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Luyten Civil War
A FreeSpace 2 campaign
This campaign has been in the early planning stage for a good while now. I didn't dedicate too much time to it until recently, because my other projects had priority. Now the story outline is written, and I have the first three missions FREDded, so I'm convinced this campaign will become a reality.
RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2012.
Read news and view screenshots at the campaign's Mod Database profile (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war).
And here's LCW's Wiki article (http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/Luyten_Civil_War).
Story
Capella happened. Not only did the GTVA lose an entire system, most of the 3rd Fleet, but there are innumerable Capellan refugees left homeless by the cataclysm. The GTVA General Assembly hurriedly passed an act to facilitate sheltering the refugees in far-away systems, including Luyten. At first, the Luytenian Government, presided by the controversial Chancellor McCleskey, saw great potential in the new arrivals. They hoped that the influx of able-bodied workforce would help fix the declining regional economy.
However, the demographic shift turned out to be unfavorable. Within months, Luyten suffered its deepest economic crisis in its history. The populace blamed the Capellans and the ever-unpopular McCleskey government for the recession. The GTVA General Assembly would be willing to interfere with the McCleskey government's internal affairs, but the Beta Aquilae Convention grants them with no such power. Before BETAC could have been accordingly amended, the ruling government suffered a devastating defeat in the elections. The new Chancellor is Edward Keyes, who is determined to "purify" Luyten of its unwelcome guests and to enact unorthodox economic policies to cure the recession. Emboldened by sweeping popular support, the Chancellor announced that Luyten no longer recognized the GTVA's jurisdiction.
When it appeared that the crisis could be solved through diplomacy, three high-ranking GTVA dignitaries were abducted and stoned to death in daylight by an angry mob of anti-Alliance protesters. Peter Lindres, Special Operations Command, submitted a report the next day, showing indisputable evidence that Chancellor Keyes knew about the abduction, but let it happen. To make matters worse, intelligence reports that news of the diplomats' deaths was welcomed by extremist underground movements in Laramis and Barnard's Star as well.
Fearing that prior events would trigger a domino effect, the GTVA Security Council assembled and voted in favor of a forceful military intervention to Luyten. Their goal: get rid of Keyes and his closest associates.
Read the full story: Part I (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/features/story-background-part-i) and Part II (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/features/story-background-part-ii)
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/TopAceHLP/LCW1.jpg)
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/TopAceHLP/LCW2.jpg)
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/TopAceHLP/LCW3.jpg)
Gameplay
I'm back to the genre I'm most comfortable with: the pure military campaign. You will take control over jump nodes, attack capital ships, steal enemy tech, and raid cargo depots. For most missions, a wide variety of ships and weapons will be available. You can choose to take a fighter to escort your bomber wings, or take a bomber yourself to help them with your firepower. Whichever role you choose, the mission will be balanced for both roles.
The Luyten Civil War will span somewhere between 8 and 12 missions, maybe a bit more, but not fewer. I will possibly have to split one mission into two, or merge two missions into one, depending on which makes more sense. I will use some mods too, including the GTD Sirona, the GTF Ezechiel, and some of Black Wolf's utility goodies.
Be prepared, pilot. Your hull is failing, your weapons are depleting, and time is running out.
OP edits:
Feb 17 - description updated, per swashmebuckle's recommendation
May 24 - announcing release date
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The concept is certainly interesting. Especially given the protests and revolutions going on around the world currently.
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Well, I didn't need the Arab world exploding to get this idea. Civil unrest and demonstrations aren't unheard-of storytelling devices.
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Looks interesting. I see a few good models, and storyline. Only HTL Phoenix needs new textures, current maps are awful.
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Finding a good replacement texture for the Phoenix's bluish maps is on schedule, but it's a secondary priority.
I still need to flesh out the middle and the end part of the story.
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Is the Phoenix HTL at all?
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The concept is certainly interesting. Especially given the protests and revolutions going on around the world currently.
What he said.
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Is the Phoenix HTL at all?
Yes, it is.
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If you need help with retexturing and debugging your ships, I can help you with it.
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Yes, it is.
Is that released?
I'd like to see that, BengalTiger also might find it usefull.
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Yes, it is.
Is that released?
I'd like to see that, BengalTiger also might find it usefull.
It's not on freespacemods but I've both versions (the high and the low poly one) here - if you want it I can see what I can do for you...
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This is the Phoenix that I have.
(http://i1082.photobucket.com/albums/j367/TopAceHLP/PhoenixHTL.jpg)
Since it looks hi-poly to me, I'm assuming this is the HTL Phoenix.
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*checking .pof in wireframe-view*
yep, that's the high poly one
EDIT: clarified my previous post
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Sentry gun hacking, that's news to me. :D
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Is that released?
I'd like to see that, BengalTiger also might find it usefull.
Of course it is released.
I released it along with StratComm's Vasudan Fleet.
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Oh, that's also released?
Apperantely I've been absent during a few interesting events (stupid flu).
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That was like...ages ago though.
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Then I might have forgot, or missed the thread back then and didn't found about it (I've had Stratcomm's Vasudans for long, thanks to them being in BP at one point).
I'd have to look for the thread and upload these models to FSMods.
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The Luyten Civil War will span somewhere between 8 and 12 missions, maybe a bit more, but not fewer. I will possibly have to split one mission into two, or merge two missions into one, depending on which makes more sense. I will use some mods too, including the GTD Sirona, the GTF Ezechiel, and some of Black Wolf's utility goodies.
Yay! :D
This will obviously be a high quality campaign made by an attractive team of people.
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This campagin idea seems very interesting. The GTVA's use of Electronic Warfare (EW) is pretty new (aka, hacking the defences at the node). This campagin has great promise, aparently the GTVA has yet to learn from the NTF Rebellian....dumb*****...
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Sounds interesting, keep it up!
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Read news and view screenshots at the campaign's mod database profile (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war).
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Watching. :)
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And you're being watched too. :P What happened?
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Uh? What do you mean?
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Yesterday you had a small green "Watched" icon below your badges.
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Nevermind. What I was saying is that Luyten Civil War is on my ModDB watching list. Please upload more stuff there. ;)
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NEWS
Read the full story background at ModDB.
Part I (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/features/story-background-part-i)
and
Part II (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/features/story-background-part-ii)
Expect a progress report sometime next week.
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Decided to give a detailed status report earlier than promised.
Here it is. (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/news/news-report-may-7-29)
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:yes:
One question: do you really need another space station? It's quite hard to find one, and of good quality too. What about using makeshift installations, like in Derelict? In your case, you may use an Orion with 3 or even more Ganymede drydocks. Stuff like that.
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I'd like something bigger than an Arcadia and preferably civilian. In the current story background for that mission, the Luyten Coalition retrofitted that station as a big drydock, but did not arm it very well (it has some Terran Turrets and that's it).
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good id let me testing things oke
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I've got something you could use, but how much "bigger" are we talking?
(http://blueplanet.hard-light.net/drydock.jpg)
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I can't help but think of a Teladi capital ship, but nonetheless DAMN THAT IS AWESOME.
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What size is that?
I'd like something in the 1-3 km range in at least two of the axes.
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well its nice to use it for my projact maybe an idea in the future
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Bradbury Fleet Yards?
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16km :nervous: ...but easily scaleable!
The source is a Teladi kitbash, but I had to strip away a lot of the greebles (those ships are crazy detailed and not friendly to the FSO engine).
It's just a bit of a conversion exercise but it's useable ingame if you don't mind a Teladi-looking structure.
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Hmm... last time I rescaled a model, people recommended trueSpace and to not go over 900 polies as it would cause errors. :P
How is rescaling done nowadays?
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There's a scaling feature in newer versions of PCS2.
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You must only coapt subsystems, paths and other stuff to new size. I can help you with this if you are not good at PCS2.
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I can take care of those, but where's this rescale feature? Is it "convert to COB --> convert to POF again with the right scale factor?" I have 2.0.3., a 2008 Nov build.
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Well I was thinking of just rescaling the max model and redoing the pof data from scratch, but I realised the model has far too many polies for a 1-3km structure (it's 5 digits, and it starts with an 8)
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That'd kill my comp in a violent fashion. :P
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I can take care of those, but where's this rescale feature? Is it "convert to COB --> convert to POF again with the right scale factor?" I have 2.0.3., a 2008 Nov build.
In newer versions of PCS2, "Save" button on the right side of the window was replaced by "Transform" button. Click it, and pick out the "Scale" section.
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Took me a while to find the Feb 19, 2011 build and get it to run, but I managed it eventually. I also uploaded it to FSMods, just to make sure people will actually find it where it's straightforward to look.
Thanks for the tips. :yes:
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[EDIT]Here was the June 12 news item, which I accidentally deleted. If a mod could restore the old version, that'd be cool.
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FIRST VIDEO
First video - the first three minutes of one of the missions. (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/videos/the-beginning-of-mission-3)
I have plans for a trailer, too, so stay tuned.
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NEW VIDEO
Weapons Testing (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/videos)
Showcasing some of the weapons, their gameplay uses, effects. Nothing in this video is final.
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Cool weapons, Topace!
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NEW VIDEO
Weapons Testing (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/videos)
Showcasing some of the weapons, their gameplay uses, effects. Nothing in this video is final.
Nice weapons and +1 for Kingdom Hearts soundtrack :D
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Well, I didn't know where that track originally was. I got it from 13th Reflections, an abandoned project that released its files some months ago.
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BTW: The 13th Reflection? What was that exactly? A mod?
It's a defunct project that released its files, including some effects, interface art, and lots of music tracks. You can find the thread a few pages back.
[EDIT]The post that I'm quoting here has been moved to the "LCW file request" split thread.
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NEWS (June 12 - July 7)
LCW made slow progress since the last news update (published on June 11). When you thought you could dedicate more time to modding, you realize it's quite the opposite. On the 29th, I passed my final exam at university, which relieved me from a lot of stress and gave me more free time. However, not only do you need time, you also need to have an internal drive to achieve your aims. The latter was present until this weekend, during which I finished FREDding one of the later missions for LCW and also made a mission for another project. This week, everything would have been given to FRED another LCW mission (mission 11) and polish up the other mission, but somehow I simply haven't made any progress with them.
So I decided I needed some break from FREDding (and maybe FreeSpace modding as well) and do something else. The next week will see no (or at most unremarkable) progress so I could regain my FREDding/FreeSpace drive. According to my plans, I should finish all the remaining six missions by the middle/end of September. That's nearly two months for six missions, which is not an impossible goal, assuming I get back in the swing of things and nothing unexpected happens. Then spend the next two or three months making everything as good as they can be. The "official" deadline is December, which I'll do my best to meet.
Now, details.
Missions
Mission 10 was built up from scratch to a well-polished mission over the course of three days. While I need to test it on difficulty levels other than Medium, I'm fairly certain that there are no bugs in it. I'm also fairly certain that these long hours of tireless FREDding are responsible for my needing some break this week. Well, if I can continue with this pace when I get back to LCW, I'll surely complete all missions by the end of September, then commence the less strenuous, but perhaps more time consuming, final testing phase.
There's a new mission on the agenda as well: the "new" mission 12; the "old" mission 12 is mission 13 now. I had a mission idea that I wanted to implement for LCW, and this is where it could be inserted. It also sets the stage for the last mission.
Here is a list of missions and their status:
- Mission 1: Mission 1 is in a really, really good shape. I don't expect to find anything wrong with it later. Mission length could be a bit longer, though.
- Mission 2: It's fine. Needs some balance refinement.
- Mission 3: The fighter-type (default) version is fine and ready to go. The bomber version needs to be made.
- Mission 4: The beginning of the mission may need some tweaks to make it more fun to play.
- Mission 5: I have some ships placed, but nothing else.
- Mission 6: Needs to be tested on all difficulty levels to make sure it plays out like it's supposed to.
- Mission 7: Not yet started.
- Mission 8: Everything is okay, apart from balancing. Currently the mission is self-play.
- Mission 9: Not yet started.
- Mission 10: You read about it.
- Mission 11: I have some ships placed, but nothing else.
- Mission 12: Not yet started.
- Mission 13: Not yet started.
Promotion
I was having some fun with GIMP, the "poor man's Photoshop," and made some effects. I wasn't aware they'd make it to the mod when I started them, but I'm satisfied with the outcome. The video that presents them (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war/videos) had been uploaded already, so I'm sure some of you have seen it.
A proper trailer is on the way as well, but I can't predict when it'll be ready. It may be out next week, it may be out one week before release.
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NEWS (July 7 - July 28)
Three weeks ago I said I'll take some rest and put aside FS modding for a while. Now I'm back, with some news. Since there's not much progress, there's not much to say, so this isn't a full news item. I finally made some progress with mission 11, the mission I planned to create three weeks ago.
MISSIONS
Mission 11 is nearly complete. I wouldn't say I'd make a video of it and use it for promotion, as it's lacking at places. To elaborate, the mission needs some more balancing - the current version is way too hard and the AI doesn't behave the way I want it to. The middle part of the mission is kind of empty. I plan to insert some messages here and there to make it more lively. There's a small cutscene at the end, which plays out almost exactly as I want it to.
And here's the list of missions with some comments on their progress, with colors now.
- Mission 1: Mission 1 is in a really, really good shape. I don't expect to find anything wrong with it later. Mission length could be a bit longer, though.
- Mission 2: It's fine. Needs some balance refinement.
- Mission 3: The fighter-type (default) version is fine and ready to go. The bomber version needs to be made.
- Mission 4: The beginning of the mission may need some tweaks to make it more fun to play.
- Mission 5: I have some ships placed, but nothing else.
- Mission 6: Needs to be tested on all difficulty levels to make sure it plays out like it's supposed to.
- Mission 7: Not yet started.
- Mission 8: Everything is okay, apart from balancing. Currently the mission is self-play.
- Mission 9: Not yet started.
- Mission 10: Pretty satisfied with it.
- Mission 11: Per above: mostly done, needs some refinement and more messages.
- Mission 12: Not yet started.
- Mission 13: Not yet started.
I excluded the intro and the outro cutscenes from the list, as I don't consider them "missions." They will be FREDded later.
TRAILER
I haven't forgotten about it. I plan to make a month/weeks before release. Its script is written.
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Those weapons are very nice, especially the Nightwolf and the cap ship turret. I am... in thought about the AAA beam though, not quite sure what to think right now (until I've played it).
:yes: :yes:
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NEWS (September - October)
Today I'm gonna do something unusual - post a news item about not having anything new. ;7 The reason for this halt in progress is two-fold: first, miscellaneous modding duties, second: partial burnout. The third reason could be real-life, but hopefully that goes without saying.
In September, in a ModDB comment, I said I would "get back to LCW with replenished enthusiasm." So I thought, but that's not the case. I have a new mission assigned to me for Scroll of Atankharzim, and I'm not making good progress with it due to the burnout thing. Once I get it afloat, and nothing else interferes, I will get back to LCW.
Back in April, when development started, I set LCW's release date to 2011 December, but seeing the mod's status now (in mid-October), I assume this is not tenable anymore. New tentative release date: 2012 June.
Seeing all this, I'm inclined to cancel the trailer as well, but this decision isn't definite yet. It may or may not happen. We'll see.
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Burnout happens. Hope you get a new infusion of enthusiasm soon though, I'm really looking forward to seeing this mod at the other end of a download button. :yes:
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We're behind you, TopAce. I've been following your news posts and it's clear there's an enormous amount of work going into this campaign. Everyone deserves a break, so take all the time you need. I know it'll be great when it's finished.
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Thank you both.
Incidentally, this "no-news" news item brought me 2 more watchers at ModDB. :lol: Weird, isn't it?
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Any news is news, even news of the lack thereof!
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NEWS (January 8, 2012)
Finally, some real news. This week I spent a lot of time on mission 12. It is already very playable, with only some balancing issues. A lot of messages will be added in the coming days/weeks to make it look like a full mission. The briefings and debriefings are written, which is a huge plus in my book because I tend to experience some serious writers' block with them.
My plans: add some messages to mission 12, then start a new mission and get that into a similar shape. After that, I will return to mission 12 when all the other missions go beta.
MISSIONS
Some smaller changes in light of the current news item.
- Mission 1: Mission 1 is in a really, really good shape. I don't expect to find anything wrong with it later. Mission length could be a bit longer, though.
- Mission 2: It's fine. Needs some balance refinement.
- Mission 3: The fighter-type (default) version is fine and ready to go. The bomber version needs to be made.
- Mission 4: The beginning of the mission may need some tweaks to make it more fun to play.
- Mission 5: I have some ships placed, but nothing else.
- Mission 6: Needs to be tested on all difficulty levels to make sure it plays out like it's supposed to.
- Mission 7: Not yet started.
- Mission 8: Everything is okay, apart from balancing. Currently the mission is self-play.
- Mission 9: Not yet started.
- Mission 10: Pretty satisfied with it.
- Mission 11: Per above: mostly done, needs some refinement and more messages.
- Mission 12: Gameplay is mostly okay, needs a lot more messages, but they can be added easily enough, so I'll color this mission green.
- Mission 13: Not yet started.
I excluded the intro and the outro cutscenes from the list, as I don't consider them "missions." They will be FREDded later.
TENTATIVE RELEASE DATE:
June 2012
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Until now, I have been posting news items on a - more or less - monthly basis. Monthly letters are cool, but they presume continuous mod development, which has not been the case since December. I found time and motivation intermittently, which naturally affects workflow. There are long periods of silence followed by short periods of intense activity. This news item covers the period between Feburary 3 and 6, as far as mission updates are concerned. Fortunately, more is going on in the background, but let's look at these three days now.
(http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/18/17770/LCW12-1.jpg)
MISSIONS
I have finally gathered motivation to work on mission 5. I have been reluctant to start this mission, fearing it would not turn out as I had originally planned. Conversely enough, everything went smoothly. While smaller details had to be sacrificed for mental sanity, but such is life. The mission has gone a long way in three days (20 hours of FREDding total) from blank to advanced beta. I added everything that differentiates an incoherent stream of bytes from a FreeSpace mission. Difficulty requires some further refinement, but that's the case for the rest of the missions as well.
Speaking of difficulty, I have replayed mission 10 and decided to green it out in the mission list. I have been keeping it orange since I first mentioned it (in July). I replayed it and realized it was in no worse shape than the rest of the missions, so there's no reason to give it a lower rating (not even S&P can downgrade it now).
(http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/18/17770/LCW5-2.jpg)
To sum it up, I have three more missions to FRED, plus the intro and the outro cutscenes. The outro is crucial, unlike the intro. There is nothing in the intro (I have the script) that one cannot tell in a Command Briefing, so I may decide to give up on it and put more effort in the playable content instead.
- Mission 1: Mission 1 is in a really, really good shape. I don't expect to find anything wrong with it later. Mission length could be a bit longer, though.
- Mission 2: It's fine. Needs some balance refinement.
- Mission 3: The fighter-type (default) version is fine and ready to go. The bomber version needs to be made.
- Mission 4: The beginning of the mission may need some tweaks to make it more fun to play.
- Mission 5: Feelin' good. Needs more or less the same amount of additional work than the rest
- Mission 6: Needs to be tested on all difficulty levels to make sure it plays out like it's supposed to.
- Mission 7: Not yet started.
- Mission 8: Everything is okay, apart from balancing. Currently the mission is self-play.
- Mission 9: Not yet started.
- Mission 10: Pretty satisfied with it.
- Mission 11: Per above: mostly done, needs some refinement and more messages.
- Mission 12: Gameplay is mostly okay, needs a lot more messages, but they can be added easily enough, so I'll color this mission green.
- Mission 13: Not yet started.
STAFF CHANGES
Last but not least, LCW has become a team effort, provided one is radical enough to call two people working together a team (semantics is fun). I have acquired the services of swashmebuckle, a fellow HLP member and the (lead) writer for Fate of the Galaxy. During his FotG membership, he has submitted three excellent minicampaign scripts, and has improved the writing in my FotG single missions as well. As for his work on LCW, he has given some general recommendations for the storyline, especially for the background story. I will edit the campaign's description accordingly. Soon(tm).
(http://media.moddb.com/images/mods/1/18/17770/LCW5-1.jpg)
TENTATIVE RELEASE DATE:
June 2012. (still)
HLP-EXCLUSIVE NOTES
Woot. Only three more missions to go.
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Okay, given the apparent lack of interest, I will cease posting newsletters here. If you're interested in LCW's status, check its ModDB or Wiki page.
Expect release in June.
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Yeah, gimme a birthday present :)
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Okay, given the apparent lack of interest, I will cease posting newsletters here. If you're interested in LCW's status, check its ModDB or Wiki page.
Hey, I've been following your updates here, TopAce. It just didn't occur to me to say anything. :blah: Sorry, I'll have to remember to be more overtly enthusiastic about campaign announcements/updates that particularly interest me.
Great to hear that swash has joined your team. Looking forward to the release!
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Finally, ModDB authorized the most recent newsletter. I don't fancy copying it here and reformatting it, so here is the ModDB link (http://www.moddb.com/mods/luyten-civil-war).
TL;DR is: the last mission requires some additional content, like messages. Once I'm satisfied with it, I'll launch the final testing stage.
Release date: June, 2012. Still.
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Looks great. The summary on the Mod DB page got my attention when I first saw it. Looking forward to the release :) although finding time to play might be a bit tricky :blah: since things'll be getting busy starting around then.
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RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2012.
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Congrats Topace. Looking forward toi it. :D
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Oh, awesome! I'll definitely play this. Been wanting a good bomber-compatible campaign for a while.
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Looking forward to it. Will download and play once it comes out.
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Looking forward to release. I'll have to set aside some time to play this.
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The files are uploading now...
Release is imminent.