Stellar_Magic

Well the Z-95 was much more common and continues updating kept it viable. The ARC-170 however was designed specifically for use by clones and was far less versatile. I get the impression it wasn't nearly as good in combat as the Z-95 was. It's sort of like the P-51 in the American Arsenal in Korea. We retired the P-80 before we dumped the Mustang.

Duh...Duh...Duhn! Okay I've finally entered uncharted territory with the Fanfiction. I've started righting sections from the point of view of the Trade Federation and the Ferengi. I'm beating my brains for a title for the next installment. Also by adding these points of views as well as Mandalorian, Hapan, Romulan, Klingon, and Cardassian down the road I'll be able to set up and sort out the diplomatic position of all the factions toward each other. It's already quite clear that the Federation, Rebel Alliance/New Republic/Galactic Federation of Free Alliances, Klingons, Jedi, and perhaps the Mandalorians will develop something of a loose alliance, as far as the other factions go, I think they're actions will be dictated by how they first meet other factions as well as what activity the Borg, Yuuzhan Vong, Species 8472, and Rapora conduct. What I think we'll see is a loose coalition will form around the Trade Federation with the Ferengi as their primary supporters. The Bothan and Romulans will form a loose alliance but their relations with other factions remains unclear. The Cardassians will probably be influenced by the Trade Federation and may join their loose coalition. There will remain some wild cards the Dominion for one, as well as the pre-organa treaty Klingons.

Star Trek: Bridge Commander (Heavily Modified) Best Being chased by a trio of Klingon Birds of prey as a Akira I fire a barrage of Polaron Torpedoes. The BoP managed to avoid the torps but they don't stop, they come around for another pass. A single torpedo slices completely through the forward shield and blows the ship in half. Instant kill!!! Engaging a pair of D'derix Warbirds as the Sovereing. One shot straight into their bridge... Goodbye. Worst Playing as a Klingon B'rel class Bird of Prey in a duel against a K'vort class cruiser. We disabled each other, each of us took out the other side's power system. I hung there for 30+ minutes trying to repair my ship so that I could finish him off and he beat me!

If I were to hazard a guess... The picture you just brought up is from Skirmish mode, there the Pop Cap is probably a lot higher then the rest of the game... I'm really starting to get mad about the Population Cap too, I mean Star Wars Rebellion was released 8 years ago and in it there was no limit to how big the space battles could get. Hell, I had battles with over 300 ships involved and well over a thousand fighters. This 20 slot limit is a great big step backwards from my point of view. Come on, what ever happened to "Epic" Battles.

Apparently no one here remembers Star Wars Rebellion: 200 Planets anyone?

Okay a logical question based on Pop Cap... We've heard that you can have a maximum number of 20 ships engaged in battle on each side at any one time. Would this be similar to how Rome: Total War worked in battle situations where reinforcements could be deployed from the reserve once the number of units actively participating dropped below the maximum available (20)?

Hell balancing and using total realism is possible, just look at really realistic games like the Close Combat Series (Specifically Close Combat III). Sure you could get a Tiger or King Tiger, but you could also buy three or four Pz IV's for the same price. Or... Look at warlords. That mod is surprisingly well balanced, and do you know why, Eville Jedi made the price directly proportional to the abilities of the ships (Hell, he even had a formula for doing it). RTS's in general have failed to grasp the impact of realism on game play. It makes the games much more appealing in most cases, after all the age group that plays RTS's is growing broder, and sooner or later RTS's will have to start dealing with their older customers whom enjoy the additional complexity and difficulty of a realistic game.

Yeah, of course 20 Star Destroyers is only about 6 Short of the number of ships that participated at Endor.

Star Trek vs. Star Wars: The White Admiral Part IV The cold dark of space was reamed by the thunder of the assembled force of Task Force Relentless gliding into the Polaron V Star System. The whine of Tie Fighters echoed in the dark as they circled the grey hulks of their motherships. For the crew it was night, the corridors of the ships we’re lit with red light. The crewman on duty sat before their posts with steaming hot mugs of café. Some of the men in less important posts napped, their officers too tired, lenient, or distant to bother waking them. This state was a danger on any voyage, and Captain Dorja knew that it was all to real a danger on a Voyage into the unknown. He stopped by countless duty stations, rousing the crew and rebuking them for their behavior. Dorja would have discipline on his ship. He’d seen far too many times what happened when a crew lost focus. He knew just how high the cost could get. It was around one o’clock galactic standard time when Dorja managed to retire to his cabin. There he lay down and dreamed in fits of cubes and diamonds. * * * Admiral Pelleaon felt his throat contract as he heard the words issue from the aging Admiral, “It’s been over a year since Bilbringi. Things have changed.” Thrawn’s red eyes narrowed, “I’m sure that you’ve noticed the strange occurrences of the last week. Perhaps we should talk more about this in person, and in safety.” “Certainly Admiral, if you would allow me, I’ll send a shuttle for you.” Reinach answered with a quick bow. His eyes flicked to Pelleaon, “If I may ask that you leave without your noghri bodyguard, there are things we must discuss that may be harmful to his sensibilities.” “Rukh has been through such discomfort before.” Thrawn answered quietly. Admiral Reinach held his ground, “I’m afraid, I must insist on it, sir.” Thrawn sighed, “Very well Admiral, Rukh will remain on the Chimaera. I trust you have no qualms with Captain Pelleaon joining us.” “I would be more then happy to have Adm… I mean Captain Pelleaon as a guest.” Thrawn arched an eyebrow at the Admiral’s misstep but didn’t follow up on it, “Very well, I expect to see you in one hour. In the meantime I would appreciate it if you release your support personnel to transfer additional supplies to the Chimaera.” “Consider it done Admiral Thrawn.” * * * A wing pair of Tie Fighters swept through the blackness of space, their sensors thundering across thousands of kilometers, hunting for echoes. They rolled and juked as they traveled, leaving their mothership’s far behind. The second pilot’s voice echoed across the reaches of space, “This is Eta Two to control. I’ve got an unidentified contact, two-thousand kilometers, on my nose.” The gruff and groggy voice of the Starfighter controller answered them, “Roger Eta Two, we’re negative for any contact along your vector. Eta One, confirm clearance?” “Negative Control, this is Eta One. I’ve got the contact on my scope, just where two says he is. He’s small maybe you guys can’t see him from back there.” The lead pilot replied, his voice washed out by the sound of the engines and life support gear. “Well I don’t see it Eta Lead.” Control answered, his gruff voice growing more groggy and disinterested. The Lead pilot grumbled under his breath before answering, “Permission to check it out control?” “Go ahead, you’re just chasing mynocks.” The Control officer answered before cutting off the comm. Lieutenant Kira Nemis furrowed her brow as se switched back to the flight communications frequency, “Lazy bastard.” “Roger that two, I’m sick of dealing with him. Next time he’s the control I’ll wash him out with my Imperial Orchestra collection.” “Sounds good to me,” Kira answered as she rolled her fighter back onto an intercept course with her fighter. She glanced at the control board before adding, “All speed or a little caution?” “It’s just a lone contact, and it doesn’t look big enough to be a Starfighter. All speed, it’s probably just a bit of orbital junk.” Lead replied as he rolled onto the contact and lit his drives. He leapt forward after the contact. “In that case I’ll blast it once we get there.” Kira answered as she redirected power from her newly installed shield systems to the engines. The fighter leapt forward, its engines roaring in the cockpit. Kira watched the sensor board, “Fifteen hundred kilometers… twelve hundred kilometers… one thousand kilometers… entering visual range.” “What the Sith is that thing?” Eta lead cut in, “It looks like a… coffin, or a beetle’s shell?” Kira frowned at her monitor, “I don’t know, the computer is analyzing it now.” “Bet you twenty credits the computer draws a blank.” “We’ll see lead…” Suddenly the computer before her pinged as it identified the object, “What the hell… Object identified as a Trade Federation Scarab Droid.” * * * The Shuttle ride to the shipyard was a smooth one, smoother then most that Pelleaon had been in since the Empire’s fall. Still it felt strange, as though some small things about the ship weren’t quite right. Finally he settled on the cause of his discomfort. The shuttle had no direct means of communicating to the pilot, nor did it have any furnishing except for a number of chairs lined with bright purple cushions and seating. Thrawn knew Pelleaon’s discomfort, “Captain, it may interest you to know that I’ve been on shuttles so upholstered before.” “You have sir?” Pelleaon asked quietly. “Yes,” Thrawn replied his voice as even as though he was ordering a meal, “When I accompanied the emperor himself on tours of our command he utilized a shuttle such as this. He had many, and any facility which he’d often visit was given its own.” “So the Emperor himself could have…” “No this shuttle is far too new for that. Did you notice just how clean the exterior was, and how the maintenance hatches show no sign of use. No Captain, this shuttle was just produced.” Thrawn glanced around the cabin, “Perhaps Admiral Reinach could explain why it has been built.” The Shuttle came to a stop in the hanger bay of the Golan Three Defense Platform that acted as the command center for the shipyard. With a hiss the wings folded up and the gear dropped onto the polish steal, followed quickly by the loading ramp. Thrawn stood and headed down the ramp, his eyes flicking around the hanger at the four platoons of stormtroopers that had to have been waked and rushed into presentation formation. They seemed surprisingly ready for a visitor in the middle of the night. Pelleaon stepped down the ramp and took a place beside Thrawn as Admiral Reinach stepped into the hanger. He walked toward them before stopping and saluting smartly, “Admiral Sir.” “Admiral Reinach, I trust you have a meeting room prepared?” “Right this way Admiral,” Reinach waved them toward the hanger doors, a clear hurry to his step. * * * The two fighters closed on the lone ship, their drives burning bright red in the night. The slowly began to circle the vessel, scanning it. “Control, we’ve got a positive ID on the contact we reported earlier,” Kira took a deep breath before continuing; “It’s a droid starfighter, an old one. We’re sending you our data feed.” “Roger Eta two, it’s coming… son of the sith!” “That’s about the shape of it control.” * * * The meeting room that Admiral Reinach had chosen was one of the smallest meeting rooms onboard the station. That wasn’t to say it was necessarily very small, it was just the smallest of a group of monstrosities. Inside the room had been a single table and holoprojector and three seats. It was clear that Reinach wanted the meeting to be as private as possible. Gilad Pelleaon couldn’t help but note the team of stormtroopers that guarded the doors to the room and the counterespionage team in the cooridor. When they had all stepped into the room the door hissed shut and a pair of green lights on the door flicked on, showing that the room was secure. Finally with the door shut Admiral Reinach turned to them, his worn face taunt with worry, “Well Admiral, I don’t think it will surprise you to learn that you’re the first Imperial ship I’ve seen in the last week.” “No, it wouldn’t,” Thrawn answered flatly, “Though it seems we’re not alone in this debacle, a number of previously unknown races have appeared in this region of space. Most all rebel activity has disappeared as well.” “Are we all that is left of the Empire then?” Admiral Reinach asked flatly. Thrawn shrugged, “I don’t know, it’s possible that more imperial facilities and ships survived the events that have brought us together across both distance… and time.” “Yes, Admiral, I suppose that you being here force my hand. You are aware of the means by which we had controlled the Noghri. It seems that during your time as head of the empire they discovered the means of that control. The noghri turned against you while you weren’t looking.” Pelleaon felt his throat constrict, “So the noghri defected to the rebels, what specifically this have to do with the Admiral’s death?” “I’m getting to that,” Admiral Reincah sighed before turning back to Thrawn. “The Noghri found and destroyed Wayland. When word of the attack reached Rukh he turned on you in the heat of battle and stabbed you through the command chair. You died.” Admiral Reinach shook his head, “We were rolled back, and then he came…” “Who?” Thrawn asked in his chair. “Who else? Palpatine’s clone,” Admiral Reincah shook his head, “We’ve gone on the offensive since he showed up, but it’s not the same as it was when the Emperor was still alive.” “I see, I trust he emerged from Byss,” Thrawn answered quietly, “Well, I suppose this leaves you in a bit of a pickle as to which empire to follow?” “No, Admiral. It doesn’t.” Admiral Reincah stood, “I’m your man sir.” “I’m glad to hear it.” * * * Captain Dorja woke when his intercom chimed. He rolled out of bed and hit the key still groggy, “Dorja here?” “Sir you’d better come to the hanger bay. There’s something we’d like you to see.” Dorja frowned as he sat up on the bed, “Alright commander, I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” “We’ll be waiting sir.” Dorja frowned as he pulled on his uniform and headed for the turbolift. In the last week he’d gotten less sleep then he had in most every combat cruise he’d been on in the last few months. He hurried into the turbolift and keyed the main hanger. Then leaned back against the cool metal and closed his eyes as the lift sped toward the hanger bay, first going down then sideways before finally down again and slowing to a stop. The doors opened with a hiss and Dorja stepped into a bizarre scene. A pair of Zero-G stormtroopers stood before him, their mounted lasers charged and leveled at what looked like an enormous ten pod. Beside it were two TIE Pilots conversing quietly among each other. Commander Jula Krenner stood beside them and turned to Dorja as he stepped into the room, “Sir.” “What is this thing?” Droja answered looking at the pod. “Sir, it’s a Trade Federation Droid Starfighter, old vintage to, about two generations older then the Vulture droids used by the Separatists during the Clone Wars. It’s called a Scarab Starfighter.” Dorja frowned as he looked down at the strange craft, “What in the name of the Sith is going to happen next?”

Well thanks to the newest information made available to us, Reality of Rebellion is looking at a very real challenge: How to create a sense of canonical realism within the limitations of Empire at War? The new information which is challenging the design of Empire at War: Reality of Rebellion is as follows. All levels have a population cap, 20 slots per fleet, and 10 slots per garrison, and at most there are eight build slots on each world. Each of these has two choices which are open to us depending upon what information is hard coded into the game and what isn’t. Population Caps: Fleets Scenario 1: Maximum Fleet size is hard coded into the game: Fleets of vessels max out at twenty slots per game. The best choice for Reality of Rebellion will be to make it so that all ships take up only one slot. Therefore the maximum number of ships engaged at any one time is 40 vessels. This is far short of the reality of many battles, especially in the Dark Empire Era, but it is the best we can do. Perhaps it will be possible to make it so that construction of lesser ship units (Frigates and Smaller Craft) results in the deployment of multiple craft as a formation instead of a lone ship. Scenario 2: Maximum Fleet size can be easily modified in the game: Pretty obvious what we’ll do in this situation, our only rule will be to push the engine to the limit, and thus you’ll be able to deploy large numbers of units for battle. We will attempt to figure out a way to make it so that building up large fleets of dozens, perhaps even hundreds of vessels will be difficult and perhaps dependent on other factors. (I’ve been trying to come up with a way to institute the ITS and ATS (Imperial Transit Service and Alliance Transport System) into game. Perhaps I could make it so that the maximum size of a fleet can be increased by the inclusion of supporting vessels. Population Caps: Ground Combat Scenario 1: Maximum Army size is hard coded into the game: Well, thanks to this I can say that if this happens expect to see much larger formations on the ground. Instead of building squads or at largest platoons of soldiers, I’ll begin making it so that you’ll find yourself building companies. Instead of landing a four AT-ST a Transport drops of twenty. Thus we’ll get our epic combat, but we’ll have to change what transports are used for deployment of equipment. An AT-AT barge might be able to hold a Mechanized Infantry Platoon and its AT-AT transport, but it can’t hold four of the behemoths. Instead, we’d have to give the job to something larger. Scenario 2: Maximum Army size is easily modified: Well in this case I’ll go with my original plan: Squad to platoon sized units. But if you build lots of them you can still get that epic feel as well as better connection to the units involved. I’d also like to link garrison size to the buildings constructed at a base somehow, not sure how I’d do it though. Build Slot Limitations: Scenario 1: The maximum number of build slots is hard coded into the game, no more then 8: Ugh, well if this is the case I’ll have to overhaul my corporation tech tree again. Maybe I could cut it back by making it so that a corporate office is a building where the production facilities themselves are merely upgrades to the building. Scenario 2: The maximum number of build slots can easily be changed: Well, I’ll increase the number of build slots so that it wouldn’t hinder my mod’s tech tree, but I wouldn’t increase them to the point where you can build up a dozen corporations on one world (Except maybe Coruscant).

ST vs SW? We've got a Fan-Fiction for that.... http://swempireatwar.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=28 I'm working on the final installment of The White Admiral now, so expect another burst of activity now that I'm on break (Really can't do much modding or anything with 28.8k internet without the demo).

Well, if you yelled loud enough it would explode. I still can't believe people take that stuff for heart trouble.

Merry Christmas from the Star Wars Universe... http://download.theforce.net/theater/animation/howthesithstolechristmas/htssc_part1.mov Enjoy. I'm sorry Vader isn't here to meet you, but you know how busy he gets this time of year.

It is clear from the films however that particle shields at least are two directional (The Rebels lowered the shields at Hoth to let the transports out.) As to whether the Ion Cannon could fire through the shields is unknown, but considering that the ion cannon only fired while the shield was down during the film I'd say its highly likely that energy shields are two way.

With Delphi's post for the Question and Answers from the community it's become apparent that there is a heck of a lot we don't know about the moddability of Empire at War. I'd like to see that remidied. So I'd like to assemble a list of 5 Mod related questions about Empire at War. 1. Due to rising concerns about the moddability of Empire at War, we'd like to know what is specifically meant by the phrasing of Delphi's answer, specifically what exactly he meant by saying the game wouldn't be moddable straight from the box. Could you guys elaborate on this? What tools will be required? 2. The more the structure of Empire at War is revealed the more worried many modding teams are becoming. We, as members of the modding community would like to know what elements of Empire at War are hardcoded? Would these include the maximum number of build points, population caps for fleets and armies, and the number of planets in the galaxy.

Well from what they've said buildings don't count toward the pop cap, nor do fixed defenses like Golan DF.9 Anti-Infantry Batteries, P-Tower Anti-Armor Batteries, or Fixed Anti-Aircraft Batteries. So It can be a pretty fair bet that a the Stations won't count toward the Population Cap.

Yeah well if it was set to one popcap per capital ship I wouldn't be so worried about it, after all at Endor the Empire only used something on the order of 26 capital ships. (24 Imperial I & II Class Star Destroyers, 1 Executor Class Star Dreadnaught, 1 Communications Ship).

Considering neither of us have any canon sources besides personal observation this debate shall go nowhere. Therefore lets quit while we're ahead.

Well directional shielding may exist in the star wars universe, You may recall that the hoth shield wasn't directional, it had to be lowered for the weapon system to have a clear line of fire. In fact I'd have to say that lowering the shields, even for just a nanosecond, in the middle of a full fledged battle would be a very bad idea, you'd be even more vulnerable then if you used shield modulation, after all you can always change modulations just by hitting a couple of keys. The enemy would need specific intelligence from the ship in order to know what frequency to use. Therefore I feel comfortable that frequency based shielding would be the most efficent and likely form of shielding in star wars as well as star trek.

Well considering that shield modulation is a means by which to allow weapons fire to pass through shields I'd have to say that it exists in the star wars universe... after all, you don't see turbolasers fired from a ship get stopped by their own shields. This feature could also explain how a droideka can fire through a shield globe. I'd have to say that while we don't necessarily see it stated it seems to be an implied part of shield technology.

From whats been said I think 20 Units is the maximum size of a fleet in space combat and galactic mode, each fleet can be comprised of 20 vessels, not more.

That 20 Unit max in space combat and a 10 unit max if you're defending your base against ground assault sure seems absurdly small. I mean, we should at least ahave a max for space and ground battles in the hundreds not tens. I really hope the unit cap is moddable. Also the thing with having more planets affects strategic mode's cap not the ground battles as far as I can tell.

Wait a minute... Isn't that the same concept that got brought up on SWR. You know, Galaxy at War?

Definite S**t level canon... Seriously we should organize a book burning for those three books.

Well primarily by published writers from other areas, some of them are Fantasy Writers and some are Sci-Fi. Overall the majority publish fantasy works (Except for Zahn who is pure Sci-Fi). Examples of planetary shields: Nal Hutta, Coruscant, Ukio, and any number of other worlds. Examples of base shields: Hoth and Borlieas.