[ethaninja]

I'd love to see such a mod!

I am atm a bit short on time ( reallife issues as well as modeling ships for FS CoDA) but i can a bit of everything except coding and music stuff.

This is a fighter i did some time ago for another game, which was inspired a bit by WWII planes and Star Wars ships. The Cockpit is just a placeholder, the final mesh has a Spitfire-ish cockpit layout, thx to newman and Brand-X
Would love to see something similar in the mod, if it gets launched.



Wow that is just, wow =D How did you smooth that out so well?
All my models are blocky and rigid and smoothmesh just ruins them.

[T-LoW]

And make the main menu like this:

[ethaninja]

And make the main menu like this:

I don't know if it is just me but I can't see it.

[T-LoW]

I can see it twice now

[The E]

First off I just gotta say, that first concept you've got going is FREAKIN SWEET! I wish I could draw like that.
Secondly, the idea for a mod that like that is FREAKING SWEET!

I can't draw like that either Those are just drawings from StarSlayer that he posted here a while back, and that sort of illustrate what I want quite well.

I would be interesting in helping with this kind of mod. Voice actor maybe? I'm still WAY too noobish at programming in C++ to make the code itself. I don't even know what language I would do this in even if I was a C++ programmer

The point where I'll be asking for voice actors is still far, far off. First, we need models, models and more models.

[Fury]

Maybe you should consider using placeholders, otherwise I don't think this project ever takes off the ground. Scooby Doo's Wing Commander ships could be decent placeholders.

[ethaninja]

Maybe you should consider using placeholders, otherwise I don't think this project ever takes off the ground. Scooby Doo's Wing Commander ships could be decent placeholders.

I am just full of questions today. Guess I really AM determined to find things out
May I ask what a placeholder is and/or consists of?

[T-LoW]

The name already says it. Just ships to hold the place for the mod's own models but with which you can already work with so you can start with creating a campaign and so on

[The E]

Yes, placeholders are a good idea.

ethaninja: It's simple, you just take a model that has roughly the same properties as the model you want to end up with, and use it to test out stuff. That way you can test and refine the gameplay while you're waiting on the finished assets.

Well, I think I'm going to start setting this up in earnest over the weekend.

[ethaninja]

Yes, placeholders are a good idea.

ethaninja: It's simple, you just take a model that has roughly the same properties as the model you want to end up with, and use it to test out stuff. That way you can test and refine the gameplay while you're waiting on the finished assets.

Well, I think I'm going to start setting this up in earnest over the weekend.

Ah I see. So an example would be:

Take an existing Freespace 2 Model that would be as close as possible to the ship your making, and yeah, use it to test out stuff

[swashmebuckle]

A fluff proposal: The anti-grav substance is normally totally inert; it's only when you get a big pile of it together and run a direct current through it that it exhibits its unique properties.  If a ship's engines fail and power is lost, backup batteries automatically come on to let her down gently, or even keep her floating at low altitude for a decent amount of time.  This could save a lot of lives and equipment if the ship is damaged over friendly territory, but it would also enable privateers to take prizes--just don't shoot up the area directly above the ship's center of mass and you can tow it home.  Having the achievable altitude tied to the mass of the pile would also provide good reason for building those big awesome battleships--if you can float an enormous armored platform for your biggest guns at 25,000 feet, you could bombard inland targets from miles and miles away where their ground defenses couldn't touch you.  Sure, these big ships would still be vulnerable to fighter swarms, but they can pack more punch and sustained presence than fixed-wing strategic bombers and you'd have to do a lot better than a couple lucky hits below the waterline to drop one.  And anyway that's why you have escort carriers and all that fun

So I'm curious about the backstory: we know most of the colonial empires are crumbling or strained, but no great depression.  How did the aftermath of WWI turn out?  Is Germany the Weimar Republic (I sort of prefer my swashbuckling fun w/o genocidal Nazis, Indy notwithstanding)?  What about Russia, and what is going on with the Sino-Japanese War?  Habsburg or bust I say!

[lostllama]

I'm getting a strong Leviathans vibe from this. Not that I think that's a bad thing, I'm just wondering if that inspired the pics on the first page and the anti-gravity ideas already mentioned.

[The E]

Okay, keep in mind that these are basically spur-of-the-moment ramblings. No guarantee for coherence.

Germany

Germany is a constitutional Monarchy, with a strong aristocracy. The Weimar Republic failed in 1924, and what was left of the Aristocracy managed to reassert its control, as people looked for new strong leadership. In 1927, a team of scientists under Albert Einstein and Wernder Heisenberg managed to isolate "Flugstein" (literally "Flystone"), an element or state of matter (What exactly is still under debate in physicists' circles) that had astonishing properties. It turned out that a sufficient quantity of flystone, when subjected to an electrical current, can lift something into the sky.
This discovery was used as a bargaining chip with the League of Nations to pay off the remaining reparations for WW1 damages. All accumulated flystone research was turned over to the world public, and Germany retreated from international politics.
Taking a page from the Swiss playbook, Germany remains neutral in european politics, while at the same time rising to one of the biggest arms exporters. German-built Zeppelins are a common sight in the skies, and german flystone engines are a sought-after commodity.
This combination has the other states somewhat worried. There are indications for a massive buildup of armed forces, funds being funneled into dark channels, that hint at something massive going on in the few areas the german Air Navy has locked down hermetically.

The British Commonwealth

The last great colonial empire. Through a combination of force of arms and economy, most of Britains' colonies chose to remain in the Commonwealth. The Royal Navy was the first one to complete a total conversion of their existing wet-water navy to a flystone-equipped armada; and as a result, British forces got to write the book on modern air combat. Most of the Royal Navy is deployed running convoy escort for Zeppelins that connect the pieces of the Empire.
(I'm not going to go into details about the politics here; Someone british should fill it in)

The Rest

No idea about Russia.

As for Japan, it currently controls Korea, a portion of China, and a chunk of what was termed the Greater East-Asian Co-prosperity Sphere (excluding territories under British and American control).

[General Battuta]

A fluff proposal: The anti-grav substance is normally totally inert; it's only when you get a big pile of it together and run a direct current through it that it exhibits its unique properties.

What do the civilizations of the galaxy call it?

BTW for the sake of awesome we should throw in a couple non-European powers that can be as stereotypical as th Europeans. I suggest India, Japan (which had a badass fleet), and Zululand, which could be ****ing terrifying.

[Angelus]

I'd love to see such a mod!

I am atm a bit short on time ( reallife issues as well as modeling ships for FS CoDA) but i can a bit of everything except coding and music stuff.

This is a fighter i did some time ago for another game, which was inspired a bit by WWII planes and Star Wars ships. The Cockpit is just a placeholder, the final mesh has a Spitfire-ish cockpit layout, thx to newman and Brand-X
Would love to see something similar in the mod, if it gets launched.

*snip*

Wow that is just, wow =D How did you smooth that out so well?
All my models are blocky and rigid and smoothmesh just ruins them.

There's no special trick to it. I'd like to point out that the current Firemoth mesh has 9k polys, as it was built for a other game.

--------------------------------------------------------------------


Like the concept of the mod sofar. I hope it follows the Battletech philosophie: the enemy is not necessarily "evil" ( as in Darth Vader-evil).

[ethaninja]

I'd love to see such a mod!

I am atm a bit short on time ( reallife issues as well as modeling ships for FS CoDA) but i can a bit of everything except coding and music stuff.

This is a fighter i did some time ago for another game, which was inspired a bit by WWII planes and Star Wars ships. The Cockpit is just a placeholder, the final mesh has a Spitfire-ish cockpit layout, thx to newman and Brand-X
Would love to see something similar in the mod, if it gets launched.

*snip*

Wow that is just, wow =D How did you smooth that out so well?
All my models are blocky and rigid and smoothmesh just ruins them.

There's no special trick to it. I'd like to point out that the current Firemoth mesh has 9k polys, as it was built for a other game.

--------------------------------------------------------------------


Like the concept of the mod sofar. I hope it follows the Battletech philosophie: the enemy is not necessarily "evil" ( as in Darth Vader-evil).

Where I circled the holes that you can see through, did you do boolean? Every time I use boolean it makes the wireframe edges all diagonal.

http://b.imagehost.org/view/0013/FFRe5

[The E]

Not to discourage you or anything, ethaninja, but could you ask your questions in a separate thread or via PMs?

[ethaninja]

Not to discourage you or anything, ethaninja, but could you ask your questions in a separate thread or via PMs?

Oh yeah sorry I just got so caught up in questions I got carried away >.<

[Rodo]

That anti-grav particle makes me think of the trapar used in Eureka-Seven anime series, though that one was present in massive amounts on the very atmosphere.
If only the states have access to this special particle, would it be safe to say all other military powers will not have access to big flying destroyers?

[The E]

That anti-grav particle makes me think of the trapar used in Eureka-Seven anime series, though that one was present in massive amounts on the very atmosphere.
If one the states have access to this special particle, would it be safe to say all other military powers will not have access to big flying destroyers?

As said above, Germany gave the information on how to manufacture flystone to the international community to pay off the WW1 reparations. Every major power has the know-how to make the stuff, it's just that some have better engineers than others.