in many of those put foward, I'd like to add my response to that flaw to the mix:

What many have mentioned is that they see that the Terran-Vasudan War would progress and resolve itself (strictly) along the Species divide. But what if it did not?

It's not like a war-weary population "walking out" on their wartime leadership has not happened before (e.g. the Kiel Mutiny (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_mutiny)* and the Novemeber Revolution of 1918). So what if an anti-war, non-alligned block of planets formed?
There is much potential there to then go into the history of the conflict and explore if and how there were contacts and exchanges on non-military levels, e.g.

- what happened if control of a planet shifted and a population from one species was no under the jurisdiction of the government that was hegemonially not their species?

- what kind of psychologcial warfare did the PVN and GTA engage in? (this conjures up the image of an Osiris flying over a city dropping pamphlets :) )

- how did each side deal with dissent in their own ranks? (The GTVA still practices strong divisions, and the mere existence of the NTF proves that even after two generations of contact there is enough to practice the extreme othering; but what if there are minorities on both sides that are way more comfortable with each other, e.g. Vasudans that are not part of the Vasudan Imperium, yet live under the umbrella of the PVE)

- how a GTA defector live in the PVE? (I mean, McCarthy must have had some kind of plan for the time after the Avenger-hand off...)


I admit, these are all things I want to tackle myself, but in the main Freespace continuity where there are Shivans, which alters the way you answer these questions.


*The use of the word "mutiny" by is literal definition to describe the events is in german academic cricles considered to be a conservative-to-right-wing colouring of the events. The more mainstream version translated to "revolt" or "uprising" with a more neutral conotation. Yes, the Sailor did mutiny against their commanders but it is considered to be legitimate act of disobedience in modern interpretations.


EDIT: *Waits for the image of what a nBSG-Gaius-Baltar would look like for the T-V-War to give Dekker the shock of his life*  :p
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 09, 2018, 09:16:22 am
An interesting suggestion Orpheus. Reminds me of your work with the Lost Generation - such things investigate the human question and not just "two one-dimensional galactic powers head to head"
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Black Wolf on November 10, 2018, 08:43:46 pm
Hades would never exist in the form shown in ST, as it was actually based on Shivan technology. However, different superdestroyer with different technology would be possible, same as whole GTI rebellion thing. Perhaps it was planned long before the Great War and it would be possible even without shivan interference. Maybe somekind of alter-Hades without beam weaponry and other systems?

There's not actually any evidence in-game for this, but my assumption has always been that the warships in Freespace take a decent chunk of time to build, comparable to modern warships. Even if it's slightly faster or slower, it almost certainly should be measured in years, particularly once you include R&D, design, commissioning etc. Given that ST is set 6 months or so after FS1, it stands to reason that the Hades must have been conceived, designed and largely built before the events of FS1. I figure there are two possibilities: either the GTI were observing the Shivans for some significant amount of time prior to FS1, and conceived of the Hades as a result of those observations, or they had already designed and partially built the Hades, discovered the Shivans just prior to FS1, and then retrofitted as much Shivans tech as they could (probably they also accelerated it's completion to fight the Shivans). In the case of the former, no Hades in this universe, since the GTI would never encounter them, but in the case of the latter, the Hades should look essentially identical, as it would have been structurally complete (or at least designed and artially built) before the Shivans came on the scene anyway. I'll grant there's potential for a spectrum there, with the "No Shivans" Hades looking more and more different depending on how long the GTI had to study the Shivans before FS1 (it's implied they knew about them, but no detail is given on how long for).

FWIW, my personal impression is that the GTI didn't have a vast amount of advanced warning that the Shivans were out there, and that the Hades was likely conceived as a GTI superweapon, either to take over the GTA as it eventually became, or to win the war against the Vasudans. Or even just possibly as a response to the Typhon?
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 11, 2018, 05:15:13 am
I think that the Hades was the GTAs final attempt to win the war. Both sides were exhausted at that point, so the Hades could have been there last straw before public opinion would prefer a ceasefire. So they built the ship under supervision of the GTI in a remote system, where they could control anyone who's trying to access it (unlike if they had built it at the outer region of Sol) in order to prevent any information being leaked. When the jump node collapsed, they took it over for their own purposes.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 11, 2018, 11:49:01 am
It is possible, but without beam weaponry, Hades is as powerful and terrifying as any other destroyer in FS1. Pair of Typhons would be sufficient to kill such thing, not to mention bombers.

What I really liked about INFA and demo of ToF was different anti-capital weapons system. So called "railguns". I always loved big, fast blobs with long trails much more than actual beam cannons. Alter-Hades might appear in alternate story scenario even as flagship of GTA forces, but it would be useless without somekind of dedicated, anti-capital weaponry to compensate lack of beam cannons. Sometimes I joke about T-V War because everything is armed only with tons of useless blobs and that war would never end because both sides had no proper weapons against enemy warships. Aside from bombers.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 11, 2018, 12:05:35 pm
I think railguns as cool as they are would kick the balance of the war, atleast the way they are in INFA and especially if only 1 side could deploy them in sufficient amounts. They're not as powerful as beam weapons, but the blob turrets are useless against capships. The blob turrets are also useless against shields, but Terrans and Vasudans didn't had them during T-V war. Still without the Shivan tech, the Hades only advantage was its huge amount of HP. But as ST showed that they can be removed, slowly and steadily.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 11, 2018, 12:22:28 pm
An interesting suggestion Orpheus. Reminds me of your work with the Lost Generation - such things investigate the human question and not just "two one-dimensional galactic powers head to head"

I know it is rude to dismiss a compliment like this, but I am not that deep.

I just remember the lesson from the creative writing class I never actually had, that Choice is a basic road to Complication and Complication being just a step before Conflict, and Conflict is a way how you make something interesting to your audience.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 11, 2018, 03:32:55 pm
Plus Railgun is a canon weapon. GTA might develop large-scale variants of this to mount on their Orions and Leviathans.

In Unborn Legacy I wanted to arm terran warships with railguns and swarm torpedoes, akin to UEF. I always loved UEF weaponry. BP team did a great job at arming the Federation and it's my primary source of inspiration for years. Terrans also use cluster torpedoes and three types of blobs [standard, pulse cannons and shotgun turrets] to defend their capships. PVN at the other side, use plasma drivers + single, but powerful torpedoes as a main weapons of their warships. Their weapons are heavier, slower but have overally higher damage output. Their capships are protected with blobs, burst turrets, flak cannons and swarm missiles.

Shield matter is another thing. In UL both GTA and PVN developed shielding technology independently from shivans, so they were supposed to look different to their equivalents from main timeline. It is mostly balancing issue, but I'm wondering if shields could be developed without examination of shivan technology.

...and I found something :D
(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/330058862516502529/509157804192432148/Przechwytywanie.JPG)
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 11, 2018, 04:40:04 pm
It seems that atleast GTA was working on something shield-like:

Quote
Early experiments with energy based defenses like the deflector array at Ross 128 have shown that this weapon is exceedingly weak against anything besides steel based targets.

- https://wiki.hard-light.net/index.php/GTM_MX-50
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 11, 2018, 05:09:28 pm
If I had been to design a weaponry paradigm for Terrans, I always felt that it would be cool for them to have (what I'd call) an "iron" or "steel" weaponry system. No energy weapons, those cost too much power. Massive ballistic cannons firing huge HE or AP shells in a straight line (easier to evade than beams, yes). Limited amounts of massive guided torpedoes, launching with a flaming blast from huge dorsal silos or front-mounted tubes. And light, short range, swarming missiles complemented by space machine guns for close-in defense.

Whereas the Zods and Shivans would be the one with beams and lasers. I think that would have made the races feel a bit more alien to each other. As it is, I was always surprised at how similar Terran and Vasudan weaponry is: beams, blobs, missiles, etc. Of course that was very much in the interest of  :v: as it saved time on multiple levels, but still.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: CT27 on November 11, 2018, 06:49:17 pm
I'd love to play a campaign where Shivans didn't show up and the T-V War was carried to a conclusion.


Like people have talked about, what would be done with the Hades?  If the campaign was from the Terran POV and you wanted to give them a superweapon to beat the Vasudans who had better conventional destroyers (the consensus seems to be Typhons are better than Orions at least)...how would you enhance it other than just a lot of hp?
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 12, 2018, 05:53:32 am
If you want to enhance it, railguns are probably the best way to go. As long as you restrict them to a few ships (what would be reasonable as you can't use the latest technology directly everywhere) it would be still within range. Yet I doubt that the war would have come to a conclusion. I could very well imagine that there have been several occasions where one side had a technological/tactical advantage, conquered a few systems, lost their advantage (Intel acquiring tech/information, rushed deployment of their own advanced technology) and were pushed back again. Even with all their advantages the Shivans did not conquer T/V space all at once, and I don't see where the resources required for one side to win should come from.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: rubixcube on November 13, 2018, 08:14:47 am
If you want to enhance it, railguns are probably the best way to go. As long as you restrict them to a few ships (what would be reasonable as you can't use the latest technology directly everywhere) it would be still within range. Yet I doubt that the war would have come to a conclusion. I could very well imagine that there have been several occasions where one side had a technological/tactical advantage, conquered a few systems, lost their advantage (Intel acquiring tech/information, rushed deployment of their own advanced technology) and were pushed back again. Even with all their advantages the Shivans did not conquer T/V space all at once, and I don't see where the resources required for one side to win should come from.

Keep in mind the goals of both sides were considerably less ambitious than the shivans. There was never a desire for either species to totally conquer and wipe out the other, more like grab control of a few key systems.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: TrashMan on November 17, 2018, 06:57:01 pm
But when I first played FS1 my headcanon was that there was no end in sight to the war. The Vasudans had a major edge with the Typhon destroyer, definitely a better ship than the Orion at that time.

I disagree. All the Tripple Terran Heavy Turrets would give a big advantage to the Orion in brawl.

On a semi-related note, the lack of any ship classes between the cruisers and destroyers bugs me.
Also, the big blob turrets really need an buff in such a campaign.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 17, 2018, 07:46:49 pm
But when I first played FS1 my headcanon was that there was no end in sight to the war. The Vasudans had a major edge with the Typhon destroyer, definitely a better ship than the Orion at that time.

I disagree. All the Tripple Terran Heavy Turrets would give a big advantage to the Orion in brawl.

On a semi-related note, the lack of any ship classes between the cruisers and destroyers bugs me.
Also, the big blob turrets really need an buff in such a campaign.

Possibly, depends on the angle of engagement. In addition the Typhon was tougher, carried more fightercraft, and had more anti-fighter weaponry. Remember the tech description, it definitely takes the Typhon seriously as a threat and credits it with the destruction of at least one Orion.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: TrashMan on November 17, 2018, 09:15:13 pm
That refers to it's fighter complement.

The vasudans seemed to have better bombers early on.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: General Battuta on November 17, 2018, 10:52:27 pm
Keep in mind the goals of both sides were considerably less ambitious than the shivans. There was never a desire for either species to totally conquer and wipe out the other, more like grab control of a few key systems.

The Harbinger is designed for pre-emptive attacks against civilian targets. Genocide was on the table.

Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 18, 2018, 12:30:51 am
Keep in mind the goals of both sides were considerably less ambitious than the shivans. There was never a desire for either species to totally conquer and wipe out the other, more like grab control of a few key systems.

The Harbinger is designed for pre-emptive attacks against civilian targets. Genocide was on the table.

GTA and PVN probably had various aims and tactics throughout the war which were applied depending on how it went for them.
In the end, despite 14 years of TV-war AND the Great war the colonies alone (Sol cut off, VP leveled) were able to construct the Colossus and a lot of other ships, despite the colonies having been the main battlefield of both wars.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: General Battuta on November 18, 2018, 01:42:17 am
I don't get it. I'm just arguing that there was definitely preparation for major countervalue warfare.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 18, 2018, 01:58:16 am
I don't doubt that, but :v-old: was so kind to provide as little as possible over the TV-war. FS1 was written in a way you could not guess that much either, so you have to look at what was left at a later point. Also Terrans and Vasudans seem to get along rather well in FS1 shortly after the Shivans pop up; unlike in Exile. So if they had bombed each other frequently that would be different; so the threat to use (mass-)violence against civilians in occupied territory was certainly there, like in any other war.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Firesteel on November 18, 2018, 04:35:58 am
To be fair a totally unknowable threat that you have no way of talking to is a come to Jesus moment.

I always have viewed the T-V war as analogous to WWI. I'd say the missions we see in FS1 are important enough that the animosity that exists between the Terrans and Vasudans is relatively insignificant. There also aren't too many joint missions that aren't incredibly high stakes if I recall. We're never going to get a clear answer as to whether or not there was large scale attacks on civilians by either side's military, but the language :V: uses around the harbinger backs up what Battuta is saying and I think the Harbinger is very much the equivalent of nuclear weapons in the Cold War.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: General Battuta on November 18, 2018, 09:31:48 pm
I don't doubt that, but :v-old: was so kind to provide as little as possible over the TV-war. FS1 was written in a way you could not guess that much either, so you have to look at what was left at a later point. Also Terrans and Vasudans seem to get along rather well in FS1 shortly after the Shivans pop up; unlike in Exile. So if they had bombed each other frequently that would be different; so the threat to use (mass-)violence against civilians in occupied territory was certainly there, like in any other war.

We nuked Japan twice and undertook massive strategic bombing of their civilians, but both of us were so pants-****tingly afraid of Communism that we became close military and cultural allies anyway.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: General Battuta on November 18, 2018, 09:37:58 pm
Shivans are red :thonking:
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 18, 2018, 10:08:06 pm
We nuked Japan twice and undertook massive strategic bombing of their civilians, but both of us were so pants-****tingly afraid of Communism that we became close military and cultural allies anyway.
True but I was reffering to the dialogs of pilots and low-ranking officers.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Firesteel on November 18, 2018, 10:57:17 pm
We nuked Japan twice and undertook massive strategic bombing of their civilians, but both of us were so pants-****tingly afraid of Communism that we became close military and cultural allies anyway.
True but I was reffering to the dialogs of pilots and low-ranking officers.

There's that old quote about no atheist in a foxhole. See also the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", especially in the situations the FS1 pilots are in. Space combat is also far less personal than ground wars in the 20th century.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 18, 2018, 11:16:42 pm
You don't have to meet some face to face to hate him. After 14 years, there are probably a lot of people who lost relatives and friends to the other side. Some of them want to end it, others want to continue. I'd guess that each side committed a fair amount of war crimes that people remember.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Colonol Dekker on November 20, 2018, 10:54:44 am
I definitely harbour some hate to the enemy elements of recent conflict.   

But r prior to that see my hate zod line.   It'll never change ;)


I think a big point in FS1 is the vague time span between certain missions.   Mccarthy trials etc.   That wouldn't be over in a matter of days.
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: Nightmare on November 20, 2018, 11:03:19 am
The CBs have dates, so it's atleast possible to give a rough estimate. Not entirely sure though as according to ( https://wiki.hard-light.net/index.php/Briefing_texts_(FS1-Act2)#Playing_Judas ), Playing Judas would be set on a 31st February. :wtf:
Title: Re: Has anyone ever made a campaign like this?
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 20, 2018, 01:33:20 pm
on a 31st February. :wtf:

.... September is still the 7th month of the year, right? (or October the 8th, November the 9th, December the 10th...)  :D