Stellar_Magic

Wishing Petroglyph a happy new year and good luck against its competitors (As for which RTS will rock 2006, I think its a dead heat between EAW and Supreme Commander [i think thats what its called])

Well, for most of you familiar with Strategic Gaming like the Civilization Series and Command and Conquer series will surely recognize, there are multiple types of base building systems. For simplicity's sake I'll devide them into too categories. Military Style Base Building: The Command and Conquer series is the most obvious example of this type of base system. Everything at a base is military in nature. You have war factories, war refineries, barracks, but no civilian structures Civilization Style Base Building: The best example of Civilization based base building comes from the turned based world of the Civiliation Series and Alpha Centauri. In it you build much more then military structures, you build an entire economic infrastructure which includes civilian facilities. These are representations of the two extremes of Base Building and design, there are many games which fall in between the two. For Reality of Rebellion I think that it would be best if we decided to strive for a Civilization Base Style. It should go hand in hand with our Corporation based technology tree. I'll get back to you later with details.

So is Reality of Rebellion, so don't think the 100+ Planet Galaxy will be yours exclusively. Of course to accomodate both our mods we'll have to modify most every map from the vanilla game, if only to add build slots for buildings.

Actually guys the Carrack is a combat oriented Frigate that could eat most of the frigates in the Rebel Inventory for breakfast. It has Ten Heavy Turbolaser Batteries and twenty ion cannons. It's not a measly ship by any means (Thrawn utilized theses ships as front line combat vessels in his fleet). In terms of combat effectiveness Carrack's approach the utility of their larger cousins like Rendili Dreadnaught. The Broadside Cruiser isn't a cruiser at all, if you look at the screenshots and concept art you realize something that isn't pretty. Its only armament, and I do mean only as in nothing else, is the three heavy concussion missile tubes. It's even smaller then a Corellian Corvette. The Marauder Corvette isn't a missile frigate either. Its primary armament is a pair of heavy turbolasers on the wings as well as 8-12 dual turbolaser turrets depending upon their mission (Standard is 8 turrets). It isn't a missile boat, actually the Corellian Gunship would make a better missile boat then the Marauder because it does have a number of concussion missile tubes on later models. The thing with bad scaling... Almost all RTS's do it and they always use the same excuse, you wouldn't be able to see the units if they were real size. All I can say in response... Have you heard of zoom? I mean Supreme Commander is an RTS coming out with real world scaling, if EAW really wants to match up to its competition they should have jumped on the bandwagon. Homeworld 2: Warlords mod has properly scaled units, and it isn't all that difficult to play. I read alot of science literature so I know how big a galaxy is, it just makes calling EAW a war over the Galaxy more insulting, especially if we've played games like Star Wars Rebellion: You've got to give us at least 100 planets for you to be able to passibly call it a struggle over the galaxy.

Don't get me started, I could give you a whole list... No diplomacy in Galactic Conquest Mode No experience system for Units Lack of well known ships from the era: Dreadnaughts, Assault Frigates, Escort Carriers, Carrack Cruisers... etc... Small Galaxy... 43 Planets? Thats maybe half a sector, not a galaxy. Units that aren't to scale. Infantry that take several hits from an AT-ST to kill... Need I continue?

Yeah, you could do that... But this mod won't. We will have some similar triggers however, among them being that the Rebel Alliance's capture of Coruscant will enable it to advance from the Rebel Alliance and Become the New Republic. This only brings about modest changes (Among them the ability to establish a new corporation Republic Engineering). Seperatist and Clone Technology will still be available, but rebuilding the Droid Armies will be a long and difficult path to take.

Well, Capital ships (With the possible exception of corvettes) will be in groups of one. If we can increase the Pop Cap to what would be a realistic number, However, when it comes to ground units there is a rational behind the number of units in each formation. It's the way units really are organized. In our Military today... 1 Platoon of Armored Vehicles = 4-5 Vehicles. 1 Company of Armored Vehicles = 20-25 Vehicles. In Star Wars... 1 Platoon of AT-STs = 4 AT-STs 1 Motorized Stormtrooper Company (Mounted in AT-ATs) = 4 AT-ATs (Because each AT-AT can carry a platoon of Stormtroopers) Also I don't think you'd want to spend 6 Game Months training a single AT-AT or AT-ST, you'd want to get more units out of that amount of time training them.

Star Trek vs. Star Wars: In Pursuit of Profit Part I In space there was nothing, no life, no form, just an infinitely of vacuum. With one exception, a single ship waited in the night. Its hull dark and gleaming, its engines silent, and its occupants quiet and patiently awaiting for something, something that was imprinted on their minds like commandments from the creator. They awaited prophet. The ship’s crescent form and red brown hull had been smoothed and ground to a brilliant polish at lavish expense. The vessel’s portals covered with shades to keep the light of its activity from escaping out into space. Its shield system configured to jam any sensor sweep. Onboard the captain’s patience was only just beginning to run thin. He’d been waiting there for days at the rendezvous point, and yet their partner had not yet arrived. The Ferengi Captain clacked his teeth in frustration as he leaned back in his plush new chair, “Sensors, nothing new?” “Negative Captain Tron, we’re still completely alone.” “I hope it remains that way, the Federation has been breathing down my neck of late.” Tron shook his head and glanced back at the display, “The Federation continues to try and infringe on my profits.” Suddenly there was a chime from the sensor display and Tron shook his head, “Please tell me that our partner has finally arrived.” “I don’t think so captain, the sensors just recorded a neutrino burst…” Tron shrugged, “Where’s the source?” “Everywhere sir, I’m picking it up in every direction… Sensors are starting to clear…” The Sensor officer looked up and shook his head, “Star positions have changed, not all of them, and… there’s another ship out there.” The Ferengi Captain straightened, “Well, then bring it up on the viewscreen…” “Yes Captain…” Suddenly the screen before the captain changed, resolving itself to display a shi, an enormous vessel, larger then a romulan warbird. Before him was an enormous circular vessel, which contained a central bulb where it’s center had been hollowed out. The circle was broken in what Tron assumed to be the front of the ship and a pair of enormous bays was clearly visible to each side of the opening. Captain Tron stood there for a moment, his mouth opening and closing in astonishment, “Well that certainly isn’t the ship we were waiting for.” A slight smirk slid over his face, “But, I think there may be the opportunity for profit here none the less.” * * * Viceroy Nute Gunray frowned as the quiet rap of a droid’s hand echoed in his private chamber. Frowning, or as close to frowning as his alien face could manage, he climbed out of the bath of green algae he’d been enjoying and walked over to the door. It slid open as he approached and the droid captain stood before him, “Viceroy, sir.” Nute Gunray rumbled a quiet curse to himself, “Yes Captain.” “There is a situation that requires your attention; an unknown ship is hailing us.” The Viceroy’s clear eyelids slid across his eyes in his species reflexive expression of surprise. He glanced at the droid before turning back to his room’s flat screens, “Computer, display the unknown vessel.” The monitor warped and rippled until it resolved itself into the form of the spacecraft. Its surface reflected and bent light in all directions. The Viceroy ran the ship’s configuration through his memory and came up blank. With a sigh he turned back to the droid captain, “Very well, I’ll be on the bridge after I’ve prepared for the encounter. Thank you Captain, you’re dismissed.” The droid turned and left the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Slowly Nute Gunray turned to his dresser and considered his appearance. At the same time his thoughts dwelt upon why he was here, the transmission that had instructed him to be at the rendezvous point, what could Darth Sidious want this time? * * * Tron drummed his fingers impatiently on the side of his chair, “Why do they keep us waiting?” He glanced back at his bridge crew and frowned deeply, “Any change in the vessel’s disposition?” “Negative sir, nothing more then a couple power allocation charges. They look more like system checks then any power up sequence for weaponry. Those guns which we have identified remain silent.” The Sensor operator grinned, “Perhaps they’re just trying our patience.” Tron snorted, “Time is latinum.” He glanced back at the viewscreen which showed the enormous vessel, “But in this case I’m willing to spend a little more in the hope of further gain.” Suddenly the communications console lit up, “Sir, they’re answering our hail.” “Onscreen,” Tron answered immediately. The viewscreen suddenly switched to an image of a tall figure with dark green amphibian skin and dark charcoal colored eyes. Flanking him were a pair of robots of some sort, their ant-like appearance marking them to the Ferengi’s eyes as some form of servant. The creature’s mouth moved in a strange manner as he spoke, as though his face was incapable of expression, “Unknown vessel, this is the Trade Federation Starship Saak’ak Viceroy Nute Gunray speaking.” A smile slipped across his face, Trade Federation? How could he get so lucky with a chance encounter? His sharp teeth clicked softly as he spoke, “Viceroy, this is Captain Tron of the Ferengi Marauder Profit and Glory.” He continued to smile as he stood, “This is a first meeting between our peoples, and represents a chance for us to profit from each other. Surely you will allow us to negotiate a deal that will ensure trade, security, and profit between our worlds.” “You speak well Captain,” The Viceroy glanced aside to one of the robots, “Prepare to open the portside hanger.” Then he turned back to the viewscreen, “Perhaps we can speak more of this in person.” With that the viewscreen winked off. “Their Portside hanger is opening; it’s large enough to accommodate our ship from my calculations, barely.” The Sensor officer said quietly. “Helm, move us into the hanger. I’ll be in the transporter room.” As he walked to the door, “Commander Pros, make sure he doesn’t scratch the paint while I’m gone.” * * * Viceroy Nute Gunray turned from the viewscreen and frowned, “Commander 009, I want you to do a tactical analysis of their ship. I want to know about any surprises these Ferengi may have onboard.” The droid saluted smarty and turned to its fellows, “Sensor scan procedure 1703-29-38.” “Roger, roger,” The blue painted fleet crew droid responsible for sensors answered as it tapped its display. The buzzing voice of the droid soon filed the air, “Four plasma-based Pulse Weapons, and one directed energy beam weapon. No missile systems detected.” The command droid snapped back to the viceroy, “Minimally armed sir.” “Good,” The Viceroy nodded, “Commander you will accompany me to the hanger. Captain, you have the conn.” * * * The three hundred meter long Ferengi Marauder slid into the cavernous hanger bay. As it descended onto the platform Battle droids and Droid Starfighters turned toward it in curiosity. The vessel didn’t match any within their records or programming. Still its presence here meant that it existed. Quickly many of the droids began doing quick scans to upload the new class of ship into their records. With a strange four beam effect the Ferengi Captain appeared before them, his fleshy earlobes picking up the sudden commotion among the droids. Two of the droids raised their weapons toward him, “Halt.” Another droid, this one with red painted soldiers stepped toward the two, “Lower your weapons, he is our guest.” “Roger, roger,” The two droids answered instantly as they dropped their blasters to their sides. The red shouldered droid turned back to the Ferengi, “Captain Tron?” “Yes,” Tron answered timidly. “Wait here,” The droid replied before turning toward the back of the hanger. As the droid moved away Captain Tron glanced over his shoulder at the Marauder, “The riskier the road, the greater the profit.” * * * The Nebula Class Starship Paris slid quietly through space, its sensors sweeping in every direction. The ship was hunting, hunting for stolen Federation property. Its scanners picked up the radiation trail of a Ferengi ship, and the vessel turned toward the readings. If there was one thing the ship’s captain knew about Ferengi, it was that they stopped at nothing in pursuit of profit. What he didn’t realize was that he was about to meet another race with the same ideals.

Have you ever watched Episode IV: A New Hope? The only thing you will see in that is the Imperator Mk I.

Cool... It'll probably play more like EVE (Which rocks and is more along the lines of what SWG should have been) though. You don't walk around planets or anything, instead you fly around an enormous number of solar systems, mining, hunting pirates, enforcing laws, playing pirate, chasing klingons, playing as klingons, chasing ferengi, playing as ferengi, chasing romulans, playing as romulans... I could get into that. If its like you say though... It'll s***

I must admit that I found this comment to be somewhat amusing... Come on Cain, we all know that a realism mod will seriously unbalance the game, especially if we don't add units to both sides. The Empire has got a number of destroyer class vessels (Venerator, Victory, and Imperator) while the Rebels only have one (MC-80 Liberty Class). Maybe we can balance it with the amount it costs to build the ships... Maybe. Sour grape means Spoil-sport, Pessimist, Doubter, Party Crasher... Etc...

Well, it depends on how the Venator works in game as to what vessel should have been brought in to balance it out. If the Venator acts as a fleet carrier there are a number of choices available: Quasar Fire Class Bulk Cruiser (Examples of this class include the Flurry) Escort Carrier (Used by both the Rebels and Empire, examples include the Hydra from XvT Balance of Power) If the Venator acts as a heavy frigate capable of launching a limited number of starfighters an even wider variety of options appears: MC 40 Lusla Class Rendili Star Drive Dreadnaught Rendili Star Drive Bulk Cruiser Invinvible Class Dreadnaught

How about people on the forum... You just give them your IP or you could give them your username on gaming sites and use that to link up.

Are you yelling at me? No, I don't think this mod will have a dedicated server, and I'll tell you why. A dedicated server is good for Skirmish games, but this mod is not designed with skirmish gaming in mind. I may eventually make a number of maps for skirmishing, but since this is a realism mod... DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TAKES TO BUILD AN ISD IN REAL TIME! I'm talking YEARS! This mod will be meant primarily for 1 vs. 1 Galactic Conquest games where most of the time games are prearranged and connected by direct IP instead of through a server. I'll have a time compression factor for the relative speeds of both side's build and travel times in Galactic Conquest. Probably on the order of 1 second will equal 1 hour. Which means that building Starships will take a long time. 1 game year will end up equalling about 2 hours twenty-six minutes in the Strategic mode. While this mod will probably be primarily 1 v 1 multiplayer in nature I'd expect it to be used as a game between known friends that play with each other regularly. It could well take weeks of playing before someone triumphs over another if they know what they're doing.

Wait.... I was planning to do that already. It was going to be Star Wars: Empire at War v0.01! Yeah, kind of lame. I know.

But... none of it seems to be true to star wars. Ray shields can disable ungrounded vehicles (Due to damage to the vehicle's electrical systems) which is why the Trade Federation had to assault the Gungan formation in episode I. Particle shields can kill troops on physical contact, but can be penetrated by well armored vehicles which are grounded, hence the AT-AT Walker assault on Hoth. Really, they needed some good technical advice on how shield systems work in Star Wars and didn't get it from LEC.

I think you typed that backwards... Anyway, in the NJO books the New Republic Fighter squadrons remain in three flights of four fighters each (Each composed of two wingpairs aka flight sections). However, in a frontal attack against Vong forces their tactical formations have been changed to four shield-trios (Each composed of three fighters). This formation is only used when engaging the vong in head to head combat and was only developed as a way to give fighter craft overlapping shield coverage against plasma fire. In a standard dogfight the tactic is abandoned in favor of more conventional starfighter doctrine.

Okay lets see... More units! (With the total number of feet units approaching the Warlords mod if not the same type, I don't mind additions to either sides armada) Hopefully I'd like to see the tech tree exteneded into the NJO era (With the removal of some Vong infuenced weaponary) but keep the conflict almost completely Rebel vs Imperial. Experience system if possible. I doubt we'll be able to mod it in, and it would probably require some changes to the game engine so I doubt we'll see this in an Expansion Pack. I could see it appear in a sequal however. Increased battlefield population cap to accomodate truly epic battles. Starfighters can enter atmospheric engagements much like any ground unit. I'd also like to see the inclusion of dedication Atmospheric Fighter craft like the Mark I model of the Z-95. Every planet has its heroes, thats right every planet! I want lots more heroes, some that could be created by the people at petroglyph. You'd think that each planet in imperial control would at least have its own planetary governor. More Planets, let's say five times the current number. This would be really easy if someone at Petroglyph created a random map generator, I mean some worlds look a lot like other worlds... But there are some specific worlds I'd like to see included if they aren't already: Qat Chrystac, Nkllon, Thyferra, Honoghr, Nar Shadaa, and Nal Hutta. A true transport loading and unloading system for capital ships. I really don't like the idea of starships spawning fighters during the game. Instead I think you should be forced to build them. This would also make it so you could customize the loadout of Star Destroyers. I mean, aren't there some situations where you'd rather have 6 Squadrons of Tie Bombers instead of only one or two? Also, I also think we should be able to deliver a limited number of ground troops from a starship.

Are you sure... This is the IPV 1: (This image is from the Warlords mod) http://warlords.swrebellion.com/albums/album22/SystemPatrolCraft.sized.jpg

It's cause of Piett being in the fleet, maybe his special ability allows him to boost the number of ships deployed in space combat. He is a space tactician after all.

Actually from what I read the Alliance's history is something of a combination of the two. There were a number of true pirate bands that joined the Alliance, mostly to give themselves a carblanch to attack Imperial naval shipping. The Alliance also offerred privateering contracts to pirates that only attacked Imperial shipping.

Well it's about what I expected when it comes to pop cap. 20 slots for each side to have units in active combat operations, no real cap on fleet size though, it's just that you can only have a portion of your fleet engaged if its larger then 20 pop cap points. Another question that should be asked however is if embarked ground units count against pop cap. Do those AT-AT barges, Sentinel Class, and Lambda Class Shuttles take up space. I doubt that they'd normaly take up space because you usually wouldn't have them in a combat situation anyway.

Not really, when I played rebellion I tended to use tons of smaller fleets, with all your forces concentrated in one spot you're vulnerable to constant assault by smaller forces where you can't interfere. But... 20 Capital ships in a fleet? Come on! I mean that 20 includes all the ground units attached to the fleet, so if you're going to make a full scale assault it would mean that half your fleet would be made up of embarked ground troops... Argh!

Unfortunately... no I haven't seen that music video. I did see the other one (The black and white one made by splicing together tons of stock footage from films).

Wierd Al Yankovic beat you guys to the punch... Christmas at Ground Zero It's Christmas at ground zero There's music in the air. The sleigh bells are ringing And the carolers are singing As the air raid sirens blare. It’s Christmas at ground zero The button has been pressed The radio just let us know That this is not a test Everywhere the atom bombs are dropping It’s the end of all humanity No more time for last minute shopping It’s time to face your final destiny It’s Christmas at ground zero There’s panic in the crowd We can dodge debris While we trim the tree Underneath the mushroom cloud You might here some reindeer on your rooftop Or Jack Frost on your window sill But if someone is climbing down your chimney You’d better load your gun and shoot to kill It’s Christmas at ground zero And if the radiation level’s okay I’ll go out with you And see all the new mutations On new years day It’s Christmas at ground zero Just seconds left to go I’ll duck and cover With my Yule tied leather Underneath the mistletoe It’s Christmas at ground zero Now the missiles are on their way What a crazy fluke We’re gonna get nuked On this jolly holiday What a crazy fluke We’re gonna get nuked On this jolly holiday The Night Santa Went Crazy Down in the workshop all the Elves are makin' toys For the good Gentile girls and the good Gentile boys When the boss busted in, nearly scared 'em half to death Had a rifle in his hands and cheap whiskey on his breath From his beard to his boots he was all covered in ammo Like a big fat disgruntled Yuletide Rambo And he smiled as he said with a twinkle in his eye, “Merry Christmas to all – now you’re all gonna die!â€