[Zacam]

Just stopping by to say, Two Thumbs Up for the work here. I looked over your package above, and really liked the polish you put towards establishing a distinctive (yet consistent) style for your work.

Nicely done.

[AndrewofDoom]

As noted in the celebration of freespace thread, I am indeed moving on with my own mod in its own, self-contained universe. I originally wanted to do a mod that was simply non-WoD continuity (much like Stormfront is non-FS continuity but still in the FS verse), but I gave up on that idea. The main reason why I did is because, well, I kinda feel that they are out of place amongst the other WoD races. As it is right now, it's rather crowded as it is in WoD without them, so I feel that there might be a need anyway for me to just go my own route regardless. Besides, who knows. Maybe I might surprise myself (and the world) with something really good.

So, I figured "Why not just do this (save for some of the more spoileriffic parts of the plot that I have in my head) in a public development log sort of matter?". In any case, I can at least then get public input and see where people might rather I want to go. So, let's get this started!

Since today is the first day of active development of this, a lot of the time was spent getting stuff set up. And, considering this was originally a WoD mod, I spent most of the time today eliminating all dependencies to my WoD2 copy in medieval stasis while being distracted by a million things along the way. Right now, I've eliminated all dependencies to anything WoD related, so all it needs now is mediavps, but it's still quite a mess. I had to, as a quick and dirty way, just dumped all the WoD2 sounds into the folder so that the engine wouldn't scream at me.

What did I do today?

• Removed any mod dependency to WoD(II).
• Started listing off ships that I want each faction to have. Not quite done, but it's a start.
• Found a very nice song that I'm using for the mainhall track right now. Slight dissonance, since getting rid of the WoD dependency leaves me with the Aquitaine. Oh well, I will change that eventually.

What will I be doing tomorrow?

• Starting from a clean slate with the sounds table.
• Starting over with the weapons. It's a mess, and it's just easier to just get rid of everything instead of fixing them.
• Determine how I want to organize my writing in the Tech Room.
• Look over what notes I had about the Ketrans and Soronans pre-WoD development and see what's salvageable from that. In fact, the plot for this mod is based off the one I had came up with years ago; I just got rid of the stuff that was ridiculous (Though, there's probably going to still be headscratchers in it). Yes, believe it or not, the Ketrans and Soronans existed before WoD was even a thought in Spoon's head...maybe. I dunno, is four years long enough ago, Spoon? =P
• Come up with a new backstory for the Ketrans and Soronans. The one that was in WoD obviously doesn't work anymore.
• Develop the two antagonist races, the Askaeldians and the tentatively named Terran Empire. More the latter than the former.
• Add my own species table. There will be no NTF in my mod after all!
• Figure out what I want to get out of this in terms of gameplay.

So, at the end of the day, I have this:



lol old tech description needs replacement. Other than that, not much...yet. This is day one, and if I miraculously keep developing and working on this mod every day, imagine where it'll be in two or three months or maybe if someone decides to help me. So, expect something tomorrow. Hopefully I don't forget. 

[starwolf1991]

Good luck with this, Doom. Hopefully it works out for you. I believe it will if you really dedicate yourself to it. 

• Develop the two antagonist races, the Askaeldians and the tentatively named Terran Empire. More the latter than the former.

Awww, why you....I had plans to use the Askaeldians myself. Drat o-mighty 

[General Battuta]

Good luck with this, Doom. Hopefully it works out for you. I believe it will if you really dedicate yourself to it. 

• Develop the two antagonist races, the Askaeldians and the tentatively named Terran Empire. More the latter than the former.

Awww, why you....I had plans to use the Askaeldians myself. Drat o-mighty 

It's not like you can't now. These are public assets/

[starwolf1991]

Lol I know, I was only having fun 

[Dragon]

I've looked throught these ships and noticed that Kertrans lack a decent carrier. While Hecatos has a hangarbay, it's rather dinky.
You could think about modelling a medium carrier for them.

[AndrewofDoom]

I've looked throught these ships and noticed that Kertrans lack a decent carrier. While Hecatos has a hangarbay, it's rather dinky.
You could think about modelling a medium carrier for them.

The Orionis is a battleship with a hangerbay that holds some hundreds of fighters and bombers.

So, what did I do today?

• I started from scratch on the sounds table by importing the retail one and started making my own changes.
• I haven't gotten started on starting over with the weapons.
• I have come up with a possible backstory for the Ketrans and Soronans. It is as follows:
  
  

  Since before recorded history, the Soronans and Ketrans have coexisted on the same planet of Elmarina in the Ketronia system (known to us humans as Delta Serpentis). As primitive hunters, they competed for the same food, but were for the most part satisfied with life being a competitive game of the hunt. But, some day for reasons and the very tribe who started has since been long lost, but one race decided at one point their diet was going to include the other in the list. Very soon afterward, all the Soronan tribes banded together and all Ketran tribes did the same, as those who didn't were hunted til none of them were left. The feeling that now their prey was as smart as them and just as willing to have them for lunch prompted both races to begin one upping each other. A cycle that continued for centuries starting with throwing rocks, then with bows and arrow, then guns, followed by planes and boats, and then bombs. The official count of wars before the union is "only" 121, but many believe that's quite an understatement for what seemed an everlasting hatred between both species.
  
  Things changed however, in a so called war known only as "The Revelation". It was an event that lasted two days. The first day was the Ketrans and Soronans launching nuclear weaponry at each other. On that very day, half of both of their populations were lost in just the initial explosion and even more would join the death count from the long term effects of the fallout. The next day was both sides cleaning up the messes they had made from nuking each other and in the process realizing what would be the conclusion of this all if this cycle was not to stop. Both the Soronan Prime Shoren Sopal De'elmmer and the Ketran Alpha Executive Kalmar Declartrex approached each other and asked to stop this vicious cycle. An agreement was made to find and dismantle any and all nuclear weapons with both sides grudgingly complying, if only for the sake of their own survival. The next few decades were spent recovering from the destruction left from the nuclear attacks and all hunting of the other race was banned. Those who did not comply were put to death by either species. Eventually, they reached out toward each other and competition begin again on a much lighter note in which who could make the next coolest thing.
  
  It was the start of a new beginning.

  This was left unfinished on purpose, cause I want to see what people think.
• I've got a general idea of what I want the Askaeldians to be like and will probably tag that in along with the developing backdrop of the mod. Still have no clue what I specifically want of the Terran Empire just yet.
• I have the format I want for the tech entries in the tech room. I shall show you an example of what I'm aiming for once I've made a few corrections I need to make.

What shall I do tomorrow?

• Start the weapons table over from scratch.
• Get at least the framework of the intelligence section in!
• See what people's input is on the backstory and make changes accordingly.
• Perhaps maybe continuing on the stuff I've been modeling but stopped due to my drive getting cut out of me.
• Develop some characters possibly
• Learn to draw organics in accordance to the one above this (or fine someone who can do it, but that's a fat chance of happening. =P).

In any case, give me critical feedback on what I have right now for the backdrop! I want to become better at this stuff! How much so? During the development of the Ketrans for WoD, I remember having to start over from square one at least four times before Spoon was content with what I had given him in terms of writing and the species design. Talk about dedication.

[AndrewofDoom]

So I just finished this today. Recycling old models that were going to be used for WoD2 but weren't is fun. And boy, does THIS fighter have quite a design history behind it. So, let's take a trip down memory lane!

~December 2009 This design is pretty nice, save for the wings.
~January 2010 I don't know what was going on in my head here. I could've just improved the wings on the previous one. =|
~February 2010 Wat why Andrew. WHY?! Also, this is my first experiment into using energy wings over the normal ones.
April 2010 Rev 2 Rev 3 Rev 4 (Also in color!) Now it looks like the one that ended up being final. Also the first design that Spoon thought looked okay. =p
June 2010 First 3d model of it. Not the one that's final, however.
August 2010 Rev 1 Rev 2 (also colored)This was the base concept art for the current Maverick.
September 2010 Rev 1 Rev 2 Rev 3 Rev 4 Rev 5 Rev 6 Rev 7 Rev 8 Rev 9 Rev 10 Rev 11 Watch as the final model evolve.
---Big Pause Here---
---December 2010 Ketrans are scrapped---

And now today....


This is the KCSL Maverick, predecessor to the Scythe. Still quite often used, because it's remains to be quite useful AND it also has a lot more staying power than the glass cannon Scythe. I shall release this model...assoonasifinishthetables! Hopefully that won't take too long, since I've already started over from base on with this stuff. More fluff to come eventually.

Maybe I'm the only one who like to see how far I've gone with this stuff? Oh well, it's good for reference.

[Dragon]

Excellent, now I'd like to see a Ketran bomber. 

[Deadly in a Shadow]

That are awesome ships, I like all those colours.

How do I find out how many turrets the Hecatos has?  How do I create table entries for the Kama Interceptor (for example). Should I use another entry for an interceptor ond modify that for the Kama?

[AndrewofDoom]

That are awesome ships, I like all those colours.

How do I find out how many turrets the Hecatos has?  How do I create table entries for the Kama Interceptor (for example). Should I use another entry for an interceptor ond modify that for the Kama?

PCS2 will tell you how many turrets it has, or I can tell you. It has 46 turrets as the wiki will also tell you. For your tables, you can use any old table that your heart desires as a base, or you can start from scratch and just create each item by yourself. I exclusively just copy, paste from another entry and tweak it. Though, maybe I should try out the latter once, so I can conscientiously know what I'm putting there, because honestly I miss a lot of things in terms of balance too often. =p

I'm glad that people do enjoy what I'm doing. It gives me a reason to stop being lazy and keep going. It really does. In terms of ideas in gameplay, I keep  teetering between high speed (250+ m/s) or staying in line with WoD speeds as I had been developing them (Which is slightly slower than CSA fighters). Regardless, there are a few things I have in might that are independent of speed:

• Fighters will be fast in moving in all axes and able to glide. Yes, they will be able to move while in glide as well.
• I wanted to try something else, cause I'm tired of capships that go *put put put put*, and the mods who speed up the capships are still rather slow compared to the fighters. I plan to have capital ships be about the same speed as the fighters, some of the smaller ones go even faster (in terms of cruise speed anyway. All fighters and bombers will still be able to catch up with afterburners). The tradeback still remains that they have crappy maneuverability, acceleration, and no afterburner.
  
  In short, the horsepower on the capships just got cranked up to eleven, so expect VROOM VROOM capships and to be eating their space dust if you get distracted.

And speaking of speedy capships that leave you eating space dust, look!. It's the Opotos Controller Ship, the successor to the old as dirt Alberio! A crewless ship that is controlled a single AI inside its hull, it literally is a character ship. Ships of this class are named after the AI controlling them. Opotos was a prototype AI made for this ship class, he represents himself as a young Soronan male and happens to be rather...outlandish. He does what he's even if his personality suggests otherwise.




I just started this today, and it's really getting somewhere. Hopefully my drive keeps going. Yes, progress is being made. It's just at a stage where I need to generate a lot of assets.

[starwolf1991]

I've noticed a rendering issue in the KCSL Kama. If you look at it from the rear where its thrusters are in PCS2 (Latest Version), you'll notice it on the thruster left-hand side of middle.

Only half of the yellow thrusterpanel renders. Also, if you look into it, you can see the sides of the thruster adjacent to it. Now, this may not be an issue in the long run. However, if you're one for perfection or making sure models are bug-free, then it is there. Thought I'd point it out.

Edit: When looking into that thruster, you can also see through the bottom, into nothingness.

[AndrewofDoom]

I never noticed that until you told me that. Wow. But, eh, I don't think anyone will notice in game.

Today's progress on the Opotos!



Will likely be able to finish this tomorrow. Maybe anyway. Perhaps I should work on tables instead? That way I can at least finally push a release out with tables included. =p

[Hades]

Well before you texture that ship, you really need to do some mesh cleanup on it, it's got several redundant faces/edges/vertices that shouldn't be there.

[Quanto]

And on top of that, your center-line isn't properly merged, check your mirror settings.

[AndrewofDoom]

And on top of that, your center-line isn't properly merged, check your mirror settings.

I don't use symmetry mode like you do, Quanto. I model half, then mirror it and sew the seam in the middle up. These pics are just quick-and-dirty mirroring in action, but observe when I do close it up.





Looks fine, doesn't it? Enough of me quietly hamming it up just for a way of saying "I'm just too lazy to cover the hole in the middle until I need to", as much as I would like to, I don't think I'm going to have this finished today. Why? Mainly because rigging a capship is something I'm going to have to learn...

[Deadly in a Shadow]

Ok I have tried it with the Kama (using most of the Perseus's entries, for the afterburner a bit from the Kentauroi), nearly everything is changed and should be correct, but I get an error when I place fighter in FRED:
"There are 2 primary banks in the model file, but only 1 primary banks specified for KCSL Kama. This must be fixed, as it will cause crashes."
Same for the secondary bank.

[Droid803]

That looks like a table problem. You should have as many primary/secondary banks specified as the model has.

[Deadly in a Shadow]

That looks like a table problem. You should have as many primary/secondary banks specified as the model has.

Ok,  I was able to determine  the error and everything is working now, thanks. Time to test the Kama on some Nordera...

I added the Alberio and the Hecatos too, really awesome ships!

[AndrewofDoom]

Okay, so I've gotten the stuff set in such a way that I may just throw out another release.

This is actually a very early prototype of the mod I'm making, tentatively called Terran Epiphany.

What's new?

• TABLES
• New ships: Maverick Space Superiority Fighter, Opotos Controlship

WARNING
I just want you to know that the current balance of the ships and weapons is a bit...iffy right now. Tech descriptions need to be replaced too. However, the speeds at which the capships are moving is very much intentional. I've always wanted a mod where the capships would run the same range of speeds as the fighters do, thus creating a whole new dynamic. I did this because there's yet to be a mod where the capships are the same exact speed as you. Yes, there's mods where the capships are fast,  but none that you have a  chance to lose a race to a capship.

"So, Andrew, what's the point of fighters then?"

Fighters are still more maneuverable than capships in terms of acceleration and turning, and there's quite a few more fighters than there are capships. Capships are also easier targets to hit and just bait to get swarmed by fighter wings.

That's enough of that spiel, though. Go try it out if you want.