Author Topic: Freespace Headcanons  (Read 14597 times)

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Derelict:

The reason why Shivan craft had Lovecraftian names was a result of the swarms of capship bogies in need of tagging to be found in Capella burning through their supply of evil supernatural names.

Alpha 1 was one of only a handful of women in the Scythes.

There was explosive failsafes being set up aboard the Nyarlethotop, but they weren't fully set up by the time of the Stars Being Right.

Freespace 1

The GTA was lucky enough that the Shivan war landed just as the latest cycle of newer weapons and craft were finishing their dev cycles, which was prompted by the increasing obsolescence of the fairly un-diverse terran fighter fleet at the time - as the Seth and Horus replaced the aging Anubis, the matchup was getting rather bad for the explicitly generalist Apollo - which was designed as an all-rounder design in an attempt to save resources, and was rather more successful then many previously.

Freespace 2

The main advantage of the HL-7 was being cheaper to operate then the Avenger, which required expensive ammo; the HL-7 was mostly equivalent or slightly worse elsewhere, but the Avenger was simply too expensive to be worthwhile once cheap and effective XASER tech was available.

The Prometheus Rs were mostly standards that were downgraded to inferior power systems to keep them working as a stopgap, until the Kayser's protracted dev cycle could be finished and a superior replacement non-dependent on rare materials could be furnished.

The NTD Jacobus was a GTD Hecate.

Post your own!

« Last Edit: February 09, 2019, 01:40:25 am by Jeep-Eep »

 

Offline Snarks

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During Freespace 1, the ML-16 was selected as the primary armament of GTA strikecraft due to a need to simplify logistics and provide an easy to use weapon that pilots with limited training could use effectively. The "ML" designation stands for "medium laser" and was used as a classification in conjunction with the "HL" or "heavy laser" and the "SL" or "small laser" designations. This meant that the GTA likely had more powerful laser weaponry that could have been pressed into service, some of which were notably more effective against Shivan shields than the ML-16. Rather than restarting production of HL weapons, the GTA decided that it didn't want to interrupt its planned logistics and to wait until the introduction of the Avenger cannon. Once it became clear that the Shivan was an existential threat, this policy of logistics simplification was thrown out the window, resulting in the huge development of ships and weapons during the first Shivan Incursion. Many of the ships and weapons developed during the First Shivan Incursion had been in development for years, with their deployment and production being deemed unnecessary during the Terran-Vasudan War.

Special Terran Intelligence units may have been issued limited run HL weaponry. These weapons were expensive to manufacture and consumed large amounts of the strikecraft's power supply, requiring skilled pilots to use effectively. Nonetheless, they were invaluable for special ops missions during the early stages of the Shivan Incursion. The decision was made to hide the deployment of HL weapons as every frontline combat unit would begin demanding the procurement of HL weapons for their squadrons and the resulting controversy over the decision to wait for the Avenger cannon would result in massive morale issues during a critical point in the war. Subsequently, any kills by Terran Intelligence pilots using HL weapons were off the books.

By the Freespace 2 era, the GTVA once again attempted to standardize its logistics train due to peace time budget constraints. The HL-7 was adopted as the primary armament for strikecraft, although provisions were put in place to quickly restart production of heavier/experimental weapons should the need arise. The Prometheus R, despite its lackluster performance, was kept primarily in production because the factories could quickly switch to the production of the original Prometheus S if sufficient resource deposits were found or if the need outstrip the high costs of its production.

 
The Kayser program was started to create a replacement for the Prometheus that didn't depend on exotic materials.

 

Offline Nyctaeus

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Hecate is based on modified blueprints of Hades. Additionally, majority of next-gen terran ships were influenced by various GTI blueprints. Perseus for example is a hybrid of Loki and Valkyrie. Second prototype of Hades mentioned in FS2 tech description probably exists somewhere.
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I rather thought FS2 Terran ships had taken some Vasudan influence, though the GTI idea is interesting too.

I once wrote an entire Economic history of FS that explained (to me) several things in FS universe (like reconstruction GTVA, NTF etc, minus Shivans).

 
I rather thought FS2 Terran ships had taken some Vasudan influence, though the GTI idea is interesting too.

I once wrote an entire Economic history of FS that explained (to me) several things in FS universe (like reconstruction GTVA, NTF etc, minus Shivans).

Do tell?

Edit: Vasudans popularized the fighter based doctrines we recognize now; GTA doctrine saw cruisers and up as the instrument of decision far too long in the war, which lead to the excessive life and utilization of the Apollo, which caused serious strategic problems as the Horus and Seth came into use, replacing the cheap peacetime patrol Anubis.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2019, 11:01:17 am by Jeep-Eep »

 

Offline General Battuta

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The ancients were a slower-than-light, purely relativistic civilization even when they'd filled their whole galaxy. (Arguably this is canon not headcanon)

 
The ancients were a slower-than-light, purely relativistic civilization even when they'd filled their whole galaxy. (Arguably this is canon not headcanon)

My guess on this one was that there was some mix-up between galaxy and starsystems.

I rather thought FS2 Terran ships had taken some Vasudan influence, though the GTI idea is interesting too.

I once wrote an entire Economic history of FS that explained (to me) several things in FS universe (like reconstruction GTVA, NTF etc, minus Shivans).

Do tell?

It requires some touch ups, and when I did post similar things in the past I received half a dozen replies in total (with 50% being my own) so I have to see when that happens, also I wrote a campaign out of parts of that thing.

 

Offline Novachen

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Shivans are an artificial race that cannot advance and fight their wars with the technologies they have since their beginning.

The Shivans are patrolling our part of the galaxy every 32 years due to their "programming". 2302, 2335, 2367, 2399 etc. So the last shivan visit was in 2015, the next one will be in 2047.

The Shivans are operating in several galaxies, which make it impossible to "defeat" them.

Subspace is not a regional effect, the same subspace spans a whole galaxy. That is the reason why the subspace cataclysm in 2335 made it impossible for the Shivans to use any other than the stable jump nodes after that event. The cataclysm simple destabilized much of the subspace in our galaxy in a whole. That also clear every node inconsistency between the two games  :D
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Offline HLD_Prophecy

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My one biggest headcanon was always that Shivans were an anaerobic (or capable of thriving on very low oxygen) species that were born/lived/their 'homeworld" was in asteroid fields. Possibly centered around asteroids large enough to have very thin atmospheres and far enough away from a sun that the thin atmosphere didn't get torn away via radiation. If that makes ANY sense astronomically I have no idea.  :lol:

They're very, very comfortable floating/walking/leaping in three dimensions/environments with low/null gravity. They also appear to be cool with jumping through space (alhough IIRC that's limited to the hidden animation of one attacking a Thoth).

The interior of their vessels are clearly disorienting to humans BUT well-designed for a species that can climb/run easily in 6dof.

One minor glip is that the Terran Marines are able to be there without full helmets/hermetically sealed armor. Certain areas of their heads are bare. 99% certain they have oxygen breathers under those masks, though.

To solve this I figured that the capital vessels might have thin, weak atmospheres to facilitate even climate control/sound and scent transfers. Humans would probably find it rather lukewarm with a mild breeze sensation but just warm enough for bare skin.

 

Offline Colt

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Mjolnir RBC's are very expensive to produce. The five experimental units deployed to the Capella node were destroyed by the juggernaut, and the GTVA was unable to produce more units in time before Capella went boom.

The GVD Toeris is a Typhon-class, given the briefing lists them in the order of: Psamtik, Aquitaine, Toeris. Likely a list ranging from most to least powerful warship (taking into account weapons systems+squadrons).
« Last Edit: February 09, 2019, 01:03:11 pm by Colt »

 

Offline Colonol Dekker

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My guess on this one was that there was some mix-up between galaxy and starsystems.


Or it was the Ancient speaker using poetic overstatement.

 

Offline Nyctaeus

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I rather thought FS2 Terran ships had taken some Vasudan influence, though the GTI idea is interesting too.

I once wrote an entire Economic history of FS that explained (to me) several things in FS universe (like reconstruction GTVA, NTF etc, minus Shivans).
This is also true. Furthermore terran warships are much more influenced by vasudan designs, than vasudans influenced their new designs with terran technology.
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Offline General Battuta

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The ancients were a slower-than-light, purely relativistic civilization even when they'd filled their whole galaxy. (Arguably this is canon not headcanon)

My guess on this one was that there was some mix-up between galaxy and starsystems.

You can theorize that but the text is the text. And it's a consistent theory with some nice bonuses; the Ancients wiping out all other life in our galaxy, then being wiped out by the Shivans, left a clean slate for Terrans and Vasudans (and explains why we don't have a bunch of super advanced neighbor species).

 
I rather thought FS2 Terran ships had taken some Vasudan influence, though the GTI idea is interesting too.

I once wrote an entire Economic history of FS that explained (to me) several things in FS universe (like reconstruction GTVA, NTF etc, minus Shivans).
This is also true. Furthermore terran warships are much more influenced by vasudan designs, than vasudans influenced their new designs with terran technology.

Alternately, the design changes to Vasudan craft are less visible - Terrans seem to be consistently ahead in weapons tech; there's a reason why most of the arms in the Vasudan segment of FS2 were of terran design, although probably manufactured under licence.

 
The ancients were a slower-than-light, purely relativistic civilization even when they'd filled their whole galaxy. (Arguably this is canon not headcanon)

My guess on this one was that there was some mix-up between galaxy and starsystems.

You can theorize that but the text is the text. And it's a consistent theory with some nice bonuses; the Ancients wiping out all other life in our galaxy, then being wiped out by the Shivans, left a clean slate for Terrans and Vasudans (and explains why we don't have a bunch of super advanced neighbor species).

Well there are no super advanced neighbor species except for the Shivans. Probably the Ancients managed to get their own share while they could. GTVA has access to about 2 dozen star systems, the chance that they contain civilisations similar to GTVA at timespans of 100 million years is unlikely.

I rather thought FS2 Terran ships had taken some Vasudan influence, though the GTI idea is interesting too.

I once wrote an entire Economic history of FS that explained (to me) several things in FS universe (like reconstruction GTVA, NTF etc, minus Shivans).
This is also true. Furthermore terran warships are much more influenced by vasudan designs, than vasudans influenced their new designs with terran technology.

Seemed to me like a prelude to a complete amalgated Terran/Vasudan fleet maybe 50-100 years post FS2, the Colossus was the first T-V hybrid.

 

Offline General Battuta

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Well there are no super advanced neighbor species except for the Shivans. Probably the Ancients managed to get their own share while they could. GTVA has access to about 2 dozen star systems, the chance that they contain civilisations similar to GTVA at timespans of 100 million years is unlikely.

I don't understand what you're saying.

  
That the galaxy was cleaned from advanced life/civilisations by the Shivans rather than the Ancients.

If you take that into account it is highly unlikely that you'll find in only 24+ out of 180 billion stars the chance that you find a species not living in Neolithic nor having been annihilated by the Shivans is tiny, but in the Terran case they found one, just finding another one is unlikely.

 

Offline General Battuta

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The Ancients didn't meet any other life until they had subspace — it took them thousands of years to invent subspace, and once they did they had apparently wiped out multiple species within a few months. It reads like they didn't totally fill up the Milky Way until after they had subspace ("it gave us our galaxy and it gave us the universe").

They didn't meet the Shivans until they went intergalactic, so they got done killing everybody in the Milky Way before the Shivans turned up.