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The reunion of two Terran factions after fifty years goes horribly wrong. What happened, and why did things go as wrong as they did?
Two dossiers detailing and analysing the disastrous first contact with the UEF and the ensuing conflict that follows have been placed online.
You can read them at the website (http://blueplanet.hard-light.net), under Media --> Prose.
Contains spoilers for BP: Age of Aquarius.
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...tactical meson bombs, which would become critical in the later stages of the war.
:shaking:
Where in the story does the campaign start?
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Tactical meson bombs are launched by the larger vessels of the Orestes fleet. They're the armament for the torpedoes.
Incidentally, holy ****, now the war makes sense. Could have used the background in the first release, but whatever.
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Just read the two dossiers, and all I can say is wow.
You have really shed some light over the reasoning of the GTVA's decision to attack Sol although with the strained relationship between the Terran and Vasudan halves of the Alliance I wonder how much resources the Vasudans would commit and how that might affect the GTVA-systems beyond Sol.
Admiral Petrarch died.
The second dossier has been excellent in acting as a kind of epilogue to the events of AoA and has set out the scene well prior to the actual events of WiH. From the reactions of Admiral Calder, I have a feeling that there might be more than 2 opposing factions during the war. Tongue
However, I am curious since in the second dossier it mentions that the Terrans are heavily in debt with the Vasudans. Coupled with most of the forces attacking Sol being Terran how long can the Terrans afford to keep the war going?
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Indeed. This is easily one of the best extrapolations of the post-Capella GTVA I've read so far. The sheer amount of sociopolitical background presented here (Especially most of the info in part 2) really do give AoA (and presumably WiH as well) the kind of storytelling edge it needs and deserves.
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Thanks :) The credit however must go to the most eloquent General Battuta who did a stirling job in taking what was presented and discussed in AoA and the WiH campaigns and putting it all together into an incredibly readable, deep and organised essay. He's also done a great job of filling in the gaps left in the storyline while keeping it within the BP canon.
Where in the story does the campaign start?
The second essay ends around four-five months into the war, and the campaign starts 18 months after AoA.
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Thanks :) The credit however must go to the most eloquent General Battuta who did a stirling job in taking what was presented and discussed in AoA and the WiH campaigns and putting it all together into an incredibly readable, deep and organised essay. He's also done a great job of filling in the gaps left in the storyline while keeping it within the BP canon.
Aye, General Battuta's writing was top notch, filled with much content but no dragging. :yes:
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Man this is getting so exciting... with all this information being released, it shows that WiH is nearing its total completion and will soon be released... I'm itching to delve into this war and see it through to its conclusion.
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I'm assuming this was written in such a manner that there's no "true right true wrong"?
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Thanks, folks. Praise is really appreciated. In fact, it makes me write more. PRAISE MOAR NAO.
And yeah, as with everything in WiH, it tried to stay bilateral. (Darius just implemented a simple but chilling feature in a recent mission that really made me think about the consequences of shooting down GTVA pilots.) The GTVA attack needed to make sense for the story to work.
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These things are really not helping me stay patient for WiH's release.
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The total population of Capella (250 million) was distributed evenly across the GTVA in a smooth and well-run diaspora. But the loss of the Capella system and its node connections had critical economic ramifications. The journey between Vega and Epsilon Pegasi was now a 5-jump trip instead of a simple 2-jump hop, increasing transit time and costs for outlying colonies in Mirfak, Adhara, and Procyon. Small increases in shipping costs, combined with the desperate need for commandeered civilian ships to help move and resupply the Capella refugees, led to a massive economic collapse that began in the outer systems but eventually shook the entire Terran half of the GTVA. (The shipping troubles were only one cause; a general atmosphere of fear and insularity after Capella also contributed).
:D
Yeah, that's cool.
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However, I am curious since in the second dossier it mentions that the Terrans are heavily in debt with the Vasudans. Coupled with most of the forces attacking Sol being Terran how long can the Terrans afford to keep the war going?
Don't be reading too much into it, now. The Vasudans were not consulted on the planning, but were undoubtedly part of the analysis. Recent Vasudan history with religion is not pleasant (Hammer of Light), and they know the value of forward defense against the Shivans better than anyone. Being unable to mount it cost them their homeworld. They may well end up supporting the war.
In fact the decision by the Terran half of the alliance not to involve the Vasudan half may have been purely political; Terrans shedding Terran blood is less easily twisted to form a second take on the NTF's Terran Supremcist ideology.
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The total population of Capella (250 million) was distributed evenly across the GTVA in a smooth and well-run diaspora. But the loss of the Capella system and its node connections had critical economic ramifications. The journey between Vega and Epsilon Pegasi was now a 5-jump trip instead of a simple 2-jump hop, increasing transit time and costs for outlying colonies in Mirfak, Adhara, and Procyon. Small increases in shipping costs, combined with the desperate need for commandeered civilian ships to help move and resupply the Capella refugees, led to a massive economic collapse that began in the outer systems but eventually shook the entire Terran half of the GTVA. (The shipping troubles were only one cause; a general atmosphere of fear and insularity after Capella also contributed).
:D
Yeah, that's cool.
Shipping between those two systems was reduced to a Snail's pace.
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Considering the Vasudans conducted joint operations alongside Terrans against the second Shivan incursion (including pilot transfers) and how much they helped out with relocating refugees, I'm amazed that there is so much animosity between the Terran and Vasudan governments. I expected the lack of Vasudans in AoA to be the result of not wanting to portray an alien attack on Sol, but it seems they just don't get along.
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Don't be reading too much into it, now. The Vasudans were not consulted on the planning, but were undoubtedly part of the analysis. Recent Vasudan history with religion is not pleasant (Hammer of Light), and they know the value of forward defense against the Shivans better than anyone. Being unable to mount it cost them their homeworld. They may well end up supporting the war.
In fact the decision by the Terran half of the alliance not to involve the Vasudan half may have been purely political; Terrans shedding Terran blood is less easily twisted to form a second take on the NTF's Terran Supremcist ideology.
True. After all we actually do know that there will be some Vasudan military support; shown by a screenshot on WiH posted about mid-way last year about a Vasudan Sobek attacking UE forces.
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Considering the Vasudans conducted joint operations alongside Terrans against the second Shivan incursion (including pilot transfers) and how much they helped out with relocating refugees, I'm amazed that there is so much animosity between the Terran and Vasudan governments. I expected the lack of Vasudans in AoA to be the result of not wanting to portray an alien attack on Sol, but it seems they just don't get along.
It's a matter of economics, for the most part. And as eliex points out, we've got some hints that the Vasudans will be involved, and all the sparks that we perceive falling from the Forge of Genius suggest the matter shan't be neglected!
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PRAISE MOAR NAO.
/is not praising, but will give respect where it's due since it's the least I can do :lol: XD :p
I'm just not into Blue Planet's take on a post-Capella scenario tbh. For me, the mod's assets are half the blame but at least there's the (plausibility in it / it makes sense), + models/textures/music etc are hard to come by, so no argument.
But I guess it's the storyline and polish that keeps it... "there"...
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And as eliex points out, we've got some hints that the Vasudans will be involved, and all the sparks that we perceive falling from the Forge of Genius suggest the matter shan't be neglected!
We've had a lot of hints, actually. ;)
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PRAISE MOAR NAO.
/is not praising, but will give respect where it's due since it's the least I can do :lol: XD :p
I'm just not into Blue Planet's take on a post-Capella scenario tbh. For me, the mod's assets are half the blame but at least there's the (plausibility in it / it makes sense), + models/textures/music etc are hard to come by, so no argument.
But I guess it's the storyline and polish that keeps it... "there"...
'There' in a good way or 'there' in a bad way?
Well, do you have any suggestions? Did you read the dossiers over?
I'm curious as to how you think the assets could be improved, too. Darius gets all the music from custom sources (and does at least a chunk of it himself, I believe?).
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;-)
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What happened to all those fighter and bomber pilots that took down the Lucifer? Are they an important part of the political landscape these days?
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They would probably be old or dead at the events of BP (given that a minimum pilot recruitment age is 20+). It is likely that they would have much effect on the political landscape apart from the fact that they were heroes to a point.
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They would probably be old or dead at the events of BP (given that a minimum pilot recruitment age is 20+). It is likely that they would have much effect on the political landscape apart from the fact that they were heroes to a point.
Not necessarily. Remember that Bosch fought against the GTI insurrection, and he was an Admiral during the Capella era. Sure, it's been twenty years, but it doesn't mean that all the pilots would be dead by now.
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Not necessarily. Remember that Bosch fought against the GTI insurrection, and he was an Admiral during the Capella era. Sure, it's been twenty years, but it doesn't mean that all the pilots would be dead by now.
Hence the old part. Even with a human lifespan reaching up to 100 years old, disease and perhaps side-effects from being celebrities for a time may have some impact.
Checking the date, the events of BP is set in 2385, which is 50 years after the Great War and it is likely that most pilots that participated in the Lucifer attack would not be fresh young pilots; rather seasoned veterans of a elite squadron Alpha 1 joins near the end of the campaign IIRC.
To be fair, I'd be more interested to see how the Vasudan pilots affect the Sol society, given how Darius has portrayed the government to be more spiritual.
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Hence the old part. Even with a human lifespan reaching up to 100 years old, disease and perhaps side-effects from being celebrities for a time may have some impact.
Checking the date, the events of BP is set in 2385, which is 50 years after the Great War and it is likely that most pilots that participated in the Lucifer attack would not be fresh young pilots; rather seasoned veterans of a elite squadron Alpha 1 joins near the end of the campaign IIRC.
If the pilots in the Lucifer attack were somewhere in their 20s or 30s, as today's air force pilots generally are, they'd only be in their 70s or 80s at the time of Blue Planet, which is easily do-able. Given a few hundred years' worth of medical advancements, I'd even go so far as to suspect that they'd still be fairly active. Looking at another universe's take on things, Dr. McCoy was well into his 100s and still moving around just fine in the first episode of Star Trek: TNG.
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I guess I was focusing too much on the present-day technologies - certainly what you have described would be possible 300 years from now.
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Even with advanced medicine, it's more likely that they enjoy their retirement rather than dabble in politics.
Also the political climate did change a LOT from GTA times to UEF times, as we now know thanks to the two articles.
I don't think that a peace and transcendence centered culture would elect someone into a position of power because they fought in a war.
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'There' in a good way or 'there' in a bad way?
Well, do you have any suggestions? Did you read the dossiers over?
I'm curious as to how you think the assets could be improved, too. Darius gets all the music from custom sources (and does at least a chunk of it himself, I believe?).
I was going to reply earlier but then some weird joke filter came smack in the middle of me writing this post and that filter made me sound like a harsh critic so I held back :wtf:
I would say "in a good way", but I think a more honest answer would be "it gets to stay 'there' because of what it can offer as a mod". Don't worry too much. :D
Dossiers... I sucks at fast reading so I skim through, read back the more interesting paragraphs and then attempt to piece it all together by reading one last time. So the number of times I read the dossiers is probably... once, or less than once in practical terms :P
And no, I don't have any suggestions. It's still better than what I could ever write. I have written before though, but after going through silly/cliche/just-plain-doesn't-work ideas, completely atrocious writings and literally getting flamed to death on a LOCAL forum to boot... I gave up.
Music... REALLY NO SUGGESTIONS LOL. Hands down for Aim... except for everything after 2:10 (and I would scream "SUCKS!" but I don't want to hurt other people's feelings :nervous:). And the menu version of Joshua II is ^_^ too. Is that a new menu theme for WiH? Considering WiH's premise... I guess it works much better than AoA's mainhall.
Assets... the most important for me especially when it comes to BP. Short explanation: "that freespacey feeling".
TBH I feel that Steve-O's ships just don't work in an FS universe.
(I would italic the words "don't work", but being hardline isn't fair.)
The feeling to me is just... off. I'll go as far as to say that, since there's no way to "improve it" from my perspective, it's better to just cater to those with a strong active interest in BP (or those who have a mind open enough to try something new). I have interest in BP, but it's more like MW4's passive radar, it comes rather than I actively reach out to it :lol:
This is also one of the reasons why I don't look into Earth Defence that much, even though I'm supposed to be all-in for those "penultimate FS universe mods"... yes, their ships are pretty, but they just miss... "something". That I can't seem to describe...
That said, assets are damn hard to come by as it is, and you have to sort HTL from non-HTL among other things in addition to redoing everything, plot, outcome, etc based on what's available out there. Heck I'm in the same problem myself, but out of respect I prefer to just keep quiet rather than look like a big complainer. And Darius is probably better off than me in the sense that he can play with the audio himself to counter asset weakness, while I have nothing to "stand out with" i.e. I only can do what virtually anyone else can do, basic tables/basic FRED/etc.
Funny thing though, those who can create new assets from the ground up prefer to follow their own storylines... but who can blame them, when they can?
(note: I'm avoiding the topic of creating assets on your own on purpose, because that one is another big issue in itself which I seriously don't have time for right now, + it would probably get shifted to the Modding section.)
BTW now that I look at this huge block of text again, BP's direction and Steve-O's assets are growing on me a little. Maybe it can work? :lol:
But for good or for naught with regards to myself, even I don't know...
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Well what you have to remember is that the UEF aren't part of the Freespace Universe, they've been doing their own thing for the past 60 or so years. Believe me, they are frakking beautiful (and frame-rate killers when it comes to some of the larger craft).
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(and frame-rate killers when it comes to some of the larger craft).
So are the GTVA's new ships. :drevil:
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I messed around with them myself not too long ago actually (another little mod cancelled, same lack of assets reason) so yes I'm aware of that.
The least I can do is be thankful that my current computer can take it (Steve-O's Hyperion lagged both PCS2 and the game itself bad enough on what I used before), although FS being an old game does help in some way I guess. StratComm's fleetpack... well, it's one of those rarities where you just HAVE to balance your tables to fit the ship, rather than you make the ship fit your tables if you could model/texture/convert because they look pretty cool as they are :lol:
Though to say the UEF aren't part of FS doesn't quite work for me because BP is a post-Capella campaign and it's still more-or-less set in FS context... sorry XD
ah great now Steve-O's ships remind me of a multiplayer/mod bug I wanted to Mantis but I can't remember what that bug was and I'm swamped right now...
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Though to say the UEF aren't part of FS doesn't quite work for me because BP is a post-Capella campaign and it's still more-or-less set in FS context... sorry XD
Well, the UEF name appears to have been taken from Supreme Commander, so... :doubt:
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That I'm aware of too... if the mainhall wasn't obvious enough XD
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And .anis. :P
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For all you know, it's a tip of the hat to TVWP!
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For all you know, it's a tip of the hat to TVWP!
O RLY?
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Write more please, i could read that sorta stuff all day!
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For the record, I adore BP's new GTVA capships in AoA. IMO they work perfectly as the "next generation" fleet. I wasn't as enthralled by the new fighters...but what can I say, I fly the Perseus every chance I get.
Great work on those essay-things. :yes:
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Sushi! A master Freespacer.
Hopefully you'll like the UEF fighters in WiH a bit more. The Kulas and Aurora have both grown on me a bit (I believe those are the only new fighters...?), and I think that the Aurora at least fits in rather well with the aesthetic. The Kulas is a repurposed civilian design, thus the slight deviation.
The Perseus remains sexy and I think it is only enhanced by the Balor cannon.
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Sushi! A master Freespacer.
But not a FreeSpacer by any means. :P
Though to be perfectly honest, I always found the Kulas completely out of place. As if it was thrown in as an afterthought.
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It's a bloody civilian ship!
To be honest, though, it's not any more out of place than some of the FS2 retail designs.
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Not "out of place" as in it didn't fit in with the fleet (well, that as well), but it seemed thrown in. It was never given a big role in any mission, it seemed completely neglected for the most part almost as if it was meant to be ignored or something.
I dunno. Maybe it's got to do with the fact I didn't even notice it until half way through the campaign. :P
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I just have to say that I found the Balor to be a total joke. There is not a single situation in which I wouldnt prefer a Subach, or better yet, a Kayser or Prometheus S. I also didnt care for the fragility or lack of maneuverability on the Aurora, so I found myself flying mostly the Perseus throughout the campaign. This, however, should not come as a surprise, as I am a huge fan of interceptors.
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Wait, wait...how seriously did the Balor get nerfed, Darius? We might want to consider pumping it up just a wee bit again if that's the general feeling.
Wolfen, in the original BP release, the Balor was an incredible piece of equipment.
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Hahaha...not nerfed to the point of being useless. I guess it depends on your style of play. The Balor outputs damage per second equal to the Subach, but has the advantage of being rapid-fire, which is useful when you're fighting nimble craft or need to take down bombs.
Feedback has been both positive and negative regarding the Balor, but it definitely shouldn't have been as strong as it turned out to be in the initial release.
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As far as I can tell, the (latest) Balor is to the Subach as the Avenger is to the Prometheus in FS1: slightly softer on the hull but much better at dropping shields and also more efficient. I did not realize just how much it has been nerfed, though. :eek2: (Now I'm wondering what old version of Blue Planet I have unpacked in here....)
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The problem is that if we make it too strong then the GTVA fighters in War in Heaven are just going to blow the heck out of everything.
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Well, I'm thinking that it should be more powerful than the Subach at the very least.
Otherwise it wouldn't really inspire so much terror as the prose entries would indicate...
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You'd be surprised. Even in its current form, it's pretty deadly on Medium, and on Insane it's just a nightmare to fly against.
Maybe a wee bit of a buff is in order, however...perhaps a sorely-needed ROF increase...? ;7
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IIRC when I played BP:AoA, before the nerf, the balor had the DPS of a Kayser with longer range and not nearly as much energy consumption. That would be murder to fly against...
I imagine the the Balor and the Maxim would be the biggest problem for UEF pilots to cope with.
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I did a small FREDding test based on the BP Balor in relation to other weaponry:
Original BP Balor: 4 Myrmidons fully armed with Balors pitted against against 20 unmodified Basilisks all on General AI.
Result - A ratio of 10:1 losses for the GTVA.
Current BP Balor: 4 Perseus fully armed with Balors pitted against 12 various GTVA fighters (without Balors) all on General AI.
Result - All Perseus were destroyed, but only 3 other attackers were left alive, all under 50%.
Then again, the Balor is only the beginning for the UE . . .
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Well the UEF get some pretty 1337 toys to play with as well ;7
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Maybe a wee bit of a buff is in order, however...perhaps a sorely-needed ROF increase...? ;7
With an updated sound, that would be cool.
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I just loved the old balor.. I haven't downloaded the new fixed version of AoA just to keep the original one, it just makes the game fun. Also I don't see myself making my way through Forced Entry or Keepers of Hell without the original balor.
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I can with confidence state that it is still possible.
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Sushi! A master Freespacer.
Hopefully you'll like the UEF fighters in WiH a bit more. The Kulas and Aurora have both grown on me a bit (I believe those are the only new fighters...?), and I think that the Aurora at least fits in rather well with the aesthetic. The Kulas is a repurposed civilian design, thus the slight deviation.
The Perseus remains sexy and I think it is only enhanced by the Balor cannon.
I still maintain that the sexiest ship I've seen so far is the FTF MiG. It makes even the GTF Ares look a little ... old.
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Sushi! A master Freespacer.
Hopefully you'll like the UEF fighters in WiH a bit more. The Kulas and Aurora have both grown on me a bit (I believe those are the only new fighters...?), and I think that the Aurora at least fits in rather well with the aesthetic. The Kulas is a repurposed civilian design, thus the slight deviation.
The Perseus remains sexy and I think it is only enhanced by the Balor cannon.
I still maintain that the sexiest ship I've seen so far is the FTF MiG. It makes even the GTF Ares look a little ... old.
It's called the Lao Tze in War in Heaven and it's really something to fly.
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With an updated sound, that would be cool.
Actually I like the sound of the balor as it is.
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Ditto. I wouldn't mind an updated bitmap though.
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With an updated sound, that would be cool.
Actually I like the sound of the balor as it is.
Okay. Personally, it makes my ears bleed. Especially when not feathered by an awesome soundtrack.
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It's the Shivan Light Laser sound isn't it?
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Correct.
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So what does the Icanus stuff have to do with anything?
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Inferno fanfiction by Darius. For the reads.
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So... just for fun?
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I still maintain that the sexiest ship I've seen so far is the FTF MiG. It makes even the GTF Ares look a little ... old.
It's called the Lao Tze in War in Heaven and it's really something to fly.
;)
If I'm expecting some WWII plane sound to come out from its engine, will I be disappointed?
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Sushi! A master Freespacer.
Hopefully you'll like the UEF fighters in WiH a bit more. The Kulas and Aurora have both grown on me a bit (I believe those are the only new fighters...?), and I think that the Aurora at least fits in rather well with the aesthetic. The Kulas is a repurposed civilian design, thus the slight deviation.
The Perseus remains sexy and I think it is only enhanced by the Balor cannon.
I still maintain that the sexiest ship I've seen so far is the FTF MiG. It makes even the GTF Ares look a little ... old.
It's called the Lao Tze in War in Heaven and it's really something to fly.
And look at.
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Another two excellent pieces! You keep writing them, and I'll keep enjoying them!
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psychohistorians
Do ho ho
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psychohistorians
Do ho ho
:confused:
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Isaac Asimov
Foundation
Predicting the future with SCIENCE!
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Just read the dossiers on the website. General B, that was ****ing outsanding! :yes:
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I just loved the old balor.. I haven't downloaded the new fixed version of AoA just to keep the original one, it just makes the game fun. Also I don't see myself making my way through Forced Entry or Keepers of Hell without the original balor.
I never even took the Balor on Forced Entry. An Artemis bomber loaded down with Trebuchets and a Maxim cannon have always done the trick for me.
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I never even took the Balor on Forced Entry. An Artemis bomber loaded down with Trebuchets and a Maxim cannon have always done the trick for me.
:wtf:
Ooh, that's the third unique strategy for Forced Entry so far.
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I just loved the old balor.. I haven't downloaded the new fixed version of AoA just to keep the original one, it just makes the game fun. Also I don't see myself making my way through Forced Entry or Keepers of Hell without the original balor.
I never even took the Balor on Forced Entry. An Artemis bomber loaded down with Trebuchets and a Maxim cannon have always done the trick for me.
Wow, that's interesting.
Just read the dossiers on the website. General B, that was ****ing outsanding! :yes:
You should see his storyline discussions with Darius :P
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I never even took the Balor on Forced Entry. An Artemis bomber loaded down with Trebuchets and a Maxim cannon have always done the trick for me.
Well, just had a quick try with this loadout - pretty interesting although I had to take special use of my wingmen especially fighting the heavily shielded Aeshmas. The best thing about this loadout is that shooting down Shivan anti-cap bombs is done relatively quickly and safely which always is a pain when flying a Kulas.
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You fly a Kulas on Forced Entry?
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You fly a Kulas on Forced Entry?
Yes. The Kulas is the default selected craft on Forced Entry.
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Yes, but who actually flies the mission in that thing? I can last like five minutes max :P
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Yes, but who actually flies the mission in that thing? I can last like five minutes max :P
...really? The guns on the Kulas tear through Shivan fighters like they were made of paper, even on the higher difficulties.
You get torn to shreds by the bombs, don't you? That's why you always keep an eye on the shields when you go bomb-hunting in BP. :P
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It's actually quite fun to fly the Kulas in Forced Entry, although you have to rely heavily on Kayser primaries and constantly send out commands to your wingmen.
The hindrance posed by its light armour is negated simply by pounding Shivan Seraphim from behind at maximum range. Works on hard difficulty too. :nod:
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Yes, but who actually flies the mission in that thing? I can last like five minutes max :P
I did. Wasn't too bad.
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/me has never flown in a Kulas. :nervous:
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/me has never flown in a Kulas. :nervous:
Me neither.
I shot down a lot though. ;)
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Artemis with Trebs and the Maxim seems the key for me in it. Range on primaries and secondaries. Good for beating the hell out of cruisers as well as pulling the teeth of a Ravana.
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The main reason I don't like it is the looks. It's a big factor, so big I'm not sure I've ever flown it either except by accident.