19 replies to this topic

[Phoenix Rising]

I apologize for the break in updates; it's actually because I've been so busy with changes as opposed to not being busy enough. At any rate, I have one for you all today.

There is a new ship for the Empire that is hopefully everything that the original Tartan-class wasn't. Of course, I'm referring to none other than the Lancer-class Frigate. With 20 quad lasers concentrated on 250 meters of hull, this ship does exactly what it was designed to do: obliterate starfighters. The model itself has 20 moveable turrets with a total of 80 individual barrels, placed according to the original WEG specs. The Lancer can't compete with corvettes in a race for speed, but it does feature redundant shield generators that allow it to endlessly shrug off light laser fire. However, because it is so specialized, it does have some significant weaknesses, such as light armor plating and poor range. All in all, the Lancer-class makes an excellent escort.

Because I don't have new screenshots yet, here's a sneak peak of my little side project:

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 11 July 2007 - 07:04 AM.

[Imrix]

Firstly, wootness- new galactic map. Are you working on more planets, or just leaving it like that? Because I gotta say- actual solar systems is a very nice touch.

Second- Wootness! An answer to the Empires starfighter worries WITHOUT having to shell out on elite squadrons of our own now that the hangers are gone.

[Pred the Penguin]

Actual solor systems? Just planet names I think...

[slornie]

Pst, try looking at the positioning of the planets..

And PR, the Lancer is a great addition!

[RebelScum]

Lancer Frigate comments: Nice Lancer Frigate, Phoenix, but I didn't know the turrets protruded from the ship itself...

Galactic Map comments: Hallelujah!! FINALLY someone makes the galactic map accurate. Actually I see minor positioning problems like slornie just mentioned, but thanks for changing that.

other comments: How much longer until u have the next release for us? I figure it will be a while, but could u give us an estimate?

[Loth Don]

Galactic Map comments: Hallelujah!! FINALLY someone makes the galactic map accurate. Actually I see minor positioning problems like slornie just mentioned, but thanks for changing that.

I was very happy to see this myself, as this old thread suggests http://forums.revora...showtopic=46153.

As for the positioning of the planets, I personally know there are ways to keep the map functional, mostly accurate, and still have the content you need. But it isn't easy at all. I have 85+ planets, all relatively accurate in there positions, but I had to do a lot of tweaking and shifting to make the map functional(ie easy to move fleets to planets and special slots without having to constantly worry that you will select an overlapping planet/or related slot).

PR may have a different solution, but I'm sure he will achieve a map that is functional, accurate and complete.

Edited by Loth Don, 11 July 2007 - 05:31 PM.

[Rob]

Great work PR, as always!
The lancer is just how I imagined it...I swear PR has some sort of Force Telepathy thing going on.
Planetwise, I think it is worth sacrificing a little bit of canon accuracy and keep them half an inch away from other, even if the scale demands that two planets in the same system *should* be almost on top of one another, such as Talus and Corellia. Just imagine sending your ATATs from your troop-training planet towards a rebel planet you've blockaded, only to find you accidentally drag-dropped them on a neighboring system, which has a fleet of rebel ships waiting to gobble them up!

[Phoenix Rising]

Are you working on more planets, or just leaving it like that?

There will be more planets, so if anyone is a competent mapper, I can keep you busy for a long time ...

Nice Lancer Frigate, Phoenix, but I didn't know the turrets protruded from the ship itself...

That's because all of the official sources have done it wrong . But the elevated turret bases do give it pretty wicked coverage, especially if you are facing things head on.

Actually I see minor positioning problems like slornie just mentioned, but thanks for changing that.

If you see something that's wrong, let me know. Not all planets have definite positions known (probably most do not), so there is some guesswork to it, but I would be happy to hear your arguments in the Star Wars forum.

How much longer until u have the next release for us? I figure it will be a while, but could u give us an estimate?

The best estimate I can give right now is sometime prior to Q4 of this year.

I was very happy to see this myself, as this old thread suggests http://forums.revora...showtopic=46153.

Ha, I'm so happy I stayed true to my word half a year later. That's pretty good planning on my part.

Planetwise, I think it is worth sacrificing a little bit of canon accuracy and keep them half an inch away from other, even if the scale demands that two planets in the same system *should* be almost on top of one another, such as Talus and Corellia.

Yeah, that will definitely be addressed, as you can see from Tatooine/Geonosis (1 light-year distance) and The Maw/Kessel. But like Loth said, it is a lot of minor massaging, so it's just something I have to tweak a little every time I load the mod. Even maps like Modi's are only, in most cases, just best guesses, even if people like to take them verbatim. I suppose the atlas will take the guesswork out of the equation, but who knows when that will be out.

[Pred the Penguin]

Pst, try looking at the positioning of the planets..

And PR, the Lancer is a great addition!

I meant it doesn't really have the solar systems named on there.

[RoguePhoenix]

Wow all i can say is great work PR

Dont know how you find time to do that much work and uni! i can barely manage it lol

Great idea with the Repostioning of the galactic map, rather than just add more planet on top looks more striking great work

Good to see the lancer frigate, makes a great addition to the imperial fleet

As for the release date we all waited ages for the intial star wars games to come out, whats another few months take as long as you need mate top notch work!

[Phoenix Rising]

Thanks for the compliments . I get a little better and a little faster with each ship I add... I figure after 1000 of them I will be able to do one in 15 minutes . As for the release date, it will definitely be done when it's done - I know that's cliche, but I just mean I'll release it when it's ready to be released and no sooner.

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 12 July 2007 - 09:42 AM.

[Phoenix Rising]

have you thought of which planets you are adding

I have ...

Finally, could you also remodel some of the planets that don't look anything like they should be looking like

Also could you recreate the sky maps or is this just an error I'm getting of some of the planets looking exactly like Coruscant (like Anaxes and Corulag) or is this how it's suppose to look like

This I can do. And no, Anaxes, Corulag, Fondor, etc. are not ecumenopoli; that was a mistake on the part of the designers, probably an effort to mix up the galaxy map a bit with only a handful of planet models . In fact, all of those planets not only have smaller populations than Earth, but their diameters are also bigger, so unless every citizen owns an entire city to himself, you would have to consider Earth to be an ecumenopolis as well with those standards .

Also could you make species that will choose a side of fight against a side for most worlds, unless if some of them stay neutral(Ex. Manaan)

maybe make maps bigger, cities, accurate city lengths(unlike on Theed that they show on Naboo), have more accurate areas where cities or structures are placed for the species that live there, native and not, to make it more sense. Also to have the cities and structures look more realistic and not all look like they are living in a hut when some of those planets weren't.

This I can't do. EvilleJedi doesn't do character models and I don't model, so that kind of puts a damper on any new aliens or things of that sort.

More importantly, I don't plan on doing any maps for this (really, I don't have the time), so I will need to hire some of the better mappers in the community. If you've played something that's just killer, send the author a referral over here for me . If I can't find anyone in time, I'm just going to have to recycle the maps from vanilla .

[slornie]

You could post planets you want maps for and set criteria for them, then supporters of your mod could have a go at making maps for them, then send them for you to have a look at.

Edited by slornie, 12 July 2007 - 08:13 PM.

[Phoenix Rising]

Well, I just posted a help wanted on Mod DB, so hopefully that'll get me somewhere. If things get desperate, I suppose I could do that though.

[Mr.Caine]

How did you do the planets like that? Do you get any lag?

[Pred the Penguin]

Or you could make a sub-forum for mappers, though I'm not sure how that would help. O_o

I would like to help out, but my experience in modding EaW is nill and I'm not catching up anytime soon.

[Phoenix Rising]

How did you do the planets like that? Do you get any lag?

What do you mean, the planets themselves or the screenshot? The planets were done just through XML editing and I messed with the Galactic cam to get it to zoom out for the shot. I would imagine the difference in lag from vanilla is negligible as all the changes are XML-related.

[Phoenix Rising]

Yeah, as far as minor positioning mistakes/changes, you do have to make some concessions with planets that are in close proximity of each other (Tatooine/Geonosis, Kessel/The Maw, Hoth/Bespin, etc.), so that's inevitable. Also the galactic camera is 30 degrees off of a straight top-down, so that skews it.

As far as Aeten II, Wookieepedia places it in the ORT with the Dreighton Nebula being "near the Unknown Regions." So I basically get to pick galactic north or galactic south and I chose south because of the remoteness. Of course, I'm not sure of the sourcing on any of that either (RA2 chatter if I had to guess though; not much else to pick from).

Keep in mind though, even Modi's map is mostly approximation, although he does a good job of only placing planets whose locations are fairly fixed; generally the best you can hope for is a sector and a "near" something or "on" a trade route. I've also found a handful of mistakes in it, such as not placing Kuat on the Hydian Way, so you've always got to double-check.

Edit: Actually, Alderaan is hidden behind the 'n' in "Anaxes"; the planet right of "Fresia" is Kuat.

Edited by Phoenix Rising, 24 July 2007 - 01:47 AM.