Hard Light Productions Forums
Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The Modding Workshop => Topic started by: galonrever on August 29, 2004, 02:27:39 am
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Hey guys, just thought i'd let you know, like Stalker, im making a Freespace mod, but mines for Armada 1, not 2. At current im finishing the station odf's, ive done the ships, and ive got a good idea on the weapons. just a couple of questions
1/ How do i convert the .pof Freespace models into .sod armada models? also, will the Freespace textures work if i stick em on the .sod once its converted?
2/ Does anyone here know how to make the actual weapon effects for Armada. Im a bit stumped on that one
3/ would anyone be interested in givin me a hand? I could use help in the models, texturing, and weapons area (thats only about the whole game ;) )
4/ Does anyone know how i can change the wormhole into a sub space node, and alter the Borg Transwarp special weapon to make it blue for Subspace travel.
james
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Great idea. Ive got Amarda 1 and 2, so im pretty much convered. But for ppl who have Armada 1, this will be exellent news.
1\ Wouldnt have a clue
2\ dont have a clue
3\ well, im not really sure if i can help, im bit of a newbie in FREDing etc....but this is Armada. However im interested.
4\ nope, sorry
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Would it not be more sensible to post these questions on an Armada 2 Modding board? I mean, if there's help available here you'll no doubt get it, but I'm not sure that there will be, unfortunately.
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I think I can answer question#1 for all the others you should go to teh site stalker hangs out at for armada modding (forgot the address).
Anyway, you said .pof so I take it you need them converted from .pof format to a working format (like .cob, lwo, 3ds, obj, ect?). Cause after that you simply do teh normla steps like any other armada mod for getting models into the game. It's just an extra step.
Do you know how to get generic format models into Armada1? if not you need to glance through Westwood's big book of modding (you can DL a copy from Armada Fleet Command) AFC...
All other questions I do not know about. I got an idea though. It seems stalker's project has been quiet since may. Thre are people reading that thread who have skills and want his project finished. Even though it's for Armada 1 you could still mention your effort there and maybe drum up some suport. I wouldn't consider that a conflict of interest since it is for another version of the game.
I hope this helps a little.. That is all I know as I play A2 but I just learned how to get sods OUT of it, I never knew how to ADD to it unless they had an auto installer for a mod.
Good luck with your attempt, I for one would like to finally see a FS game in another engine completed!
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What is Armada Fleet Command, a website maybe. If so what's it's address coz im interested in A1/A2 modding.
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Armada one? Thanks, man, I owe you.
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Yay! Lol, I'd definately download this for Armada one! :)
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GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND
Navigate from here: http://www.armadafleetcommand.com/
Too lazy to bring you right to the exact spot.
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well, its been a day, but ive got the weapons nearly done thanks to Solid Snake. Only bits left now are to retexture the few stations im leaving in the game from the original, convert and texture the freespace models, and do the finishing touches on the weapon odf's.
At Black Wolf, ive got another thread working at the Armada Board, but basicly no one goes there anymore.:confused:
Does anyone know how to reorintate the models in the game? i want to rotate the fed shipyard by 90 degrees, and retexture it.
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nope, but you could try Armada Fleet Command and look for a tutorial on modding (look up, for the link).
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good god, this is hard work. Anyway, ive got the beam cannon .tga's done, and im goin to work on finishing the rest of the weapon tga's and odf files.
As soon as i can take screenshots, i will. Im also working on a new gui. i think ill sleep well 2nite.
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badass, I cant wait, I only have Armada 1, good work man, definently lookin forward to this
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oh no. My natural laziness is begining to kick in. I did jack all yesterday....
anyway, this mod may take some time. Im still learning the ropes, and Ive got my first set of final exams in two weeks! YAY! SCHOOL ENDS!
Anyway, this is a cheezey screen, but these are the beam weapons at current. It may not look like it, but they do change in width. Havent tried it ingame yet, im guna wait until i can get at least one model in it. Also, does anyone know where i can get 3D max for free? I think that 3D max can convert its files into sod's IIRC.:nod:
EDIT: wait a minute, how the hell do you add images????
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umm, i think you have to upload your image onto a website first. You can just get one of those free ones like from Yahoo. Then you make a link from the image on your site to this forum.
That could be how you're supposed to do it. Im not 100% sure but thats how i do it.
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pfft, im far to lazy. hey, pilot, u still interested in givin me a hand?
ill take any help where i can
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well, yeah. But im not sure how i can help, but ive got a website with some free space left. I could host your pics i guess?
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yea, that'd be helpful
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ok, just email me your pics and i'll upload them. Ill then post them here for you.
btw, my email is [email protected]
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well, since ive got my finals, ive basicly stopped work on my little mod. I'll get back to it soon. Also, does anyone here have Milkshake 3D (is that right). If i could send you Lithium Unwrap (a file converter) could you convert the .pof's to milkshake file things then to sods? I think milkshake converts to sods.....doesnt it?
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nope, i dont have milkshape 3d.
Ive only got 3dmax 6, 3dmax 2.5, Zmodeler, and Truespace 3.2.
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do any of them convert to sods?
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Max will. But Max 2.5 and Max 6 may not, if they don't support the newer and older plugin formats, respectively. Milkshape also will, but you're on your own finding plugins for that thing.
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anyone interested in doing the conversions? ive got a model converter that will change a pof into several 3D modelling programmes formats, which is small. i could really do with the sods, so i can get own to the hp'ing, and finish this mod. apart from models and textures, all that needs to be done is some tweaking, but i need to be able to run the game do em...
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oh man. ok, all i have to do is load the model (.pof) into this program and convert it. Then open up the converted model (.sod) and check everything is ok, and then send it to you, right?
oh and do you know that pic that you sent me, do you want me to post it here?
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Do hardpoints not need to be added at the exporting program level? Seems like the most logical place to put the step if you ask me.
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hardpoints??? are you trying to say that when converting the model (.pof), the firing points should be added automatically to the final model (.sod) by using the original firing points in the pof version??
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no, not at all. That data is lost in pof->cob. It would mean that you'd need to add it again before converting, because I'm not certain you can after the fact. If we had a pof->max converter (Styxx's doesn't work backwards AFAIK) then perhaps that data would get preserved, but we don't.
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uuuhhh....i guess we'll find out..
I kinda doubt it, but who cares. i'll learn it as we go. Pilot, thats all i need you to do. load. convert. load again in 3D prog. convert. send ;)
oh, and yea, may as well upload that pic. its all i got right now
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hmmm, ok ill try converting those models (btw, wut model should i start with???) and what program will convert models to .sods??
And ill post the pic that you sent me in a few minutes.
[EDIT] here's the pic of the beam colours that will be included in the Armada 1 conversion project.
(http://www.geocities.com/hyrulecastleau/A1beams)
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umm...start with the orion. i'll email u the converter now
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thanx. (check out the pic. cool, aye! ..... you've gotta get more!)
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ok, now the orion that you want to be converted, ive just found out that there are 3 versions. the 1st is just the standard orion. the 2nd has the words "GTD Galatea" on the side. And the 3rd has the words "GTD Bastion" on the side. All three are identical expept 2 of them have diffrent textures.
I thought I'd just ask, incase you wanted to make single player campaign. But I'll just convert the standard version.
btw do you know where i could get a .sod tutorial for 3d max???
ive found one for milkshape but ive never used milkshape before.
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probably at www.armadafleetcommand.com
thats the only place i can think of....
yea, just use the normal orion. I'm overwriting most of the original Armada ships, so you can play SP, except right now, the romulans dont have a freespace race. If i can be bothered i'll make the NTF for the Romulans. If not, i'll just boost their shields and weapons.
Ok, heres the list at Present. This way, you get the basics for all races in fighters, bombers and cap ships
Keep in mind, cap ships will take ages to build, and will be
S-L-O-W. Also, repairs will take a long time, since the ships will have hulls (shields really ingame) in the 10's of thousands and up, with a recharge rate of like 10 a sec.
---Terrans
GTI Arcadia (Outpost)
-GTFr Posieden (Construction ship)
-GTFr Zephryus (mining ship)
-GTF Myrmidon (Space superiority)
-GTF Perseus (Interceptor)
-GTF Eryines (Heavy Fighter)
-GTF Hercules Mk II (Assault Fighter)
-GTF Pegasus (Stealth)
-GTB Boanerges (Medium Bomber)
-GTB Ursa (Heavy Bomber)
GTI Turus (Mining station [Just a retextured fed mining station])
GTI Ithaca (Shipyard [retextured fed shipyard])
-GTC Fenris (Light Flanking Cruiser)
-GTC Leviathen (Slow Heavy Cruiser)
-GTC Aeolus (Attack Cruiser)
-GTCv Deimos (All-rounder)
GTI Ganymede (Heavy Shipyard)
-GTD Orion (Anti Capship Destroyer)
-GTD Hecate (All-rounder)
-GTVA Colossus (not buildable in SP)
GTSG Alastor (Anti fighter gun)
GTSG Mjolnir (anti Capship)
GTA Charybdis (AWACS- Double sensor range)
---Vasudans
GVI Arcadia (Outpost)
-GVFr Bes (Construction ship)
-GVFr Anuket (Mining ship)
-GVF Serapis (Interceptor)
-GVF Ptah (Stealth)
-GVF Tauret (Heavy Fighter)
-GVF Seth (Assault Fighter)
-GVB Bakha (Assault Bomber)
-GVB Osiris (Bomber)
GVI Thuphya
-GVC Aten Refit (Support Cruiser)
-GVC Mentu (Assault Cruiser [With Beam])
-GVCv Sobek (All-rounder)
-GVA Setekh (AWACS- double sensor range)
GVI Ganymede
-GVD Typhon (All-rounder)
-GVD Hatshepsut (All-rounder- Best destroyer ingame)
-GTVA Colossus (not buildable in SP)
GVSG Ankh (anti fighter gun)
GVSG Mjolnir (Anti Cap ship)
---Shivans
SI Shivan Stronghold (Heavy base)
-SFr Dis (Construction ship)
-SFr Rahu (Mining)
-SF Basilisk (Heavy Fighter)
-SF Astaroth (Interceptor)
-SF Manticore (Space Superiority)
-SB Nahema (Fast Bomber)
-SB Seraphim (Heavy Bomber)
SI Kahuka
-SC Cain (Light Cruiser)
-SC Lilith (Heavy anti-cap Cruiser)
-SC Rakshasa (Flanker)
-SCv Moloch (Corvette)
SI Rehvaki
-SD Demon (Anti Cap Destroyer)
-SD Ravana (All-rounder)
-SJ Sathanas (Mega ship[ not buildable in SP])
SSG Trident (Anti Fighter)
SSG Belial (heavy anti fighter)
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Race Differences
As you can see, im not a fan of special weapons. Ifb i use any, they'll be minor. If i include jumpdrives, they'll only be good for 2-3 jumps, then they'll be out of power.
Terrans- The Terrans are the beginners race. They are easy to learn, and later, when used correctly, are damn good. Fire Arcs of most ships are 720 degrees (all round the ship) with the exception of the cruisers. Even so, if cruisers are escorted by corvette's and above, flanking wont help much. Orion's are good defence ships, can give powerful broadsides. Good fighters, ok bombers. Against them, multiple attacks and fronts the best way. Make them spread out. As them use fighters and bombers to damage ships before bringing in a task force, and use the Fenris and Aeolus cruisers to flank and damage the smaller elements of the enemy fleet.
Vasudans- Have the best destroyer in the game. again, weapons well placed. Again, flanking of little use when used against corvettes or above. Fighters ok, bombers only good for hit and runs, but capable of defending themselves well. Playing against them, take out their heavy ships first, then outflank and destroy the cruisers, and hit the bases and shipyards hard, again aiming for heavy shipyards. As them, try to keep the offensive. As soon as forced back, vunerable to anti base strikes. Has to keep enemy occupied.
Shivans- Most ships are designed for offensives. This is their strong point. For their base, no heavy sentery guns. Only capships good for base defence. Heavy reliance on forward facing weapons. If their flanked, they have to turn to engage. When fighting against them, well executed defensive tactics and outflanking best, with base strikes to cripple their offensive capability. As them, best defence, is a good offence.
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ive already tried armadafleetcommand but im going to use milkshape instead to convert the models to .sod, and use 3d max to make the parts of the orion in armada 1 format.
It might be a little slow work, coz ive gotta make a mission for the FRED Acadamy. as well as school work to do.
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i know what you mean. i got school, and final exams comming up. Where in Aussie do u live? I hear you guys are getting a new team for the Super 12 (well, now the super 14....)
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i live in Queensland. hmmm, super 12? i dont think ive heard of that. Isnt it a sporting team or something?
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....you know, Super 12... rugby...New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. A bit like the Tri Nations, but with 12 teams....New Zealand's only lost once or twice. The Blues and Crusaders are the strongest teams. Dont tell me you aint heard of it. You not into rugby?
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Yeah, Super 12s is going up to Super 14s. One new one from here, one from South Africa.
I'm not into Rugby, I just heard about it though.
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Ah well, mindless off topic stuff...anyway, next week, i can devote more attention to this mod, cuz i'll be in school holidays, but ive still got to factor in parties, drunkness, hungoverness, and study (got more exams 6 weeks after these ones :S)
Ive decided to wait until i get the models ingame before getting the weapons up and running. I tried yesterday, but all i got was a large white line for the Green Beam cannon.....which aint good. All the texture things are set, i just gotta get em workin.
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oh, man. i aint getting anywhere with the models. My HDD has been screwing up majorly for the past couple of months. I'll have the cash to get a new one in a couple of weeks.
My other computer wont allow me to install 3d max 6, coz it requires stuff to be copied into the 'system32' directory.
Oh and i dont follow sport so i dont really know anything about this super 12/14 thingy.
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oh and what format do you want the model to be in?
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You *DO* know that there is a FS2 project for Homewold 2 going on don't you?
I allready converted 10 or so cannon FS2 ships for them.
check it here:
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?goto=lastpost&t=26533
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Originally posted by TrashMan
You *DO* know that there is a FS2 project for Homewold 2 going on don't you?
I allready converted 10 or so cannon FS2 ships for them.
check it here:
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?goto=lastpost&t=26533
And the relevance of this is...what exactly? They're modding Armada, not HW.
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yea, i know...i offered the lithium unwrap programme to em, but im having trouble sending it.
ive got HW2, and im looking forward to it, because it can more accuratly recreate the freespace universe (Fighters that MOVE!!)
Pilot, um, sod format would be best....but ive hit a major snag. Not only im i waist deep in exams, but i managed to destroy my Armada 1 CD (ran it over with a chair, hehe.......yea) so until/if i can get a replacement, im a little outta the game.
However, i still have all the odf's and such, so if anyone wants to plod along with this while im on the sidelines, your welcome. Right now, what remains to be done is the sod's and textures. Ive set it up so that all that needs to be done is directly replace the Original Star Trek Armada sods/texures with the new Freespace ones. oh, and ill see what i can do about buttons.
I'll let you know when i can start up again. Pilot, please contine with the sod formatting, as it will help streamline things.
Whats left is not hard. Think of this as an easy introduction to Armada modding. Grab the Westworld book of modding at www.armadafleetcommand.com ( I might include it in the FS:armada 1 zip, but it is big for a 56ker 14mg if i remember) and your set. All you need to know is in that pdf.
Remember, most of the hard/tedious work is done. If you have any questions, post em, or my email's [email protected]
like i said, i'll be back, and i really want to see this thing come to light. To many Freespace TC's have got halfway, and then died.
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hard/tedious work is done????
wut hard work? how much have you done already?
im not sure if i'll be able to put the textures in the sod file.
oh and bad luck with your A1 cd :(. thats why i make spare copies :D
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All the ship, station, building, weapon odf's, and sound files.
They may sound easy, but it is SO SLOW and tedoius. Admittedly, the weapon odf's need a little polishing, but that'll take me 5 mins max. Like i said, the remaining things to do are replace the sods, and sort out the textures...that is of course only if we can get the original textures to glide onto the new sods easily (something i hope will happen, but im not overly conferdent about it). If not, that means that texturing will be the hard/tedious thing.......how the hell any mods get out, i'll never know....its alot of hard work. several times i've been tempted to give up, but the fact that their are NO fs RTS's out there (except the HW2 0.32 beta, which is a little lacking) kept me going
Oh, Pilot, the texures and sods are different files. The textures are .tga's that go in the Textures subfolder in your Armada 1 directory
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ok, ill actually get the orion into sod format without textures because it will be quicker.
after/if i succeed to do this, ill try to work on a textured version.
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Originally posted by Black Wolf
And the relevance of this is...what exactly? They're modding Armada, not HW.
Ups..wrong post... and link. There is allso a FS2 project going on for Armada 2...
Don't have the link on me now...will give you later so maby you can work something out with those guys.
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i know of stalkers mod. However, the games dont intermix very well :(
Thanks anyway TrashMan
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Here:
http://www.sgnonline.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=30
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ok, ive got one of my computer loading 3dmax properly, but i cant find a 3dmax6 to sod plugin. The current plugin is only for 3dmax3 and 4 and does not work in 6. ive already had a look on Armada Fleet Command. anyhere else i could try?
Oh you'll be adding the HP and subsystems right?
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Are yall gonna copy the main FS campaign or make your own
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dunno? can you even make your own single player campaigns in Amarda?
Hey, have you got the model i sent you, galonrever? It's in 3ds format i think. I couldnt get the textures to show in 3dmax, prolly coz the textures are in pcx format.
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I dunno can you?
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galonrever??
I think we may need your expert advice here!
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****, sorry guys. i completely forgot about this.
Uh, no you cant add a new campaign. I was guna see if i could just replace the feds with the terrans, borg with the Shivans, and Klingons with the Vasudans. Romulans can be some new race or sumfin. Maybe NTF....?
anyway, hows it all going?
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Guys, good news. Myself and a new mate of mine are planning to get underway again in completing this mod. We will start with A1 and get our bearings, and then once people have played it, and relayed their thoughts to us, we will begin an Armada 2 mod. This way both games are catered for. However, we need help. We need modelers, skinners and converters. Odf's for A1 are basicly done, but might need polishing.
I got a new A1 CD, so im back in the game. I also now have A2.
Well people, its up to you. Help if you can, If you cant, spread the word that we need modders, and then you will get your wish and have A FRESPACE RTS!!!!!!!!!
YEA!
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i wish i could help, but good luck, this would be nice to have
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Dude, sorry i went out. My internet plan expired and i just got the net back. I really dont think i can help with 'modelling' (i havent got my last model to work yet). I can 'skin', but i can only skin a whole object intantaniously without any care taken (in Truespace and 3dmax), and no UV mapping either.
Hmmm, 'converters', what does that involve (programs and job/processes)?
But if you want i can still host and link pictures and stuff for you to this forum.
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Alright guys, galonrever's friend is finally here. galonrever, as I said in my e-mail, I'll look into modeling as I can find ANY program for free as well as most plugins. gotta love my skills ;)
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Hey if you guys need some expert advise, I am well versed with Armada 1 modding. I can tweek the ofd's give some time to converting model, texturing them, adding what is needed. I can also work on the AI porsion. I also have an Idea or two about the shipyards. I any case I can help, I may be unavalible until next wed (12/29/04). But I hope to have a new mod to help with.
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That'd be great jc4jc. Ive been browsing over at SGN, and a guy has contacted me there about the Freespace mod. I'll see if he wants to help us out. This mod may yet come to fruitition (yes, it is a word, no i dont know how its spelt ;) )
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you reallly need a website! that way you can have just 1 page that has all the news about the project on it and using the rest of the free space (hehe) you can use to store current progress (ships that have been converted, weapons, etc.. ) incase a HDD crash.
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Good Idea Pilot, I'm actually working on that. Nothing like geocities or anything like that(those stupid sites crash too often. I used to have a website of my own with a domain, but its gone down due to my recent money issues. I'll see what I can do. I'm part of this project and I'll be damned if I don't help in some way.
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Well you know i've got a website on geocities, and i havent found any problems. However i remember i once exeeded my allowed space and geocities deleted my whole entire site, everything gone. Since then i've created a new site (check my siggy if you want to have a look) and this time ive stayed well under my limit, and ive never had a problem. The reason i like geocities so much is because their html build is soooooo damn esazzzzzyyyy to use.
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I'm trying out a few other places, I've had too many bad experiences with Geocities and the like.
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oh ok, there are others like angelfire, other are many others but i cant remember them. Hey if you can get some really cool stuff/work done maybe you could get hosting here (highly doubt it), nodewars or an armarda modding site.
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If you want to simpl host brief dev info, just sign up for a free blog and use it to put out status updates. Works fine for me :D
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I'm submitting to a few sites that do free banner-less hosting. It's actually looking pretty good. Also, I want everyone's opinion, as well as my good buddies, on the name I've been poking a stick at for this mod:
Freespace: Armada
Whatcha all think?
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i think it's a little too plain. How about some like the following:
Freespace - the lost generation
Freespace - Mozalium of history
Freespace - (guarding) The tomb of space
Freespace - Everlasting alliance
Freespace - new alliance
And here's a couple i didnt get from the FS2 intro cutscene:
Freespace - Allied Fleets
Freespace - Allied Battlegroups
Freespace - Joint Force/Effort/Command
Freespace - Command (Central)
Freespace2 - Armarda :)
Freespace 2 Armarda (notice the spacing and absence of the dash :D)
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Freespace Armada;
Freespace universe mod for Starfleet Armada
Makes perfect sense to me :nod:
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Freespace Armada simplel and good:nod: :yes:
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:nod: :yes:
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oh man! i really liked Freespace Allied Fleets/Battlegroup.
And why is it just Freespace Armarda, shouldnt it be Freespace2 Armarda? b/c it is a freespace 2 mod, isnt it? (of course i can understand if you're planning to include all the old ships from fs1 like the athena, apollo, etc..)
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Well its the first one, the one for Armada II will be Freespace: Armada II. I believe my good buddy is including FS2 ships as well. I'm not sure, we only talk thru e-mail once in a while. Either he or I will get back to ya asap. I'd assume we were doing both FS1 and FS2 ships, tho I believe that Armada II might be better suited to handling FS2 Ships. Just my opinion as sadly I've never been given the opportunity to play FS2 :(
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hmm, i remember a Freespace mod for armarda 2 was being made. Im sure it was called Freespace: Fleet Command. That being said i guess Freespace: Armarda isnt bad, but i kinda wanted to get away from using the word armarda in the name of the mod, because as said before, the other one (Freespace: Fleet Command) doesnt include the word Armarda either, but it's your porogitive. So you decide.
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Originally posted by Pilot Of The US
oh man! i really liked Freespace Allied Fleets/Battlegroup.
And why is it just Freespace Armarda, shouldnt it be Freespace2 Armarda? b/c it is a freespace 2 mod, isnt it? (of course i can understand if you're planning to include all the old ships from fs1 like the athena, apollo, etc..)
Because it's the Freespace universe.
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Ok, i was wrong. The Freespace mod for Homeworld 2 is actually called "Freespace: Fleet Command", check it out here. (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,27077.0.html) . Anyway the name of the Freespace mod for Armarda 2 is "Freespace: Armarda", so you cant use that name. (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php/topic,25405.0.html)
Anyway the HW2 mod already been released. However I came across another Freespace mod for Homeworld 2, it's called Freespace: New Age, so im a bit confused, is this the same mod renamed or is it a diffrent mod. If it's the same mod renamed then i guess you could use the name "Freespace: Fleet Command". o
If hasnt been renamed, try Freespace: Allied Fleets or Freespace: Allied Battlegroups?
Or maybe even Freepace: Allied Frontier
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Actually, inspired by another user's comment that its based in the Freespace universe
So why not just use Freespace: Universe
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well, IMO, i guess it's not that bad, but there's just something about the name. It's not unique enough. You see Armarda was about building a huge fleet of ship and battle each other. I mean it's probably going to be more effective for a homeworld mod. (for obvious reasons like the great story, interface, etc..). And the word universe keep making me think of Freelancer and Treasure Planet.
And you still havent given your opinion about the following names:
Freespace - Allied Fleets
Freespace - Allied Battlegroups
Freespace - Allied Frontier
Personally, I like "Freespace - Allied Frontier".
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Hey Why not "Freespace 2: Battlegroups", why have the allied in their. Just my two sense worth. Well sense yo guies need help what can I help with, odf files, tech trees, demo maps. I'm a little rusty on conversion but I think I can get something finished.
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Hey why not... Freespace - Battlegroups!
has a nice ring to it. anyway it's now between the following two:
Freespace - Battlegroups
Freespace - Allied Frontier
I'm going for Allied Frontier.
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Freespace: Universe
and
Freespace: Battlegroup
both sound good.
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Hey Here is my e-mail:
jc4jc E-mail ([email protected])
What ever you guyes need me to look at I'm ready.
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ok, i am totally against Freespace - Universe. But im all for Freespace - Battlegroups.
And ive decided to drop Freespace - Allied Frontier.
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Freespace - Battlegroups it is then.
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yay! Freespace - Battlegroups. The project now has a name!
so are you gonna post a staff list, and a to-do list?
and what about a website? (may i suggest geocities, i could then do website maintanence)
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Website space taken care of. My dad has a friend that runs a web server called Bookcase.com. I've got a free account there now and it has the latest in php, mysql, all that fancy stuff we could easily use. I'll post the updates as soon as my partner in crime resurfaces. Might need to e-mail him to remind him of our project here. lol
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Anyway, good luck with the project. I'd like to help but i dont think i can do much, and im also working on 2 model myself so im going to be busy.
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****, you guys have been BUSY! I just got back from a 9 day roadie...as u can imagine, 9 days living off a steak, potateo's, and beer diet have somewhat...exhausted me. Unfortuantly, im not round for long, as myself and a few mates are heading off to camp site several hours from civilisation...more beer, steak and potateo's :) does anyone want what i have so far with the odf's. Ive done a little polishing, but the physics files still need work
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Hey Send them to me and I'll take a look at them. I also need any of the other files that may be ready so I can get a feel of what is done and ready.
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hi guys! I exchanged PM's with Galonreaver on SGN about this conversion and he pointed me here.
I am able to convert texture files into A2's file format which to the best of my knowledge is identical to A1's save for pulses being flipped. I can also work on anything texture related, I have had quite a bit of practice over the last few months.
:lol: Oh, galonreaver it was a mistake pointing me here, FS2 is my favorite game of all time and erm, I am going to be "busy" for a while now. :)
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LOL, i know what you mean. when i first found HLP, i was browsing the pictures, threads, hosted projects and stuff for hours. I was up til about 2am, with school da next day ;)
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Hey, galonrever, is their anything I can do.
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oh, I have been staring at the artwork which is great, even more interesting though is the SCP & FS2open, especially now I have more campaigns than the main one to play on. :D
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Hey galonrever, gimme what screenshots you have and I'll put them on the host. Also gimme all the details of whats done and what needs done and who has done what and I'll get all that up too.
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jc4jc, i need ur email so i can send u the odf's if u want to look at them
Majrwest, unfortuanitly, at this time, we have no screenshots to speak of except a pic of the new beam weapon thing because we havent got any models ingame yet. All my work has been on odf's and sound files. Texturing, modeling and the like are over my head. but i can give u this
ODF's are compiled, but still need polishing.
The aim of this mod is to recreate the magic of the Freespace universe. That means:
-Fighters are only effective against other fighters, bombers and very light cruisers.
-Bombers are only effective against cruisers and corvettes, and are in a supportive role in attacks on destroyers
-Cruisers are effective against other cruisers, ok against Corvettes, and in combat against heavy ships are only good really as flankers, and deversions
-Corvettes are the workhorse, good against fighters, bombers, cruisers, corvettes and destroyers (in numbers or used effectivly)
-Destroyers are heavy support ships, bringing firepower to a battle. They are loaded with weapons, BUT cost a **** load and take a LONG time to build, so u DONT want to lose them. They are good against cruisers, corvettes and other destroyers (when supported) and in numbers (something unlikely to happen) against jugganauts
-Jugganauts. The ultimate killing machine. only extreme fleets or another jugganaut is really a threat. U dont want ur opponent to have one.
-Bases
Terran/Vasudan- generally rounded, with good anti fighter/bomber defences, and with RBC's good against warships
Shivan- no real heavy base defences. If you want to survive, you HAVE to be on the offensive. Im leaning towards shivan shipyards, bases and stuff to be weaker then terran and vasudan, which will greatly encourage the player to always be attacking, never defending. How this will work with the AI remains to be seen
Ships will repair very slowly, like a couple percent every minute or more. This will encourage raiding strikes, ie to batter a shivan destroyers hull with a few bomber strikes, so when its down to 50% or so, you can bring in the heavy guns once their in position, even if it takes you 2 minutes, the destroyer is still damaged if there are no nearby bases for it to repair at, and since destroyers are slow, you have a kill.
Jump drives. They will only have roughly 2-4 jumps avaliable per ship, as special energy wont recharge, so you have to use it wisely. Fighters and bombers will have rougly 5-8 jumps available. This is still open to debate and discussion ( as is everything else, i should add). This is to stop people constantly jumping ships everywhere. If u jump the GTD Lincoln to defend a mining station, and you only have 1 jump left (a wise person would save that in case you have to withdraw in the face of a massive offensive) you have to think carefully what you do
Also, Im thinking on making officers limited, and you wont be able to train new ones. This will mean you have to think "Do i make 4 more Aeolus class crusiers which are fast, and a good class of cruiser, so i can spread them out, or 1 more destroyer which is slow and limited, put powerful" You'll need a diverse fleet to take down an opponent, and you'll have to decide on its make up. U might sacrifice having a few destroyers and corvettes to build one jugganaut, but if that goes down, you'll only have cruisers, a few corvettes and fighters and bombers to defend your self....
Fighters and bombers will have fairly quick buildtimes, but crusiers, corvettes, destroyers and jugganauts will have long build times. This way, if you see your opponent building a jugganaut, you know you still have a short time to effectivly assemble a force and plan an offensive, instead of having to throw **** at it constantly. this works both ways. If your the one building the jugganaut, you'll need to defend it with a compliment of ships, but still have to act offensivly, or at least defend your outposts and mining station effectivly as to not allow your enemy to build a huge fleet to use against you. You have to hassel the enemy until the Jugganaut is ready for you to deal out fire and death
Oh, also, I was thinking that to avoid having to design and create new shipyards and stuff, that we could just retexture the exsisting stuff (execpt in the case of the Ganymede, Arcadia, etc sisnce they are already in exsistine in the Freespace universe) This will save time. A little reorientation would also be good. Does anyone know how to do this?
This mod is for Freespacer's who have Armada 1 and 2. (Oh, the first mod will be aramda 1, and then, after we hear back from you commenting on things you liked/ disliked, we will make the aramda 2 mod) so i want to hear your thoughts on anything and everything. You have suggestions, dont hesitate to say them
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ummm, Jc4jc has already given his email address, just look up a few posts. And if anyone wants to see that beam pic, it's on page 2 of this thread.
and galonrever you might not be aware of this but there already is a Freespace mod for Armada2. And i love your concept of high build times & limited officers. Although im not that sure about limited jumps, couldnt you make it that the recharge times are really high, eg. Give each big ship 2 jumps to start off with, then any more jumps after that will require- 5min for a corrvette to charge, 10min for a destroyer to charge, 15min for a juggnut to charge (you only get one jump, and you cant stockpile jumps, so you cant get more jumps until you use up the one you have).
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Here is my e-mail.JC4JC ([email protected])
I'm skeptical of the limited jump drives. I like POTUS's idea but make it harder for the fighters to recharge. Despite the fact the the subspace drives in freespace can recharge in ... I think it is 15-30sec, The Cruisers could take 5 minutes just like the corvettes, fighters could be like destroyers 10min.
I'm also Skeptical of the Officer limit. Aramda does go on a faster than real time type scale. We could have it to were Officers take just as much time to train as it takes to build a destroyer or juggernought. that way the player dosen't say "hey, I can get anymore officors and the Shivans are still building those accursed Raksasa's and Molock's?"
HOwever I like the shipyard Idea. I was thinking that the Arcadia could act as Starbase/Fighter Shipyard, and the Ganymede could be the cruiser/corvette yards, two Ganymede's could be the destroyer yards. and then three or four could be the juggy yards. the Ganymede would act for both Terran's and Vasudans. We could ask for permission to use the Vasudan starbase that some mods are using.
I like everything else. Sorry if I sound pestimistic about my first two comments.
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I see where you guys are coming from, it can be a bloody hassel having ships with no jump drive stuck, but...I think it needs a bit more realism to it. Ships cant jump every where indefinatly, and when you think about it, you dont jump ships THAT often. Its really only when theres a strong offensive on its way, or just to secure a vital position. K, how bout this, fighters/bombers get 7-8 jumps, warships get 4-5
If you still want recharging jump drives, i'll concede. Like i said, this is a mod for the community, therefore, community rules ; )
jc4jc, i sent you those odf's
Also, the thing with the officers is, if theres a limit of say 200, and you have a few ships, once those ships are lost in combat or decommissioned, the officers are restored to you immediatly, so if you are at full capacity, and launch an offensive, if ships are destroyed, the officer limit drops, and you can build new ships.
Is that waht you meant?
If the enemy is building small ships, have 2 shipyards build small ones to stall them, and 1-3 shipyards build heavier ships to take the field and wipe the enemy small ships away.
Yea, i planned for the Arcadia to be the base to build the construction ships, miners and fighter/bombers. The fed light shipyard would build cruisers and corvettes, then Ganymede shipyards build destroyers, and 2 ganymede build colossus size
Heres my plan. The ships with dashes underneith a certain station are built by that station
---Terrans
GTI Arcadia (Outpost)
-GTFr Posieden (Construction ship)
-GTFr Zephryus (mining ship)
-GTF Myrmidon (Space superiority)
-GTF Perseus (Interceptor)
-GTF Eryines (Heavy Fighter)
-GTF Hercules Mk II (Assault Fighter)
-GTF Pegasus (Stealth)
-GTB Boanerges (Medium Bomber)
-GTB Ursa (Heavy Bomber)
GTI Tanus (Mining station [Just a retextured fed mining station])
GTI Ithaca (Shipyard [retextured fed shipyard])
-GTC Fenris (Light Flanking Cruiser)
-GTC Leviathen (Slow Heavy Cruiser)
-GTC Aeolus (Attack Cruiser)
-GTCv Deimos (All-rounder)
GTI Ganymede (Heavy Shipyard)
-GTD Orion (Anti Capship Destroyer)
-GTD Hecate (All-rounder)
-GTVA Colossus (not buildable in SP)
GTSG Alastor (Anti fighter gun)
GTSG Mjolnir (anti Capship)
GTA Charybdis (AWACS- Double sensor range)
Terrans- The Terrans are the beginners race. They are easy to learn, and later, when used correctly, are damn good. Fire Arcs of most ships are 720 degrees (all round the ship) with the exception of the cruisers. Even so, if cruisers are escorted by corvette's and above, flanking them wont help much. Orion's are good defence ships, and can give powerful broadsides. they have good fighters, and ok bombers. Against them, multiple attacks and fronts is the best way. Make them spread out. As them use fighters and bombers to damage ships before bringing in a task force to eliminate the opposing force, and use the Fenris and Aeolus cruisers to flank and damage the smaller elements of the enemy fleet.
---Vasudans
GVI Cairo (Outpost- Updated Arcadia/ Vasudan base from other mods if allowed)
-GVFr Bes (Construction ship)
-GVFr Anuket (Mining ship)
-GVF Serapis (Interceptor)
-GVF Ptah (Stealth)
-GVF Tauret (Heavy Fighter)
-GVF Seth (Assault Fighter)
-GVB Bakha (Assault Bomber)
-GVB Osiris (Bomber)
GVI Thuphya [Retextured A1 Klingon shipyard]
-GVC Aten Refit (Support Cruiser)
-GVC Mentu (Assault Cruiser [With Beam])
-GVCv Sobek (All-rounder)
-GVA Setekh (AWACS- double sensor range)
GVI Ganymede
-GVD Typhon (All-rounder)
-GVD Hatshepsut (All-rounder- Best destroyer ingame)
-GTVA Colossus (not buildable in SP)
GVSG Ankh (anti fighter gun)
GVSG Mjolnir (Anti Cap ship)
Vasudans- Have the best destroyer in the game. Again, the weapons are well placed. Again, flanking of little use when used against corvettes or above. Fighters ok, bombers only good for hit and runs, but capable of defending themselves well against fighters. Playing against them, take out their heavy ships first, then outflank and destroy the cruisers, and hit the bases and shipyards hard, again aiming for heavy shipyards. As them, try to keep the offensive. As soon as forced back, vunerable to anti base strikes. Has to keep enemy occupied.
---Shivans
SI Shivan Stronghold (Heavy base)
-SFr Dis (Construction ship)
-SFr Rahu (Mining)
-SF Basilisk (Heavy Fighter)
-SF Astaroth (Interceptor)
-[EDIT] SF Mara (Space Superiority)
-SB Nahema (Fast Bomber)
-SB Seraphim (Heavy Bomber)
SI Kahuka [Retextured A1 light borg shipyard]
-SC Cain (Light Cruiser)
-SC Lilith (Heavy anti-cap Cruiser)
-SC Rakshasa (Flanker)
-SCv Moloch (Corvette)
SI Rehvaki [Retextured A1 heavy borg shipyard]
-SD Demon (Anti Cap Destroyer)
-SD Ravana (All-rounder)
-SJ Sathanas (Mega ship[ not buildable in SP])
SSG Trident (Anti Fighter)
SSG Belial (heavy anti fighter)
Shivans- Most ships are designed for offensives. This is their strong point. For their base, no heavy sentery guns. Only capships good for base defence. Heavy reliance on forward facing weapons. If their flanked, they have to turn to engage. When fighting against them, well executed defensive tactics and outflanking best, with base strikes to cripple their offensive capability. As them, best defence, is a good offence. Also, you MUST have cruisers available to engage any enemy ships that outflank the heavier ships, and fighters to cover the cruisers
This is open to revision, but I think its good. Capital ships should be expensive, and slow to build, so you only have a few of them, and if you lose one, it HURTS!
Fighters and bombers will be built at the starbases, making starbases a must.
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Why not replace wormholes with jump nodes? Yah i know theyre only for intersystem blah blah blah
but i liked the wormhole idea armada had, didnt like the warp thing 2 did.
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im against the SF Manticore, being Space Superiority. I really think the the SF Mara should be the space superiority fighter.
Also im starting to see what you mean about limiting jump drives. How about a comprimise? Unlimited jumps in single player and limited jumps in multiplayer.
I'd also like to know where did you find the "Shivan Stronghold" station, because ive never seen it?
Quote- "Also, the thing with the officers is, if theres a limit of say 200, and you have a few ships, once those ships are lost in combat or decommissioned, the officers are restored to you immediatly, so if you are at full capacity, and launch an offensive, if ships are destroyed, the officer limit drops, and you can build new ships. Is that waht you meant"-
Well if you ment it that way, that they instantly return (and you dont have to wait for the officers to train), then that's fine with me. But just incase some people may not like it, i suggest using the compimrise i discussed earlier. Limited officers in multiplayer and unlimited in singleplayer.
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As some of us has said with both limiting proposals we could have it to were it take a "very Long time..."( - Tree Beard, Lord of The Rings: Two Tower's) to replenish subspace drives and train officers. besides There is already a limit on most sp missions to prevents such "unimited" officer training. I think the limit is like 250. You would have to tweek one of the cfg filesto limit such. how ever it would effect both.
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Actually, in Armada 1, there is no limit. As long as you build more starbases, which can in turn build officer quarters (how you get new officers) you can keep building ships. What i propose is that Stations (like the Arcadia) take a while to build and are expensive (as you didnt really see many Arcadia's in FS1 or 2) but come with say 30 officers each. So, the more starbases you have, the more officers you can obtain. No training required. Hows that?
Pilot, you are completly right about the Manticore being replaced by the Mara. The Mara completly slipped my mind. I'll modify the odf accordingly. Well done on picking that up : )
The Shivan stronghold (if we get permission) could come from the Inferno campaign. I believe they designed one.
Im not sure if you can limit jump drives in multi and not in single, but dont quote me on that. We'll look into it
I had been intending on replacing the wormholes with jump nodes Krackers, but first i need to find someone who can do it, as im no where near up to the challenge. Anyone interested?
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What I ment was there is no way, besides using the cheats, to obtain the reasorces, and space required to bouild such infastructer. As for the personal for ships your looking at something around the following:
~1 officer for fighters, sence regular crewmen are not allowed to fly.
~1-2 officers for bombers, pilot and gunner depending on bomber type.
~2-3 officers & 50-75 crew for construction and mining ships; Captian, Helm, Operations.
~5-10 officers & 250-5000 crew for cruisers and corvettes.
~15-25 officers and 10,000+ crew for destroyers. You would have to wait an eternaty jut to get one destroyer.
~50+ officers and 100,000+ for juggies. This would require you to hold an enemy off indefanetly with multiple starbases hacking out officers over M-class planets.
As for the jump drives, we would just have to make a single player and multiplayer version with the different amounts required to for that version. All we would do is make the numbers do what we want them to. and I know how to.
As for the nodes, if I remember correctly, the wormholes are animated meshes that increase and decrease with size when used. wee would have to either have create just a barely visable subspace rift or use the node model and see if we can get a rift in it to grow. well just my two cents.
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I was just scanning over your info and i just spotted the shivan space superiority fighter as a manticore. It just struck me as being odd. Anyway ill take a more proper look through just incase :p
I actually like the whole 'you build an archadia station and get the officers with it (no training)'. That means you can start building ships right after the station is done. I just wanted to know, after you've built an arcadia, can you train more officers maually, incase you dont want to build another station.
jc4jc, i really like the way you've setup the officers required for each ship, but i think that the crew should be from 50-100 for construction and mining ships. I think it'd be better if we had the same rules for single and multiplayer, because a player might find it more difficult to transition from single to multiplayer mode.
Also a great thing for jump node animation would be a small green spherical thing in FS, and have it get bigger. And as it gets bigger it starts to fade out, while a subspace portal (blue whiteity circle thingy) fades in at the same time :)
Also you might want to have a look at the GTI Acheron :D
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Well The Comment on different SP and MP jump limites was to reflect on what galonrever said. personaly I think it would be extreamly hard on the player to have any limites at all. but that is just me. I would use them for attack and retreat tactics.
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ok why dont we just have unlimited jump drives with long recharge times?
Also a note requarding these jumps, are these jumps on the same map or between diffrent maps? (in a2 you can warp within the same map).
And what do you think about the jump node animation?
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Uhhh...i know far more about Armada 1 then i do about Armada 2. The first Stage of this mod is for Armada 1, mainly as both a teaser and a practice area for the team. Then, once the Armada 1 mod is released, we can begin work on the Armada 2 mod. This way we satisfy both communities. Now before anyone says "But theres already an Aramda 2 mod!" I have this to say. No, there isnt. The mod was cancelled. No one has seen or heard from Stalker in a LONG time. Unfortuanitly this means not only is the mod dead, but all of his ideas, and data went with him...a shame really, his mod looked superb. Pilot, I like your idea for the jump node, but im not sure its possible. I SERIOUSLY hope I am mistaken, because that would be awesome! ;)
Ok, we'll go with unlimited jumps with long recharge. Though in saying that, that kills the players chance to employ hit and fade tactic's with ships, as you have to wait for it to recharge. We might make it that fighters and bombers have 2 jumps available and recharge, so you can jump in, hit your target, and jump out, then have to wait for the drive to recharge to do it again.
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well, i guess. The whole unlimited is good. but could we hold off the decision about jump drives for a while, because i really like the use of tactics and not brute force. Oh and stalkers ideas for the A2 mod arent completely gone. there's a really long thread all about it.
Also im pretty sure the only type of jump available in A1 is the map 2 map jump. And i also really hope we can do my jump animation idea!!! :D :D :D
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Do you mean like the Borg transwarp drive jump? or as in a totally different map jump?? Cuz the latter isnt possible (to my knowledge)
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ok, hold on, since you know about A1 alot. Tell me about the mission where you have to get Warf (in a defient) to some place while being chased by 3 klingon ships. What type of jumps were thoes (bluey wormhole)?
[EDIT] ok never mind about that question. I just played A1, and ive found out that i was thinking of the wrong wormhole. The wormholes in A1 are jumps made on the same map, not to a different map.
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Yes, those are wormholes. They are the animated models that increase and decrease in size. they Can't change models. At this point I don't think we can have the nodes unless we change every map with an independet node model that is like the nebules. We'll just have to what and see.
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And about that wormhole model. What if we had a green spherical thingy, WITH a jump node in the centre. Then they'd both incease in size, and we dont have the problem of changing models.
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Well I guess that would be fine but wouldn't it look kind of - strange.
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Why would it look strange? The way see it, the green node thingy will a translucant, so that it's harder to see. You'll pickup on wormsholes just like in the original game. A small blue discy thing, only it looks like a freespace wormhole, with a faint green sphere around it.
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ok, guys about the wormhole thing, you do know that you can set it so that there is no change in size when they're used. Albiet it wouldn't be as cool as some of the things you guys have suggested but wouldn't it be more true to Freespace? Just to have the green thingy. I'm not too sure about how the jump nodes are done in Freespace 2 but if I remember Freespace well enough, it was pretty much just the green thing and they warped inside of it. You'd still have the ships get small so you'd still have the effect of the ship entering the node properly. Just my opinion on the subject.
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but if you just had the green sphere, then where's the bluey whitey subspace portal that's supposed to open up. But it doesnt matter, if you decide otherwise.
We still need to work out the whole jump drive limit thing.
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I agree with the fact that we need to work on the jump drives limits. I'm mainly just for hosting and trying to help with ideas, so this is part of my jurisdiction, 'eh?
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ok, we serisoly need to get all our ideas straight.
-for the wormhole, lets just have a big green sphere, that doesnt change in size with no blue-white warp portal.
-as for limited jump drives, im all for it (single and multiplayer). Fighters and bombers should have more jumps than destroyers & corvetts ships (about 50-75% more).
- And crusiers should have about 25% more jumps than destroyers and corvettes.
[EDIT] - Here's an example. If fighters & bombers have about 9 jumps, crusiers will have about 6. Destroyers and corvettes will have 3-4.
now what does everyone else think?
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I'm all for it, so long as everyone else agrees, we're good in both respects.
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Well no effect is what the B5 mod by Wraith did for armada.
As for the limit, I would like to stress that we still need to be true to Freespace. I would Suggest that we give fighters and bombers around 6 jumps; cruisers 4; corvettes and destroyers 1-2; juggernoughts 1. and of course have slow recharge of the drives. This will stay with Pilot's percentages and give the feel of freespace.
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I don't see how limiting jump drives is "true to greespace" at all. I'd say give them infinite jumps, but have them take a long time to recharge. I don't forsee special energy being used for much else, and it'd be a relatively simple matter to balance jump drive charge time via the special energy.
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Well I ment that they would have the number of jumps to start of with but that it would take a long time for them to recharge. I never said that it would be "NO MORE THAT THIS MANY JUMPS."
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As for the limit, I would like to stress that we still need to be true to Freespace. I would Suggest that we give fighters and bombers around 6 jumps; cruisers 4; corvettes and destroyers 1-2; juggernoughts 1. and of course have slow recharge of the drives. This will stay with Pilot's percentages and give the feel of freespace.
Exellent! i really like the way you've divided up everything. Only lets just give corvettes 2 jumps. And destroyers have 1 jump.
This way there is an advantage of having a corvette.
As for juggernoughts, they have no jumps. What i mean is, as soon as you finish building a juggernought, it's jump drive starts to charge up, so initally, you have no jumps. that way you cant jump as soon as you've finished your juggernought, and whipe out the other player. This will give a bit more difficulty and require more strategy to protect your juggernought so it doesnt get destroyed before you can jump it out.
Ok, i need to know if any of the following is possible: if a fighter has 6 jumps, it can jump in and out as many times as it likes, without having to wair & recharge. But after it has reached 6, it has to wait and recharge. After it has recharged it will have - a) 6 jumps, b) one jump.
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Six jumps as far as I know you can't limit them after you set them, and I don't think you can change the speical energy after the ship is built either.
OK. you guyes don't seem to have much consept of how Armada works. The speical weapons that take from the speical energy subtraces from the full amount. You can't just change the amount when speical events like warping, which isn't real warping by the way, a number of times happens. sorry but it just doesn't work that way. Their isn't some Armada version of Fred that can dictate how a map works, as much as the armada community would like to have such a tool. Sorry if I sound harsh, but 'them's the brakes' with this game.
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Well, yeah. You're right. but I do have armarda 1, but i dont mod for it and i only just build ship and attack. I never really take an in-depth look into the game. I build ships and order them to attack other ships. However i do have some understanding.
So we cant take away energy whenever a ship warps?
and limit the amount of energy each ship has?
As for juggernoughts, they have no jumps. What i mean is, as soon as you finish building a juggernought, it's jump drive starts to charge up, so initally, you have no jumps. that way you cant jump as soon as you've finished your juggernought, and whipe out the other player. This will give a bit more difficulty and require more strategy to protect your juggernought so it doesnt get destroyed before you can jump it out.
Also i dont think you understand me. Each ship has a certain amount of special energy. After a ship is built does it's special energy have to charge up before special weapons can be used or is the energy already charged? And what im saying is extending the time this energy recharges.
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No, we can take way or limit the energy from the ships in game. Yes, we can change the amount of energy a ship has and how much speical weaponstake from that energy.
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Ok, can we take away energy whenever a ship jumps?
Can we specify how long energy takes to recharge?
Also galonrever, for the shivan interceptor, instead of the SF Astaroth, may i suggest the SF Dragon or the SF Manitcore.
dragon has the best shields, but is slowest.
manitcore has the fastest speed, moderate shields.
astaroth has lowest shields, but moderate speed.
Also there's a similar but oposite situation with the SF Basalisk (Heavy fighter). You could use the SF Aeshma, which apparently is a more recently encountered fighter. But I'd stick with the basalisk as most people recongnise it.
For the terrans, i think the GTFr Triton should be the contruction ship instead of the GTFr Posidon. Coz, it's bigger (carrys twice the cargo, and is roughly the same size as the miner. And the GTB Boanerges is more of a heavy bomber, so replacing it with a more of a medium bomber like the GTB Medusa might be good.
As for the vasudans, i think you should have the GTFr Satis as the construction ship, because it's closer to the size of the miner. Aslo you might want to change the interceptor from Serapis to Horus.
Just check out it's tech description! The GVF Horus was the fastest fighter class during the Great War and it's still the fastest fighter in the GTVA fleet. Its weapon capacity is average for a fighter, with four primary banks and two missile bays. The Horus pays for its speed and maneuverability with thin armor and relatively weak shields. The Horus shines as a bomber interceptor, a role Allied Command puts it in as often as possible. For offensive operations against well-defended targets, however, the Horus is a poor choice.
Horus has better shields, but Serapis has a slightly stronger hull.
The Osiris bomber should be an assault bomber because of it's age and small bomb bays. The Sekhmet should be the main bomber because of it age, large bomb bays, and higher shields.
And that should just about wrap things up.......for now :D:yes:
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Yes, we can make the energy recharge what ever we want. I can handle this part. I just need models to go with them.
As for the rest of your post why restrict them at all. We could have a special construction module that builds the new (7) fighters as well as the old (6) fighters and another that builds the bombers(7 totel).
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I think we want to keep fighter and bomber numbers to a low af about 6-8 in total, otherwise a new player to the game may get confused, and be a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.
Pilot, id prefer to keep the Astaroth, Basalisk and Serapis, but the construction ship ideas i like.
Also, what Pilot suggested about ships having a stock begining of jumps available, and then a slow recharge is highly possible, and I ESPECIALLY like the idea about having the Jugganaut start from scratch with its jump drives. An excellent idea!
But, oure main problem is a lack of models. Without models to HP and balance and stuff, all we're doing is tossing around awesome ideas with little to show for it
Is anyone good with model converting?
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id really love to to help. but ive got no idea about modding armarda 1. ive only played the game. I dont understand exactly what odf are, or how the game works everything out, or how you would get fs2 ship into armarda 1. And what about the limits of armarda 1.
And you're right we should keep the basalisk, serapis and astraroth. we should change the contruction ship though.
I thought you had the models in odf already?
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odfs are, in basic, text files that control how the models will react and what will do what. whats connected to what and all that good stuff. Albiet, I haven't actively worked with odf files in a while so I may be off. The odf files aren't the same as the model files.
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oh man! ok, how are you doing with the models (convertions)?
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No, Odf's are the states, majrwest is correct. Their like each ship has its own tbl. the SOD files are the models. As for model conversions there is a program that I can use to convert them. However I would need the exact model and textures we want to convert. I have to find out what format the program will except. But I can get the convertion part if you guies have the models ready.
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ok, the models are in pof format, or they could be converted to cob. The textures are in PCX format, but could be converted to bmp or something else. Hows that?
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Textures need to end up in .tga format from pcx, and models have to go from pof to sod.
Yea, odf's state the ships physics, and properties like speed, sensor range, weapons, weapon placement, hitpoints, shields, etc. The odf is then linked to the sod, and the properties applied to the model.
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ok, i can get the textures from PCX to TGA. but i need to know how "in-depth" to make them, eg. Freespace can only handel PCX images when they are in 265 colour.
Also i wont be able to get the pof into sods. Is there any other format that can be converted into a sod?
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uhhh.....pass
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well, im not exactly disapointed at your response since my earlier response was actually directed at jc4jc.
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I have some programs that may work. Send me the models and textures in obj format or cob. The one of the programs say that obj is better.
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ok, the ill try and get the model in obj format, if i cant ill send it in cob.
what format do you want the textures to be in?
And i'll send over the GTC Aelous first, just to see how you do. Once you're done with that, ill send over more ships. I want to get all the capital ship warships done first, then the fighters. bomber, frieghters, sentry guns, etc...
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Send over the textures in TGA. No sense in having to convert textures as well as the models.
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ok, ive got the textures & the model converted.
The model is fine, execpt for one vertex. It protudes from the bottom, to the bottom of the second engine pod. anway you should be able to fix it.:D
Ive sent it over, good luck. :yes:
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I'd like to see it when its finished, maybe we can release it as a single ship mod so that we can give people a feel for what we're doing. I've got the site prepped and am working on it after work.
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Great, but it might be better if we wait until we get either:
a) all the cruisers done [shivan, terran & vasudan]
b) or until we get all the terran cruisers done [fenris,levithan & aelous] - I vote this one, because we could probably get this one out faster :D
Then we can release them as a cruiser pack or as a species cruiser pack - (terran cruisers, shivan cruisers and vasudan cruisers. Or pack w/ all 3 speci types of cruisers in one Freespace cruiser pack).
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I like letter b. That way we could release them in sections and then one big one, then we could work on the other classes of ships till we have the whole thing done.
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Sorry to sound like I'm not trying, because I am, but half the textures this thing calls for isn't here, also the UV and textures are all messed up when I try and redirect them.
Unless Pilot is going to reconvert the thing I'm going to need more time to do it myself.
The cob file still has refrences to the old bmp textures and the obj has no texture work at all.
The program that I'm using won't allow me to do a non-textured conversion. I may just apply one of the textures and let it look like a badly wraped gift. I'll see how it turns out, but I still need a reworked model. Do you guyes want me to do it or wait for Pilot or some one else.
I like b two we can release each race's cruisers as a teaser pack.
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I decided to take another look and I found the problem.
Im so sorry, this is the first time ive done this. The reason why i didnt have all the textures was because those textures (15) were used on lower Lods, and in modelview i only viewed Lod0 to get the textures to extract (9). After took a greater look in 3d explorer, i found all the texture names, so i extraced them and converted them. And reapplied them to the .obj model. That wield screwed vertex was actually a lower Lod overlayed onto Lod0. so it looked weird.
Im sending it over now. Everything should work perfectly. If it doesnt, ill send you the cob version with the converted textures applied. And once again, sorry. Good luck!
[Note] Im pretty sure you will have to delete the turret arms (and perhaps the turrets themselves) and maybe lower Lods, derbits and destroyed stuff. I didnt do this because i wasnt sure what to delete and what not to delete.
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[We'll just ignore this post] ;)
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Dude!? how'd you manage to find this particular forum, read our responses and actually deduce that we've done something, then fomulate your own response. You cant be that drunk, can you?
And you do seem to spell quite well for a drunk person, even the grammer is good.
JC4JC, hows the conversion going? having any problems?
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uhh....whoops. I forgot about that...i think i'll delete that post...;)
i do pride myself on good grammar and spelling...although it does normally take me longer to type the stuff out...
Anyway, i'm guna make those changes to the odf files with the ideas you guys came up with, and i'll send the replacements to jc4jc
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hmmm, ideas, ideas. Oh you mean changing the ships (posidon to trition, etc..)?
Oh and what do you think about changing the bombers?
Boeanerges to medusa? (im fine if you dont want to change this, because the medusa is an older bomber & as far as i know the NTF took most of the medusa and zeus bomber squadrons anyway (*hint* NTF side??).
Osiris to an assault bomber because of it's age.
Sekhmet to bomber, because of age and size.
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hmmm...i think the bombers are fine. The Terran bombers are mainly heavy bombers, while the Vasudan bombers (The Bakha is pretty good) seem to be fine...if you really want them changed, i'll do it, but i think their fine as they are right now
oh, the Satis is in there...its the Vasudan's superweapon. It carries a meson bomb...the Vasudan answer to the Sathanas
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Well, could you swap the Bakka and the Osiris around (osiris for assault bomber and bakka for bomber) because i think the osiris is pretty old now, so the vasudans would use it as an assault bomber, while the newer bomber take the normal bomber roles.
Since the Satis is the vasudans answer to the sathanas, then what's the vasuadan's contruction ship? And i thought the vasudan's answer to the sathanas was the colossus.
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The Bas is the Vasudan construction ship. The vasudan's get the colossus as well...but its already been shown that the colossus isnt an answer to the sathanas...the colossus was destroyed...besides, i figured the meson bomb would be a good thing for the vasudans to have
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Well, id like it if the Satis was the vasudans contruction ship because in Armarda, the contruction ship and the mining ship were roughly the same size. the Bes compared to the Anuket (mining) is very small and (only about 1/4 or less the size of the Anuket). While the Satis is bigger, about half the length of the Anuket. You could use the Bes or even the feared Ma'at frieghters to be the meason bomb ship.
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ok, guyes the models are not coming out right. I can import, but not export the files Pilot gave me using the UTMV and AssimView programs.
These programs are ment to edit the nodes and save them that way not direct import export. Some way of protecting the auther of models.
Milkshape 3d will import, but it is not designed to handel multipule textures on one "Materail" which in Freepspace1/2 we know as subobject. It can export but only one texture is used. It didn't look nice when the model only had the engine texture tiled all over it.
We have one of three option:1) Pilot retextures by modifying the textures and rename one of the Materials, 2) Pilot retextures by modifing the model into seperate "materials", 3) we get all the programmers we can, brake the code for the SOD formate and make a plug-in for truespace.
The last one is sarcsum. I'd do the modeling my-self but retexturing by any of the above would prove to be extreamly difficult and time consuming in Milkshape 3d.
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In 3D explorer im sure that each texture had it's own material file.
Do you want me to send you the cob version of the model?
Have you tried using 3D explorer. That way you can convert the models from cob yourself. And just use PCS to get the pof to cob.
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Milkshape 3d works oddly, this is the program I have to export the model into sod format.
The main hull holds 5 Materials on one object. Milkshape only applies one of those Materials because the object is imported as a Material. I have no Idea why it dose it but it dose.I'm not the person that created the thing. The two other LOD's hold 5 and one texture in respect of detail.
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Ok, what if i gave you only the LOD0 and the turrets? would it still work?
Ok im going to send you the cob file. Only the cob file. Use the same textures that i gave you before.
[EDIT] ok for some reason i cant send you the email, so you are going to have to download it off my website. www.geocities.com/hyrulecastleau/Aelous_cob.zip
Also id like to know what formats milkshape3d can import and export in. And what format does your SOD converter accept.
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Well it supports a large number of formats: obj, x, 3da, "lightwave's format(s)", "the two main quake formates", not cob for some reason. I guess no one has made the plug-in yet I think.
However, the formates you have been giving me are fine. Milkshape 3d exports the SOD, it's a special plug-in.
As for the Other Item all it can do for us is edit the nodes to the the model, it won't export sod's with nodes.
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Originally posted by jc4jc
We have one of three option:1) Pilot retextures by modifying the textures and rename one of the Materials, 2) Pilot retextures by modifing the model into seperate "materials"
(1 and 2), I dont understand what you want me to do. I could you please explain these two options in greater detail, because i havent really gotten any experiance with texturing.
The with models i sent you, i just refered the model to the textures that are in the zip file. Making the model look for the .tga textures and not the .pcx textures.
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OK, forget what you know about most modeling programs for a second.
Each model is assigned a material, some even can have two or more attached to one object.
Milkshape 3d doesn't support this as far as I can see, it imported the files you gave me and assigned the top texture, the engine tile3, and tiled it all over the hull.
Therefor if this is to work we need to either:
-split the mesh acourding to material instead of object
-or make one big texture and map it to the mesh.
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Well im sorry, im unable to do any of that, quite simpley because i cant UV map.
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I'll see if I can do something
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So hows it going?
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Not good. SHORT of risking destroying the model again and selecting every single face and creating new ones I'm running at my wits end. Yes the ones you gave me are unharmed. I have a very basic understading of the UV program that I am using.I'll keep trying I should beable to do something.
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Oh man!, this really suxs. maybe i could give you a ship (fighter/bomber) with only 1 texture, with a model file that has Lod0 only. What do ya say?
Oh are you getting anywhere with the Aelous.
mmmm, supressing fire (towards fighters/bombers)..........