Fleet Ops BSG Addon Mod Preview V0.9

[Adm_Z]

Ah. Cool. you should release that. but then again, we can only say that so many times.

don't worry, I"m only kidding. I am being as patient as can, with you posting so many awesome teasers

 

[Majestic]

Nice, having a single complex that does everything, would need it rather stronh to balance it all out however. I may actually see about making some Colonial stations for members actually. Might be something to do to take a small break for YY, so I think overdo myself.

Might make a mining facility, a couple of research stations etc.

 

[Adm_Z]

I would welcome any stations.

What I really want is to make it buildable by module. It would take quite a bit of intricate hardpointing work, but I think it could be done.

 

[Majestic]

I would welcome any stations.

What I really want is to make it buildable by module. It would take quite a bit of intricate hardpointing work, but I think it could be done.

What do you have in mind exactly?

 

[Adm_Z]

Well, just as you said, some variants of the Ragnar outpost maybe, some mining stations, just stuff like that. there isn't a lot to work with so you would have to be creative.

What would be really cool would be if you made some wreaked models of your current ships. They would be cool to place around maps, all broken apart and such.

 

[Majestic]

I am interested in knowing more about this module system you are thinking of.

I already have a few station ideas, a few of Ice-Dragon's designs would be good for such things as research starbases and special stations. And I plan to re-create a design by EAS_Intrepid that was made for Parallels for a mining station.

As for wrecked ships, have you thought of just damaged textures? Wrecking a ship would mean in many cases a total re-build and considering I am not using 99% of the models I have released in my own project, it would be a waste for me when I have better models wither made or on the way.

 

[Adm_Z]

Well, I don't want you to even consider doing something that wouldn't be mutually beneficial, so take the wreakage models idea off the table ok?

As for my modules idea, I currently use a version of it, but what I would do with this model is make a center station with 5 or so pod hardpoints. This station would build 5-ish stations from it.

This section would probably be the main station because its in the center:

This would be some kind of command station section from which you could build viper launch tubes and defense system pods.

This next section would be built, but without the three dock yards which you would build separately and therefore be able to have three ships building at once.

This section would be slightly complicated. It would build the next extension, but have several replaceweapons where it would add three or so invisible docking pods. these pods, if my theory is correct, would be able to "fuse" with a ship. the ship would attempt to move into place, but wouldn't ever completely merge, and therefore stay in place, and be "docked." once you canceled the maneuver, it would be released. I don't know if this would work, but if not, i could just use an invisible version of the combat tractorbeam.


The last station, built from the previous would be for research.


You would be able to customize these by having multiple options when building. For instance, you could customize building of the three yards mentioned before. You would have to have a max of three at a time, but you could have multiple options to choose from. In addition, you could build the command module, and still have a max number of pods you build from it, but it would also have multiple options you could build from it. To build the research section, you could have alot of options, each of which came with a specific set of reserch options that would be specialized for individual operations like assault vs defense. or long distance combat vs close rang combat. Fighter buffs vs Capital ship support.

There are a ton of possibilities for this system, which is why I like it. You also don't have to mess with alot of expansion balancing and, though it has disadvantages(like turtling), it makes gameplay very straight forward.

What do you think?

 

[Majestic]

Ah that what you mean, modula stations, I thought you were wanting something like the Borg, how they build those stations and they transform into a ship.

I myself personally avoid large modula stations for the single reason that a player could target your central hub and end up crippling you. Even if you bump up the defence value of the station central facility a determined player with a sizeable and powerful fleet could still cripple you.

I would if I was making the mod, just have the shipyard modular, and have your starbase, research and mining stations seperate stations.

What I was thinking is if this is possible in FO (not sure as I haven't done a lot of digging into the station aspect of the game) is to have a mining station with two bays, one for dil and tri and the other for supply, or however you want to set it up. So this would actually allow for a player to only need one station per moon pair. Saving the need for a second mining station. In Parallels Intrepid had the idea of a trade commerce center, where one bay was for mining and the other for trade. However we soon found out that A2 wouldn't allow it, due to both mining and trading stations using the dock hardpoint line, so all ships would only line up in the one bay. However if FO would allow this, it could allow you some advanced mining facilities, you could even make them into outposts, or have outposts seperate where they can also build non-combats and perhaps some low end combat ships and also be able to collect resources from miners.

It would also make your BSG mod unique, as with the version I am doing, I am not having much in the way of stations, it's all warp-in and movable, where the only stations will probably be map units.

 

[Adm_Z]

In my case I actually don't use mining. I may introduce a credit system in the future like collective connections, but so far, I am pretty happy with just having ships build for free.

The reason I don't use the borg modular system is because you will end up with easily 50+ odf's for a single ship. It is alot of work, especially if I am using the ranking system. Even for stations, I would rather players choose what to build in order and have it take time for each individual item, rather than select them all right off the bat and then have them all build at the same time. Because time is the only real resource in my game, You have to be very careful with how you build your modules, in which order you build them, and how fast you get them out. This will likely change, but for now it works well.

Also, I solve the problem with destroying the main station by making it so you can only fire on it, and not the other parts. The other parts just blow up with the main station. In FO however, you also have the ability to disabling this feature and have the stations not blow up with the main reserch station, which is what I would do in the case of the large fleet yards. You would just have to make it so if you blow up the center station, it doesn't look that wrong with out it. The other stations could still function,(maybe sustain some collateral damage as a result) you just wouldn't be able to replace them as soon as the main one was gone. You could even leave the train track skeleton in place after the station was destroyed via replaceweapon.

Edit: also, you should look at TUN's VRA mining stations. they build modularly and you can mine both resources to the same station.

 

[Majestic]

Fair enough about the mining, so what stations do you plan to have? Also have you thought of something like the Borg Supply stations? I think a resource would be needed especially if you plan to have it so members can play online with it?

I plan in my mod to have the flagship (which is the large starting ship) to be able to generate supply. I am going to see if it's possible to upgrade the flagship to produce it faster. Again I haven't looked into the coding here. The flagship can also call in replacement comm ships, which they themselves call in combat ships to wage war. But to call in ships you need supply, hence you loose your flagship you're in trouble. I am also going to have the flagship slow but powerful, mainly in defence. Think of it as a powerful starbase. Try and balance it all as I would like to see it become a popular online mod.

But that's all just my point of view.

 

[thunderfoot]

If you're going to include the Scorpion Yards as buildable why not include a nuke based Special weapon? In the pilot episode for BSG TOS, the Cylons used kamikaze attack squads to disable/destroy the twelve battlestars of the Colonial Fleet at the peace conference. Stands to reason if they did it once, since TOS is included in RDM's version as the First Cylon War, then thye'd do it again. To keep people from abusing such a weapon, restrict it by only allowing it to attack the shipyard somehow. This way, it is a one off and doesn't show up unless the shipyards are on the map. By doing this, you should be able to keep people to the intent, should you not.

Oh and BTW, Z. Your FO Colonials are overpowered. Just like the Borg, the Feds, the Dominion, the Klinks, and the Roms. roflmao!

 

[Adm_Z]

Yeah, I thought of doing sort of self generating supply, but the only realistic resource I could consider would be mining asteroids, and the current way mining works(mining ships mine with beams and then return it to a station) is just not for me. I just assume that the races already have all the resources they need to establish a presence in a sector.

I do like the thought of ftl-ing ships in instead of building them(building them during the game never really made sense tbh), so I might have other things you do for command slots that would allow you to have more ships under your command, bigger ships costing more command slots, but at this point it is done with a cap. I am open to more ideas of how to do it through a resource though.

I might have it through a combination of tasks you do, e.g. earn it by getting a certain number of ace fighters, ranking up your ships, killing enemy ships, taking territory, ect but I would need more ideas before I fully implement it for both cylons and colonials. It also needs to play into my current story line.

...you can see why I have avoided the issue thus far. At this point, games are pretty good because players need to fill out their caps or rank up significantly to preform a successful assault on a main base so players perform hit and run manuvers, fighter harassment(to lower defenses) and surprise attacks in order to surround an enemy. The introduction of FTL makes battles even more interesting because you can remove a ship from a battle instantly, or surround a ship and take it out very quickly. fighters, in large numbers can also decide battles which makes fighter group vs fighter group battles often because players are always trying to get Aces.

Cylons have the ability to repair all their ships like the borg, but colonials have the ability to perform multiple jumps in a row. Cylons only have one type of main fighter, but they are equipped with FTL, so a huge group of fighters can instantly show up and try to take down your group, when un prepared. Colonials have flack and anti fighter weapons to make up for this advantage and vipers deal good damage against basestars because a basestar without fighter support is left only with its main missiles to defend itself. Still, cylons have a massive fighter number and mobilty advantage.

Whew! So all of that was just to show you that the battles vs players(and sometimes AI), though lacking resource management are actually quite dyamic. The game can end very quickly, or can last for a long time depending on how players play. I can't wait to finish the beta and start private online testing.

EDIT:

If you're going to include the Scorpion Yards as buildable why not include a nuke based Special weapon? In the pilot episode for BSG TOS, the Cylons used kamikaze attack squads to disable/destroy the twelve battlestars of the Colonial Fleet at the peace conference. Stands to reason if they did it once, since TOS is included in RDM's version as the First Cylon War, then thye'd do it again. To keep people from abusing such a weapon, restrict it by only allowing it to attack the shipyard somehow. This way, it is a one off and doesn't show up unless the shipyards are on the map. By doing this, you should be able to keep people to the intent, should you not.

Oh and BTW, Z. Your FO Colonials are overpowered. Just like the Borg, the Feds, the Dominion, the Klinks, and the Roms. roflmao!

I actually handle nukes with the ranking system. If you make it to the gold bar ranks, you get nukes that will fire like regular weapons. think of them as a passive. They deal a lot of damage and look really stinking cool on impact.

and yes, the colonials are OP. So are the Cylons TBH.

Oh, and i doubt the scorpion fleet yards will be buildable... it is just too big.

 

[Majestic]

That's understandable about the resources, I have always looked at it as, regardless of where the battles are, a faction would need to self substain it's self, can't solely rely on outside support.

As for the warp in. You could have the larger ships, the battleships warpin but the smaller vessels are constructed in the shipyards. As it would take a lot longer to build Mercury Battlestar compared to a Gunstar.

Oh, and i doubt the scorpion fleet yards will be buildable... it is just too big.

Perhaps a smaller version is in order?

 

[Adm_Z]

That's understandable about the resources, I have always looked at it as, regardless of where the battles are, a faction would need to self substain it's self, can't solely rely on outside support.

As for the warp in. You could have the larger ships, the battleships warpin but the smaller vessels are constructed in the shipyards. As it would take a lot longer to build Mercury Battlestar compared to a Gunstar.

Thats a good idea. It plays into my story pretty well too, because they were building old designs, not new ones. The only new ships in service would have been already in service at the time of the bombing. This might be yet another way I need to modify the mercury's game play.

Perhaps a smaller version is in order?

Is that an offer? It sounds like an offer to me. If you could build some shipyards and maybe docking stations that were similar to those in the model, but matched your models, that would be awesome. You know, you should stop offering to do these things or else I will just keep accepting. (I am joking of course. you only need to do what you feel like doing. At this point, my mod doesn't even really use shipyards and stations at all)

 

[Majestic]

Thats a good idea. It plays into my story pretty well too, because they were building old designs, not new ones. The only new ships in service would have been already in service at the time of the bombing. This might be yet another way I need to modify the mercury's game play.

Well there you go, warp in new units and build only old ones. Same idea different, similar useage.

Is that an offer? It sounds like an offer to me. If you could build some shipyards and maybe docking stations that were similar to those in the model, but matched your models, that would be awesome. You know, you should stop offering to do these things or else I will just keep accepting. (I am joking of course. you only need to do what you feel like doing. At this point, my mod doesn't even really use shipyards and stations at all)

I suppose it is, I can make some station models. So something similar to the Fleet Yards above, just a lot smaller? How many modular parts do you want and what are their purposes? That is all that I will need.

 

[Adm_Z]

If you just make it so you could build 2-3 identical yards onto it, and maybe some other pod like structures, that would be good. If you want, you could incorporate the notch style docking ports that are all over the station too.

Basically, anything that is similar to the 3rd section above would work for me.

Well, technically, anything would work for me since I don't really have anything final yet.

Edit: here is a better pic of that part of the station.

 

[Majestic]

I will see what I can come up with after I knock over the last few YY Federation models.

I was wondering, you see those docking sections doe the bottom, would it look okay if I had one or two of them useable in a way that the ship is repaired/built above them so they look like they are facing the right way? Or are you not fond of that idea?

 

[Adm_Z]

I"m not exactly sure what you mean, but honestly anything hardpoint related can always be adjusted after the fact. I don't know if ships would be facing the right way, but since ships can't move backwards in A2, Its not a huge deal to me. Actually... I might even be able to get ships to back out of their station once built(build an uncontrollable ship that is actually backwards and then it autoreplaces with a controllable right facing one as soon as it is done backing out.) but again, we can worry about hardpoint orientation later. If you want to have ships that repair ontop of another that is building, I think that is fine as long as it doesn't look funny, but that is up to you of course. I don't really use shipyard repairing atm, but I don't think it matters.

No rush either.

 

[Majestic]

All good, I will it doing something soon hopefully. I'll also try and keep it rather low poly so if you want you could build a couple of them.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
There are many designs you can try to get, like Ice-Dragon's models. You can get some great shipyard and/or station designs. Like the Tauron and Caprica defense stations.

Maybe to have FTL-capable stations? like those in fanfics like "Battlestar Prometheus" and "A Lament for a Lacrymosa"? Other interesting stations could be the manned Listening Posts and the Valahar Repository (named in a fanfic about the "Battlestar Valkyrie" and that Ice-Dragon has designs that can fit too).

 

[Majestic]

I am planning on using Ice-Dragon's designs at least for inspiration to get a nice shipyard complex for Adm_Z.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
I wish you good luck Majestic! Ice-Dragon has some outstanding designs. I know Adm_Z will love the model you'll make .

 

[Adm_Z]

Yeah, Ice Dragons stuff is great. I like alot of his designs, but my favorts are actually by Tan.J.

One ship I wish someone would model(I had considered making this an official request) would be the Bsttlestar Hyades by Tan.J. It is by far my favorite fan designed bsg ship and I am a huge fan of the authors work.

Here are pics if you are unfamiliar.

Spoiler: pics

I don't mind the Hesperides either because of all its guns, but I like the extra engines the Hyades has more.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
I like the Hyades too, even if the Minervas are a bit oversized and overgunned to be of the same time than the Galactica, but the designs are still very nice, in fact, my favorite of the Minervas are the Hyades and the Andromeda .

A ship from Tan.J I like very much too is the Battlestar Sleipnir.

 

[Adm_Z]

Yeah, that one is interesting too. It makes sense as a design, but doesn't look like any designs seen in bsg. I like it because its interesting, but I think its a bit ugly.

 

[Chiletrek]

Hello:
What of the ships is ugly again? we mentioned three . But I hope you were not referring about the Sleipnir, or I will never post pics of my version of it .

 

[Adm_Z]

Alright so update time. My PC is still in the ship getting hinges repaired(it will be back this weekend) but I finally got a chance to look at the new version of FO on the comp I am using. It barely runs it on lowest settings, but I can tolerate it for a couple more days.

Anyway, it seems that my mod may be completely compatible with the new version as I used a slightly older version of my mod and put it in FO and it ran perfectly once I got the info file finished. I am not currently using any form of Warpin(though that might change) and I am still waiting on some features to be modeled, but other than that the mod is closer and closer to release.

I have been watching the series and I am considering redoing alot of things that won't take much work, like the way fighters work, possibly the introduction of a water resource for the colonials, but mostly weapons. I noticed that the way I do flak right now is more like a modern AAA gun, and not like the wall of floating exploding debris from the show. Also, my weapons effects are too big. I want to use kjc's style flak cannons, but my understanding of weapons coding is too limited for me to do it on my own, so I may be working on that over the summer with him. I got the weapons to fire, but I can't get any explosions to appear. I dunno, either way, I think it needs to be redone as it will really change the way certain things work, and make it more realistic.


But back to the updating thing. Here is a pic of the mod options menu.


I am really taking to the Worthy of Survival name also. I am reconsidering Battlestar Galactica: Fleet Operations, but I really like Worthy of Survival too... Such a hard choice.

 

[Majestic]

I still say you need Battlestar in the name at the very least as it looks like a Star Trek mod otherwise.

 

[usndiesel]

This looks spectacular. You really did a good job and have alot of skill. Keep up the good work and i'm looking forward to more!

 

[Adm_Z]

Thank you very much my friend! Hopefully you will enjoy the real thing as much as these amateur shots I have posted here.