Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: 0rph3u5 on October 31, 2016, 10:56:28 am

Title: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on October 31, 2016, 10:56:28 am
HLP, I've come to bargain!

Some years back I dropped a campaign which was done for the most part because of RL. Back then it was kinda convenient because I was drawing a blank on how I should resolve a crucial moment mid-way through the campaign. With some time and distance I came up with a solution to that, so I am going to resurrect this campaign and make it ready for release at the end of year, alongside the updated versions of Memories of the Great War.
(I said it, mark the calender)....

The Lost Generation - Ashcroft was originally conceived along a companion campaign to bridge time and flesh out characters for another project, which will not be revived in the same manner. However since plot-points from the Ashcroft-segment also feed back into Of Shivans and Men, it was an even better candidate to bring back.

As for what you can expect from the story:

You are a pilot in 10th Polaris Volunteers, a NTF-reserve unit. However "reserve unit" is just a fancy word for accelerated flight training and you are sure to be shipped off to the frontlines against the GTVA, for the war with Alliance is going badly.

But you are unlike your comrades in the squadron, you are no idealist nor are you as angry with the universe as everyone else seems to be. You are looking to tie up an increasingly pressing loose end ... to have certainty, even if that means to fight, and perhaps die, in the process.

Just as you try to find your answers, you are stumbling into a greater game...


(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview04.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview01.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview03.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview07.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview09.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview06.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview08.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview05.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview10.png)


So that you don't think I am overly optimistic about that deadline:
Mission 1 - Done
Mission 2 - Done
Mission 3 - Done
Mission 4 - Done
Mission 5 - Done
Mission 6 - Done
Mission 7 - Done
Mission 8 - Done
Mission 9 - Done
Mission 10 - WIP (A-Scenario: Stage 2/4 done; B-Scenario: Stage 1/4 done)
Mission 11 - Done
Mission 12 - Done
Mission 13 - Done
Mission 14 - Done
Mission 15 - Done
Mission 16 - Done
Mission 17 - Done
Mission 18 - Done
Credits & Epilogue - WIP (Stage 2/2 done; needs new music and contributors to be added)
{ }

campaign file

Table-entires (Ships) - Done
Table-entries (weapons) - WIP
Integrate Mainhalls - Done
Integrate NTF interface - Done
Individual loading screens - Done
Table sync with MVPs - WIP
Critical Fiction-entires - Done/Editing
Optional Fiction entires - WIP

Now I can keep the deadline, collapsing all the WIP into itself. However there are certain quality of life-points, I would rather have help with - either because it makes things go faster or because I need a closed feedback loop.

1. Beta Testing
All missions need to be tested and checked for bugs and loose ends.

2. Table Revisions
Some missions required for tweaked versions of retail-tbl weapons. These weapons of course do not yet have additional MVP data, which I constantly loose track of. As a result it is bluntly obvious when a ship uses

3. Story and Dialogue Edits / Continuity Check
Because this campaign is very dialogue heavy, I would like a new set of eyes to look at all the writing and help me fix some flaws and sure up the continuity after this work cycle.

4. Mainhall Loading Screens
Even a simple mainhall to replace the retail one(s) which are full of GTVA symbols would be nice. This may need some new loading screens too. (This is optional)

5. Music
Changing the music underscoring the events of the campaign might be approriate at certain places and I don't really feel qualified to do it. (This is optional)

If any of the points interests you, please contact me via PM.

EDIT: ps. Im updating the Mission listing as I go along


Help requests have been outsourced to their own topic.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcorft
Post by: mjn.mixael on October 31, 2016, 11:04:38 am
For the mainhall, you could steal one of my Orion mainhalls. They don't have a lot (or any?) symbols anywhere. There's remakes of Galatea and Bastion, but those are well known. You could also use Krios, Soyakaze that I made for ST:R or even take the Intrepid one I made for BtA. The Intrepid one has the advantage of being a full 1080p mainhall with extra functional "buttons" should you want to use them.

Or you could follow this tutorial (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=80783.0) and make a quick basic mainhall menu in about 20-30 minutes or less.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 01, 2016, 01:49:23 pm
I'm working on my own mod - and more importantly my History Major - so I don't think I can contribute. But I'll wish you good luck and congrats! It takes guts to revive something like that, and looks like you've made serious progress already!
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 01, 2016, 07:16:45 pm
I'm glad to see it ressurected. I played the first dump and enjoyed the very classic atmosphere and NTF point of view. I really liked a lot of missions. The one with Vindicator in the drydock and the Colossus closing in was my favorite. Please, don't use replacing default beams of ships in every mission. I remember Colossus firing with 4 top BFGreens only to use two LTerSlashes to attack the Vindicator in the next mission. It's quite noticable.

I have not enough time to beta test anything as I failed in case of BtA, so I can only wish you goodluck.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 02, 2016, 03:42:50 am
For the mainhall, you could steal one of my Orion mainhalls. They don't have a lot (or any?) symbols anywhere. There's remakes of Galatea and Bastion, but those are well known. You could also use Krios, Soyakaze that I made for ST:R or even take the Intrepid one I made for BtA. The Intrepid one has the advantage of being a full 1080p mainhall with extra functional "buttons" should you want to use them.

I got them from the installer now; The Soyakaze one seems to be good fit for the Vasa, as for Vindicator and Iceni no decision has been reached yet. Thank you for it.
(I know the Iceni has no fighterbay and I am not messing with that but storywise you accompany the Iceni for a strech of the finale and the actual carrier is never specified)



I'm glad to see it ressurected. I played the first dump and enjoyed the very classic atmosphere and NTF point of view. I really liked a lot of missions.

Thank you.

I remember Colossus firing with 4 top BFGreens only to use two LTerSlashes to attack the Vindicator in the next mission. It's quite noticable.

That's what the Colossus related tweaks and the table checks are all about; for one I used a up-turreted version of the Colossus in the dump to emphasize just how oppressive it's presence is when you are on the recieving end, I no longer do to avoid problems with the HTL-release at some point. That the slash beams seems out of place is a problem with the tables, as I did not bring them up to MVP-standard of other Colossus-beams; and there is now a little scenario tweak in the briefing why the Colossus doesn't go all-out against the Vindicator, it wasn't in the dump because it's part of the new addition that resolves the plot problem I used to have.

Replacing some beams can't be helped, otherwise some missions would never work (either because of range or damage); however it will be less visible as it was in the dump with the fully tweaked tables (the scene in then 6th screenshot will look different in the finished product)
(using armor.tbl would be too involved as it's usually per mission tweaks)
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: Hellstryker on November 05, 2016, 11:15:36 pm
I can do dialogue and continuity checking, very good with that sort of thing.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 08, 2016, 07:28:19 am
I can do dialogue and continuity checking, very good with that sort of thing.

Acknowledged, as we already discussed.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 24, 2016, 03:08:44 am
HLP, I've come to bargain!

After three weeks this, very important position still remains to be filled:

1. Beta Testing
All missions need to be tested and checked for bugs and loose ends.

I've invested some time and numerous brain cells to make the process streamlined this time around, so please help.

ps. weekend/monday new screenshots time :)
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 25, 2016, 04:57:24 pm
All righty.  :) You helped me with my mod (answering my numerous questions in Open Modding), I'll help with yours.

Sign me up.  :nod:
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 28, 2016, 01:03:02 pm
All Right.  :) You helped me with my mod (answering my numerous questions in Open Modding), I'll help with yours.

PMs send and reply received.



So Missions 9 and 12 are done - so some screenshots to celebrate; Theme: Looking at a Sobek*
(* if it were not for Deimos, the Sobek would be the most common capital ship class in this campaign)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview11.png)
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview12.png)

and because I was bored and didn't want to stare at SEXPs all day today: The NTF are getting Squadlogos!
Image no longer avalible - Sorry - 0rph3u5
pictured a Medusa from 6th Polaris Volunteers

Little heraldy-geekery for the 6th and 10th Polaris Volunteers:
The 6th Polaris Volunteers:
- A quartered shield, with a four pointed star in the centre
- top right: the roman numeral 6, black on yellow
- top left: silhouette of a GTF Ulysses, black on crimson
- bottom right: the NTF-logo, black on crimson
- bottom left: The squadron's motto "Playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes", black on yellow

The 10th Polaris Volunteers:
- A quartered shield, with a four pointed star in the centre
- top right: the roman numeral 10, black on green
- top left: silhouette of a GTF Hercules, black on white
- bottom right: the NTF-logo, black on white
- bottom left: The squadron's motto "Aim small, miss small", black on green

The logos for the Volunteers are deliberately bad, hence things like "black on crimson" or "black on green". Meaning they were made up on the fly to give the "volunteers" a symbol of pride for their brief time in the squadron.
The logos for the (self-proclaimed) "71st Liberators" and another unit will come later, but I already have designs for those in mind and I hope they will look better than the deliberately simple logos for the Volunteers.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 28, 2016, 02:34:06 pm
Nice logos!

Well I mean they're kind of aesthetically wierd, like you said, but nice work anyway! :P
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: woutersmits on November 30, 2016, 10:40:22 am
i have the old version stilll on my pc
if you need it
tell me
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 30, 2016, 04:28:40 pm
i have the old version stilll on my pc
if you need it
tell me

No need. I have the old files (both the dump and a version from before I split off the dump) on a backup-drive. Most of the old missions are also preserved in the new version, however they will have iterated forward (e.g. no more red-altert missions*).

* I changed the missions in questions so the transfer of ships and weapons is handled differently this time around. While that way the players use the option to "skip back" a mission to fix load-outs, I am working to make sure that you can't back yourself in a corner.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on December 01, 2016, 02:49:33 pm
Because there are left-overs from the Contest Screenshots:
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview14.png)

(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview15.png)

(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview16.png)
That Zeus needs a new Texture...
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on December 04, 2016, 01:07:38 pm
Mission 14 is finished:
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview18.png)

Yay for tying up loose ends! - Two more missions need to be finished, so on track all around  :D
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on December 22, 2016, 03:43:24 pm
(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview19.png)

Still on track, and now that my break has begun I am now going to for finish and to work the Beta Tester feedback in... Originally I aimed at the 23rd for release but now I confindent to give you a release date of December 28th.

EDIT: 23/12 - and I jinxed it. My main development PC is down, thanks to some old-school DOS skills progress has been saved however. Release is still on track but my secondary device will now have to work overtime... FREDing full-time on a (windows 10) tablet, that is really new ground.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on December 30, 2016, 07:27:36 am
The 28th came and went and "nothing" happened.

Actually a lot has happened behind the scenes but none of it is good for the progress of this mod. On the 23rd my PC went under, and without Microsoft Support I am not able to troubleshoot the problem. The problem ammounts to user error, with a high probability of device wear.
I was able to pull out most of my files, and only a few remain on the PC.

Some things are however holding the release back now:

1. I was able to transfer development to my tablet, however it is not suited for all operations I would like to perform - esspecially asset fixes are impractical with a device which isn't designed for the same workload and -time. While the most of work on assets is cosmetically, a few of them are critical to development: new docking points to the Orion, the Aelous and the Argo.

2. Among the files I have yet to recover are some of the older E-Mail correspondence I had with a friend on the plot and story during the original development. Some of that is very valuable imput because there had been a good number of tropy pitfalls I want to fix with the rewrites - or avoid doing them again. This is very important because some of the new fiction does include elements I purposefully left out.

3. The missions left unfinished can't be alpha tested on tablet obviously ...

So, I have dismissed my good beta testers, PVD_Hope and Betrayal. Please give them the equivalent of a round of applause.

I will see if I can resume work as soon as possible but I cannot offer a time table at his point. (I won't be sitting on my hands either, Music is still a big issue with campaign I will tackle in the mean time)

Have a good new year and all the best wishes.
- 0rph3u5
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on March 14, 2017, 07:27:59 pm
Not dead!

As proof of life here is some fiction that may or may not make it the final cut:


File: ANSR/f_T-a/t006/c003/v026-Cassiopeia_GTCv.saf – add_071

CLASSIFIED – LEVEL TAU – EYES ONLY

<Begin Addendum>
Addendum Number 71
RE: Addendum Number 70

This Addendum is to correct the official record upon de-classification.

Addendum Number 70 changed the status of the GTCv Cassiopeia from “Active” to “Missing in Action, Presumed Destroyed”. The GTVI is possession of evidence that the GTCv Cassiopeia was lost with all hands to hostile actions by a hostile warship.

The last assignment of the Cassiopeia [REDACTED] necessitated a Minimal Contact Protocol. For this reason only two mission reports from the ship exist [REDACTED]. Both records contain the conjecture by the Commanding Officer of the Cassiopeia that the target craft was pursued by another vessel [REDACTED] which could not be identified due to local conditions.

When the Cassiopeia failed to transmit a third mission report Allied Command dispatched a Reconnaissance Fighter Detachment to investigate the Cassiopeia’s last know course. The allied Fighters recorded a drifting debris field near the projected course. [REDACTED]

GTVI’s CRI unit evaluated the available data. A summary of their report follows, [REDACTED]:

[REDACTED] spectral analysis of the debris confirmed its origin to be GTVA. Analysis of the visual evidence suggest an internal explosion, consistent with a fusion reactor containment failure.
[REDACTED]
<End Addendum>



... to access the un-redacted version of the file requires you to have Omega-level clearance in the GTVA (which is the same level of clearance as the specs of SJ Sathanas, I believe)
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on March 23, 2017, 09:21:40 am
Not dead!

As proof of life here is some fiction that may or may not make it the final cut:


File: ANSR/f_T-a/t006/c003/v026-Cassiopeia_GTCv.saf – add_071

CLASSIFIED – LEVEL TAU – EYES ONLY

<Begin Addendum>
Addendum Number 71
RE: Addendum Number 70

This Addendum is to correct the official record upon de-classification.

Addendum Number 70 changed the status of the GTCv Cassiopeia from “Active” to “Missing in Action, Presumed Destroyed”. The GTVI is possession of evidence that the GTCv Cassiopeia was lost with all hands to hostile actions by a hostile warship.

The last assignment of the Cassiopeia [REDACTED] necessitated a Minimal Contact Protocol. For this reason only two mission reports from the ship exist [REDACTED]. Both records contain the conjecture by the Commanding Officer of the Cassiopeia that the target craft was pursued by another vessel [REDACTED] which could not be identified due to local conditions.

When the Cassiopeia failed to transmit a third mission report Allied Command dispatched a Reconnaissance Fighter Detachment to investigate the Cassiopeia’s last know course. The allied Fighters recorded a drifting debris field near the projected course. [REDACTED]

GTVI’s CRI unit evaluated the available data. A summary of their report follows, [REDACTED]:

[REDACTED] spectral analysis of the debris confirmed its origin to be GTVA. Analysis of the visual evidence suggest an internal explosion, consistent with a fusion reactor containment failure.
[REDACTED]
<End Addendum>



... to access the un-redacted version of the file requires you to have Omega-level clearance in the GTVA (which is the same level of clearance as the specs of SJ Sathanas, I believe)

Cool, nice fiction writing! Having seen your storyline from the inside, I think you've really got a good plot going, and I hope you're able to pull through and make this happen.  :yes:  :nod:
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on March 31, 2017, 07:23:38 pm
The story is fine as is. The plot however needs a bit of work, which is currently what is going on behind the scenes.



As a treat for the month of April I will be taking any questions from the community about the campaign in this topic. I will not spoil the story but post in this topic anyway.
(To previous Beta Testers, please don't give anything away)

The answers will arrive at the end of month.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on April 01, 2017, 01:13:31 pm
The story is fine as is. The plot however needs a bit of work, which is currently what is going on behind the scenes.


This is interesting, I've never heard a distinction between story and plot. Could you explain? I should know for my own mod's sake... :P
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on April 01, 2017, 01:44:06 pm
I've never heard a distinction between story and plot. Could you explain? I should know for my own mod's sake... :P

That's not suprising considering plot and story are used interchangeably often.

A plot is what structures a story, turns it from a sequence of events into a narrative. There is a famous destinction (wikipedia tells me it's a quote from E. M. Forster):
- "The king died and then the queen died" qualifies as a story
- "The king died, and then the queen died of grief" qualifies as a plot

One thing to remember is that not every story must have a plot, but most do - it's just the way we usually think.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on April 13, 2017, 05:24:28 pm
This has been staring me down from my door far too long:

Image no longer avalible - Sorry - 0rph3u5
All mission titles are WIP and maybe subject to change.

Who can say what it is going to look like after this long weekend?



And a long overdue shout-out to HLP-user xenocartographer who has agreed to help out with the plot and the new fiction. Hopefully quelling my lingering fears and making sure you are going to see this campaign in the near future.


Two weeks remain to ask questions....
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on April 28, 2017, 04:52:35 am
"Understand please that as you stand in this hall you stand in a monument of failure. A failure that 30 years of your predecessors have sought to redeem. For 30 years ago the Shivan destroyer [...] Lucifer attacked Vasuda Prime. It decimated our people, it wiped out entire cultures and it reduced our civilisation to ash and glass.

You and your classmates were born in a time were this is irrevocable fact. To let nothing like it happen ever again has been your duty since the day you were born."


- Admiral Usor (GTVA), opening speech to the class of 2365 at the Vasudan Imperial War College



"[...] Earth had been humanity's by coincidence, not by design. For the colonies this could be different: Their worlds had been made by humanity (in a sense) and would continue to be formed by humans. The new society of the colonies, without Earth, would be build from the ground up; No cosmic coincidences, only human ability and determination would make Neo-Terra. As builders Hideo and his peers would eclipse the achievements of the Great War."



Since there were no questions I've been busy writing unlockable bonus content ...
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on May 06, 2017, 05:53:20 am
Production Update
I usually make these later in month but I want to accellerate the work scheulde a bit and making progress reports seems to keep me on track like it did last year. Screenshots will soon follow, esspecially since the theme is this month's screenshot contest is playing to my advantage :D

1. Mission 10 - working title "Dark Amaltheia"

Mission 10 has been notoriously difficult to get right; simply because where it stands as one of biggest battles of the campaign, but not being a climactic mission. In order to trim the fat almost a 1/5 of original content has gone out of the window, cutting away the inital 2-3 minutes of pure dialogue and an in-mission jump.

Image no longer avalible - Sorry - 0rph3u5
All gone.

This has happened because I am transfering some of the content I originally had planned for a fiction entry into the mission. Original dialogue and fiction would have had some overlap as it were, but the pre-mission fiction now has a very different focus so I need to re-write the dialogue. Some of it also transfers over to Missions 11 and 12 which had some inital content overlap in the dialogue (uhm, long development cycle and all). Hopefully it will be also more lean now.

It also has the advantage as it cuts one of the more bug-prone set-ups in the mission which has the actual in-mission jump into an active combat area. The NTF's 71st is now in vanguard of the assault on the Epsilon Pegasi-Capella Node, instead of reinforcing an attack in progress.

While this means that I am skipping out of one of the opportunties SCP-enhancements provide, I hope this will make the mission better in the long run.

The Mission's central feature - that it is tailored to depending on your pick between the Zeus and the Medusa for yourself - is still alive and well. Though the balance is still a bit off, as the Medusa-path seems to easier overall, it will stay the integral part of this mission.

2. Mission 13 - working title "The Good died young"

Speaking of cutting room left-overs:

HEAVY SPOILER WARNING

Hidden Text: Spoiler includes an image • Show
Spoiler:
The GTD Ithaca will no longer make an appearance in Mission 13. She has been replaced by the GTD Phoenicia in all respects.

(http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/af321/0rph3u5/FS%20Open/th_ithaca_gone_zpsyxyoaamv.png) (http://s1020.photobucket.com/user/0rph3u5/media/FS%20Open/ithaca_gone_zpsyxyoaamv.png.html)
While no longer in mission per se, I am leaving the ship and related messages in the file. They will be deactivated and hopefully that will be it bugwise

Spoiler:
The original appearance of the Ithaca and her primary squadron the GTVA's 41st Dragon Knights was a shout-out to The Lost Generation's parent campaign, Workings of the Warp. That campaigns protagonist would lead the charge to force the NTF into retreat. However as Workings of the Warp is no longer a thing, I figured to cut out the reference.

As the Phoenicia has a rather unfortunate destiny ahead of her, I figured I would give her a moment of glory here. It also helped culling the number of Orions in the campaign which would have been 6 (GTD Carthage, GTD Messana, NTD Vasa, NTD Vindicator & NTD Uhuru plus the GTD Ithaca) as opposed to 1 Colossus, 1 Hecate, 1 Typhon and 2 Hatshepsuts; something is even more pressing as the both the Aquitane, the Hedetet and the Memphis never appear in any mission of this campaign.
The GTVA's technological advantage should be more appearent now.

3. various missions

I have begun adding the conditions for the unlockable side-stories, which will flesh out aspects of the story or just provide a (hopefully) nice read. All content will be added to the Intelligence section of techroom. Currently there are some incidental clusters of unlocks (e.g. Mission 9 or Mission 12), but I hope to strech them evenly across the campaign.

No techroom-animations are planned right now, but it is something I would like to do after the inital release (just like voice acting).

4. Tables

4a. I have given the IFF system a overhaul, adding 6 new purpose build IFFs via iff_defs.tbl. Considering the original FS2 made due with just five, this happened because I no longer could make due with just the 5 for some mission. Special behavior had to be added.

4b. All tables data for the Bonus mission has been entered into respective ships- and weapons-.tbms, adding 4 new ships, including Black Wolf's GTSC Whiteside and Woomeister's/Trashman's Perseus Adv, as well as 6 new weapons exclusive to the bonus mission. SSM.tbl is in the works.

5. Squadron Logos

To keep with the current scheudle I had to cut corner here and there, so the squadron logos for the NTF's 71st and *spoilers*-squadrons will not make it in the inital release.

The logo for the 71st is a design nightmare, as it has to display the warped self-perception of the self-styled "Liberators" while not being too insensitive or too tame. (Logo designs for the NTF's 38th and 87th squadrons were easy to design in by comparision, as you will see in a post release update)

For the logo for the *spoilers*-squadron I have a very clear vision, as there is a historical example I would like to emulate. Early modern military heraldy is a bit complicated, esspecially when it mixes some very elaborate elements.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on May 14, 2017, 10:24:52 am
Production Update

1. Integration of FuryAI

So to deal with complaints against mission balancing during the Beta Test in November/December I switched from retail AI to Fury AI. This has caused the expected balance upset and I am fixing/micromanaging it.

Act 1 (Mission 1-5) are already done.

I require some beta testers to help me see if things are working out. Apply here:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=93316.msg1848154#new


2. Targeting Helper

To prove that I have not been just pressing buttons and playing games in the forced development pause, I added a series of events to several missions in Act 2 (in which you canonically fly a Zeus) which help highlight mission critical ship-to-ship-beam turrets. Now I finally managed to debug it and it works:

(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview24.png)


3. Message box!

Thanks to Axem, the mod now features the super useful message box-script. This put dialogue front and centre. Also it will be readable regardless of resolution!

(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview23.1.png)
Dialogue WIP

4. Mission 11

... is on track now that xenocartographer's script to make the IFF bending happen.


5. Screenshots

... were entred in this month's Screencap Contest (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=93490.msg1848140#msg1848140).

This is no new material but the AI keeps me busy with the old missions at this time.


More updates next week!
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on May 19, 2017, 06:41:16 pm
Production Update

1. Mission 10 is coming along fine

(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview25.png)
The NTD Vasa and the GTD Messana ready to fight for control over a jump node - the LOD settings on those Mjolnirs aren't helping.

(http://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/TLGpreview26.png)
The NTCv Jacquerie protecting a NTF science cruiser (it's not the Hinton). I like my additional light sources.

Quote
MISSION STATISTICS
Ship Count: 65
Start Count: 1
Waypoint Count: 31
Jump Node Count: 1

Quote
#Wings      ;! 21 total
[...]
#Events      ;! 113 total

... and far from done

2. BETA TESTERS WANTED

Still looking for Beta Testers to help me sort out all the changes after the changing to FuryAI. This is really urgent as all data I previously had is practically worthless at this point.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on May 21, 2017, 03:54:24 am
(cont. from previous)

3. Interface & Mainhall

Another small update:

Thanks to FreeSpaceFreak, Glamep and Flaming_Sword, I know have access to an almost complete set of NTF-specific interface art (the fiction viewer is missing but I can fix that until release)  :yes:

And Mjn.Mixeal's "Soyakaze" mainhall is now working  :yes:

4. Sample fiction

I think you know this one....

Quote
Excerpt from a declassified GTVI report

> Begin Excerpt

The goal of Operation ''Alley Cat'' was determine the current status of the ETAK device(s) as well as to re-evaluate the viability of the ETAK technology as a whole in response to recent developments.

While multiple operatives acquired scans of the NTF Iceni as well as supports ship, including the NTSC Hinton, NTSC Daubney and the NTT Sunder, Special Operations Command was unable to provide additional specifications on the ETAK device(s). Our understanding of the technology Admiral Bosch seeks to utilize remains limited due to the destruction of all original research materials.

In lieu of results from scans, Special Operations Command opted to capture the NTT Sunder while in transit to the Sirius-Regulus Jump Node. While this action compromised all Operatives involved the NTT Sunder was captured.

Preliminary, non-invasive investigation of the NTT Sunder's cargo however revealed that the ship was not carrying proprietary technology unique to the ETAK Project. In fact, as far as Analysis can determine the capture of transport ship had little impact on what material is being loaded onto the NTF Iceni.
This suggests that all critical components for the completion of the ETAK device(s) are already aboard the Rebel command ship or that the device has already been completed.

> End Excerpt
Small note: "Analysis" is an entity within the GTVI, hence the capitialisation.

Spoiler:
If you are know thinking: "wait, the first loop of the main campaign was pointless?" - There is still something you do not know :D
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on May 23, 2017, 12:07:40 pm

Moving pictures! MOVING pictures!

The mission is obviously not polished to perfection yet but here we are! (same goes for the video but embarassing problem with the capture quality I had last year are gone!)
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on June 14, 2017, 01:37:07 pm
Production Update

1. Mission 11

Mission 11 almost done. It is going through a debugging phase at the moment. But I am once that is out of the way, I will but the balancing screws in, so to say, and add all those lovely failstates. And it will be finished!

Code: [Select]
MISSION STATISTICS
Ship Count: 59  [may increase due to balancing]
Start Count: 1
Waypoint Count: 45
Jump Node Count: 1

Code: [Select]
#Events ;! 132 total [does not include events for failstates yet]
It is also about 20 minutes long. (Yes, I am considering to add a checkpoint at the 9 minute mark, but finish first quality of life later).

2. Mission 10 - Changes to the Zeus and Medusa

As I talked before, the Mission 10 will have some alterations in response to which bomber you pick. To prevent that there cross-contamination between the archetypes I have established, I introduced a new rule to the -shp.tbm that makes a minor alteration to the loadout options available to the Zeus and Medusa:

Zeus:
- All banks can now take Hornets, previously the Zeus could only take the non-player "Hornet#Weak"
- Banks 1 and 2 can no longer take Cyclops or the non-player Cyclops#Short

Medusa:
- Banks 2 and 3 can no longer take the Stiletto II.

Giving the Zeus Hornets is to further upgrade its role a missile boat, despite its low per bank-capacity (40, 40, 40). It is maneuverable enough to do fine and the selection between 3 kinds of secondaries (including the Infyrno and Harpoon) makes it somewhat versatile.
Taking away the Cyclops from 2 banks means to restrict its maximum loadout of the torpedoes to 2, down from 6. However since there will always be plenty NTF warships around when you fly the Zeus by default, the lack of torpedoes doesn't have a critical impact. This also encourages more anti-turret and anti-subsystem play which is less frustrating than the torpedo dive bombing.

With the Medusa the change is just so you don't cheat your way around the mission rules in Mission 10 (yes, I am petty like that) but I didn't remove the Stiletto from the loadout options completely because using it against turrets is still a good away to increase your survivability. It just means that you only take in the lowest capacity bank (Bank 1 has 40, Bank 2 and 3 have 80 each), so you can still hold up to 5 for an attack.

3. Teasing you

Watch this space on the 22nd.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on June 22, 2017, 04:32:15 am
I may not have mastered the art of moving pictures yet but here is another gameplay preview!


Since the campaign is set parallel to the main Freespace 2 campaign it was quite inevitable to address where it would end. This is when the end begins.

The mission is still a bit in disarray due to the implementation of FuryAI - competent wingmen are the worst. And I am sorry that I didn't manage to show you the acrobatics the GVF Heset is capable of (especially now the FuryAI actually makes them use their ability for limited directional thrust), but believe me you are better of hidding form them in the Alexandria's flak screen most of the time.

ps. Moddb-page is now live:
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-lost-generation-ashcroft
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on July 05, 2017, 06:54:35 pm
Sorry that I didn't get to see this sooner. Nice work! You've made some great progress since I did that bit of testing a while back. Good luck!
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on July 13, 2017, 01:58:15 pm
Sorry that I didn't get to see this sooner. Nice work! You've made some great progress since I did that bit of testing a while back. Good luck!

.... considering FuryAI is doing most of heavy lifting, Sushi is most deserving of that credit.



So minor, tiny, downright small update:

As I had problems with my GPU recently (that's what you get for getting a 4k capable card, so you won't have to upgrade for some time soon), work came to stand-still I didn't plan for ... and then everything became tangled with my semester work and the on-going pre-production on The Lost Generation - "Serqet" (a working title, another was the "weather project").

All my commitments are wrapping up now and I will be able to get this done soonish.*

* If you would like to help, please build a weather control device. All this summer sunshine is keeping me from working.



Rehosting the screenshots is something I will do over the weekend. Most are either on the mod's or my ModDB page anyway.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 22, 2017, 04:20:56 am
Hi from Gamescom!

I am sorry that I've been out of touch lately - and I wish there was a good reason.

But being generally unproductive in my free time isn't really a reason now, is it?

Regarding the delays and "didn't you say you wanted it out before Gamescom?":
As I said Ive been generally unproductive, blame all the summer, sea and sunshine I was able to enjoy (it a almost-an-hour bike ride to the nearest beach from my appartment) and tweaking all the AI-behaviors - which is the main driver of the delays - is rather tideous and time consuming.

Add to that "semester paper crunch time" and the trouble I had with my brand-new GPU (a replacement arrived last week), there weren't enough houres in s day...

Once Gamescom is done I might also have something to show - one of main story fiction pieces finally came out alright and previously I wanted to keep it under wraps ... but I changed my mind on that...
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on September 04, 2017, 05:10:35 pm
So...

Let be start this by acknowleding that we are at this point because I didn't get my act together and keep putting off my deadline (in part because I was playing some really worthwhile games - e.g. Trails of Cold Steel - and well, working solo is recipe to be lazy). When I originally wrote the teaser at the being of this topic I was sure that there was not so much time between me teasing and you getting to play.

However things being as they are - and considering I am now satisfied with how some of things have turned out after re-working them again and again - I want to get away from the obnoxious "mystery box" tease, I laid out originally.

However of course, everything that comes now, enters spoiler territory and one the one hand is actually stuff I rather think would be worthwhile to discover on your own while playing - so, there is going to be a hidden-tag and a spoiler-tag coming up to allow you to limit your exposure pre-release. On the other hand of course, it might be a draw to people - esspecially to those who would like to a discussion on the modes of story telling with the FS_Open engine and at same time don't have the time to sample every release.

What is coming up is going concern the motivations of the protagonist of the The Lost Generation - Ashcroft, Sam Ashcroft. Procceed at your own discression:

Hidden Text: Main Story Fiction, working title "Stargazers" • Show
Note on the title: This scene has existed in my mind for quite some time and has gone through multiple iterations, including a rather substantial change in setting, while the title stuck around. In the release version it will most likely not have that title



Neu Bochum-Colony, Polaris
11 years ago


The Park Tangent was cool and serene.
Ruhr was high in the night sky and the light bouncing off it onto Neu Bochum created the illusion that the planet itself was the moon – a reversal of the relationship these two celestial bodies shared in reality.

On the other side of the central shaft a crab like mining rig emerged from below and briefly flashed on of its lights across this section of the Park Tangent, dispelling the night’s embrace and revealing the soothing green that artificial light would bring to the attention of all visitors during daytime.

Jonah had not seen Sam since dinner and had come here looking for her. It was not unusual for his little sister to go out late, and no one in Neu Bochum actually minded that teenagers like Sam roamed the quite spaces of the Habitation and Park Tangents. Life on the moon offered so little privacy otherwise, that to the children and teenagers it would otherwise find it to be suffocating.

Any other day Jonah too would not have minded. But today was the last day he would be in Neu Bochum for long time. For the first time since taking up military service for the GTVA he would depart on a mission that would take him beyond Polaris. When the Erikson left the system it would not return to port for entire duration of the journey. And the destination of its deep space exploration mission would take it to a remote system outside the Sirian Transit.

He, by himself, was delighted to have this opportunity and not only because Commodore Bosch had been selling it had as great career move. As much as he wanted to make this tour, however he would not leave without his family as a whole giving him a proper send-off before.

He finally found Sam sitting underneath a tree that with years to grow might turn into beautiful willow, hanging its branches down to the waters of the Park Tangents largest lake. What gave her away was the tell-tale glow of two handheld computers, one which rested in her lap and other which she had left in grass next to her.

“So this is where you have gone to.” Jonah said announcing himself.

“Did mom send you to fetch me?” Sam replied without looking up from the screen in her lap.

Jonah leaned against the tree so he could see over his sister’s shoulder and read what she kept her locked to the screen.

“It’s Paula new screenplay.” She offered up, preempting his question, while reaching for her second device. She typed something into it and the screen flashed to a Datasphere page, which was quickly read and then put aside again.

“How is it?”

“It’s Paula. She spends so much time trying to say something that she ends up saying nothing at all.”
Jonah could never tell if critical remarks such as this from his sister were truly statements of a discerning mind or just a teenager’s attempt to appear beyond her years.

“So she handed it to an Ashcroft for feedback? A family practiced in saying so little that we hardly seem to be speaking with another at all?”

Sam chuckled and finally tore herself away from her friend’s work.

“You didn’t come out here to debate a screenplay you will never see made into a movie.”

“I will make sure Paula hears that you said that.”

“Oh, please don’t.” Sam replied overly theatrically. “How will my social life survive this?”

As much as he enjoyed this kind of verbal sparring with his sister, he had to cut right to the case.

“I don’t want you to say out late today. I rather not have you miss my send-off tomorrow.”

“As if I would miss the opportunity to show you how glad I am to get rid of you and your speeches.”

Jonah shallowed a sigh. “I mean it, Sam. I will not be back for two years at least, maybe even longer if Commodore Bosch gets his promotion. As much as I like to go, I don’t want to leave without a proper goodbye.”


Only just then he realized that Sam was staring at her feet now.
He did not need her to say any of the question that probably bubbled to the top of her mind right now. She probably was not saying any of it because she had not sorted them out just yet, but Jonah knew them all the same since he agonized over possible answers.

But he knew something that would help break the silence.

“Hey, Sam.”

“Yeah?”

“How about one more speech before I leave?”

“I’d like that.”

Jonah lowered himself to the ground, sitting down shoulder-to-shoulder with Sam. From this position he briefly scanned the sky, searching for a familiar constellation. Once he found one, he pointed it out.

“Do you see these stars out there in the distance?”

“Yeah.”

“There are people in the universe that think one of specks is the most important place in all of universe. They believe it against all evidence to contrary, despite the fact that almost all of night sky, here and on any other planet, is pitch black.

“This light in the distance is unimportant. Every other light in galaxy is unimportant. Actually they are the most boring things imaginable.

“They are rendered insignificant by the vastness of space, which makes any one place small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things…



Spoiler:
The scene above is part of the effort to connect the player to Sam's motivation for being with the NTF, even though she is neither one of "good people making a bad choice" or a die-hard fanatic (or any of the stripes in between).

The question(s) Sam is looking to answer are all concerning the whereabouts of her older brother Jonah, who along with the corvette under his command disappeared months earlier. While everyone else in her life seems to have resigned themselves that Jonah is dead, Sam is actually holding out hope that he is alive somewhere - esspecially becasue if he had died, she figures, the Ashcrofts would have been told as much.

Joining with the NTF fighter corps is one of the last options she has to gain information about what happened to Jonah and if need be to find him and bring him back home.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on October 11, 2017, 03:23:22 pm
Uhm ... Hi to everyone who is still checking out when I am posting...*

I have some news that you probably anticipated already, considering I went away for an extended period of time. Before the last post in this topic there had been a development which derailed me working on this quite a bit - and I am not talking about the time I put into playing Destiny 2 and its raid. At the time I was not sure if I could talk about it openly because ... well, I kinda feel guilty about the subject.

During Gamescom I recieved an offer for a consulting job. That in itself isn't that objectionable except that I got said offer only through personal connections - and the whole connections-before-merrit still troubles me to no small degree (even if I am confident that in a fair competion I could have come out ahead anyway). However it was also a too good to pass on offer and I only write about it in the past tense now because I am realistic about consulting work in general and since I have not heard any news I just have to assume that the post has been cut from the project at this point.

The whole "too good to pass on" aspect of the offer is the part that derailed me in to no end simply because it was such a tempting offer I was willing to go all it and tackle some obstacles to make it happen - this included getting prepared to move to another country (including starting to learn a new language) and doing research into a different specialisation from my chosen field of enquiry into History.

I poured a lot of time and effort into this because despite the limited time of employment and the effort neccessary - it was just that good an offer.

That's the story why I went away for a bit and why development has suffered as a result. Ergo, don't expect any news or a release in the near future because I spend a lot of time with a unrelated issue.

But I can promise you that I am committed to a release, even if I cannot see when it is going to happen.

* Before I forget, thank you for sticking around and indulging me...
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: Axem on October 11, 2017, 06:32:32 pm
That's pretty cool! Don't worry about us, we're not going anywhere and its not like you've got publishers breathing down your neck for a Christmas release. This is a hobby, not a job. :) Take it easy!
Title: Re: [PREVIEW & HELP WANTED] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on December 03, 2017, 08:07:42 pm
Don't worry about us, we're not going anywhere and its not like you've got publishers breathing down your neck for a Christmas release. This is a hobby, not a job.

:D



Meanwhile, due to time table surrounding my Master-thesis, I will not be making a trip to my family for the holidays.
During that time I have set aside sometime to make new gameplay videos (like Shard of Infinity's "The No-God" 3 mission arc) and I will set some time aside for stream on Mission 10 of The Lost Generation Ashcroft, which will alternate between FRED and gameplay while I work to finish the mission. I am still working out the details and exact schedule, but it is going to be either 27th, 28th or 29th.

If you are worried on SPOILERS, Mission 10 is actually rather light on story and more a "I am going to do this gameplay-thing which conceptionally cool"-situation.

ps. If you haven't noticed already, I finally did the 5 minutes of work required to fix the screenshots.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on July 03, 2018, 04:53:08 pm
This is a sign of life... also anothing quote from the side-story-fiction:



We had the tactics, technology, and logistics to beat the Rebels, but we never knew how. Not because we were stupid or lacking in creativity. While we were inexperienced, except maybe for the Old Hounds, none of it actually mattered for a simple fact: We didn’t know who to defeat the rebels.

There was an arms race at HQ to find the perfect data set, the one measurement to rule them all. And in doing that, we made the same mistake that commanders made in wars from Vietnam to Greenland, from the Vega Planetoid Hoping to Operation Thresher:
When you have no clear way to count your accomplishments, counting becomes the accomplishment.

That’s why we were so shell shocked when Koth ploughed through the blockade with the Repulse and Andronicus. That mad dash was flying into face of every indicator we had based our strategy on. And made them all meaningless within an hour:
On that day Koth sacrificed two-thirds of the Repulse’s air group without a plan to replenish the losses. Our fighter kill-ratio might have 5 to 1 but it didn’t matter because they just kept going. The Andronicus charged into our cruiser line, beams hacking and blasting away at the ship's internal structure and turning the ship into hulk before our eyes. Every sane commander would have prioritised the survival of the destroyer over kills in made, but Koth didn’t.
With that he broke every plan we ever made and our superiority crumbled away into nothing. If not for the Colossus, we would never have recovered.

It is easy now to dismiss Koth as an unhinged fanatic looking from this side of his grave. But there was rationale to all that he did. He must have known that this war would not be contest of arms, but a contest of wills – the kind we were taught had gone the way of the Musket, the horse-mounted infantryman or the main battle tank: made obsolete by the next ''smartest person to come along''.
In that dogma a contest of arms is a methodical and mathematic thing. It easily disassembles into its components and is as easily counted and numbered. Soldiers deployed, weapon systems assigned, and enemies killed.
But what does it matter if you will ten enemies when you cannot bring yourself to kill the eleventh, twelfth or fiftieth? What does it matter if you can match every ship they have with two of yours when they hurl themselves at you not caring if the ship goes down?

The saddest part of this is, that the Great War with the Shivans could have taught us all this. But like delinquent students in every school during every period of history, we were too arrogant to listen.
I think Koth listened. I think that’s why Bosch put in on line that day.


‘’The In-Art of Modern War’’
By Aoife Karlsen, former Commodore in the GTVA 6th Fleet
published in 2368

Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: CapellaGoBoom on July 09, 2018, 12:06:16 am
Stumbled upon this by accident...sounds like a cool campaign! Will this be on knossos when it comes out?
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on July 10, 2018, 03:06:08 pm
Will this be on knossos when it comes out?

Yes, I hope to make it so
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: woutersmits on August 07, 2018, 12:53:02 pm
but cant you not release 9 mission demo first nine its done
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 07, 2018, 03:55:48 pm
but cant you not release 9 mission demo first nine its done

Considering what still needs to be done, an incomplete release is unnecessary.

What's currently holding me back is actually more personal preference than actual obstacles (it's a really hot and humid summer where I live... not helped by the fact that my apartment gets all the sunshine during the day and my PC can easily work as a space heater even when running FSO*)

*Thanks, Nvidia.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 23, 2018, 08:41:17 pm
I have good news and I have bad news:

First, the bad news - I will delay The Lost Generation - Ashcroft for a little bit longer.

Now, the good news - I will release it alongside The Lost Generation - Jarin.

(https://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/Teaser.png)
The first five missions of TLG -Ashcroft don't appear because for testing purposes they have their own campaign file.

The reason for this is, that I spend most of last week trimming the fat in the script for TLG - Jarin, cutting it down to the essentials, which is 6 missions proper and one mission for the Epilogue. This trimming down also meant, that I cut down on the assets required, bringing it back to a few larger asteroids and a Shivan stationary object that is not the CommNode. More on that in seperate threat when the time is ripe.

Creatively it will also mean that I can work on some low intensity stuff, while keeping TLG - Ashcroft in view. To be real here for a second, I mostly didn't work on Mission 10 and 11 because they are both require a lot of focus and attention, so much so that I just wanted to get away from them... And since I keep a ban on playing new Freespace-content in place (so I don't see something cool and try to emulate that for unproductive days on end), I didn't get away from them enought - all that caused a small vicious circle of unproductivity...
Now all that is going to end. Period.



"You will know the Destroyers of All Things by their shape, for it is the First Shape." - 37th Aphorism of the Light
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 18, 2018, 07:09:49 pm
I generally don’t provide a blow-by-blow of a mission’s development; mostly because it turns out that the stuff you want to talk about falls either in the spoilers or “look at me, am I not smart?” categories. (Especially, when I do the second one, I tend to deserve all the blowback I get (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=95063.msg1876620#msg1876620) :D )

But to make it perfectly clear that this campaign is alive and well, let’s talk about:

Mission 11, “This is the way the world ends” or The Sinking of the NTD Vasa

(https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/34/33105/TLGpreview21.1.png)

Let’s start off with the non-spoiler material, this mission has been a big problem since almost the inception of the campaign. After I started work on TLG – Ashcroft way back when, I quickly started working on the campaign from both ends – in no small part because it was prequel but also because the end went through so many iterations. And if you are working a story from both ends, the stuff in between get hard to work out.

Another issue was that because I was working on a parallel track to the main FS2 story I had to fit a number of events in there that strictly I did not need to show. Or I had to attach some significance to events that were just tossed up into the air during the relevant FS2 Command Briefings. That was the case with the destruction of the NTD Vasa, which is just there in Command Briefing for “King’s Gambit”.

In a version of the TLG – Ashcroft story that was now entirely on the (metaphorical) cutting room floor, I simply used the destruction of the Vasa as an event in which our protagonists loses all her material possessions. It was an earlier version of the script which had Sam holding on to a memento of “obvious plot significance“ and losing it was her “okay, all the bridges are burned now”-moment.

However as I picked the campaign back up, iterated on the story, and further developed the characters and relationships that give TLG – Ashcroft its soul, so to speak, I found that the entire memento-plot point was not fitting anymore. Not just was its existence a serious drag that weakened Sam’s character but also wound up a big point that was defeating the way the campaign ends.

So I wound up with scene without content, and any attempt to move another plot point into that empty space didn’t work … yet.

Spoilers coming up – so blinds on if you want to go in unspoiled.
(https://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/34/33105/screen0042.png)

Spoiler:
So I did what seemed best at the time and started up the Freespace 2 Main campaign again. And during that I noticed two things that were significant in giving the mission its current shape:

a)   Only once, in “Fog of War”, the rotation of the Aquitaine from and to the Nebula is made an issue. The rest of campaign just glosses over this point and trusts that the most recent emergency is grounds enough to suspend to disbelieve in that everyone of your fellow pilots is just okay with fighting NTF one day and Shivans the next.

b)   While there are a number of missions, “Argonautica” for example, which deal with the desperate rescue of GTVA capital ships from danger, there isn’t that much between fully functional and blows up in the most 1990s fashion imaginable.

And just like that I had my plot point

The Vasa would not explode like so many other capital ships in the FS-universe but “slowly sink” while you are charged with the usual escort mission objectives, such as intercepting bombers and taking on cruisers. And the assistance you would receive to get her crew off the sinking ship would be provided by ships from the GTVA 3rd Fleet, while the opposition are other GTVA units – with experience of combat with the Shivans drawing the battle lines.

Now there were a number of technical issues to work out with that.

One, I wanted to simulate a real “rules of engagement”-situation that took its cues from the real-life rules for medical combat personnel, i.e. the protected status of clearly marked medics in the field and the limitations they have on their participation in combat, especially the idea that medical personnel in combat zone is often held to standard of using their weapons in self-defence only. Thanks to xenocartographer I quickly had a script that was supposed to sort this out by limiting the ability of ships with a special “Medical” IFF to fire their turrets to a special “Warhead” IFF. But due to an error that kept popping up at my end (perhaps an assets related issue), it didn’t work out. Even Axem’s help was not enough to fix it.

Two, there was a big issue with how the wreckage of the Vasa would perform in gameplay terms. She could not have that many hit points but I wanted to avoid a repeat of an older mission involving the wreckage of a capital ship, where the derelict would blow up once a single shivan bomb hit. Worse still, was when beam cannons came into the mix. The problem here was that there was no functional way to direct the combat between the GTVA cruisers involved, so that they would still be a credible threat to the Vasa AND each other. Just swapping out the weapons didn’t help and micromanaging every beam shot in that situation just makes the work disproportionate to the pay-off.

Eventually I just took the easiest way I could think of to remedy both problems:

For the first one, I just scrapped the idea and changed the orientation of the ships involved so that the medical ships would have no opportunity to fire at any bombs – with the option to change it all back in a future patch.

For the second one, I did what worked in Blue Planet 2’s “Delenda Est” and made a relevant armor.tbl that makes sure the Vasa gets a significant damage reduction once she is a wreck for all gameplay purposes. I was really reluctant to make that change, despite armor.tbl being such a convenient tool in theory, simply because of the potential for unintended side effects.

Now all that is left to do is finalize the new balancing, re-write some of the dialogue (some of the lines really did not survive last year without picking up bad associations), and implement a checkpoint system – because as it stands this mission is going to be 17+ minutes long (Ups…).

And after that, there is only Mission 10 ... currently in the running for "the most unnecessarily complicated mission I ever made" - why that is, I hope to show in video format soon'ish.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: HLD_Prophecy on November 18, 2018, 08:46:21 pm
Nice! I definitely appreciate the connection with the retail FS2 plot. Despite the fact that it requires added missions, you seem to be finding ways to make it fit reasonably smoothly. Always interesting to see someone's design process!
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: Nyctaeus on November 19, 2018, 03:58:41 am
Apparently lots of things changed since I tested it. Looks even more interesting :yes:
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on November 20, 2018, 12:38:53 pm
Nice! I definitely appreciate the connection with the retail FS2 plot. Despite the fact that it requires added missions, you seem to be finding ways to make it fit reasonably smoothly.

It is a fun challange, esspecially since it make you appricate all the subtle detail in FS2 more. Adding things never was a problem, there a few moments in the campaign that are really ... dense.

Apparently lots of things changed since I tested it. Looks even more interesting :yes:

The gameplay hasn't changed that much, I am just updating a lot of the writing and replacing the juvenile handwaving with substance (also tossing out a lot of backstory notes that were just in bad taste). There are still ways to go with making sure everything is were it supposed to be ... esspecially since I want to head off some unintentional readings of the material.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on December 29, 2018, 10:33:22 pm
Alright, the year comes to an end and it feel appropriate that I close it with a little overall progress report:

1. Walking on Ashes aka "old the TLG-Jaarin Finale made pretty"

So, I "damaged" my right shoulder two weeks ago and it overall cost me the all work I was going to do - painful and reduced movement and all that. So Walking on Ashes is not out of testing yet; but it is all done and all that is to do is proofread the new dialogue, which features characterisations that are closer to what is going to be in The Lost Generation - Jaarin when it is out. Note that they are not 1-to-1 translations, esspecially since one of the characters will be dead when the new story comes around to similar place in the plot and, of course, Viluu is 100 percent more annoyed with Kvasi just for hell of it :P

2. Memories of Great War Update

Similar to Walking on Ashes my shoulder injury hampered that too, so not yet released. But I am catching up rapidly and there basically nothing left but rebuilding the Rain on Ribos IV campaign file.

3. The Lost Generation - Ashcroft

... status unchanged from the last report.

4. The Lost Generation - Jaarin

I finally got the Nebula effects looking similarly to what I want and I've all models I need in-game and error-free. Next up is some effects work and then the FREDing will commence in full. Look foward to Screenshots very soon.

5. The Lost Generation - Serqet (working title)

I have started working on the model(s) for the [REDACTED] Complex, so it is only a matter of how the models will turn out. There are still some re-writes in the character department that have not worked out yet, it's mostly backstory stuff that will turn into a few lines of dialogue but I want to avoid a cultural misstep there.



"praised in Keh'Est and Nb'Thun" - figure of speech; Vasudan, Imperial Main; Meaning: [for an object] to be of exceptional quality or product of excellent craftmanship; [for a person] to have an exceptional skill or extraordinary quality as a person; Does not denote uniqueness or an example.



(https://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/mere-flyby.png)

(https://media.moddb.com/images/members/5/4078/4077319/noir_arriving.png)
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 13, 2019, 04:32:48 am
I posted a brief statement to ModDB earler: (Link (https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-lost-generation-ashcroft/news/mod-update-august-2019))

Quote
Alright… I am actually not a good public speaker but anyone who still follows this mod and frankly the people who run ModDB deserve this statement.


What is going on with The Lost Generation – Ashcroft?


I’ve been modding for a long enough time that I know that a mod not regularly updating while the creatives are busy with the facts of life, is not an unusually occurrence. However I have been deliberately silent for far too long.


It is actually nothing grave at work here – just that with all things concerning the campaign, I might just have had bad timing.


The Lost Generation – Ashcroft was conceived years ago* as companion piece/prequel to another story of mine (which has disappeared into the dustbin for good). As such it had certain elements to it, especially to modify the perception of the titular character as the she appeared in that project - adding a layer to her actions and motives.


* (The first mission has a metadata-entry of “$Created: 11/13/08 at 20:28:16”)


When I picked it back up, it was partly out of convenience (more than half was already done) but also because it offered an opportunity to test an idea about video game narratives - and I am still eager to know what will happen once the campaign releases in that regard.


I always knew that due to the different development phases, I would have to do quite a bit of editing to make the story a cohesive whole – especially as I kept adding little things because of my growing ability and understanding.

Part of it would be to refine the portrait of the NTF, most all to have all divergent story threads contribute to a whole – if I were to release the campaign now, you would with good reason doubt that I have a consistent thought process.

However at no point, I was going to endorse the things the NTF stood for in-universe – that’s why I took steps to make the protagonist stand apart.


In the last three years then, the real world happened. And not in a “the sun rises every day in the east”-way.


Certain events gave cause to take more and more looks at my writing and I had to recognize that some of it just was wholly inadequate for the goals I set myself.

I always knew that I would have to take certain steps to “secure” any interpretation of my writing from going in unpredicted directions. And some of that I think already works out beautifully, if I am allowed to say so.


But I also reached the limit of what I can do on my own in that regard. As such I have put the campaign on hiatus and will be devoting some time to discuss the campaign, its writing and the techniques involved with an array of people, who could give some expert advice.


(I have briefly considered to just cancel The Lost Generation – Ashcroft but all considerations in that direction only reaffirmed my commitment to make a better version of it.)


The duration of the hiatus is “to be determined”.


However that doesn’t mean I will refrain from working or releasing anything else:


1)    I have a project called Vega Must Burn in the works which will do a bit foundational work to improve the mission design of The Lost Generation – Ashcroft. VMB turns to the events of the first Freespace-game for its setting. It will feature 5 mission across a single play through, with 3 different endings that flow your actions and performance.


2)    I will un-couple the release of The Lost Generation – Jaarin from The Lost Generation – Ashcroft. Expect to see a number of work-in-progress shots to arrive before the end of year. I am currently integrating tech for the excellent The Scroll of Atankharzim-mod (Scroll.hard-light.net) into Jaarin’s mission designs, along with a few tweaks to the narrative as such please don’t eagerly expect a release.



The release dates on both of these are “to be determined” but depending how the dice roll, there is distinct possibly of one or both arriving Q1 or Q2 2020.
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: starlord on March 03, 2020, 05:26:13 pm
Any news on this one?
Title: Re: [PREVIEW] The Lost Generation - Ashcroft
Post by: 0rph3u5 on March 03, 2020, 07:12:14 pm
Any news on this one?

Yes. But I didn't think it particullarly newsworthy, as it is mostly in-depth writing stuff, which would require me to spoil a whole lot about the final act of the campaign.