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[Phoenix Rising]

It's official: after eight months of development, the Phoenix Rising Starfighter Mini-Mod is in final alpha stages and will be available for public beta testing at midnight GMT-5 on Monday, April 23, 2007. As the name implies, this version will include the asynchronous tech tree fully implemented for fighters and bombers. However, as all the elements of space combat from the final version are already in place, this will essentially be a mini-mod in name only. Here is the final tech tree and ship list:

Alliance

• Fighter: Z-95 Headhunter ― T-65 X-wing ― R-22 Spearhead / RZ-1 A-wing ― E-wing
• Bomber: BTL Y-wing ― B-wing ― BTL K-wing
• Transport: Barloz-class Medium Freighter ― Gamma-class ATR Assault Transport
• Freighter: GR-75 Medium Transport
• Corvette: CR90 Corvette ― DP20 Gunship
• Frigate: EF Nebulon-B Escort Frigate ― CC-9600 Frigate
• Cruiser: Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser ― CC-7700 Frigate ― Dodonna-class Assault Frigate
• Battleship: Republic-class Star Destroyer
• Capital: Liberty-class MC80 Star Cruiser
• Dreadnought: Independence-class MC120 Star Cruiser

Empire

• Fighter: T.I.E. Starfighter / TIE Fighter ― TIE Advanced x1 / TIE Advanced x2 / TIE Avenger ― TIE Advanced x3 / TIE Interceptor ― TIE Advanced x7 / TIE Defender ― XM Nova Wing
• Bomber: TIE Targeter / TIE Bomber ― Alpha-class Xg Star Wing
• Transport: Lambda-class T-4 Shuttle ― GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat ― Sentinel-class Landing Craft ― Gamma-class ATR Assault Transport
• Freighter: Action IV Transport
• Corvette: IPV System Patrol Craft ― CR90 Corvette
• Frigate: Carrack-class Light Cruiser ― EF Nebulon-B Escort Frigate
• Cruiser: Acclamator-class Assault Ship ― Dreadnaught-class Heavy Cruiser ― Immobilizer 418 Cruiser
• Battleship: Victory-class Star Destroyer ― Venator-class Star Destroyer
• Capital: Imperial-class Star Destroyer
• Dreadnought: Eclipse-class Star Dreadnought

And the hero list:

Alliance

• Ackbar
• Bail Organa
• C-3PO
• Chewbacca
• Garm Bel Iblis
• Han Solo
• Jan Dodonna
• Kyle Katarn
• Leia Organa
• Luke Skywalker
• Mon Mothma
• Obi-Wan Kenobi
• R2-D2
• Wedge Antilles
• Yoda

Empire

• Bast
• Boba Fett
• Cronal (Blackhole)
• Darth Vader
• Firmus Piett
• Maarek Stele
• Mara Jade
• Maximilian Veers
• Palpatine
• Rom Mohc
• Sate Pestage
• Soontir Fel
• Thrawn (Mitth'raw'nuruodo)
• Wilhuff Tarkin

If you haven't done so already, now would be a good time to register at the Forums, as that is where bug submission will take place. There will also be a forum release party starting two hours before the release, so be there if you can! See you on the 23rd!

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 11 April 2007 - 06:44 AM.

[slornie]

thanks - i will be waiting for it - is this the whole mod, or just the first part of it ?

[Phoenix Rising]

This is the first release. I felt it was complete enough to launch now without all of the variants being done. The complete tech tree will essentially be the first version, but this should give you guys something to do in the meantime.

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 11 April 2007 - 08:35 AM.

[slornie]

can you give us some information about the heroes, whether they are space/land (or both), what vehicles/ships they have (if any) and what their galactic and tactical abilities are ?

[Phoenix Rising]

Yeah, I can. I just figured that post was long enough as it was. I gotta run, but I'll try to do that this afternoon.

[Phoenix Rising]

Wow, I don't get enough sleep. Heh, okay, heroes. I'm still working out the details on some of these due to lack of appropriate abilities or the the fact that some characters are more land heroes than space heroes (and thus not included in the space portion of the mod... yet), but here it is:

Alliance

• Ackbar - fleet commander, Independence-class combat bonus, B-wing research price reduction. Pilots a B-wing if caught in space combat without capital ships.
• Bail Organa - CR90 combat bonus, price reduction, stealth, spy.
• C-3PO - land hero, stealth, spy.
• Chewbacca - land hero, stealth, smuggler. Co-pilots the Falcon in space combat.
• Garm Bel Iblis - land hero, field commander, fleet commander, Dreadnaught-class combat bonus. Pilots Gargantuan in land combat.
• Han Solo - land hero, stealth, smuggler. Pilots the Falcon in space combat.
• Jan Dodonna - Republic-class combat bonus, find weakness versus dreadnoughts, A-wing research price reduction.
• Kyle Katarn - land hero, stealth, assassin. Pilots the Crow in space combat.
• Leia Organa - fleet commander, hero combat bonus.
• Luke Skywalker - land hero, wing commander. Pilots X-wing in space combat.
• Mon Mothma - field commander, fleet commander, build time reduction.
• Obi-Wan Kenobi - land hero, stealth. Pilots V-wing in space combat.
• R2-D2 - land hero, stealth, spy.
• Wedge Antilles - wing commander, X-wing combat bonus. Pilots X-wing in space combat.
• Yoda - land hero.

Empire

• Bast - fleet commander, find weakness versus starfighters.
• Boba Fett - land hero, stealth, assassin. Pilots Slave I in space combat.
• Cronal (Blackhole) - stealth, spy.
• Darth Vader - land hero, wing commander. Pilots TIE Avenger in space combat.
• Firmus Piett - fleet commander, Imperial-class combat bonus.
• Maarek Stele - wing commander. Pilots XM Nova Wing in space combat.
• Mara Jade - land hero, stealth, assassin. Pilots Z-95 in space combat.
• Maximilian Veers - land hero. Pilots AT-AT in land combat.
• Palpatine - land hero, field commander, fleet commander, build time reduction.
• Rom Mohc - land hero, field commander, droid combat bonus. Commands Arc Hammer in space combat.
• Sate Pestage - land hero, price reduction.
• Soontir Fel - wing commander, TIE Interceptor combat bonus. Pilots TIE Interceptor in space combat.
• Thrawn (Mitth'raw'nuruodo) - fleet commander, Dreadnaught-class combat bonus, find weakness versus capitals, XM Nova Wing research price reduction, spy.
• Wilhuff Tarkin - fleet commander.

[slornie]

a couple of questions:

1) do the heroes like Mara, Maarek Stele, Obi Wan Kenobi, Ackbar, etc turn up on their own when in space (or are they part of a squadron) ?

2) doesnt having Rom Mohc with the Arc Hammer slightly unbalance the game, in that they get a free capital ship ? - perhaps you could give the Alliance Dodonna or Bel Iblis a free capital ship to make it more even (perhaps a Dodonna Assault ship or Dreadnaught cruiser respectively) ?

3) i assume that the other heroes attach to flagships (if there) or use a shuttle in space battles ?

4) how do the heroes work in space battle ? - do they all attach to the same flagship, or do they attach to whichever ship/type they provide a bonus for ?

Edited by slornie, 12 April 2007 - 10:43 AM.

[Phoenix Rising]

• They are solo right now, but I plan on adding purchasable upgrades to hero transports in the next release. Unfortunately, I don't have time to do that kind of development before the upcoming release.
• Yes, the Empire gets a free capital ship (a dreadnought even), but that's their only production base for Dark Troopers, so if the Alliance can take it out, they're without Dark Troopers for 10 minutes or so. I stripped it of all its hardpoints, so it can only soak up damage. I don't think it's that unbalancing.
• I think everyone attaches except for the ones I listed as piloting something. Default hero transports are the Barloz and Lambda.
• It seems to be the ship with the highest hull rating that everyone attaches to. Unfortunately, I can't change this (although the upgrades I mentioned would give them a unique transport).

[slornie]

so approximately what size will this release be ?

[Phoenix Rising]

It's 165 MB right now, but that's unoptimized. I have source files and some others things I can remove for the release, plus compression, so think of that as a maximum.

Right now I'm working on late-breaking AI changes and just general polish, trying to fix (or as a last resort, disable) minor bugs before the release.

[Admiral_Antilles]

*drolling*

wish you needed beta help before release

[Phoenix Rising]

Eh, you only have a week to wait . Ideally, the mod is released and there are no bugs, but that's probably not realistic. Still, I'm going to try for it .

[RebelScum]

Congratz on ur first release, Phoenix.

Will the mod be released as a .zip file or maybe even an .exe or .rar?

[Phoenix Rising]

Thanks. Probably a ZIP since that's the most compatible.

[slornie]

sounds good, seems a reasonable size as well - unfortunately i wont be able to make it to the pre-launch party (it would be about 5am for me i think) - but i will be downloading it as soon as i get a chance.

[Phoenix Rising]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. Sorry about the time. It'll basically be a Q&A session, so you'll be able to read the thread the next morning at least.

[slornie]

hey - no problem - its my fault for being in the wrong continent

and yeah - i think i will read the thread while the mods downloading - and if i think of any questions i can always post them then

[Phoenix Rising]

True enough. I just wanted to see how many people we could get on the forums at once. Speaking of which, I need to do a lot more advertising before Sunday...

[slornie]

copy your latest news post (ie this one) into your threads on petro-forums and everythingeaw - those should help

[Phoenix Rising]

Yeah, I'm going to start threads on LucasForums and FileFront and any other site I can find too, I just haven't gotten around to it.