[StargateSpankyHam]

I'd only make a duplicate texture set with a less bumpy normal map, so that the Kismat keeps the megabumpyness, and the Vassago would look smoother.

Though that is a good point with canon. Almost makes me want to redo the Lucifer's glow maps and lateral beam cannons to be teal-blue, like in FS1 cutscenes. Almost.

At the very least, yes, I believe I'll be varying and changing and making noticably different versions of capital04-01.

On the other hand, all the Shivan warships got a pretty standardized upgrade: shields. I might go ahead and modify capital04-01, and make it look like it has shield generators built all over the surface. I might also modify the glow maps and textures of the other ships, to make it look like they have the shield arrays as well. Sounds like a lot of work though.

[Snail]

But remember, Shivans are explicitly stated to display considerable diversity in terms of ship design as a species. Having too standardized a texture set contradicts canon! (jk)

No. You've completely misunderstood that comment.

Though Shivans demonstrate considerable diversity as a species, all Shivan technology possesses certain distinctive properties.

[Droid803]

y so serious

[Snail]

y so serious

Because this is a serious matter, damn you!

[StargateSpankyHam]

Uh...what exactly is the serious matter?

Also, on a (semi)-related note I really like Aldo_14's comment (http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=42593.msg872377#msg872377) about the report from Dr Hargrove:

Dear GTVA Command

Having extensively studied the subspace portal in Gamma Draconis, we have established it is not red and is, in fact, a sort of blue-ey-greeny-gray.  We have therefore concluded it is not Shivan.

Yours sincerely
Dr. Hargrove BSc MSc MD Phd POS GTVA HLP BLAHBLAH

The Shivans are apparently similar enough that all their tech is red. Except the FS1 Lucy, and then, only in cutscenes.

 

[Droid803]

The Asmodeus would like to have a word with you, he who thinks shivans are red.

[PsychoLandlord]

To be fair, the Asmodeus has its share of Red bits.

[Droid803]

To be fair, the Asmodeus has its share of Red bits.

Maybe if you're red-green colorblind?

[PsychoLandlord]

EDIT: Having realized that I am finally home and can, in fact check these things myself, yes the Asmodeus does have red lining. I am uploading the screenshot now.

DOUBLE EDIT: False alarm. I didn't disable Mediavps .  The stock Asmodeus does, in fact, lack any red colorations save for its engines.

[Droid803]

IMO the mediavps one should have yellow lights instead of red ones >.>

[PsychoLandlord]

That would actually look kinda cool. I'm thinking it would make it look just a tad too out of place, given how bright the lights on the MVP's model are as compared to stock, but then again we wouldn't know unless we see it. I wonder if I can approximate something like that by screwing around with the post -processing  setting ins WiH. I'll find out tomorrow.

[Snail]

It's because the Shivans were originally Borg green.

[StargateSpankyHam]

Shivans were originally going to be borg-green? Oh the irony! Now it's the Terran combat vessels that are borg-green!

Yes, I've been lazy this weekend. Only thing I got done was the Solaris re-skin (and even at that, I just changed the color).

I figured I should present my list of what needs done, in order to conclude the actual modding portion of the mod. After that will come the FREDing.

Do Debug
Reskin Solaris Fighters
Import missiles (Probably from ASW, and Esarai's missile pack)
Reskin missiles
Create Earth-Native Terran weapons
Create Paralell-Future Terran weapons
Develop list of credits
(Possibly) Reskin Paralell-Future Terran warships
Assemble scattered ship TBM's into the ships.tbl
Debug it all again (Hopefully won't have to though)

You'll also be delighted to know that I have the plot for the first seven missions planned out, which will comprise the demo. Some missions will be multi-part missions, where the player accomplishes and objective, warps out, and the next 'part' loads.

Spoiler:

The contents of the demo:

For the first two missions, the player will play as Alpha 1, squadron commander of the 70th Blue Lions. The character will get transferred from the GTD Aquitaine to the GTD Obsidian (which is widely regarded as the most powerful warship fielded by the GTVA, since the Colossus), and the details of a top-secret Shivan infiltration will be revealed. A very cool infiltration/scouting multipart mission ensues. The rest of the campaign will focus on a character that I still need to name, flying with a squadron based off of the GTD Quantum Dawn. After the defecation hits the ventilation for a couple missions, the player responds to a distress call from a 'strategically critical' science vessel. It gets escorted to the Obsidian by the Quantum Dawn - but the Shivans are a step ahead of everyone, so the Obsidian gets ambushed. Then the player gets to go recover the operative from the Shivan infiltration from earlier. They don't recover Alpha 1, but they do recover the data he sent.

Yes, a couple of these missions are small-scale BoE's, since destroyers usually travel with a corvette or a pair of cruisers - but the fleets are pretty conservative in size.

[starlord]

Hmm, what's the class of the obsidian?

Also, do you plan on using any supercap ships for the shivans? the old amritaya might be interesting, or perhaps the iblis or vinashaak...

[StargateSpankyHam]

The Shivans will have supercaps.

The Shiamak is going to be a gigantic, juggernaut-sized, combat supercarrier. There will be one of these in the campaign.
Sathanases will be strategic ships, like mobile stations. There will be two or three of these in the whole campaign.
The commander of the Shivan forces will be flying a SSJ Dante.

On the Terran side:

Spoiler:

The Obsidian is a Raynor-Class. The GTVA will also find a pair of abandoned Colossus juggernauts, from a paralell timeline.

[Nohiki]

spoiler

Sounds awful lot likw SGWP2, tread lightly

[StargateSpankyHam]

SGWP2?

[AndrewofDoom]

SGWP2?

Second Great War Part 2. A campaign known to be so bad it's horrible or so bad it's good, depending who you ask.

[StargateSpankyHam]

Just read about SGWP2.

Let me put some minds at ease. Singularity will not end up like that. Ever.

There is quite a bit of plot material available for Singularity, so the largest challenge (once I learn how to FRED aptly) will be plot pacing. And no, I will not resort to mere 'cool overload', by throwing ever more grandiose missions and scenarios at the player, because they inevitably turn into pointless BoE's. All capship fights have a purpose in the plot, and it's rare to see either side deploy anything larger than a cruiser, simply as 'reinforcements'.

Concerning Shivan fleets and supercaps:

Spoiler:

The Shivans, because of the nature of the wormhole-gate technology they use to subvert normal subspace nodes, means that they can only transport a given mass through a wormhole until it collapses. They are very, very limited in the number and size of the ships they can transport. It took them nearly a year to open a large enough wormhole for a strategically self-supporting fleet - and this is a fleet of one Sathanas juggernaut, one supercarrier, a handful of destroyers, and supporting corvettes/cruisers. In the strategic scope, blowing up a destroyer is a huge loss, and it doesn't happen very often. Those two supercaps are absolutely critical to the Shivan war effort in GTVA space.

GTVA supercaps:

Spoiler:

The pair of Colossus juggernauts were abandoned derelicts for a reason - they were engaged in combat, and the crews were forced to evacuate. Both are extremely heavily damaged - and over the course of two weeks, they cannabalize parts from one to get the (slightly) less-damaged one patched up enough for a trip through subspace.

The faction of Terrans from the distant, parallel future have a juggernaut in their entourage, but again, shock is only shocking when used seldom. It will only make in-mission appearances twice, since the ship is absolutely invaluable.

GTVA Destroyers:

Spoiler:

The GTD Obsidian is definitely not the 'norm' among the GTVA destroyers. It is one of only four of the Raynor-Class, and it's the only one that is engaged in offensive operations, instead of being sidelined at critical GTVA worlds like the other three are. The Obsidian only shows up when something extraordinarily important is going on. Again, shock is only shocking when used seldom.

Although the GTVA has built quite a few of Hecates and Hatshepsuts, they are definitely not expendable. Destroyers almost always retreat before they take heavy damage, if possible. Securing a kill against a destroyer is not a casual or easy task, for either side.

Screenshots of more stuff, coming soon.

[Deadly in a Shadow]

BoE's are good, but only if they are nicely FREDded. And how many abandoned  Colossi? You know, a Colossus has a crew of over thirty-thousand (according to the wiki) members.
BTW: Don' forget the narrative causality