Stellar_Magic

The Z Adjust is something I wouldn't edit at all in space battles. It tells the game just how far above or below the Z plane a unit should aim, it doesn't seem to do anything in space combat, but if you edit the scale in land combat, you'll need to to change the value.

So... Easy fix, add the Venator's or Acclamator's cost to the ground units.

Well a planet's location is governed by a single line in the planet XML. X value, Y value, Z value Zero for each of the values is the center of the galaxy so you'll need to use - numbers.

I'll definitely need a bigger team then just myself to pull this off. : Of course considering that this is just a couple weeks since the demo came out ;D Some things I'd like to do... 1.) A Bigger command bar, hopefully the final build included a scroller on the command bar so this won't be an issue. I'd also like to make it so units can be stacked on the ground as well as in fleets. 2.) Full Galaxy: Thats right... A Full Galaxy. Everything you see in the original EAW plus a mountain of additional material. 100 Star Systems should be out first goal, and by star systems I mean systems with as many planets as are in the actual system along with system entry and exit points (These would be space only areas and sort of be like around our own Kuipler Belt). 3.) Longer Build Times: One of the reasons the game slows down as much as it does is that the AI just spams units like mad and moves ground units around in small bits of 1-5 companies. If you make it so the AI has to take the time to build units this will cut down on the slow down early in the game. Unfortunately all attempts to change build times in the demo failed, does anyone know why? 4.) A corporation based tech tree is something I really wanted to implement, but the current setup of EAW will make it more difficult... I'm trying to think of a way to remedy that.

Maximum and minimum recharge / reload stats for starship weapons. Maximum reload / recharge reflect the amount of time for a completely untrained and undrilled crew. Whereas Minimum reload / recharge time is reflective of a Legendary crew. Turbolaser Battery: 180 - 3 seconds Laser Battery: 60 - 1 second Ion Battery: 180 - 3 seconds Proton Torpedo Tubes: 600 - 10 seconds Concussion Missile Tubes: 600 - 10 seconds

I certainly hope that remark wasn't in jest. If you remember what happened in ANH when a starfighter got hit by turbolaser fire... No more starfighter. Putting together a less realistic version would be a lot of work, especially once I completely the scripting for training levels.

Oh, I forgot to mention that theres a cultural reason behind the wierd hair colors in a lot of Anime. You have to remember Anime is Japanese and almost all Japanese have black hair... so If you're a teen in Japan and want to stand out, you color your hair (It doesn't just stop with teens either, older Japanese do it on occasion).

Well, for a long time most of that was true... Disney used to be arguably the best animation studio on the planet... Then Walt died and everything has gone downhill from there. : As for the unusually big mouth things. Anime I know about that does it: EVA Dragonball Z Kind of shows how much Anime I watch. I've also noticed that a lot of the next generation american cartoons are begining to pick up on some of the Anime style. Cartoon Network's Teen Titans and Nickelodian's Avatar to name a few.

No problem, I should have put Sarcasm> in the last post. Oh well, the next version includes training levels... And you guys will probably be absolutely stunned by the changes. Unfortunately, to fit everything on the command bar I've been forced to make it so that at most each planet can build two types of ships, with six levels and two classes all but one of the bar's opening for units is filled. Once the full scale mod ROR kicks off I'll have to figure out some way to fit more on the command bar. : Sacrifice Realism... NEVER!!! ;D

XML Editor: ConTEXT Get it now... http://www.context.cx/

hmm... I'm begining to get worried. Either Cain's making a complete list of bugs or he's totally addicted. ???

How about the seismic charge special ability from Slave 1... Just put it on a longer timer or something.

Its just the calculations I used to make the ships act the way they do in the game.

Okay, here I am... about to reveal the secrets of converting units from the D20 format into EAW Stat Format. So, first here's some examples of D20 Stats, only those stats that are used as basis for changing things in EAW are displayed. KDY Imperial I Speed: 3 Maneuverability: -4 Shield Points: 300 DR30 Hull Points: 700 DR30 Incom T-65B X-wing Speed: 10 Maneuverability: +6 Shield Points: 30 DR5 Hull Points: 120 DR5 Okay... I use some basic calculations to create the stats for EAW. For Capital Ships: Maximum Speed= D20 Max Speed X 0.4 Maximum Thrust, Rate of Turn, Rate of Roll = D20 Max Speed X 0.1 X (D20 Manueverability + 4) Shield Points and Tactical Health = D20 Points x D20 DR Value For Starfighters: Maximum Speed = D20 Max Speed X 0.4 Minimum Speed = D20 Max Speed X 0.1 Maximum Thrust, Rate of Turn, Rate of Roll = D20 Max Speed X 0.1 X D20 Manueverability Shield Points and Tactical Health = D20 Points

ConTEXT, a tool designed to make Html and its variants easier to create. It fully supports XML and makes Debugging a lot easier. http://www.context.cx/

Imperial Star Destroyers... Accuser Ackyuna Adarga Adjucator Adjudicator Admiral Ackbar Admonitor Adversary Aggressor Agonizer Allecto Allegiance Amerce Anlage Annihilator Anya Karu Arbiter Assassin Avarice Avatar Avenger Badi Dea Basilisk Bastion Behemoth Bellicose Belligerent Black Star Blacken Brazen Burning Vengeance Calvary Cauldron Chains of Justice Chimaera Coercion Conqueror Corrupter Courageous Crucible Crynyd Dark Nebula Dark Star Darrk Dauntless Death's Head Decisive Defiant Desolator Devastator Direption Dismay Disruptor Dominance Eleemosynary Elegos A'Kla Emancipator Eminence Emperor's Disciple Emperor's Revenge Emperor's Will Empire Engager Eradicator Erinnic Errant Venture Eviscerator Exterminator Firestorm Forger Freedom Fury Garret Garrett Gauntlet Gilded Claw Glory Gnisnal Goliath Gorgon Grey Wolf Hammer Harpox Havoc Hydra Ill Wind Illustrious Immortal Impending Doom Impenetrable Imperator Imperial Impervious Impervious Implacable Indiko Indomitable Inexorable Inflexible Inquisitor Interrogator Intrepid Invader Invidious Invincible Invincible Invincible Ironhand Judicator Juggernaut Kotiate Krieger Krieger Legacy Leonides Liberator Liquidator Magic Dragon Majestic Malice Malignant Manticore Master Stroke Mathayus Mauler Maximum Meniscus Merciless Mon Mothma Monarch Moonshadow Motivator Nemesis Night Terror Nihil Nitsa Nullifier Obliterator Onslaught Oriflamme Peerless Penetrator Peremptory Predator Prentioch Pulsar Punisher Rage Rampage Raptor Ravagor Razor Rebel Dream Reckoning Recondite Red Dragon Red Gauntlet Redoubtable Rejuvenator Relentless Relentless Reliance Remoh Render Reprisal Resolute Resolution Retaliator Retaliator Retribution Reyna Riesa Right to Rule Ripclaw Ruthless Shockwave Shrike Silooth Singularity Skyhook Stalker Stalwart Steadfast Stormclaw Stormhawk Striker Subjugator Superior Terminator Thunderflare Tiger Titan Titania Tormentor Triumph Triumphant Tyrannic Tyrant Ultima Unrepentant Valiant Valor Valorous Vanguard Vehemence Vehement Vendetta Vengeance Vengeance II Victorious Victory Victrix Vindictive Virulence Visage Warrior Wasp Whirlwind Widowmaker Wolf's Claw Xamaural Yakez

Tactical Health increases hull points or health. Autoresolve Health deals with autoresolve calculations and isn't enabled in the dmo.

I've got a version with an alpha channel cain... as for seeing which are new and not... lets make the old ones grayscale versions.

Don't worry, maybe you could pick up at a book store in a couple years... ;D I'm on the fourth draft for it right now and have already got two sequels in production. Its around 400 pages long at the moment.

Well this won't be a fanfiction but... Here's Chapter 1 of a book I'm working on... Chapter 1: Everything Changes A solar sail ship, its hull scarred by weapons fire drifted through space as flames arched out of its torn plates where atmosphere escaped and crystals of ice glittered in the night as its metallic hull colored golden by the light of a nearby star slowly slid through the inky velvet of space. Glowing balls of plasma rushed into it, burning through the hull and ripping holes in the vessel, opening chambers to space. A solid line of blast doors along its side slowly ground open to space and the muzzles of countless guns slid out from their ports into view. With a flash a volley of brilliant orange plasma fire shot from the guns contained within them. Crews in fully sealed spacesuits scampered across the deck behind the doors. Manning the enormous plasma cannons housed there, monitoring power going into the guns, and removing the spent gas canisters from the breaches often tossing them away into space. They worked at a feverish pace to restore their guns for another barrage. The enemy was faster. Another volley of golden blasts of glowing hot plasma shot through space slamming into the side of their vessel. Energy blazed across the gun deck as the blasts hit home. Several guns were vaporized from the impact along with their crews. Still the gunners hurried on readying their guns. At one end of the gun line a fully suited deck officer lifted his arm to confirm readiness of the crews. Twenty gunners of what had once been a company of sixty raised their arm in turn. Radio communications had already broken down under the intense jamming of the enemy and the chaos of battle. With a flurry the officer snapped his hand to his side. At that moment the gunners pulled their lanyards returning fire into the night. Two decks above on the bridge a man strode into the carefully controlled chaos of a ship fully engaged in combat. He glanced to the ship’s commander in his navy blue battle dress in the command chair issuing orders to those below him. His eyes at the same time studying the holographic image of the space around them as the newcomer stepped to his side, “Admiral where do you want me and the journeyman?” “Magister Baumer,” the Admiral said surprised swiveling toward him. His mouth twisted into a thoughtful smile, “Just stand by for now.” One of the officer in the crew pit turned, his hand clasped on his earphone, “Sir we’ve lost contact with the engine room.” The Admiral glanced at Baumer, “Go. Use the hardwire intercoms they’ve jammed all our frequencies.” Baumer nodded and turned to the door, “And Ernst.” He stopped and turned back to the Admiral, “Be careful.” “Don’t worry Admiral,” Ernst answered and gave the admiral a half smile before he stepped through the doors which opened with a hiss. Outside two young men turned to him, “Alright, Patrick, Joseph, let’s go.” The deck quaked and sparks shot from one of the overhead conduits of power as it was severed. Ernst lifted his deep blue hood to protect his face from the rain of stinging debris as they ran along the corridor, their footsteps ringing of the grating. Steam hissed from one of the pipes that lined the corridor as the deck rocked again from another impact. Crewmen ran along the corridor, hurrying by with a wounded comrade between them on a stretcher. Ernst reached a bulkhead and pulled it open, beyond a fire raged, smoke filled the room and he pulled a small piece of wood from his pocket and flicked it at the flames, “Corbino.” The flames died down as their heat source cooled and then froze. Ernst clambered down the grating to the next bulkhead and pulled it open, beyond there was smoke ushering in through the grating from decks below. The ship shuddered and creaked as another barrage hit. Ernst was already at the next door and pulling on it, but it failed to budge. With a sigh he ran a finger across its surface and felt ice crystals. He touched the nearby intercom, “This is Ernst Baumer the engine room is open to space.” “Roger that Ernst, it seems that’s the least of troubles right now, we just lost the dorsal solar sail,” The intercom answered. There was a pause, “They’re firing ion pulses, we’re picking up boarding craft launching.” Ernst felt his gut twist in frustration, “Where do you want us?” “The boarders are heading for the forward sensor array, you’d probably be best there fending them off,” The commander answered. “On our way,” Ernst answered and keyed off the comm. He turned to the others, “Be ready for close contact.” Ernst pulled a Pulse Pistol from inside his cloak and pulled the charging lever. “Some action finally,” Joseph said as he pulled the charging lever on his pulse carbine, its three barrels spun through a check with their cooling sleeve. Ernst glared at him, “What?” Ernst shook his head. They never understood until they’d actually fought, never, then they’d never want to be in combat again, just as he despised combat. Ernst led them down a corridor and toward the forward sensor array. They’d just come to the bulkhead that separated the forward sections from the command stations of the ship when it suddenly blew outward. The hatch careened through the room hitting Patrick, the younger of the journeyman, and flung him down. He layer there dazed with his nose broken along with several of his ribs. Joseph startled by the suddenness of it all starred at Patrick when a pulse of sulfurous yellow light flashed into his chest dropping him forward with a painful burn across the stomach. Ernst starred into the smoke filled corridor and saw the glow of red light followed by a pulse blast that flashed into the side of the hatch sending sparks scattering across the floor. He lifted his pulse pistol to center on his target and fired sending a brilliant gold bolt through the smoke. There was a yelp of pain followed by a curse in a language foreign to him, as an unseen foe clattered to the floor. Through the dissipating smoke a trio of armored aliens whose faces showed gruesome scars, reptilian eyes, and smooth green skin that resembled a salamander’s more then anything else. Below their grey steel crown shaped helmets they gnashed their teeth and snarled in another language, “Söracêre!” Then one, the largest and ugliest hissed an order, “Rütver lêratez!” They held swords which split along the center with a hiss and red electricity arced from the separated blades along with a brilliant orange glow within the red energy field. Then the leader turned to the others and snarled another command, “Fêren lêges.” The orcs moved to stand side by side and lifted their pulse swords to their shoulders. Some knelt to achieve better balance and accuracy with their arms. Ernst grimaced and ducked back behind cover as an ominous whine built up and a volley of pulse bolts soared into the corridor. Patrick took a bolt in his chest as he struggled to stand and fell back again, dead, his chest now a charred hole. Joseph winced as he brought his carbine to his shoulder and fired a long burst sending three bolts of golden energy into one of the aliens which jerked and fell back with a pair of smoking holes in its gleaming breastplate and a smoldering crater for a face. Ernst clambered to an intercom, “Kar’akt orcs in corridor delta four!” He was answered by static, “Bridge, please respond.” “They can’t here you,” A calm feminine voice said and Ernst slowly turned to see a woman stepping across the body of an orc, her pale face given a strange red glow from the emergency lights. She smiled menacing before hissing, “Mördêre de qörk.” A pair of orcs stepped forward at her command, their blast swords raised again. Joseph struggled to charge his carbine and swung it to bear on the woman. Its barrels suddenly began to glow a brilliant red, “Brave yes, but foolish.” With a hiss the barrels melted into a solid hunk of metal that could no less shoot energy then a block of wood. The orcs snarled and a pair of pulse blasts filled the corridor. With a sigh Joseph slumped to the ground, smoke billowing from his chest. Ernst cast his eyes to down to the floor in despair and sadness. Slowly he shook his head as the life slowly leaked out of his friend. His mind hammered with rage and sorrow. His thoughts ricocheted about his mind, what would you say if you knew Crystal, what would you tell our boy? Then the despair gave way to determination, I will see him again. Then Ernst drew his wand and pointed it toward the woman wearing the wine colored tunic, she smiled back at him and too a staff from one of the orcs, “Another brave one, so be it.” She flicked the staff at him and Ernst saw his wand ripped free from his hand by and invisible force and fall with a clatter onto the grate floor behind him. Ernst felt himself suddenly slammed into the deck by as if grappled there by invisible chains. The woman laughed as he struggled in vain, “This one is suitable isn’t he, love?” Smiling she turned to an orc who held what looked like a lamp before him, its sides intricately carved with runes and symbols Ernst didn’t recognize, let alone decipher. In its center a pulsing red globe of energy hovered. Suddenly timing with the dim pulse a voice spoke from within the lantern, “He is indeed, you have chosen well my love.” She smiled as she took the lantern, “Yes love, the Rotêre council would be most displeased with your return, many of them remember how you brought their impediments upon them.” Slowly she lowered the lantern to the deck beside Ernst who still found himself bound there by the invisible chains. She smiled wickedly at the slightly terrified expression on his face intensified his fear, “Now everything changes love.” “Yes, now everything will change, into the future we may build,” As the orb spoke the cap of the lantern hissed open and the orbs flashed out and turned toward Ernst. As it flashed into him Ernst felt a piercing scream inside his head, his fists clenched and he saw nothing but blackness as his eyes flashed a brilliant red, then he heard the sound of a cell door being slammed shut, and heard no more.

Unfortunately I believe that armored suits like in Gundam and EVA would be inefficient in the roles they're employed in. Maneuvers and the agility the suits possess is far in excess of what would be truely possible for a human in a spacesuit, their complexity is also an inherent weakness, all those moving parts... imagine the maintance required. The more likely futuristic combat will be an evolution of current technological approaches. Tanks, aircraft, and eventually starships will all be different designs not the one size fits all gundam warrior. If you want realistic space combat you can look one place... Battlestar Galactica. It's the only one that really shows the challenges of newtonian space combat (I once mad a mod of Homeworld 2 where the ships used a newtonian physics syste... Holy shit, was that a challenge to play.) Imagine if you will, a starfighter without moving parts except for engine nozzels and rotating turrets up against a gundam. The fighter would be more maneuverable then the gundam and more difficult to destroy because of its design for the specific arena of space combat. Not only that it'd be cheaper, so you could send 20 of the things against one gundam...

EAW: Warlord - 6.0 - Total Mod Expansion Reviewed by Stellar Magic Well, with the final release of EAW just around the corner many of us have begun to turn to mods for our fill of Star Wars combat until then, among the best of these mods is the Warlord Total Mod Expansion. Its designed to allow you to fight the galactic civil war from a perspective you hardly see presented, an Imperial Rogue, a Warlord. The mod is based on the rebellion of Grand Admiral Zaarin shortly after the Battle of Hoth, and does its best to present the battle within the limits of EAW’s Demo. In terms of actual game-play and mechanics the mod is almost identical to the normal game; the primary difference is the strategic game-play where you organize your forces and work to defeat the imperial and rebel forces. Here the game play is different in one important way, it’s more difficult. Much more difficult because your starting resources are stretched so thin because you only have a single system under your control (Corellia which you’d think would have a higher credit value). There are also a plethora of more subtle changes, like the hardpoints on Zaarin’s ship, the Imperial II Star Destroyer Glory. The Ion Cannons are now a combined turbolaser and concussion missile battery. It really gives the ship some extra punch. Most of the rest of the mod is actually just unlocking and debugging features buried in the game itself and balancing them. Almost all the units that are in the game are activated in one form or another in the game. I must give Cain credit for debugging and stabilizing the demo, I didn’t have a single crash while I played. I also appreciate Cain’s changing the hyperspace speed to one which is more manageable. Fun: 8 out of 10 Well in terms of how fun it is, the mod is on a par with other mods like Bryant’s Mod. It enables a lot, but it doesn’t change many of the things which increase or decrease how fun the mod is. To me, fun and challenging can go hand and hand, and playing as Zaarin is more challenging, but not by all that much. Game-play: 8 out of 10 There isn’t a steep learning curve like in my mod ROR, you can easily jump from the vanilla demo to the mod and play without any challenge or unlearning what you’ve learned. The game mechanics are the same as EAW, and its more playable thanks to slower hyperspace velocity. Realism: 4 out of 10 Like EAW itself the mod isn’t very realistic. Tie Fighters are way to big, capital ships are too small. A turbolaser hit won’t kill a starfighter outright, and the capital ships seem to be able to accelerate and decelerate far too quickly, not to mention the respawning of starfighters once their destroyed. Balance: 9 out of 10 Balance is something I normally don’t care about, but since Cain decided to include it in his analysis of my mod I should do the same to his. The mod seems very balanced, Zaarin may be a small force but he has slightly better ships. Of course if the units are the exact same with a few minor changes as those in the original game it’s kind of hard to unbalance a game that’s already thoroughly balanced. Stability: 10 out of 10 The mod doesn’t slow down a machine and lacks most of the bugs other mods face (invisible bases, indestructible bases…) I didn’t once have an exception appear and the game didn’t slow down (ROR slows down most machines quite a bit because it processes a lot more data due to how many ships the can be built or moved at one time). Overall: 7.8 out of 10 Discuss it here: http://pff.swrebellion.com/index.php?topic=2275.0

Anime has a habit of using giant robots... EVA and Gundam among the more prominent examples, and I'd say they're okay but compared to some Anime it absolutely stinks. Ghost in the Shell is some fo the best science fiction I've seen, up there with Stargate, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica. It is so... (dare I say it) realistic in its portrayal of a possible future someting Gundam and EVA sorely lack.

EAW: Warlord - 6.0 - Total Mod Expansion Reviewed by Stellar Magic Well, with the final release of EAW just around the corner many of us have begun to turn to mods for our fill of Star Wars combat until then, among the best of these mods is the Warlord Total Mod Expansion. Its designed to allow you to fight the galactic civil war from a perspective you hardly see presented, an Imperial Rogue, a Warlord. The mod is based on the rebellion of Grand Admiral Zaarin shortly after the Battle of Hoth, and does its best to present the battle within the limits of EAW’s Demo. In terms of actual game-play and mechanics the mod is almost identical to the normal game; the primary difference is the strategic game-play where you organize your forces and work to defeat the imperial and rebel forces. Here the game play is different in one important way, it’s more difficult. Much more difficult because your starting resources are stretched so thin because you only have a single system under your control (Corellia which you’d think would have a higher credit value). There are also a plethora of more subtle changes, like the hardpoints on Zaarin’s ship, the Imperial II Star Destroyer Glory. The Ion Cannons are now a combined turbolaser and concussion missile battery. It really gives the ship some extra punch. Most of the rest of the mod is actually just unlocking and debugging features buried in the game itself and balancing them. Almost all the units that are in the game are activated in one form or another in the game. I must give Cain credit for debugging and stabilizing the demo, I didn’t have a single crash while I played. I also appreciate Cain’s changing the hyperspace speed to one which is more manageable. Fun: 8 out of 10 Well in terms of how fun it is, the mod is on a par with other mods like Bryant’s Mod. It enables a lot, but it doesn’t change many of the things which increase or decrease how fun the mod is. To me, fun and challenging can go hand and hand, and playing as Zaarin is more challenging, but not by all that much. Game-play: 8 out of 10 There isn’t a steep learning curve like in my mod ROR, you can easily jump from the vanilla demo to the mod and play without any challenge or unlearning what you’ve learned. The game mechanics are the same as EAW, and its more playable thanks to slower hyperspace velocity. Realism: 4 out of 10 Like EAW itself the mod isn’t very realistic. Tie Fighters are way to big, capital ships are too small. A turbolaser hit won’t kill a starfighter outright, and the capital ships seem to be able to accelerate and decelerate far too quickly, not to mention the respawning of starfighters once their destroyed. Balance: 9 out of 10 Balance is something I normally don’t care about, but since Cain decided to include it in his analysis of my mod I should do the same to his. The mod seems very balanced, Zaarin may be a small force but he has slightly better ships. Of course if the units are the exact same with a few minor changes as those in the original game it’s kind of hard to unbalance a game that’s already thoroughly balanced. Stability: 10 out of 10 The mod doesn’t slow down a machine and lacks most of the bugs other mods face (invisible bases, indestructible bases…) I didn’t once have an exception appear and the game didn’t slow down (ROR slows down most machines quite a bit because it processes a lot more data due to how many ships the can be built or moved at one time). Overall: 7.8 out of 10

Damn Imperial Dogs. I'm play testing ROR ATOR (and getting a bit too engrossed in the game) as the rebels and the Imperials launch an assault on one of my worlds which has nothing but infantry 6 Fleet Infantry Platoons and 4 PLX Platoons. I immediately throw all my troops to block off the southern entrances, because I know it won't take the Imps long to launch an attack. All of a sudden a lone AT-AT appears bearing down on me and I have all my PLX-2M troops attack it, knowing that its the only way to take it down. As they engage my troops begin to bunch up. The AT-AT's health falls below half then below a quarter before it turns and retreats. Before its out of sight I notice a trio of green dots racing across the map. Suddenly a flight of Tie Bombers is uppon me. They hit me hard... Out of 400 men, I loose 360 to that single attack. Then the imperial steamroller attacks the lone platoon I have left. 40 Infantrymen without missile arms verses 3 AT-ATs, 2 AT-ST Platoons, 1 2-M Platoon, and 3 Platoons of Tie Maulers... can anyone say *screwed*.