Naja

The saddest thing is, I grew up avoiding life and reading good EU literature. It's depressing for me to see an entire literary universe - in which an imaginative mind can make anything happen, more or less - fall into stagnation. Ah, well. I'll just wait for good writers to sell their wares, if they ever do emerge. I'm also really excited about Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader! For any of y'all who are interested in a very good fan-made story through the perspective of Palpatine (of all people), here is a link: http://fanfic.theforce.net/fanfic.asp?action=view&ID=731 Enjoy!

So it would seem that this modding for space battles would be sort of tricky if the transport you saw in ground battles directly corresponds to the same transport in space. Do you think that there would be any way around this? An insightful quip from Delphi would be ever so helpful, right about now...

How much of that trailer was cutscene, and how much of it was real footage from the game? Because if that one scene with all those walkers spanning across that green grassland was real footage...*gasp* Just to clarify, by "cutscene" I mean like something pretty that was just created for the trailer. "Footage" includes tactical battle view, but can also include the EaW battle cinema camera. Just making a distinction between the cinema view and some little creative thing just made to make people drool.

I'm sure that ground battles just automatically have transports as the de facto troop drop off. After all, you technically have no "fleets" with which to drop off your soldiers in ground skirmish battles, and transports are how you get your troops there.

Back on topic! I assume that a pop cap, either way, would be easily moddable. It's just a fixed number, after all. If nothing else, Delphi said that it would "barely noticeable." I am still concerned about the modability of transports issue. I hate to keep pressing it, but I would rather have an ideosyncratic, otherwise useless question answered by someone like Delphi here than waste anyone's time on next week's chat. Hense the annoying tenacity.

Yoda: Like some candy you would, little boy? Heh... Thrawn: Hmm...why Lucas decided to have me killed off and yet retained Jar Jar remains an enigma. Palpatine: The dark side is a pathway to many wardrobes some consider to be...quite faggoty.

In order of preference: 1. What will be done about heroes and bounty hunters to make sure that they are not too overpowered? Is it possible to outright KILL major heroes like Darth Vader, Palpatine, or Obi-Wan? 2. We know that planets can rebel. How does this happen? Do all planets have a loyalty system, somewhat like Rebellion? Does the Death Star affect this system? 3. How far can the moddability of the game be taken for the ground forces in your fleet? Is it possible to mod the game so that ground forces are represented as being in your CAPITAL SHIPS rather than in transports, so that transports do not appear in space battles?

Let's just clarify something: Does the pop-cap just limit the amount of units that can be ON SCREEN? Or does it limit the amount of forces you can have OVERALL, throughout the galaxy?

As long as the game maintains that "epic" feeling, I'll be fine with the amount of units. Legions of Stormtroopers and AT-ATs! I think by pop cap, we're referring to how many units you can have on screen, and not how many units you can have as a whole in the galaxy, correct?

Nope. If you have ground forces stationed in a fleet, and that fleet comes into contact with an enemy fleet, your own ground forces will show up as in transports.

None other than.

You've got it! What are some esthetic changes that you'd like to see in units or gameplay that has absolutely no effect on the game?? Twofold, for me: - For one, I'd like it modded so that you don't see transports in space battles if your fleet has ground forces stationed in it. I would like it so that the capital ships register as being the holders of the ground forces, and when they're destroyed, so are the ground forces. - For two, an Interdictor without the trademark gravity well humps! Same gravity well function, just no humps!

I've been interested, Delphi, how modable would transports be, exactly? Because in Rebellion, for example, you simply moved your forces onto your starships, and if those particular starships got destroyed (anything from a Star Destroyer to a Stormtrooper Transport) the corresponding ground forces did, too. Now, for regular gameplay, the transport idea works very well. It gives you (and your foe!) a very vulnerable and important set of targets to attack or defend, and gives invasionary battles a sense of urgency about them. But just for the sake of esthetics, do you think it would be moddable to just have the ground forces register as being on specific capital ships, Delphi?

Thanks, Delphi!

http://www.starwars.com/databank/location/deathstar/?id=eu ...Scattered across the Death Star's surface were thousands of weapons emplacements: a total of 10,000 turbolaser batteries, 2,500 laser cannons, 2,500 ion cannons and 768 tractor beam projectors. The station carried a crew of 265,675, plus 52,276 gunners, 607,360 troops, 25,984 stormtroopers, 42,782 ship support staff, and 167,216 pilots and support crew. The station also carried 7,200 starfighters, four strike cruisers, 3,600 assault shuttles, 1,400 AT-ATs, 1,400 AT-STs, 1,860 drop ships, and more... And that's from the official Star Wars site! Hense, Strike Cruiser technology existed prior to Yavin.

I still fail to see why turning down the graphics option wouldn't be just as viable as a population cap. I don't like this trend that a lot of games are adopting. It's very oppressive, and it kills the "epic" feel.

The Death Star reportedly could carry up to four Strike Cruisers, indicating that this technology existed before the Battle of Yavin. There, Petroglyph! You have your canon! Now, include it!

Exactly. If too many units gets burdensome for your comp, TURN THE BLOODY GRAPHICS DOWN. Or at the most benign level, the pop cap should be adjustable or moddable by us.

...to the detriment of all other aspects of my life.

Because you touch yourself at night!!

So moddable...yes or no?

Well, the Rebels will have bacta tanks. Overall though, we've been told that units will repair themselves over time.

I like the idea of the Empire being burdened to just wipe out all Rebels (given their enormous economic starting advantage), while the Rebels simply have to decapitate the beast with a few objectives. It's very David v. Goliath.

What I meant though is are nebulas independant of planetary orbits (like in between planets), or are they just another component of them?

Delphi: will the pop-cap be moddable, as some people have done with Battle for Middle Earth with outright -removing- it?