[Androgeos Exeunt]

Hey, all. After too many months of waiting and thinking, I've finally decided to go ahead and create a broadside battle between the GTVA Colossus and the SD Lucifer.

Link to original (NOT DIRECT): http://cid-78eece80a0658c61.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/FreeSpace%202/TSM-69/TSM-69.fs2
Link to version 2 (NOT DIRECT): http://cid-78eece80a0658c61.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/FreeSpace%202/TSM-69/TSM-69-edit1.fs2
Link to version 3 (NOT DIRECT): http://cid-78eece80a0658c61.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/FreeSpace%202/TSM-69/TSM-69-edit2.fs2

To play the mission(s):
WINDOWS USERS - save into [FreeSpace 2 directory]/data/missions
MAC USERS - save into [your username]/Library/FS2_Open/data/missions

Here are some very important notes:
0. This mission is VERY LONG. Make sure you have at least half an hour of spare time.
1. This mission MAY NOT be retail-compatible. I made and tested it on FS2_Open 3.6.9 without any mediavps in Windows and FS2_Open 3.6.10 with all mediavps enabled in Mac. If you're reading this and have retail but do not have FS2_Open, use Turey's installer or get it manually. At the very least, get a stable 3.6.9 build. If you want to try and run it in retail, do it at your own risk.
2. All incarnations of this mission were made using UNMODDED TABLEFILES. Disable all mods (you may, however, enable the FS2_Open mediavps) before running this mission.
3. The original is a training mission with no debriefing. Feel free to jump out at any time during the simulation.
4. The original mission was playtested four times on Insane difficulty, and a fifth time on Very Easy difficulty. Each of the first four playtests ended in the destruction of either ship. The fifth one was used to check if the Colossus would bat the Lucifer while it made its turns.
5. For all mission variants, the first five and a half minutes is a bit boring.

Here are some notes worth looking for the curious ones:
1. The SD Lucifer has its weapons changed from the default loadout so as to give it a fighting chance against the GTVA Colossus. The front SReds have been replace with the Shivan Super Lasers supplied in retail, while the other fifteen Shivan Turret Lasers have been replaced with one of the following: Piranha, Fusion Mortar, SAAA, SRed, LRed.
2. Your ship is invulnerable, protected, beam-protected and disarmed, so cheats are redundant and useless in this mission.
3. The GTVA Colossus is unmodified and using its default loadout. As its beams are unable to attack the Lucifer if I simply gave it the "Attack Lucifer" order, it follows a rectangular waypoint path around the Lucifer instead.

Modifications from original to version 2 are:

- Increased quantity of stars
- Added background
- Added sexp to selfdestruct Lucifer if all five reactors are destroyed
- Added debriefing
- Lengthened briefing
- Renamed to Training 7
- Removed scramble mission tag
- Changed briefing and in-game music

Modification from version 2 to version 3 is:

- Drastically toned down the Lucifer's weapons so that the Colossus can destroy it without losing too much hull integrity.

Since each version tends to give drastically different outcomes, all of them will be left on my Cloud. They're not exactly meant to replace or complement each other.

Finally, here are some screenies from the original version:

Lucy gets sandwiched.


You can expect to see this as the first line in the Events list. ALWAYS.


Obviously, the SSL is not to be trifled with.


The inefficient TerSlash destroys an even more inefficient turret.


Events list, one minute in.


Events list, three minutes in.


Flak - be it ever so useless.


The Colly's BGreen and TerSlash carve up the Lucifer to par.


That is not an LRed.


For attempting to slash Lucy, the Colly gets...an LRed.


AAAAAAAAA!


Colly slashes Lucy from behind...


Lucy fires a comeback.


All's fair in war and...TerSlash?


TerSlash against SAAA. No contest.


Just as the Colly's BGreen cools down, it gets hit by an LRed. How coincidental.


The final blow!

[carbine7]

Fitting how that last beam drilled on of the Lucy's reactors. DLing

[Androgeos Exeunt]

The update has been uploaded and may be downloaded from here (NOT DIRECT).

Here are the modifications I've made:

- Increased quantity of stars
- Added background
- Added SEXP to selfdestruct Lucifer if all five reactors are destroyed
- Added debriefing
- Lengthened briefing
- Renamed to Training 7
- Removed scramble mission tag
- Changed briefing and in-game music

After playtesting this once on Very Easy and once on Insane, I realised that the battle now appears to be slanted towards the Colossus' favour. This is interesting because no modifications have been done to the waypoints of either warship. In the original, both ships had an equal chance of getting smooshed.

For this reason, I decided to leave the original on my Cloud and upload this new version beside it.

[eliex]

Sounds pretty interesting Androgeos Exeunt. I'm giving it a go.

Nice screenshots by the way. 

[carbine7]

I did notice that, even though the Lucy started off with its LR Flux cannons, once the Colossus got within range of the Lucy, it was no contest. I think the problem is that the Lucy only has one beam cannon which can even scruff the Coly's hideous paint, whereas the Coly has 3.

[Rodo]

I miss Lucy... damn I have like a ton of mission until I get to see her again :S on fsport-

this might do the trick ^^

[Androgeos Exeunt]

I did notice that, even though the Lucy started off with its LR Flux cannons, once the Colossus got within range of the Lucy, it was no contest. I think the problem is that the Lucy only has one beam cannon which can even scruff the Coly's hideous paint, whereas the Coly has 3.

Actually, I think that the Lucifer should win, because the retail Shivan Super Lasers are very accurate. My additions in the update have reduced their accuracy for whatever reason.

Try playing the original, then try the update. It's a huge difference. In the original, the Lucifer has a high chance of knocking out all of the Colossus' portside beams, but in the update, that no longer seems quite common.

[eliex]

This mission makes you wonder what kind of armour does the Lucifer have, being so much more resilient than a Orion but having reasonable similar size and length.

Good mission by the way Androgeos. 

[Mongoose]

I seem to remember someone else simulating this battle with retail armaments a while back and having the Colossus win fairly handily every single time.  Regardless, the "25% chance of victory" stat from one of Derelict's command briefings was pretty far off.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

This mission makes you wonder what kind of armour does the Lucifer have, being so much more resilient than a Orion but having reasonable similar size and length.

Good mission by the way Androgeos. 

Thanks.

I'm not too sure if the Lucifer was supposed to have that kind of hull strength, though. In FS1, the Lucifer had a shield system, and I was thinking that the Lucifer's 800 000 HP in FS2 was meant to give that impression without using an actual shield.

I seem to remember someone else simulating this battle with retail armaments a while back and having the Colossus win fairly handily every single time.  Regardless, the "25% chance of victory" stat from one of Derelict's command briefings was pretty far off.

I tried to make the Lucifer have the same kind of weapons reflected in the FS2 Intro and IceyJones' cutscene. I also knew that the Shivan Super Lasers do exist in FS2, so I thought they should be mounted on where they belong.

The default loadout for the Lucifer in FS2 just seems...wrong.

[Droid803]

I seem to remember someone else simulating this battle with retail armaments a while back and having the Colossus win fairly handily every single time.  Regardless, the "25% chance of victory" stat from one of Derelict's command briefings was pretty far off.

If you used the stats of the SD Nyarlathotep, the statistics migth be more accurate.
The Nyarlathotep has 2 BFReds instead of SSLs on the front turrets, and an number of LReds dotted around the hull.

[eliex]

I tried to make the Lucifer have the same kind of weapons reflected in the FS2 Intro and IceyJones' cutscene. I also knew that the Shivan Super Lasers do exist in FS2, so I thought they should be mounted on where they belong.

The default loadout for the Lucifer in FS2 just seems...wrong.

Yeah. It is quite similar in all respects of the GTI Hades; a lot of hitpoints but only the weakest anti-cap beams for it's faction.

[Droid803]

The GTD Hades has 2 BGreens though, which is decent, but not for something of its massive size. If it had SGreens though, it'd be worthless.
Firepower is not the problem with the Hades, its more of how worthless its engine subsystem is, and how it can't hit anything even slightly below its horizontal plane...

[eliex]

Sorry. Somehow I recalled that the Hades was equipped by default SGreens, but I checked it now.

[Mongoose]

I seem to remember someone else simulating this battle with retail armaments a while back and having the Colossus win fairly handily every single time.  Regardless, the "25% chance of victory" stat from one of Derelict's command briefings was pretty far off.

If you used the stats of the SD Nyarlathotep, the statistics migth be more accurate.
The Nyarlathotep has 2 BFReds instead of SSLs on the front turrets, and an number of LReds dotted around the hull.

Ah, that's right, it is specifically matched up against the Nyarlathotep in that briefing.

I've always kind of felt that using the Lucifer's FS1 armaments would make for the most canonically-accurate showdown, since that was presumably what the Colossus was designed to defeat.  We never saw the FS1 Lucifer use anything other than the two forward SSLs to attack a large target...other than that where-is-it-placed white uber-beam it used to attack Vasuda Prime in the one command animation.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

That white uber-beam, however, is not a gun mount.

And I thought the Hades was equipped with TerSlashes by default.

If you used the stats of the SD Nyarlathotep, the statistics migth be more accurate.
The Nyarlathotep has 2 BFReds instead of SSLs on the front turrets, and an number of LReds dotted around the hull.

True, but keep in mind that BFReds do not have the same damage rate and range as SSLs.

My configuration of the Lucifer was made using (my) common sense and not derived from the configuration of another Lucifer. I just scanned through the gun mounts of the Lucifer in fred2_open, thought, "Okay, let's have this here because it seems appropriate..." and changed it. My intention was to create a better Lucifer; one with the teeth to hold its own in a battle against the Colossus and against a few waves of enemy small ships.

[eliex]

My configuration of the Lucifer was made using (my) common sense and not derived from the configuration of another Lucifer. I just scanned through the gun mounts of the Lucifer in fred2_open, thought, "Okay, let's have this here because it seems appropriate..." and changed it. My intention was to create a better Lucifer; one with the teeth to hold its own in a battle against the Colossus and against a few waves of enemy small ships.

To be honest, I found the major flaw of the Shivans (more so than the other races) is that they are specifically good at only anti-fighter or anti-cap. You give a Lilith to a wing of Hercules and it gets ripped to pieces. A Dragon even to a Fenris - same result.

The only Shivan ship I know that is moderately good against everything is the Nahema: powerful afterburner to take down fighters and a large secondary bank to take out cruisers at the very least.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

The Nahema also happens to be the easiest FS2 Shivan bomber to destroy. It is the only Shivan bomber that usually gets destroyed by dual Trebuchets.

All of the smaller Shivan warships seem to have horrible anti-fighter defences.

[Droid803]

If you fly a Nahema though, you can easily shake trebs with a well-timed countermeasure, and proceed to rip through essentially anything.
Its a very good "dive bomber" because of its afterburner. (as in, launching bombs point-blank and outrunning the shockwave).

As for when I was talking about the Nyarlathotep, I meant that it would be more accurate to Derelict's representation. BFReds are far more powerful than SSLs if they are in range, if I recall correctly, making the Lucifer Nyarlathotep far more deadly than it 'should be' according to the FS1 Lucifer stats.

edited to clear up ambiguity.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Perhaps they are, but keep in mind that this simulator, if canon, is ideally placed between the arrival of the Shivans in Gamma Draconis and the arrival of the first SJ Sathanas in the nebula, ideally right after The Sixth Wonder or a few missions after that.