Freeworlds 2.0

[Sushi]

Hey guys,

 

I wanted to tell you guys about FWs 2.0. It's currently in development, I'm the mod head there. We're looking to totally change the way FW used to be played. We're adopting a much more "XvT/XWA" type environment, with still the feel of FL. Tides of War (ToW) also has merged with us for this project. We've also been fortunate enough to get ships models from the First Strike mod, thanks to Red Monkey and the crew, as well as the X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project. Our developers have been posting up blogs for everyone to read. They're viewable to guests, so you don't need to register to view them. Although, I do encourage you to register as you can ask questions of the developers.

 

Here are some links I think you guys should take a look at. The first is a development video, the 6th in the series. This video shows some of the new systems we're in the process of making, the immense capital ships and scale we're using, increase non-player craft (NPCs) AI as well as some "fuse" effects when ships start to get damaged:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kekzl0LyOZ8#

 

The second is our site at MODDB. There you can see all the lovely new fighters we got from the FS Mod/XWAUP. We update this regularly, so I encourage you all to bookmark it and check there often :

Freeworlds ModDB site

 

The third is a video showing the new models from the First Strike Mod we've put into game. Furthermore, it shows the new engine effects and movable turrets we've been developing.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8bhrxF5_nQ#

 

And lastly, this is a link to all our development blogs. You'll be able to see a lot of the new effects, models, systems, ideas we're trying to incorporate for FW 2.0.

Development Blogs

I really hope to see some of your faces there. I also wish this will satisfy your Star Wars craving when it comes out as well

 

If you guys have any questions, feel free to PM me on our forums, or here. I'll bookmark this link and check back as often as I can.

 

Thanks guys.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Sushi

[Evaders99]

I was wondering what you guys were up to.

I don't see much activity on the SWTow forums and I needed a link to your current site

 

Feel free to post news on our site.

http://swmods.swrebellion.com/submitnews.html

And would love if you put a wiki page for your mod on our site

http://swmods.swrebellion.com/wiki/

 

Thanks

 

(I'll post some news on your forums for our mod, Sins of a Galactic Empire)

[Sushi]

I was wondering what you guys were up to.

I don't see much activity on the SWTow forums and I needed a link to your current site

 

Feel free to post news on our site.

http://swmods.swrebellion.com/submitnews.html

And would love if you put a wiki page for your mod on our site

http://swmods.swrebellion.com/wiki/

 

Thanks

 

(I'll post some news on your forums for our mod, Sins of a Galactic Empire)

 

Thanks man, I appreciate the kind welcome. The first link seems to be broken for me? Do I need certain access to do this? And the wiki link to our page isn't the right one, sadly, close though http://www.freeworlds-mod.net is our weblink. I'll get that wiki done ASAP.

[Evaders99]

Doh typo

Corrected, thanks!

[DavidAdas]

Wow, that's pretty impressive! Could you tell me, though, which two songs are playing in your videos there? I've been looking for both to put into Rebellion 2 but ... well, I'm just not sure which they are

 

Also, you're further welcome to any of my models as well:

 

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v374/119/59/26005819/n26005819_32035429_9613.jpg

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v374/119/59/26005819/n26005819_32035432_9547.jpg

[Sushi]

Holy smokes, that ISD is amazing . How many poly is it? We have a guy who already made one, but I want the best one in our mod. Are you making any more models?

 

Our shiplist is here: FW 2.0 Shiplist 5th post down

The ships we have completed and finalized are the: A-wing, B-Wing, X-Wing, Y-Wing, Tie-Fighter, Tie-Bomber, Tie-Interceptor, Tie-Defender and the Skipray. Everything else, we're trying to get the best model for. We're using many of EJs incredible models, but I wouldn't mind seeing a littler diversity in modeler/texturer style amongst the ships.

 

As for the songs, I'll give you our FW song pack that ViperKnight made for us. It has about 60-70 songs I think

 

Here's the DL link: http://files.filefront.com/FWMUSICrar/;12530730;/fileinfo.html

 

Just give credit to ViperKnight, the FW mod, and Lucas Arts if you use them

[Slocket]

Very nice. Amazing to see Freelancer is still being modded to that degree. The last time I did anything with that game was the OpenSp_v1.1 dll just to allow the game to be played in 'single free mode' without the story line or net connection getting in the way. Lancer's Reactor.net something back thing.

 

The effects and models are really cool, and the music. Love to use couple songs myself to spice up the track for Rebellion.

 

Will LA ever make another space game with decent gameplay for the PC platform...after Force Unleashed, I think the PC is gone for them.

 

Beautiful work!

[Sushi]

Thanks for the compliments, mate. Feel free to use the music, just give credit for it in whatever you do with it

[Sushi]

Wanted to show you guys the new missile FX we made:

 

Proton Torpedo

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen33.jpg

 

Concussion Missile

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen45-1.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen44.jpg

 

Heavy Rockets

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen50.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen48-1.jpg

 

Mag-Pulse

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen55.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen54.jpg

 

Ion-Pulse

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen61.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d54/mjr6988/screen62.jpg

 

Quick video of the concussions missiles in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QPsNEZ6qZY

 

More goodies can be found here: ModDB site If you like what you see, we'd appreciate any votes we can get. We're not going for top Freelancer mod this year, but I do want to get some public attention to get in the top 100. Thanks guys!

Edited July 14, 2009 by Sushi

[Evaders99]

Awesome. I love the look of the Kuat shipyards, very cool... may need to borrow your models sometime for Warlords

[Sushi]

After all the models we've used from EJ, that wouldn't be a problem, lol.

[Sushi]

Apologies for the double post

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oTe0YKVcvA&fmt=22

 

The Freeworlds: Tides of War mod team have been working incredibly hard over the past few weeks getting the pre-alpha stages of mod work completed. We have over 90% of 104 ships in the game now and are nearing completion of our X-Wing Alliance Upgrade Project importing. A bulk of the team is now focusing in system development and are looking to have the preliminaries of the entire FW2 universe done within the next month. After which point the mod will be focusing on adding new visual effects to all the systems. We hope you are enjoying the ongoing saga of the FW:ToW development!

 

For more information about our mod please go: Forums: www.freeworlds-mod.net

ModDB Site: http://www.moddb.com/mods/freeworlds-182/

[Evaders99]

No problem. Expect another post about Sins mod whenever EJ releases the next patch

[Sushi]

This project was made by Qi, the modeler/builder and Solostaran the texturer

 

I have used Solostaran's textures for the Mon Calamari shipyards.

 

The canon source:

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/6258/mcsy01ra8.jpg

 

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/1761/mcsycity1ul8.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/734/mcsycity2qv2.jpg

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/2169/mcsycity3kw1.jpg

 

The big bracket holders will be put in-between the ring levels.

 

It's awesome to fly between the decks.

[Evaders99]

I can't imagine how that would scale into Homeworld 2. But it would be an awesome backdrop to a Battle of Mon Calamari

[Sushi]

Oh jesus, ya, I wouldn't know either. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on the way you look at it, we can't have planetary objects to scale or we'll break the Freelancer Engine...lol.

 

But as a backdrop, that would look sweet.

[Sushi]

Just wanted to inform everyone that FW:ToW had been voted as one of the top 100 mods of 2008 thanks to your help! We need your votes now more than ever to keep this good fortune going.

 

Here's some goodies to make you go and vote for us here:

 

This is the continuing development of Mon Calamari Shipyards:

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3248/moncalamarishipyards11dq1.jpg

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2545/mcshipyardopenth0.jpg

 

New textures:

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1289/mcshipyardclosedzk4.jpg

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g195/BlueShift_photos/imp2s1.png

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g195/BlueShift_photos/imp2s2.png

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g195/BlueShift_photos/imp2s3.png

 

How to vote? First, you will need to register (if you haven't already) and log in to ModDB.com. Unregistered votes are not counted, unless there's a tie.

 

Second, open Freeworlds profile on ModDB: http://www.moddb.com/mods/fwtow/

 

Third, scroll down towards the center of the page. You will see a large "VOTE FOR MOD" button. Press it.

 

Once you are logged in, you can also leave comments and set your rating for Freeworlds mod on the profile page, and browse other mods for Freelancer and numerous other games.

Edited July 14, 2009 by Sushi

[Sushi]

Gameplay, both in terms of capital class star ships and fighters, is going to be one of the biggest issues we tackle in the mod development of FW: ToW. As we now approach the alpha phase of development, we have been discussing how we should address it.

 

There are some developers in the camp that believe we should make the mod more movieish. There are others that feel we should make it more X-Wing vs Tie-Fighter-esque. Some believe the proper balance lies somwhere between the two and we have points come up for either side with no definite winner.

 

One of our developers has even gone so far to make a combat prototype on how he believes fighter vs. fighter combat should be done. Why485, mod develeper of Itano Cirus and contributor to the Flak 88 mod, has spent the last few days working on this project with some fantastic results. This is the video of his progress:

 

 

As you can see, it's quite a sight to behold. Obviously, there is still much tweaking to do, but this is an excellent example of what combat may look like in the finished version of FW: ToW

 

Other great news comes from a developer named Deety, who joined our team a few months ago. He has been working extremely hard on the games Artifical Intelligence as well as changing the way we look at Freelancer and its limitations by bringing up discussion points. Through his tireless efforts to push the boundries of the game, he's found a way for us to mimic the energy partition system we all know and love from the X-wing Vs. Tie-Fighter and X-Wing Alliance Series. That has opened up quite a few doors for us in terms of gameplay, but also has raised a lot of issues in balance of the 104 flyable vessels we have planned for the mod.

 

As you can see, there's most work to be done on the mod, but it's coming together. All I can tell you all is this: For those of you that love Star Wars space sims, you're in for one helluva treat.

 

Until next time,

Sushi

 

PS: For those of you that are enjoying this mod development, please don't forget to vote for it in the top 100 mods at moddb here: http://www.moddb.com/events/2008-mod-of-the-year-awards/top100 Click the Freelancer Icon then our mod. Don't forget to visit the Crossfire mod and vote for them if you like what they're doing!

[Evaders99]

XvT without the mess of keyboard controls? That would be impressive.

Very nice video

[Sushi]

Well fellas, I don't even know where to begin because so much has happened since I last posted, so I guess I'll update you on the current mod progress.

 

As of now, we only have one system left to complete, then the alpha version of FW:ToW is finished, in terms of systems. Oma and Qi have worked tirelessly on making the best systems possible for you guys. I even had Oma fix up my old ones I made when I first started this mod back in August. What he has done with them will surely take your breath away. The attention to detail is outstanding. I'd like to also give credit to Orac65, who has been trying his hand at making a system and is showing a lot of promise through his work.

 

Hmmm...what else. Well, we have a new shiplist now. I think that's important to tell you folks. Sov had been doing such a fantastic job finding and importing models for us, that it allowed us to really diversify the shiplist for each faction; I'll let him post more about that since it is his creation. What this means is that there is more hardpointing/hitbox making and coding for us to do in terms of ships, but I honestly think it's going to be worth it in the end. Fortunately, we had most of our ship coding done before 94/104 ships. So, the new 15+ ships or so shouldn't take up too much time.

 

Sov has also been busy making his idea of a combat prototype; more about that later in this post.

 

Dok and Mirkha have been busy making great .sur files for us. Mirkha has finished redoing the entire Aldebaran Modular Station (AMS) hitboxes which are absolutely incredible. Super d has also been a great addition to the team by helping redo glowmaps for us.

 

Solostaran has been an fabulous texturist for us. His skill/attention to minute details are what makes his textures so wonderful. He will often whip up textures for us within a day of us asking for them, which is a HUGE help. He's currently working on making the AMS textures just right. Here are some pictures of his work in progress:

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g195/BlueShift_photos/1-7.png

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g195/BlueShift_photos/1-9.png

 

Why485 has been busy finalizing his combat prototype - more about that later in this post. As well, he's made us some new FX which are utterly stunning. Here are some pictures of those:

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5290/fweffects02ii6.jpg

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/2227/fweffects03na3.jpg

 

Deety has been implementing NPCs into the alpha systems for us. What he has done to the AI is shocking, to be frank. They're so mean and vicious now, we're probably going to have to tone them down because they pwn so HARD. He also has been hard at work bringing his energy drain system - similar to XvT and XWA - to life in his combat prototype.

 

Now, as I mentioned above, Sov, Why485 and Deety have been busy working on the FW:ToW combat prototypes. What happened is that the developers could not decide on what we wanted for this mod. There were so many ideas, thoughts and beliefs on the way that fighter/bomber combat should be done that it came down to me asking these three developers to bring their thoughts to the mod. I then recruited 6 players, 4 from FW and 2 from FW-France, to test these completed prototypes. These players are: Oma, Kampher, Wedge, Desdina, Pixy and Kelron Trion. What I looked for in testers was fighter/bomber experience, community experience, ability to work well and discuss points with others and objectivity. Based on the testers vote, we will be using their collective choice as the foundation of this mod's combat. As you can probably infer, this is no small task and I hope the testers the best of luck in this critical endeavor. In the end, though, I hope to be using the best ideas of each combat prototype in the final product. There will be no "winner" or "loser" in this combat prototype decision, only what's the absolute best for this mod!

 

Just so you all can get a rough idea of each prototype, here's a brief synopsis of each:

 

As of now, the Why485 side of the prototype is now complete.

 

Fighter Class: X-Wing and TIE Fighter

Good against: Other fighters and bombers.

Ok against: Interceptors

Turn Rate: Medium

Responsiveness: Medium

 

Modifiers:

- X-Wings have quad lasers which do the same damage over time, but they do more instantaneous damage.

- TIE Fighters have no shield, and are slighly more responsive and have a slightly better turn rate. They also have more hull.

 

Bomber Class: Y-Wing and TIE Bomber

Good against: Capital ships presumably

Ok against: Fighters

Bad against: Interceptors

Turn Rate: Low

Responsiveness: Low

 

Modifiers:

- Y-Wings have Ion cannons which does the same damage over time when a targets shields are up, but more instantaneous damage. When shield is down, only its twin blasters do damage, making it more energy efficient when target shield is down.

- TIE Bombers have no shield, and are slightly more responsive and have a slightly better turn rate. They also have more hull.

 

Interceptor Class: A-Wing and TIE Avenger

Good against: Fighters, Bombers, and Interceptors

Bad against: Capital ships presumably

Turn Rate: High

Responsiveness: High

 

Modifiers:

- TIE Avengers have quad lasers which do the same damage over time, but they do more instantaneous damage.

 

Note: Ordinarily I would class the TIE Avenger as fighter class, but I wanted the Imperials to have an interceptor.

 

Within a class, the ships are balanced. For example an X-Wing vs a TIE Fighter will come down to skill rather than one ship simply being better. Same applies for the other classes.

 

Combat itself is heavily reliant on the thruster, and the thruster has a slow drain and recharge to simulate fuel. During a one on one duel it is not that much of a concern. But during any longer multi-person battles, you need to pay attention to your fuel level. Strafe is also fairly useful. It is not hugely obvious, especially to observers, but strafing can be used to fine tune your turn circle, as well as fine tune your aim. Despite being thruster based, you will not see the jerky motions that FL ships experience. The accelerations are smooth and natural.

 

TIE Fighter and TIE Bomber are both unshielded. They compensate for this by being slightly more maneuverable and having hull strength compensated for lack of shield. The TIE is best suited to circle-fighting, as it can get off solid bursts if it can get inside an X-Wings circle. The X-Wing is best suited for jousting, as its shield works better when hits are few and far between.

 

Also in the prototype is a fighter version of the full-tilt camera. Both Deety and I utilize this system. It allows for the pilot to keep much better track of his target during a dogfight, this is especially useful for TIE Fighters for trying to coax an X-Wing into a circle fight. The unique flight model makes for very careful flying. You really have to think about how you fight. To be honest in every Freelancer mod I just wing it when I dogfight. This is the first time I've honestly said to myself "That was a good maneuver I pulled there, I should try to do that again."

 

For example I have one trick I like to pull in the TIE Fighter. When an X-Wing jousts at me, I ignore the joust (and hope I don't get hit), and start turning around before the X-Wing even gets behind me. I then apply reverse throttle (Which is 2/3rds forward throttle in here), get inside the X-Wings circle, and get a good clean shot as I follow the X-Wing coming around. Engine kill is also nicely integrated, its neither intrusively useful, nor useless. Some times it will get you killed, some times it will give you a great burst at the enemy.

 

Why485 has even been so kind to make a combat prototype gameplay movie. I hope you all enjoy this! Note, this may/may not be what combat is actually like in FW:ToW come release.

Please click the High Quality button.

 

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4020/snapshot20090309093823.jpg

 

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/8430/snapshot20090309094115.jpg

 

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/3651/snapshot20090309094027.jpg

 

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/6596/snapshot20090309094008.jpg

 

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/5562/snapshot20090309094252.jpg

 

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1606/snapshot20090309094149.jpg

 

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9404/snapshot20090309094126.jpg

 

Hybrid Combat Prototype

 

Statement

 

The Hybrid system is designed as a combination of action/arcade flying and elements from simulator game play. Action gaming requires fast reflexes but little tactical element, simulation gaming is often slow paced but offers greater control over your star ship and a heavy tactical element. A fusion of these styles ensures little boring or slow paced action but the ability to retain tactical gaming options such as maneuvers, unique ship roles and advanced planning. It is my hope that the creation of such a system will make all members of the Freeworlds Community appreciate the game. Neither action fans or simulator fans will be estranged by such a system.

 

 

Explanation of Gameplay

 

Each ship of a class shares the same statistics for balance. Example: X-Wings and TIE Avengers (medium fighters) have the same stats including damage and maneuvering.

 

Engine kill will gradually slow your ship to a full stop. The process takes less time by class designation, heavy ships stop faster than light ones. EK can only be sustained with the booster a short time.

Boosters have only a few seconds of capacity, and a long recharge. They are designed to be a secondary system, not a primary one.

Weapons are individually balanced, high number of weapons does not mean more DPS. The Y-Wing with two lasers and two ions has the same DPS as the TIE Bomber with only two lasers.

Energy maintenance has some importance. When shields are recharging it negatively affects energy recharge, slowing down how fast the bar fills. Speed negatively affects energy recharge, the faster you go, the slower the recharge. Weapon firing drains energy for every shot. If you are flying at high speed, shooting without pause, and recharging shields you may run dry in short order. This can be countered by retreating, slowing speeds or evasive maneuvers. This is a tactical element adopted from simulator play.

Holding down the reverse thrust key will drop your speed to twenty percent. This will allow you to make tighter faster turns with greater energy recovery.

 

 

Ships in this test

(in green)

 

New Republic:

Z-95 Headhunter - Light Fighter

RZ-1 A-Wing Interceptor - Interceptor

BLT-A4 Y-Wing Starfighter - Medium Bomber

T-65 X-Wing Starfighter - Medium Fighter

E-Wing Escort Starfighter - Heavy fighter

B-Wing Starfighter - Heavy Bomber

BLT-S8 K-Wing Assault Starfighter - Light Patrol Ship

 

Galactic Empire:

TIE/ln Starfighter (TIE Fighter)- Light Fighter

TIE/in Interceptor (TIE Interceptor) - Interceptor

TIE/sa Bomber (TIE Bomber) - Medium Bomber

TIE/ad Starfighter (TIE Avenger) - Medium Fighter

TIE/D Defender (TIE Defender) - Heavy fighter

Alpha-Class XG-1 Starwing (Assault Gunboat) - Heavy Bomber

GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat - Light Patrol Ship

 

 

Light Fighter

Average forward speed.

Fastest turn speed, fastest directional changes.

Weakest hull and shields. Lowest down time on shields.

Lowest DPS.

Best EK time.

Second best thruster speed.

No missiles.

 

Interceptor

Fastest forward speed.

Second best turn speed and directional changes.

Low hull and shields. Low downtime on shields.

Low DPS.

Good EK time.

Best thruster speed, shortest boost time.

Mounts Concussion missiles.

 

Medium Bomber

Slow forward speed.

Slow turn speed, slow directional changes.

Heavy hull and shields.

Moderate DPS hull, high DPS on energy and shields.

Short EK time.

Long thruster life, slower boost bonus.

Can mount some heavy ordnance.

 

Medium Fighter

Moderate/high forward speed.

Moderate turn speed and direction changes.

Moderate hull and shields.

Moderate/high DPS.

Decent EK time.

Middle booster, good speed and length of boost.

Can mount mid-rank ordnance.

 

 

Final notes

 

Missiles are not yet a part of this test. Missile stats remain entirely untouched by me.

 

Deety's Combat Prototype

 

INTRODUCTION

 

At first, this combat prototype was based on the Freeworlds-France server ship handling, using high speeds and rotation inertia. I added new elements such as the energy partition from X-wing simulator game. I also tried to emphasise on realism and immersion: ships have the weapons they have in the movies, and speeds, hulls, shields and agility is based on what I have seen in the different star wars database, and balanced.

 

 

GENERAL FEATURES

 

High speeds

Ships are moving very fast, giving you the opportunity to use the environment (such as stations, battleships or asteroids) to take cover and challenge your opponent to follow you. High speeds emphasize on the piloting aspect of the combat, not just the aiming part. Pass by a cruiser at high speed and you’re actually feeling that you’re piloting a starfighter, not a civilian cargo. Also, differences in speeds are highlighted, and interceptors actually look faster. Outrunning you opponent is possible!

 

Health and damage

High speeds and agility make it harder to be hit. However, hulls are very weak and shields don’t reload quickly, while guns are more powerful than ever. In other words, your starfighter is a deadly, but fragile ship. In a battle, one second of inattention leads to death.

 

Burn and strafe

Afterburner and strafe are still available but are very limited by a low recharging thruster. Afterburner is meant to be used to evade missiles, and is powerful enough to make it possible. However, use it too often and you’ll waste all your evade possibility. Strafe is energy consuming, thus the consequences are the same: a good pilot has to know when to use or not to use it.

 

Powercell and ions

Your energy bar has a large capacity, but reload is low. This means that you will have to be really cautious with your energy consumption. If you don’t shoot aimed, quick, precise bursts to the enemy, you’ll run out of energy quickly and your opponent will get the upper hand. This aspect is critical. But it also gives the ability to disable your enemy hitting him with ions, what will empty his energy bar (Hard against fighters though. Cargos will be more sensible to ions, and can even be slowed down with ions).

 

Energy Partition

This feature is based on the energy partition system from X-wing Alliance, where your power was divided into shields, lasers and engines. In Fw:Tow, all you have to choose is your speed. At max speed, your energy bar will recharge slightly slower. When your shield is hit or is down, another part of your energy is drained your reload it. This means that you can’t move fast, take damage and have the greatest firepower all at the same time. Also, note that reverse is using as much energy as max speed. Slowing down manually may be a better option to break.

 

Chase camera

This feature comes from Why’s prototype. I loved it so much that I included it into my own combat prototype. It makes the fight much more dynamic, and gives you the ability to track your enemy during the turns. However, during tight turns you’ll expose yourself from attacks coming from the exterior, as any pilot concentrated on his target would be.

 

Unshielded TIEs

In order to emphasise onto realism and immersion, any unshielded vessel in Star wars comes unshielded in this combat prototype. However, TIE Fighter and TIE Bomber are balanced against other ships : they are more manoeuvrable, they can use afterburner longer to evade missiles better, they have a firepower bonus and are a bit more resistant. Piloting those ships is an unique feeling. You have to use your superior mobility to get behind the target, launch a deadly burst and evade quickly.

 

 

SHIP CHARACTERISTICS

 

This combat prototype introduces a new ship classes system, increasing the number of classes and applying then a bonus/malus system in order to make every ship unique.

Ships classes

Ships not present in the combat prototype are in grey :

¤ Interceptor (light) : TIE Interceptor

¤ Interceptor (medium) : A-wing

¤ Interceptor (heavy) : TIE Avenger

¤ Fighter (light) : TIE Fighter, Z-95

¤ Fighter (medium) : X-wing

¤ Fighter (heavy) : E-wing, TIE Defender

¤ Bomber (light) : TIE Bomber

¤ Bomber (medium) : Y-wing

¤ Bomber (heavy) : B-wing, XG-1

 

Interceptors, fighters and bombers

The main difference between those ships is their mission:

¤ Bombers kill capital ship, using torpedoes. Bombers have the most resistant hulls and shields. They have the more powerful guns. However they lack agility and are easy targets for other crafts.

¤ Interceptors strike bombers before they launch their torpedoes, using superior speed. They are the fastest and most responsive ships. But they are also the weakest. Against fighters, they must use their linear and angular accelerations to compensate for their lack of firepower.

¤ Fighters defend bombers against interceptors, using superior firepower. They have average hull and weapons, and even a higher max turn rate than interceptors, but slower acceleration and responsiveness.

 

Light, Medium and Heavy

Inside a same class, different subclasses are made to offer different gameplay. All these subclasses are balanced between each others, but play differently. The heavier the ship, the more firepower, health and speed, in detriment of agility. This offers a great variety to the gameplay : heavy interceptors have more firepower and health than light fighters, but light fighters turn drastically faster (because they are fighters, and because they are lights). Every ship is different, and every ship has his own tactics !

[Evaders99]

Wow very cool. You may just want to summarize your posts and link us to the full-text on your site. That way, you draw interest from our site back to yours

[Sushi]

Oh, I don't mind having interest in this mod stay here at all. We're pretty much one big happy SW mod family, anyways But, I'll try to keep my posts a bit shorter for next time.

[Slocket]

Wow, this is simply amazing! Plus alot of good information on the ships. I can see you guys really did your homework on this one.

[Sushi]

The FW:ToW team has been busy working on importing the final of the First Strike Cockpits, XWA Upgrade Project Cockpits and others into game. Sovereign, our lead importer and SW whiz, has put them into our ships with style! In the video you well see the cockpits match what you see on the exterior as well as on the interior. This took an incredible amount of dedication and time, and the FW:ToW team thank him for his continuing efforts.

 

As well, we also have some new model/texture debuts, ETA-2 and V-Wing, done by Bouma and Omega, respectively. As you will see within the video, we're trying to make the cockpit mode a viable option for those of you that enjoyed the X-Wing Vs. TIE-Fighter and X-Wing Alliance series of games.

 

In addition to this our team has finally decided on a combat prototype to use for our mod. We've done away with engine kill completely and it feels incredible. Why485, as well as myself, have been working on FX for the mod. Deety and myself have been working on adapting the combat prototype to other ships into the game. I also wanted to take this time to say thank you to the FW:ToW Combat Prototype Testers for their incredible feedback which allowed us to refine our ideas into what we have now.

 

Also in this video, you will see some of the new NPC AI development that has been done primarily by Deety and Why485. They have done a fabulous job on giving the non-player characters (NPCs) some serious brains!

 

I hope you enjoy the video.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBjBIi5oDRU

-----------------------------

To follow the progress of this mod, please visit the follow sites:

http://www.freeworlds-tow.net

http://www.moddb.com/mods/fwtow/

Edited July 14, 2009 by Sushi

[Sushi]

Here are some new videos for you fellas:

 

Our New 130k Polygon ISD:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfV-9kIC5RM

 

Some new asteroid FX: