1

The Unification War / Re: Target monitor

« Last post by QuakeIV on May 20, 2024, 08:24:30 am »

I didn't like how in the original for a few missions you couldn't target anything and then magically you get the full fs2 sensor suite working. Thus in the rewrite I changed the sensors to gradually get better.

That was a writing thing where they were playing up the new avionics thing they were developing at earth, and it was this whole giant defense program the other nations couldn't afford to develop on their own, so they don't get it until they are delivered ships that already have it fully working.

2

The Modding Workshop / Re: Ship Interiors Project

« Last post by Colonol Dekker on May 20, 2024, 01:20:35 am »

I'm not a programmer but I'd say seek advice on our discord or refer to the wiki.

3

Gaming Discussion / Re: Current FREE Games Promotions

« Last post by karajorma on May 20, 2024, 12:11:42 am »

Dragon Age Inquisition is free on Epic. Never played it but I enjoyed the first one and tolerated the second so it might be worth a try.

4

Between the Ashes / Re: BtA Bug Report Thread

« Last post by mjn.mixael on May 19, 2024, 11:15:20 pm »

I don't know if this is because I was using FSO 24.0.1 instead of 24.0.0, but whenever I completed a mission or restarted one after getting to the AAR, most of the text would get corrupted. Subtitles, weapon text, etc. Also, when this happened and I try to access the database on the main menu, the game crashes. I checked the main game to see if the issue happens there, but it didnt.

Also, though this is more an issue with knossos.net, but after I encountered the issue the first time last night, I tried to verify the mod and instead it got deleted, so I had to redownload it.

This was a bug with 24.0.1 FSO engine. It is fixed in 24.0.2 which BtA will be set to on Friday when BtA2 officially releases.

5

Nightly Builds / Nightly: 19 May 2024 - Revision c1af4317d

« Last post by SirKnightly on May 19, 2024, 01:31:39 am »

Here is the nightly for 19 May 2024 - Revision c1af4317d



Group: Linux
nightly_20240519_c1af4317d-builds-Linux.tar.gz (Mirror)


Group: MacOSX-arm64
nightly_20240519_c1af4317d-builds-Mac-arm64.tar.gz (Mirror)


Group: MacOSX-x86_64
nightly_20240519_c1af4317d-builds-Mac-x86_64.tar.gz (Mirror)


Group: Win32-SSE2
nightly_20240519_c1af4317d-builds-Win32-SSE2.zip (Mirror)


Group: Win64-SSE2
nightly_20240519_c1af4317d-builds-x64-SSE2.zip (Mirror)

Code: [Select]

------------------------------------------------------------------------
commit 8bd8e785b
Author: Asteroth
Commit: Asteroth

    adjustments to rand vecs for random orientation
 code/math/vecmat.cpp             | 2 +-
 code/math/vecmat.h               | 2 +-
 code/scripting/api/libs/base.cpp | 2 +-
 3 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)


6

FreeSpace Conversion / Re: FreeSpace Port 3.7 + FSPort Media VPs Release!

« Last post by Goober5000 on May 18, 2024, 08:41:53 pm »

The FSPort MediaVPs have been updated to 4.7.2 to remove the +Weapon Range field from the weapons and add the "detonate on expiration" field.  This makes MediaVP effects work properly without needing a hack, and also prevents mods using the FSPort from being affected by the range.

7

The Modding Workshop / Re: Ship Interiors Project

« Last post by knight26 on May 18, 2024, 03:08:34 pm »

Ok, for those of us who are terrible at programming, how do we do that?  I tried adding it's flags to the FSO settings, but that didn't do it.

8

FreeSpace Discussion / Re: Ordering support ship to repair and rearm wingmen?

« Last post by BengalTiger on May 18, 2024, 01:28:18 pm »

There is a SEXP called "good-rearm-time" that overrides the AI's reluctance to rearm for any reason.

You could tie an events that uses it to a button press for an immediate fix. I would also recommend to increase the number of support ships at the same time if you do that.

It could get tied to an event triggered by a wingman having low health.

Some sort of IF Alpha 2 has less than 30% HP, then trigger the rearm.

9

FreeSpace Discussion / Re: Should the GTVA build a new frigate class of ships?

« Last post by BengalTiger on May 18, 2024, 01:24:57 pm »

I don't think that's a niche that really needs filling.  The Hecate packs enough of a punch to deal with anything smaller than a destroyer, and its firepower is diffuse enough that it can deal with several ships of that size at once.  Where the GTVA is weak is dealing with other capital ships.

If you could build several frigates for the cost of one Hecate, sure, but that's a very difficult question to answer since our information on the engineering and economics of shipbuilding in FreeSpace is extremely limited.  Off the top of my head we know that

• The Orion costs more to build that it costs to pay its crew of 10,000 for 3 years
• The Aelous was too expensive
• The Colossus took 20 years to build
• The NTF managed to build the Iceni in 18 months or less

If they could pump out Icenis they'd be very useful, they have as much firepower as a destroyer, are more manoeuvrable, are considerably smaller and therefore easier to defend and have 90% of the armour of the Terran destroyers, but who knows how replicable that design is.  Maybe it uses loads of rare materials.

A couple ships (this is canon, not mods) use the Subach HL-7, so fighter guns do exist in turrets.
If a Deimos was rearmed from THT to Prometheus S, and from the standard Terran Turrets to the HL-7, it would have a great increase in its damage delivery capability, at the cost of some range.
The longer range of the normal turret guns in FS 2 does not really mean much at all. The capital ships get zapped by beams and the small ships avoid the blobs mostly anyways (especially the huge turret).

Thus I postulate to replace the THT's with Prometheus S. The THT's are good in FS 1 era because they have lots of range, but the Prom reaches 1.5 km, so it's going to be better than any non-THT guns. Not to mention high velocity and good accuracy.

Now when it comes to dealing with destroyers and above, the Vasudans are good in the capital ship department.

Those who do not believe, set up a test mission - a duel of a Big Hat vs an Orion. Just make sure the Hat has the Orion above it (as there is no up or down in space, only where the guns can point or can't). The Orion gets spanked.
At close range when secondary guns and fusion mortars can reach, the Orion gets spanked bigly.

The Hat can also use all main guns while orbiting around a large ship, so in theory these can defeat a Sathanas if they are allowed to exit hyperspace and survive till they are in orbit. The Big Hat is a proper battleship.
I don't think that the GTVA fleet really needs frigates. The all around combatants are there - corvettes, and the carriers and battleships are also there.

Maybe a miniature Hatshepsut in the role of a frigate, so it would keep the firepower but lose the big hangar for some small docking bay (so it could have a few fighters for escort and scouting, but not a fleet of bombers). At about 1200-1500 meters this ship would fit in the frigate class, and it would be very dedicated to punching above its own weight...

But wait, there's more...
FS and FS 2 does not really explore much that happens beyond the front lines. Alpha 1 rarely escorts anything - there is the rare science ship, freighter or gas miner, but we just never get to see the behind friendly lines stuff too much.

This is where an Aeolus type B would be nice to have. Again, replace the THT with Prometheus, and up the AAA beams from 2 to 4 (so the belt turrets would be a 2-pack of AAA per side).
Regarding the cost of these ships - I have a strange feeling that a couple things happened.
First - the Aeolus was a testbed for new weapons and technologies. It's a very capable ship for its size.
Second - when the Aeolus entered production  the GTVA figured that let's go for bigger ships and it will be worth the cost. Thus the Deimos exists, and as I wrote above it's a good ship.
Third - the Aeolus gets cancelled after a short run due to not being able to compete with Deimos, so the unit cost will be high.
Fourth - the Deimos uses the tech pioneered on the Aeolus, and so the initial R&D is relatively small, and with it becoming the standard combat ship of the fleet, this cost gets distributed over a large quantity produced.

If the Aeolus gets restarted it could come at a lower price tag on its second run, even with some slight upgrades. Then it would be the cheaper of the two compared to the corvette, and would be a very welcome replacement for the FS 1 era cruisers in escort duties.

Now final note - regarding the NTF frigate - that was this one admiral's pet project. We know it was built quick, but who knows, they may have built a flotilla of corvettes for its price instead.

The GTVA should just build a bunch of maxim and trebuchet wielding gunboats that leave any larger ship drifting helplessly through space.

Those were rarely available, so it might be an indicator of the price.
There's also somewhat of a game balance and AI business here, as these weapons were more effective when Alpha 1 was using them than when the other pilots did.

10

FreeSpace Discussion / Re: Homeworld 3 is out, so I wrote a thing about FreeSpace.

« Last post by BengalTiger on May 18, 2024, 12:17:37 pm »

Good article.

I haven't played HW 3 yet, I'll wait for a sale.
The Steam reviews are mixed, and the negative ones have some very valid points (not even with much spoilers to the plot, but the gameplay and other non-story related).
Seems like the campaign is short, the ships are not intelligent (they forget orders, don't prioritize the right targets). Ship speed is out of whack to the point that fighters are slow, and I read the support frigate cannot keep up with the larger ships it's meant to support. That's not to mention they have some intrusive DRM thing that is not only intrusive to the player, but also to the PC resources...

That said, Cyberpunk was famous for being a disaster and then it evolved so much, so there is hope.