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Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: Jake2447 on August 14, 2007, 10:43:28 pm

Title: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 14, 2007, 10:43:28 pm

I have an idea for a new campaign and I was wondering if anyone else thought it was interesting.  I would use several existing custom ships from various sources.  Please tell me what you think.

Backstory:

The year is 2390, 18 years after the Capella incident.  In 2382, contact with Sol was reestablished through the use of a device similar to the Ancient's Knossos design.  During 47 years of isolation, the GTA had dissolved in Sol.  In its place came a peaceful alliance between the planets of the Sol system.  This alliance, now no longer focused with a pressing war began to build its economy.  However, the government of Sol were still fearful of Shivan attack.  They poured over data of the Lucifer Superdestroyer, hoping to unlock secrets of Shivan ship design.  At the same time, the gathered massive amounts of raw materials from the Asteroid Belt and the fringes of the Sol system.  When the node was reopened, the Sol alliance was assimilated into the GTVA.  The GTVA found the raw materials and immediately began to construct new awesome warships, based around the Meson Beam technology developed in 2377 (Derelict).  In 2388, noting the progress of their warship construction, and believing themselves technologically equal to the Shivans at last, the GTVA announced its intention to eliminate the Shivan treat for good.  They announced the discovery of a newly discovered jump node in the U2S7 system beyond Ikeya.  That was to be their invasion route for the Third Great War, which they would start in 2390.  In a matter of days, the people of the U2S7 system along with the inhabitants of Ikeya, already stressed by low support from the GTVA seceded and openly declared war on the GTVA.  The GTVA tried to reason for weeks, but after two months, decided to ignore the New Worlds Federation.  Over two years the NWF gained support in other fringe systems as well as in the heart of GTVA space.  Now, on the eve of their offensive, the GTVA faces war with the NWF.

The campaign will have 20 - 30 levels, with the first 5 - 10 against the NWF.  It will feature new GTVA ships from many classes.  It will also have new large (Juggernaught and above) Shivan ships.

Thats all I have for now, so...

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jeff Vader on August 15, 2007, 03:10:01 am

I've lost track on the exact number of campaign 'ideas' that have been announced.

To me this sounds a bit cliché-ish, but would probably work well as an excuse for kicking the crap out of ships indicated in red.

Do something if you want to. But don't expect to get a lot of attention. I'd advise you to keep a low profile for now and only make new announcements, if you can release demos or other material, not just ideas.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Snail on August 15, 2007, 05:57:18 am

Good luck.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 15, 2007, 06:21:34 am

well a campaign can not only be judged by the idea it was created on (otherwise I would have to re-judge ITODH) but the FREDing and Moding Skills of its creators are important...

Start it and give us something to look at --

ps. I've you are looking for new shivan ships loot INFR1 and nukemod (the SSJ Dante is a one big shivan hammer) -- but don't forget about crediting everything

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 15, 2007, 08:51:50 am

I have a few levels out, but I didn't want to have to package all the mods I have used for download or write up credits.  If you want, I can release the first mission with FS2 models instead of mods.

EDIT: Here is one of the first missions in the game, maybe preceded by a cargo escort mission or a prologue.
http://www.mediafire.com/?7ut9wonuye3

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 15, 2007, 05:17:32 pm

Quote from: Jake2447 on August 14, 2007, 10:43:28 pm

In 2388, noting the progress of their warship construction, and believing themselves technologically equal to the Shivans at last, the GTVA announced its intention to eliminate the Shivan treat for good.  They announced the discovery of a newly discovered jump node in the U2S7 system beyond Ikeya.  That was to be their invasion route for the Third Great War, which they would start in 2390. 

That's the most unrealistic part in my opinion. With Capella, the GTVA learned the lesson. Even with a new cutting edge technology, the GTVA would never be able to compete with another Sathanas fleet. Also, the Shivans sortied in Capella a number of Juggernauts that is far bigger than the number of destroyer the GTVA has. The GTVA managed to get something like the Colossus. The Shivans have stuff like the Gigas or the Gargant(they must have colossal warships).

There's no way for the GTVA to attack the Shivans directly.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Dark Hunter on August 15, 2007, 05:31:28 pm

I agree with Mobius on this one.

We all know Command is a bunch of complete morons, but even they wouldn't forget that the Shivans, at the time of the Capella conflict, had nearly 80 times the firepower of the GTVA's entire fleet! And that likely was not their entire military. And if that is what passes as a (single) fleet for the Shivans...  :shaking:


Not even Command would be stupid enough to fool themselves into tackling a force like that... even with equivalent technology.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 15, 2007, 05:55:08 pm

Well, I realize that a direct confrontation with the Shivans would be unwise, but there was a plot twist I had in mind (I never said what exactly was beyond the new found jump node).  Besides, if the Shivans can have the Gigas, why can't the GTVA have the Icanus?

EDIT: Did anyone try the mission I posted?  If you did, reduce the difficulty as the mission was designed for a ship mor powerful than a Deimos.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 15, 2007, 11:52:12 pm

The GTVA can't have the Icanus. It's a super warship based on EA's philosophy. And the Icanus stands no chance against the Gargant. There will always be a Shivan equivalent of all GTVA ships(Shivan ships are usually stronger).

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Snail on August 16, 2007, 05:31:33 am

The Shivans may be able to have huge 20km ships, but it's just unrealistic that the GTVA could create anything like that.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: TrashMan on August 16, 2007, 06:03:32 am

IMHO, the size and number of shivan craft is left for the campaign maker to determine. Inferno isn't a design document for other campaigns.

Of course, there is a minimal number and size of ships the shivans are expected to have :D

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 16, 2007, 01:41:45 pm

In fact, we are aware of the fact that the presence of the Icanus in the EA fleet can be hardly justified.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Snail on August 16, 2007, 01:48:13 pm

Quote from: Mobius on August 16, 2007, 01:41:45 pm

In fact, we are aware of the fact that the presence of the Icanus in the EA fleet can be hardly justified.

Yeah.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 16, 2007, 10:14:26 pm

I never said that the GTVA would have a ship as powerful as the Icanus.  Here is my logic:  As of 2390, the GTVA has no idea that the Shivans have ships larger than the Sathanas ( thought they might suspect it).  Therefore, if they harnessed the power of a meson reaction and directed it into a beam that could kill a Sathanas in one or two shots, they might believe they are technically superior (or at least equal to) the Shivans.  And yes, even with this technology a direct assault on the Shivans would be idiotic, but I never meant that this offensive would be a direct assault.  The GTVA   is acting on information received in a GTVI report, that shows what the GTVA believes to be a Shivan weakness.

If everyone disagrees with that, then I will change the campaign to just fighting the NWF.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Snail on August 17, 2007, 04:45:05 am

An attack on the Shivans just seems stupid. A thousand times more stupid than Command usually is. Do you take on a space faring race that has been wiping out civilizations for more than 8,000 years?

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 17, 2007, 08:00:31 am

Quote from: Snail on August 17, 2007, 04:45:05 am

An attack on the Shivans just seems stupid. A thousand times more stupid than Command usually is. Do you take on a space faring race that has been wiping out civilizations for more than 8,000 years?

Do you think I should change the campaign so that it involves just the NWF?  Maybe, I could have the Shivans attack and the the GTVA learns about the Shivan weakness.  Originally, i had planned to have just the NWF, but with the GTVA's powerful new ships, that just doesn't seem like it would last for too long.  If the GTVA has a superdestroyer that can kill a Sathanas, what would it do to the NWF, who would have a Hecate at best?

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Dark Hunter on August 17, 2007, 09:02:41 am

You could possibly have the NWF capture one (or more) of these super-ships.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 17, 2007, 11:34:16 am

One should be sufficient.

Anyways, since the campaign takes place in the Post-Capella GTVA space, you can simply disencourage the deployment of superdestroyers. How? With advanced weapons. Beam cannons could be fearsome. Just look at ships like the Somtus, the Eclipse or the Phobos. In small groups, they can handle big targets. This modus operandi was common during WWI.

NWF nodes could be well defended(the best defensive asset would be the Earth Alliance Punisher).

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 17, 2007, 07:04:39 pm

Quote from: Dark Hunter on August 17, 2007, 09:02:41 am

You could possibly have the NWF capture one (or more) of these super-ships.

Why would the GTVA have high tech ships in fringe systems, and if they did, why would they be badly defended enough to enable them to be captured?  Any at the time of the NWF rebellion, civilians had no idea that the GTVA had super ships.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Dark Hunter on August 17, 2007, 08:12:49 pm

If the NWF has no Intelligence (that is, military Intelligence, like the GTVI), and are unable to capture an enemy vessel... why is the GTVA even worried about them? :confused:

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Polpolion on August 17, 2007, 08:56:20 pm

Quote from: Lt.Gen.Mobius

The Shivans have stuff like the Gigas or the Gargant(they must have colossal warships).

Stop acting like Inferno is canon. I always hate it when people take things from the most prevalent campaigns (not just Inferno) as canon.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 17, 2007, 10:48:29 pm

Quote from: thesizzler on August 17, 2007, 08:56:20 pm

Quote from: Lt.Gen.Mobius

The Shivans have stuff like the Gigas or the Gargant(they must have colossal warships).

Stop acting like Inferno is canon. I always hate it when people take things from the most prevalent campaigns (not just Inferno) as canon.

Yes, I would agree that it is annoying, but the point he was trying to make to me is that the Shivans would have a super powerful fleet (whether it be by numbers or by superior tech).

Has anyone tried my demo mission yet?  The least you can do is give me some feedback on my FREDding.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 04:49:00 am

Quote from: thesizzler on August 17, 2007, 08:56:20 pm

Quote from: Lt.Gen.Mobius

The Shivans have stuff like the Gigas or the Gargant(they must have colossal warships).

Stop acting like Inferno is canon. I always hate it when people take things from the most prevalent campaigns (not just Inferno) as canon.

Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying that Inferno is "The Mod" and everything else isn't canon. The Sol Coalition of Powers is as muchas good as the Earth Alliance! I was simply saying that we can expect from the Shivans stuff like the Gigas, the Gargant or the Dante.

They sortied 80 Sathanas in Capella. They must have something bigger.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: TrashMan on August 18, 2007, 05:09:13 am

Quote

They sortied 80 Sathanas in Capella. They may have something bigger.

Fixed.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 05:17:52 am

I don't think so. Who knows how big the Shivan fleet is? 80 Juggernauts could be nothing for them. That's why the must have much bigger warships.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Snail on August 18, 2007, 09:29:40 am

Quote from: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 05:17:52 am

I don't think so. Who knows how big the Shivan fleet is? 80 Juggernauts could be nothing for them. That's why the must have much bigger warships.

Who knows? Maybe the Saths were their ultimate fleet.

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 09:34:51 am

Why would the Shivans sacrifice many components of their ultimate fleet?

They could have destroyed all GTVA systems without losing even a Sathanas. What's the point in sacrificing Juggernauts, if there are only a few of them?

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Snail on August 18, 2007, 09:37:51 am

Quote from: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 09:34:51 am

Why would the Shivans sacrifice many components of their ultimate fleet?

They could have destroyed all GTVA systems without losing even a Sathanas. What's the point in sacrificing Juggernauts, if there are only a few of them?

MAYBE they didn't do it to destroy the GTVA? Maybe they were doing something else?

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 18, 2007, 10:09:19 am

Quote from: Snail on August 18, 2007, 09:37:51 am

MAYBE they didn't do it to destroy the GTVA? Maybe they were doing something else?

Maybe "There is something even the Shivans have to fear"...

let's save this discussion for the other board which is better suited for this...

and let Jake2447 do his thing! I guess he will come around with HIS ideas in HIS campaign for good
*walks off doing that demo mission*

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 10:13:50 am

Quote from: 0rph3u5 on August 18, 2007, 10:09:19 am

Maybe "There is something even the Shivans have to fear"...

Considering that this sentence comes straight from your 666th post...

Yeah. The Shivans really fear something :eek2:

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 18, 2007, 10:17:11 am

Quote from: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 10:13:50 am

The Shivans really fear something :eek2:

Alpha 1  :D
or read my sig

now back ON-TOPIC -- who played the demo mission?

EDIT: I did - comment follow (spoilered away):

Spoiler:

- chain your directives to an event (since you have to protect the corvette only after it has started it is WPs and not the whole mission)
- ai-chase goes well with cruisers but you should consider setting them on Waypoint paths
- the enemy fighters are well too overpowered/numberous
- there is no straight line if the attackers are pirates or NWF (directives contradict messages)
- make the shipyard protect-ship (via sexp or ships editor) - scorpio wing turned on it instead of the corvette
- a bit more y(up&down)-placement
- NWC intead of NWFC to keep it with the 1-2 letters for the faction and 1-2 letters for the shipclass

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 18, 2007, 02:32:14 pm

Quote from: 0rph3u5 on August 18, 2007, 10:17:11 am

Quote from: Mobius on August 18, 2007, 10:13:50 am

The Shivans really fear something :eek2:

Alpha 1  :D
or read my sig

now back ON-TOPIC -- who played the demo mission?

EDIT: I did - comment follow (spoilered away):

Spoiler:

- chain your directives to an event (since you have to protect the corvette only after it has started it is WPs and not the whole mission)
- ai-chase goes well with cruisers but you should consider setting them on Waypoint paths
- the enemy fighters are well too overpowered/numberous
- there is no straight line if the attackers are pirates or NWF (directives contradict messages)
- make the shipyard protect-ship (via sexp or ships editor) - scorpio wing turned on it instead of the corvette
- a bit more y(up&down)-placement
- NWC intead of NWFC to keep it with the 1-2 letters for the faction and 1-2 letters for the shipclass

Thanks.  That's a lot of what I really wanted to know.
Two Questions:
1.  Were there too many bombers?
2.  Was it too easy?  (If it was too hard, this will be solved when the better ships are added.)

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: 0rph3u5 on August 18, 2007, 02:46:18 pm

the bomber count was okay...
maybe some more in the second half (I got all of them killed one and half minute before the corvette jumped and I was dodging Harpoons all the time)
I'm not the the best pilot and I had the impression it was quite hard (dodging the three harpoons at a time .... even my loved Ares cannot do that for 8 minutes) - but I guess you are right when saying the impact of new ships will turn the odds

Title: Re: New Campaign Idea: Reign of Sol
Post by: Jake2447 on August 18, 2007, 03:23:26 pm

Yes.  The real mission will have the

Spoiler:

GTCv Nike and the GTC Hyperion mods.  Also, the player will fly the GTF Ezechiel (with an upgraded table so that it has better armor, shield, and speed, but lower turning.  Basically, an advanced assault fighter.