Hard Light Productions Forums

Modding, Mission Design, and Coding => The FRED Workshop => Topic started by: shiv on June 22, 2025, 03:51:02 pm

Title: [ANNOUNCEMENT] The Sixth Seal 2: The Keys of Ruin
Post by: shiv on June 22, 2025, 03:51:02 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/z3svOQL.png)

After a few months of development, countless test runs, and tremendous team effort, I'm excited to officially announce the next campaign in the Shivaverse continuity: The Sixth Seal 2: The Keys of Ruin (TKoR).

Story

TKoR continues the legacy of Scholar Atemnu and Dr. Hargrove from the first installment of the series. The campaign will bring their story to a conclusion aboard the GTT Omega, last seen in the epilogue mission of The Sixth Seal. It also connects key plot threads between The Sixth Seal, Silent Threat: Reborn, and FreeSpace 2, laying the groundwork for potential future projects.

This time, you'll take on the role of a pilot in the Imperial Guard, a branch of the Vasudan Security Directorate that reports directly to the Imperial Court. It is early May, 2335. As the Terran-Vasudan allies prepares their final offensive against the Shivans in Ross 128, the Imperial Guard is given a very different mission: To capture the Hammer of Light carrier HLCa Eternity.

Mission & Campaign Development

All six planned missions are mechanically complete and are currently undergoing review. This includes dialogue and text polishing, especially for content originally written by non-native English-speaking team members.

Once the writing pass is complete, we'll move on to voice acting and audio processing. With a bit of luck, we're aiming for a release in fall 2025.

Mods, Music, Animations

TKoR will feature numerous new mods. One of the campaign's key ships is the PVCa Udjat—a Hammer of Light-modified variant, modeled and textured by Nyctaeus.

(https://i.imgur.com/iogTdHI.jpeg)

All command briefings will include animated sequences. Here's a sneak peek of a beautifully rendered animation showcasing the PVF Nhu fighter, rendered by Ormuni.
(https://i.imgur.com/KLeX8qq.png)

And finally, all missions and briefings will be enriched with Vasudan-style remixes of Dan Wentz's FreeSpace soundtrack, composed by ShadowsOfLight:
(https://button.moddb.com/download/medium/292307.png) (https://www.moddb.com/mods/the-sixth-seal/downloads/fs1-briefing-vasudanized)

More TSS2 eyecandy

(https://i.imgur.com/vdLgznV.jpeg)

(https://i.imgur.com/MMQUadc.png)

(https://i.imgur.com/qMl6opJ.jpeg)

(https://i.imgur.com/3JfqYzC.jpeg)

(https://i.imgur.com/Ll952Yh.jpeg)

Final Thoughts

As we finish remaining elements such as the original soundtrack and animations, our testers are working hard to determine any mission bugs. Neither I nor any other member of the TSS team wants to give false hope, but at our current pace, a release in the second half of 2025 looks promising.

If you like what we've shared so far, please leave a comment to show your support. You wouldn't believe how much community feedback means to us - it keeps us motivated and focused. ❤️

P.S. TSS2 will conclude the story of the research onboard the Omega, but this is not the end of the Shivaverse. Several team members are already working on the next chapter...

(https://i.imgur.com/xGmdjJA.jpeg)
Title: Re: [ANNOUNCEMENT] The Sixth Seal 2: The Keys of Ruin
Post by: Nyctaeus on June 22, 2025, 04:04:23 pm
Plot summary: You're a devoted sandeater and your mission is to piss off everybody around :]
Title: Re: [ANNOUNCEMENT] The Sixth Seal 2: The Keys of Ruin
Post by: Goober5000 on June 26, 2025, 11:29:33 am
Awesome. Looking forward to this. :yes:
Title: Re: [ANNOUNCEMENT] The Sixth Seal 2: The Keys of Ruin
Post by: shiv on July 16, 2025, 08:15:24 am
Dev update time!

Mission Development
We're working hard on polishing TSS2. Over the past month, several testers managed to finish their playthroughs and helped us squash bugs in the campaign missions.

Voice Acting
Our actors have finished recording their lines, and I've been busy processing them for in-game use. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to working with voice files, so the results aren’t 100% satisfying just yet. If anyone is open to helping with voice file processing, I'd be happy to accept your contributions! :D

Modpack
Nyctaeus recently finished his HTL Sesmu (https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=99669.0) in a PVN color scheme. All I can say for now is that those beautiful transports will play a vital role in the final TSS2 mission. ;7

(https://i.imgur.com/a2frHHf.jpeg)

Screenshots
As a bonus, here are some fresh TSS2 screenshots :)

(https://i.imgur.com/kuyVhxT.jpeg)

(https://i.imgur.com/bgPI5S5.jpeg)

(https://i.imgur.com/TiVPUhl.jpeg)