For the Union!

[Majestic]

Thank you all, I am trying to at least hardpoint a couple models a day and get in game since I have run into modellers block in regards to the Cardassian shipyards.

Nothing I have done has been anything inspiring or anything I think is usable for COE.

But I am getting closer to completion at least. I have the coding set up with all units now in-game and buildable, and I am only awaiting a few models off of Syf when his life calms down then model wise at least the mod will be complete and leaves me only with weapons and balancing etc.

 

[Ryderstorm]

Dont worry about having modellers block. Just forget about that apsect for lil bit and then bam you will be struck with inspiration. That is what works for me most of the time.

BTW...Love the Zathras quote. Now that quote inspires me to go watch some B5 which I havent even thought about in a while. Wow..funny how inspiration works.

 

[Jetfreak]

Sweet variety there, especially in the turrets. Attention to detail ftw.

 

[jh01]

Hey Majestic,

Great news that your mod is near completion. Hope I get an opportunity to try this one out. Keep up the good work mate.

JH01

 

[thunderfoot]

I haven't commented upon this before but I have been keeping up. I really like the way everything looks. I think it all looks much more Cardassian than what is in A2 already.

 

[Majestic]

Thank you all, I really appreciate all your support and responses. I will be looking for beta testers in a couple of months and I'll be sure to ask many of you since you've helped me here with this project.

Once it goes out of beta stage it will be available in the download page for members to download and play or pull apart for their own installs.

Dont worry about having modellers block. Just forget about that apsect for lil bit and then bam you will be struck with inspiration. That is what works for me most of the time.

BTW...Love the Zathras quote. Now that quote inspires me to go watch some B5 which I havent even thought about in a while. Wow..funny how inspiration works.

Since I have been sick I've watched a total of 2 and 1/2 seasons of B5. Before that it had been over a year since I last watched it. It is among my top 3 sci-fi favourites of all time (the others being Farscape and Sliders).

I have also taken your advice and decided to do some other modelling while I await till I come up with a design I like.

 

[Majestic]

Hello all, it's been a while since I updated here. I have been busy at work with this modification, trying to get as much modelling finished as I can.

To this end, considering the Cardassians will most likely not make an appearance in Yesteryears any more, I have requested from Syf all the material for the Cardassians. Receiving it yesterday I have scoured through what was there and now have basically all the models I need bar a few which:

1. Syf is making the last Cardassian Battleship.
2. I can kitbash from the rejected Yesteryears models, effectively recycling them.

I have also started making a website for the project, made in raw html, it will become the first of the project sub-domains, something that all projects hosted here will be given the opportunity to have if they so wish after I get Clash of Empires completed.

Clash of Empires is also going to be vastly different from the standard run of the mill Star Trek project, these features I am keeping to myself till I have implemented them and to see if they work as I plan them to.

Also yesterday I have decided to give the Cardassians a super weapon, like stock the Dreadnought missile will be included and build able, however it will be more like in the Voyager episode, that being it will be a combatant as well as a exploding bomb. When she blows, whether through activation of her super weapon or through a ship destroying her she will make a massive shock-wave that will heavily damage and maybe even destroy any ships nearby.

I also plan to have several new maps for the project, edited stock ones and some brand new beasties. These will be done at the end of the project before release. If any mappers want to take up that job, please PM me about it and we'll sort it out together.

Now finally, a new ship to show off. Yes, I feel it's about time, the Fighter was the last to show off, now time for a new one.

Here we have the Gamet. The Gamet is a destroyer, much like the Norin. She is designed in the wake of the end of the Dominion war. Cardassian was rebuilding from their almost extinction and needed new ships to defend their once great empire with. Based heavily off the Hideki Patrol ship, the Gamet is larger, stronger and carries a much bigger punch.



Note: I haven't hardpointed her yet, she is one of many models that still need hardpointing.

Well that's it for me for now, I'll have more later. As modelling is finishing up I'll have more in-game screenshots to show off, they will be uploaded in the gallery.

Star Trek Armada 2: Clash of Empires - MSFC Gallery

 

[thunderfoot]

Very nice Hideki replacement!

 

[Ryderstorm]

Majestic your plans sound ambitious. Im glad the dreadnought missile will be a combatant. I think the dreadnought missile also should be in lines of MADD...if anyone remembers the MADD tank from C&C RA...a weapon where everyone looses. Mutualy asured destructive devices...mmmmm got love them. BTW nice new destroyer. The hideki now has a big brother

 

[Majestic]

Very nice Hideki replacement!

The Hideki is a patrol ship, which is below a frigate while a destroyer is above a frigate. So no really a replacement, just a big brother based of the design.

Majestic your plans sound ambitious. Im glad the dreadnought missile will be a combatant. I think the dreadnought missile also should be in lines of MADD...if anyone remembers the MADD tank from C&C RA...a weapon where everyone looses. Mutualy asured destructive devices...mmmmm got love them. BTW nice new destroyer. The hideki now has a big brother

Ambitious, that's me. I may actually use that MADD idea of yours. I'll also make it a priority target, so the AI will target it first before anything else. Oh and there will be two super weapon triggers, the seek target one like the stock vessel and the immediate destruction one like the Romulan Phoenix.

 

[Majestic]

Look, see I am still working on COE.

The last few days before Christmas and today I have textured several more Cardassian units. This one is a model that originally was going to be used in Yesteryears, in COE it's a frigate that works along side the Argari and Rabol classes.

I hereby present you the Terak class frigate.

Spoiler: Terak

Spoiler: Terak

I also have two shipyards at the WIP stage. So I am rounding up the modelling for the Cardassians.

 

[Jetfreak]

Definitely love the shape of that, very unique and adds some "class" to it

 

[Majestic]

Thanks Jet, no doubt the last update for 2009.

Firstly here is a in game look of the Terak.

Spoiler: Terak

And here is one of the many final Cardassian ships I've been working on. It's the advanced Cardassian construction ship, the Katala, named after our own Administrator Katala.

It's also just over 1000 pollies, so no lag for anyone.

Well here is an image, let me know what you all think.

Spoiler: Katala

 

[Majestic]

I guess no one really liked the Katala, well I am very fond of it. I am certainly going to use it.

A little update here, I really haven't done any work on this since the last up-date. I have kind of hit a null/low point in my modelling. I am not doing to well health/mental wise and as such have found very little motivation to open MS3D for more than a few minutes, each time I try I look at a few models then close it.

However I have been thinking about the modification. I am at a crossroads as whether to make it a standard A2 mod or a Fleet Ops mod. I have the majority of the models done, bar a select few. Basically everything that really needs doing is either hard-pointing the models or the coding into the game.

Does anyone have a suggestion on this? If I go with the fleet ops version, I'll need some considerable assistance with the coding as I have never even attempted to mod fleet ops and by looking at the odf's alone I can tell it's quite different to standard A2.

Also if I do go with the Fleet Ops version, I will naturally release standard A2 versions of the ships as single downloads to the site.

All opinions and C&CC welcomed and wanted.

 

[Starfox1701]

I don't know alot about coding FO so have no idea wheather that would be a better option. I commend the effort that went into the mod but don't quite have the power to push the mod and their are some fundamental playing style differences as I like big 3d areas and FO works on a 2d setup. I don't guess this is much help a.

On the more personal note I hope things get better for you and your family soon man; hang in there.

 

[Terra_Inc]

FlOps is always a good alternative. It's not easy to mod, but has a lot of interesting functionality the stock game does not have.
The question is, do you need that in order to create all the planned aspects of your mod? There are pieces of FlOps you simply won't need. It's nice to have them, but they don't exactly make your mod much better. The new interface is one of these things. It looks great, but the mod won't be worse or less fun without it.
On the other side, there are options like the endless possibilities for special weapons or the research concepts that make FlOps really interesting.
So you have to decide. If you want to mod FlOps just because, it's probably not worth the effort, you can do the same in standard A2. But if you need its extended functionality, I'd try it.

I guess no one really liked the Katala, well I am very fond of it. I am certainly going to use it.

It looks really nice. Similar to the stock construction ship, but also a bit different. That small gap in the front makes it a really interesting design. She's not armed, is she?

 

[CptBenSisko]

true pulse style weapons...that don't use the save fire command...race specific shields...blue for the feds, green for the roms and klingons, yellow for the cardassians and a purpleish for the Dominion...I have warpin support vessels...FleetCaps...the possibilities are endless really....

 

[Ryderstorm]

FO is not all that hard to mod really, its more a ton of work. Especially with the new interface. The main reason I prefer modding FO is because of the coding hooks the devs have put into it. As mentioned earlier weapons in general have many more options to them now. Also the replace weapon is just a truly limitless tool as well...though I will admit the replaceweapon stuff is kinda hard to get thru sometimes. FO is far far far more than just a pretty interface and nicely sprited glowing ships and such. A2 has some serious limits in terms of features. FO just offers a few more customizable options really. But as i said its a lot of work modding with FO but there are ways to simplify things. I sugest though as mentioned before as well is that you think about the features you wish to include and then decide which platform is the best for you.

 

[Adm_Z]

Yeah, the only hard part is when you want to put a stock weapon, or use stock code in FO. It don't alwayse work

other than that, like Ryder said, it is alot of work to get all those UI tex made.

 

[Majestic]

I don't know alot about coding FO so have no idea wheather that would be a better option. I commend the effort that went into the mod but don't quite have the power to push the mod and their are some fundamental playing style differences as I like big 3d areas and FO works on a 2d setup. I don't guess this is much help a.

On the more personal note I hope things get better for you and your family soon man; hang in there.

FlOps is always a good alternative. It's not easy to mod, but has a lot of interesting functionality the stock game does not have.
The question is, do you need that in order to create all the planned aspects of your mod? There are pieces of FlOps you simply won't need. It's nice to have them, but they don't exactly make your mod much better. The new interface is one of these things. It looks great, but the mod won't be worse or less fun without it.
On the other side, there are options like the endless possibilities for special weapons or the research concepts that make FlOps really interesting.
So you have to decide. If you want to mod FlOps just because, it's probably not worth the effort, you can do the same in standard A2. But if you need its extended functionality, I'd try it.



It looks really nice. Similar to the stock construction ship, but also a bit different. That small gap in the front makes it a really interesting design. She's not armed, is she?

true pulse style weapons...that don't use the save fire command...race specific shields...blue for the feds, green for the roms and klingons, yellow for the cardassians and a purpleish for the Dominion...I have warpin support vessels...FleetCaps...the possibilities are endless really....

FO is not all that hard to mod really, its more a ton of work. Especially with the new interface. The main reason I prefer modding FO is because of the coding hooks the devs have put into it. As mentioned earlier weapons in general have many more options to them now. Also the replace weapon is just a truly limitless tool as well...though I will admit the replaceweapon stuff is kinda hard to get thru sometimes. FO is far far far more than just a pretty interface and nicely sprited glowing ships and such. A2 has some serious limits in terms of features. FO just offers a few more customizable options really. But as i said its a lot of work modding with FO but there are ways to simplify things. I sugest though as mentioned before as well is that you think about the features you wish to include and then decide which platform is the best for you.

Yeah, the only hard part is when you want to put a stock weapon, or use stock code in FO. It don't alwayse work

other than that, like Ryder said, it is alot of work to get all those UI tex made.

Thank you all for your feedback I really appreciate it.

The main feature I am after in FO is the avatar system, it's something that is rather hard to produce effectively in stock A2. I am also a fan of the veteran system while not a requirement it is a nice feature. I also think the modular stations and the unit build limits will come in handy, I know the patch project has them but it's another incentive.

If someone can show me a way other than the way B5A2 did the avatar option then I'll stick with stock A2. Otherwise I'll look into FO as a basis for COE. Or perhaps there is someway to mix the two.

 

[Starfox1701]

Ithink what would have to be done is moding FO to put back some stock features you want to keep as FO makes alot of changes though additional programing not found in stock.

 

[Majestic]

I fear you may be right.

 

[dinosaurJR]

I thought the Katala Class looked great - no one ever really does construction or mining ships... And I think it fits in perfectly.

As for using the FO patch - sound interesting - possibly for selfish reasons, though - I want you to try it out, then give H:FC the benefit of your experience...

MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA *ahem*

 

[Majestic]

Well I still haven't decided which way to go in regards to the platform for the mod, however I have once again attempted to get back into the swing of things.

Here I have a vessel I am been working on, it's going to be either a destroyer or a light cruiser. I am not sure which yet. Heavy inspired by Dominion designs and includes Dominion tech on board. So far the ship goes by the name Soniad and is still a heavy WIP.

​

More to come soon.

 

[SciFiFan]

Pretty nice. It looks as though the Cardies got a little Dominion influence showing. Hey, it happens.

 

[Achilles]

I have been having the same thoughts about the FO mod, it's very tempting isn't it?

 

[Majestic]

Indeed the advanced features really make the game feel like a new one rather than a mod of a 10 year old game.

I really like the avatar and warp-in features the most personally.

Oh yes, considering the design is a post-Dominion war design, it's only natural Dominion design lineage would be incorporated into newer Cardassian designs. There are quite a few Cardassian designs that do this. This ship I have taken a small break from simply due to the many hours I have already spent on it and I still haven't got a clear direction for it.

 

[Starfox1701]

I think you can do the warp in with out going FO as it is based on the 8472 yard2

 

[Majestic]

Well I love to find out how if that's the case. As I love watching them warp in from across the map, as it really gives it a real feel of reinforcements especially when they can be placed on any part of the map like to reinforce your fleet attacking an enemy base.

I have done more work on the model, it's basically complete minus some texturing and very minor mesh adjustments and additions. I feel this ship will be a light cruiser as she is too big to be a destroyer.

 

[Starfox1701]

Wow you can see them warping in now. Used to be just a flash and the ship poped in. I must have missed that change in the 3.01 version. I supose if you streched the ship way out and placed the portal of the map with a ralley point next to the yard you could get a simalar effect. Hum thoughts. The cardi look preety good. Where's the bridge?